Valco Baby Universal Cup Holder {Review & Giveaway}

I have many jobs, but my first (and most important!) is as a stay at home mom to two beautiful babies.  During the holiday season, these sweet little things are usually found being dragged around the mall with me as I search for the million gifts I need (& want!) to buy. 

There are two things that keep me sane in the mall, in December, with my children – my double stroller and my cup of coffee.  Unfortunately, my stroller and I are NOT besties.  (FYI - I do not have a Valco Baby Stroller, unfortunately!) One reason for our differences, is its lack of a cup holder.  I have purchased many add-on cup holders, including the one made “specifically” for my stroller, and I hate them all!  My stroller and I both usually end up covered in coffee.  

Not.  Cool.

I have had my eye on a new stroller for some time now, but when Valco Baby very generously offered to send me a Universal Cup Holder to test out, I decided to hold off.  ValcoBaby has saved the day!

I am in LOVE with my new cup holder.  It is the first attachment that I have tried that not only holds almost any size cup, but it actually keeps it from spilling, and/or falling out!  Check this out…

It is super easy to install this cup holder, but to be honest, it did take me two tries to get it as tight as I wanted it.  (Trust me, this was 100% user-related malfunction.  I didn’t really read the instructions…)  Once it was on, it didn’t move, except when I pressed the button that made it swivel until I felt it was level.

You can see just how tight I was able to get it.  It is actually smooshing the foam on the handlebars, which is fine with me!  I wanted it to be that tight, because I am always afraid that my drink is going to tilt and spill and burn my babies. 

I tested the holder with all different types of cups, and it held each one securely.  Sometimes I have to lift my stroller to get the kids over curbs, or around crowded stores, and I am confident that I can do this without having to worry about my cup holder swinging back and forth.

Here are a few of the cups that I tested.  Luckily the holder has prongs on the inside that adjust to the size of your cup.  I was able to get everything from a small kid’s cup from a restaurant to my huge reusable mug into the cup holder and I still had room.

Being a suburban mom, my stroller is pretty much stored in my trunk.  I have had so many cup holders that as soon as I fold my stroller, pop right off.  It is extremely frustrating to be in a parking lot in 20 degree weather, trying to attach a cup holder.  I am happy to report that when I folded it, and threw the stroller into my trunk, the Valco Baby Universal Cup Holder stayed put and stayed straight!!  I didn’t even have to adjust it when I took it out of the trunk.   (Note:  As you can see from the pic below, the cup holder does protrude a little from the side of the stroller.  I have been careful not to lay the stroller down on that side.)

So, I am happy to report, that with 20 days left to shop for Christmas, I am able to keep my kids strapped in, AND have my coffee while navigating the insanity of the mall!  THANK YOU Valco Baby for making my life sooo much easier this holiday season!!

Oh, and guess what?!  Because they are so incredibly generous, they sent me, not one, but two cup holders!  Instead of putting one on each side of my stroller, like I really want to, I’m going to give one away to one of my fabulous readers!  Here’s the deal…

This giveaway will begin immediately following the publishing of this post.  It will end Friday, December 9^th, 2011 at 11:59pm, and the winner will be announced on Saturday, December 10^th, 2011.  To enter (up to 6 times) complete the following steps:

• ·        You must be a follower of this blog in order to enter.  If you are already a follower, leave a comment stating so.  If you are a new follower, leave a comment you sign up.  {1 entry}
• ·         Follow @caronjnp on Twitter for an additional entry.  Leave a comment below stating your Twitter name once you have done this.  {1 entry}
• ·         Like Valco Baby on Facebook.  Leave a comment here when you do.  {1 entry}
• ·         Follow @valcobaby on Twitter and you guessed it…leave a comment here. {1 entry}
• ·         Tweet about this giveaway with a link to this blog post, then leave a comment with a copy/paste of your tweet.  {1 entry}
• ·         Share this giveaway via Facebook with a link to this post and leave a comment here.  {1 entry}

Good luck and happy entering!

Disclosure:  I was not compensated for this review.  This post reflects MY opinions only.  Vaclo Baby provided the universal cup holder for review and for the giveaway.