Sippy Cups

Archived Q&A and reviews ▼

Archived Q&A and Reviews

Questions

Bisphenol-A free sippy cups

Feb 2008

I'm looking for a good sippy cup for my 20 month old son that is bisphenol-A free and doesn't leak too much. Non- plastic would be preferable. We tried Avent Magic Cups and found that they leaked too much. I've read some bad reviews of Born Free training cups and Foogo sippy cups (leaking issues). I would love to try a Sigg bottle but I highly doubt that my son could use them unassisted. I may have my standards set too high for something as trivial as a sippy cup but if anyone has any suggestions or reviews, I'd appreciate your feedback! Trying to be plastic free

Playtex sippies are made of safe plastic. To be extra safe don't put them in your dishwasher and wash all plastics by hand. Here's a link to a good, comprehensive document that lists bad and good plastics with regards to baby bottles and sippies. http://www.healthobservatory.org/library.cfm?refid=77083 anon

I've seen stainless steel Kleen Kanteen bottles with a sippy-cup screw-on top. The top is plastic, though. Not sure if that meets your needs. I've seen them at Elephant Pharmacy on Shattuck. CC

We have a klean kanteen that has an adapter so it uses avent sippy cup spouts. We haven't had any problems with leaking (like we did with the avent sippy cups). I got mine at the sports basement in SF, but here is a link about the product. http://www.kleankanteen.com/2products/klean-kanteen-12oz.html love my sippy cups

I purchased an expensive set of Born Free toddler cups and was very disappointed. They leaked horribly (as I found out at the start of a 9 hour plane ride when my son soaked himself). I contacted the company several times to return them and could not get a response.

What did work like a charm was a Sigg bottle with a ''kids grip'' handle. You can buy these on the Sigg website www.MySigg.com under the Accesories section.

If you are concerned about plastic chemicals leaching into food or water, I would also recommend handwashing all of your child's plastic cups in mild detergent - the hot water of a dishwasher can break down the plastic. Lisa

You don't want bisphenol-A in your sippy cups, but someone recommended a Sigg bottle. Sigg bottles are lined with an epoxy liner which contains Bisphenol-A. Whether or not this BPA will leach into the liquids is debatable. I would use advent or Klean Kanteens with a sippy attachment. The Berkeley Ecology Center on San Pablo also carriers small Klean Kanteens with sippy attachments. (I actually wrote an article about BPA in cans which you can find here: http://www.ecologycenter.org/terrain/article.php?id=13599) Andrea

one of the responses to this question said: ''Sigg bottles are lined with an epoxy liner which contains Bisphenol-A.'' I looked all over the web for evidence of this and even called Sigg... this is simply false. ''All SIGG bottles are made of aluminum and are coated with a water-based, BPA-free epoxy resin.'' - according to their website... They contain NO BPA... anon

I found this review of BPA-free sippys helpful: http://zrecs.blogspot.com/2007/05/sippy-cup-showdown-safer-bpa-free-sippy.html

The good news is you don't have to spend the big bucks on a Sigg or Kanteen. Both Avent and MAM (by Sassy) have BPA-free sippys.

But I was won over by another pricey option, the Safe Sippy (http://www.thesafesippy.com/). Last I looked they are hard to come by but when available you can find them at Rockridge Kids and Oh Baby Baby (call ahead!). I liked this better than the Sigg because when that tips on its side, the contents spill out. Safe Sipper

A Stackable Sippy Cup?

April 2007

Our kitchen cupboards are being taken over by sippy cups. Help! I've been looking everywhere for stackable sippy cups to help consolidate the chaos. Has anyone found a good sturdy sippy cup that will stack and can go through the dishwasher? I'd like to get a bunch of the same one and donate all the other ones that are piled up everywhere. I prefer the type without a straw. Thanks! sippy mom

I don't know if they are still available, but ours (long ago) were from Tupperware. We still have them. They stack, and are easily washed in the dishwasher. They are ''old style'' - that is, no valves - so they do drip somewhat if tipped. First Years also made a similar cup. R.K.

What worked best for us is a sippy cup basket on top of the fridge. Out of sight, all the parts in one spot & no worries about taking up so much space.

Both the cups we use are stackable: the Tommee Tippee Easiflow Tumbler (http://www.babybungalow.com/totieatu12tw.html) and the First Years Take and Toss Spillproof Cups (at every drugstore & Target). The First Years cups are cheaper, stack more efficiently, and have lasted about a years worth of dishwasher washings so far, but are a pretty flimsy. The Easiflow Tumbler is much more sturdy, but doesn't stack quite as efficiently.

I know you said you didn't want a straw, but as an aside, I emailed Tommee Tippee directly with a question about just buying their straw lids (my daughter likes drinking out of the hole for the straw) and although they don't sell them separately they quickly mailed me two (from Hong Kong, no less!) free-of-charge. Can't beat that customer service! my cups are stacked, but the chaos remains

The best, easiest to find stackable sippy cups are the ''Lose or Reuse'' ones from the First Years. They are very cheap too, hence the name. The cups and the tops both stack together. They are available at Target and most other places. They have no valves but somehow don't drip. anon

Non Leaky sippy cup

April 2005

I am looking for a great sippy cup for my toddler, mainly one that doesn't leak. Do you have any suggestions?

Soggy Backpack

I've never found one that doesn't leak entirely, but I have found that wrapping a folded paper towel around the top prior to putting it in the lunch box or back pack works wonders. Good Luck!

Soggy backpack no more! Defintely get the Gerber sippy cup. It comes in a 6oz size (I think) and a 12. It has a little white plug that goes into the top. There are no illustrations on these cups. They come in different colors (small cups are light green, blue, red and translucent, and the tops are yellow or orange. The large are not translucent). The small ones are sold 2/package. I promise that it will not leak in your backpack even if it's upside down. You can purchase them at most drugstores. been there

Try a straw cup from Munchkin. They make cups with Sponge Bob and Dora the Explorer on them. They leak very little, and are really easy for kids to sip. I found both at Costco. Stephanie

We've been very happy with the Playtex sippy cups. They do not leak, unlike the others we've tried. And the no-sip mechanism is easy to use. Avent is another brand to consider, if you happen to have used their bottles during infanthood. Like Playtex, they do not leak. Instead of inserting a nipple, you insert the sippy cup pieces. I like Avent, but my husband thinks there are too many small pieces to take apart when washing. Leslie

seems to me the secret to sippy cups not being drippy cups are the rubber inserts (sometimes plastic) my favorites are sold at raleys and have a handle on either side. laytex brand sippys, not drippys

Heatable kids sippy cups?

Oct 2004

My DD likes to drink her milk slightly warmed up (which I have done in the past by putting the milk-filled bottom part of a small Avent baby bottle into the microwave for 20-30 seconds, then shaking it with the lid on to distribute the warmth evenly).

Now that she is graduating to ''big-kid'' sippy cups, I found that most models out there don't seem the heatable kind. (In fact, one manufacturer answered my email by saying theirs is not even dishwasher-safe.)

At home, I've resorted to heating the milk in a regular cup, then pouring it into the kiddie cup; that's not an option for daycare though. With the colder season approaching, I'd like my DD to have some warm liquid there too, though.

Is there any brand learner/sippy cup out there that can safely (without damage to the material or harmful chemicals emitting into the fluid) stand mild, brief microwave heating?

Warm thoughts

sadly, I don't actually have a recommendation for a heatable sippy cup, as I am currently hating sippy's right now (who can get those valves clean?...that's another topic) but for daycare, why not send the heated milk in a thermos for the providers to pour into the sippy when it's time to drink it? -I need a better sippy too!

We bought a pack of 4 many years ago at Toys R Us, made by The First Years. (Another pack of cups that look the same say ''Tupperware'' on the bottom...we got them at Toys R Us too, though.) We have warmed up milk in them nightly for many years! 50 seconds, no top, stir in some Nestle's Quick....yumm! worked for us

Recent studies have shown that you really shouldn't microwave plastic. Our daughter only drinks warm milk too so we now heat up her milk in a pyrex measuring cup and pour it into the sippy. Could you daycare swing that?

If not, we used to have a bottle warmer that was handy. You broke a seal and the gel got hard and warmed the cup up in about 5 mins. Problem is that you had to boil the warmer to return it to the gel state so it was really only good for one use until you were able to boil it again.

Sippy cups with lids

April 2004

I have perused the aisles at Target, K-Mart and Albertsons looking for a sippy cup with a lid. The ones with the fold down spouts seem to difficult for my one year old. He can pull the caps off his bottle, so Im thinking he could do the same with a sippy cup, but either way I'd like to find one with a lid, so I can just throw it in my purse or the diaper bag. Lori

Try Avent. We have one with a lid - you can also get add-on handles. Still leaks but not nearly as much as our other sippy cups, and the lid is tight enough that my 19 month old son needs help getting it off. We've also lost the lid before, and the Avent baby bottle lids fit the sippy cup as well Jen

Easy to Clean Sippy Cups

July 2001

I wonder if there is an easy-to-clean toddler's sippy-cups. The models we are using (Playtex snap'n'go and Gerber's 6oz semi-transparent cups) have sharp and deep corners under the cap where neither a toothbrush nor cotton swaps would reach. So how do you deal with the growing dark-colored yukkie stuff under the cap? Are there any other models in the market that are easier to clean? Thanks. Cherry

I had the same problem and I could not find any other cup on the market (atleast the places I looked) that avoided this problem. What worked for me was soaking the lid and the valve in warm soapy water overnight, and the next day cleaning the lid by covering part of the water faucet in the sink with my finger, which increases the water pressure out of the remaining uncovered portion and literally blasting the gunk out. Once I started doing this the gunk stopped collecting. The best way to clean the valve itself is with a soapy cotton swab, but I'm sure you know that. Hope this works for you. Richa

For the Gerber cup we use a toothpick to clean the crevices of both the cap and the plug (i.e, inside by the rubber valve). Yes, a very irritating design. Amy