Cups

[Carolinamidwife]

What kinds of cups are your toddlers using? Spill proof/sippy cups to be exact. I can't remember what the "safer" plastic brands are...

TIA!

[boongirl]

Playtex

[mermommy]

we use playtex too - the cups ( tall insulated ones are what we use the most - but there were smaller insulated and smaller non insulated cups too) are #5 plastic.

The problem I have with them is that there are tiny tiny crevices by the drinking spout that are a P.I.T.A. to clean.

[boongirl]

My dishwasher cleans the cups fine. Drying is the PITA for me. They have to sit in the strainer so they get air and dry really well or they get moldy. But, we went through a period of trying them all and playtex are the cups that leak the least. They all leak a bit from their spouts. Plus, I needed some new lids and did not know where to get some (they are not for sale separately I found out) and the company sent me three for free!

[The4OfUs]

DS uses a rubbermaid sports bottle/plastic juice box type of thing with a straw instead of a spout...I could NOT get him to use a regular sippy cup for anything (I think it's because he didn't have bottles, and didn't get the concept of tipping his head back to get liquid), but he started using one of these things with water when he was about 7 months old....you can close the straw part to take it places, and unless it's totally full it doesn't leak when upside down (the straw opening is at the bottom so no liquid can get into it upside down unless it's full)...

Here's a link to the item, in case anyone is interested http://www.rubbermaid.com/hpd/consum...rdMenuIndex=10

DH said, "He's not going to be able to suck through a straw if he can't use a sippy cup", and I said, "Oh yeah?" I filled the straw up with water a few times holding my finger over the other end, and then let it go in his mouth as he sucked on it, so he'd get the idea. He got the hang of it the first day, and we never looked back - so there, DH! HA!

Oh yeah, he finally does use sippy cups now, but only when I run out of clean sport bottles!

Oh, I don't know if these are 'safe' plastic or not : , but we haven't had any issues.....

[bobica]

dd uses this from Avent for the most part, and this straw cup from munchkin- first b/c it has dora & it really doesn't leak .

[nonnymoose]

My son uses the Munchkin straw cups, too (with SpongeBob instead of Dora, though). He never did like regular sippy cups, and they leak too much.

[MamaScout]

I am super concerned about plastic, so I got DS this:

http://www.northernmountain.com/detail/SIGGFunnyHorse

It does have a plastic spout, but IMO, a little plastic is better than alot of plastic. It is a wee expensive, but we have only one and I wash it every day. It seems when I was using "cheaper" sippies, I was always losing them and forgetting them somewhere. With this one, I am more aware of keeping tabs on it since it's not as easy to replace.

He took to it immediately, and doesn't have a problem drinking from it.

My DH and I also have the larger size SIGG bottles and we love them!!

[Pandora114]

I second the Rubbermaid one. They are inexpensive, reusable, and Rubbermaid also makes big ones that you can take on outings for the whole family to drink out of *We have no concerns about cooties*

I just keep a rubbermaid straw box filled with water for DD to sip on throughout the day. before I discovered those she was getting woefully dehydrated because she wouldn't want to stop for a drink from a cup. *She had to sit and drink from a break proof uncovered cup* Now she can grab her straw box take a sip and keep on keepin on, it's great!

[Carolinamidwife]

So is it #5 plastic that is OK?

And I thought SIGG bottles have a questionable liner? I know the Kleen Kanteen folks are coming out with a smaller bottle but I need some stuff now. I bought Avent cups and then I found out they were A. Bad plastic and B. A pain in the butt with all their little pieces.

I wish we had a nice list of all the OK plastic cups.

[Ilovelife]

From my research, plastics #2, 4, & 5 are "safe". Both the playtex cups & the rubbermaid straw plastic juice box fall into one of those categories, although I'm not sure about the actual straw or the sippy cup valve itself. They will both work without these parts, though, although the playtex will leak if the valve isn't in. The Rubbermaid doesn't leak, but dd likes to squeeze it, which makes the water (that's mostly what she drinks) come out. She pretends she's putting lotion on

I can't wait until Kleen Kanteen starts its kids line.

[lizard]

we use the rubbermaid straw cups too. he never took a bottle, so it took him a while
to figure out the regular sippy cups. they do leak when he turns them upside down and
shakes them (he's probably squeezing it when he does it).

[Carolinamidwife]

Thank you!

I don't care if it spills a little, she's only drinking water. My main issues are plastic weirdness and ease of use and cleaning.

[lisap]

Plastic scares me so DD uses stainless steel cups we got from an Indian grocery store. She will use a plastic water bottle (#2 is ok, right) if we go out (or a glass in a restaurant).

[chrfath]

My DD is using the spill proof straw cups. Much better positioning for oral motor development.

[starbarrett]

here, here for the straw cups. DD would sip from the sippy cups, but not drink from them in a way that made me satisfied that she was getting enough liquids. She just guzzles water from the straw cups.

I use the rubbermaid ones, 'cause they're so convenient on-the-go. I'll have to check out the munchkin ones, though, they look cool. I wish Nalgene made kid friendly products; I worry about unstable plastics, too.

[MamaScout]

starbarrett~

I used to be positively addicted to my Nalgene because I thought it was the *safe* plastic, but then I read this....

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...NGNECVGQT1.DTL

Just wanted to share.