As a mom of a one-year-old who finds great pleasure in tossing everything from her high chair and stroller, the Lil Sidekick Multipurpose Tether ($10.95) is a welcome addition to to our home. Previously, I was constantly finding myself wiping off dirty cups and teething toys after they hit the ground, or worse, losing them altogether on our walks. Lil’ Sidekick has been great at tethering my daughter’s cups and toys so that they aren’t lost.
I find it particularly useful for tethering sippy cups to the high chair or toys like Sophie Giraffe to the car seat or stroller. It’s also a great thing to use at the grocery store—I even tethered a banana to the cart to keep her satisfied while I shopped. I can see it being used to add more toys to a playmat for younger babies or to keep a favorite stuffed animal inside the crib instead of out. It’s not just for baby either because I’ve used it to secure my phone to her carrier when I took a walk and didn’t have pockets.
The grip tabs can’t easily be undone by a child, but I found they were sometimes even hard for me to undo. It took a few tries of playing with it to get the hang of how to easily secure one end of the tether to her chair and another to a cup.
My daughter also likes to use the Lil’ Sidekick alone as a teething toy and it has a good texture for chewing. Finally, I appreciate how easy it is to wash. Some of the fabric-based tethers get pretty grimy, but this one was easy to wipe down or pop in the dishwasher.
If you’re looking for an easy way to keep wayward cups and toys (or even your own phone) close, Lil’ Sidekick is a good choice and I recommend it to fellow parents who want to keep items within their child’s reach and not lose them to the grimy floor or sidewalk.