sippy cup madness

[MommyDOK]

I'm pulling my hair out here. How do you guys keep track/organize your sippy cups? We started w/ avent, playtex, and nuk. Realized the playtex worked the best for us so I bought TWO cups. I figured, two children, two cups. How hard could that be?
Well, then we went on a trip and left one at home, so I bought two more (in a package). Well now I can only find one in our house. This is driving me nuts. I feel like strapping the cup to their belts.

It's not an option to go w/out cups, so please help me survive w/ sippy cup madness.

[annethcz]

I've bought tons of sippy cups, because they do tend to disappear. We just have a huge stash of the simple 7oz First Years basic sippy cup. They look like this:
http://www.thefirstyears.com/product...sp?pValue=1664

They are inexpensive, but not disposable. Any top can fit on any cup. They're not spillproof, but our kids only drink water, so that's not an issue.

[miss_sonja]

I have a kitchen drawer with all the kid dishes. They can get their own, and it keeps everything in one place. I just toss everything in there. Every once in a while I match the lids with cups and toss what doesn't have a mate. We don't use the valves anymore, but they're still in there...gotta give those away.

I had bad luck with the first years cups; the lids come off too easily. good for water only, imho.

[ollineeba]

I'm in the same boat.. sippy cups can be aggravating!
I don't even know where some of ours go.. they disappear, never to be found again. But then occasionally, I do find one in a weird spot (bathtub, on my pillow)
I, too, am on the search for the best sippy cup, so we also have many different cups, valves, tops- of course most of them aren't interchangeable, so that drives DH nuts.

[Aeress]

I am phasing out the sippy cups becuase they are driving me nuts. i bought my dd's ceramic mugs that are just their size. I am then keeping just 4more cups for dd's. otherwise, they are everywhere!

[Penelope]

I use a muffin tin (laid flat in the cabinet) to keep track of them - the bottoms just have to fit in the muffin tin, obviously. Now that they have a home, I lose fewer *inside* the house. Outside the house, where one might need a sippy cup the most, another story...

[annettemarie]

I got rid of most of them. I have 2 SIGG bottles for each kid, and a handful of the throwaway cups. They stack nicely in the cupboard and I keep all the lids in a shoebox-sized plastic box.

Penelope, I'm loving the muffin tin idea!

[J-Max]

double post

[J-Max]

Originally Posted by miss_sonja

I have a kitchen drawer with all the kid dishes. They can get their own, and it keeps everything in one place. I just toss everything in there. Every once in a while I match the lids with cups and toss what doesn't have a mate. We don't use the valves anymore, but they're still in there...gotta give those away.

I had bad luck with the first years cups; the lids come off too easily. good for water only, imho.

me too!

I did this when I was on bed rest with #2 and had a 4 year old home with me all day. It works really well

[BabyBumblebee]

Those are such great ideas - dd's cups are driving me around the bend. Bottom line is, I have to get rid of some too...I know that I don't have the right valves for a few, so maybe that will be the starting point

[Penelope]

Originally Posted by annettemarie

Penelope, I'm loving the muffin tin idea!

It started because I had a stray muffin tin that got misplaced in the cupboard where I keep sippy cups. Who am I to argue with providence?

[MommyDOK]

If anyone has any playtex valves for sale I'll buy them! I used to get them at target, but I haven't seen them the last few trips.

The first years cups are cute, but my dd loves to make the water come out of them. That's why we use the playtex ones---she can't get the water out. Avents are good too, but too many parts.

[1growingsprout]

sippy cups

i buy all one kind, GERBER... that way all the tops and valves fit... the same goes for bottles... ONE TYPE... gerber
i also do this for the older kids sports type bottles... rubbermaid
i have a huge plastic mixing bowl that everything (tops and valves, nipples) go in, the cup/bottle portion gets in the cupboard...

**if mama aint happy aint no one happy***

[singlemomto3]

try some that don't have seperate valves, like nuk at walmart for 1.67 spillproof, yet no seperate valvepiece

[Free Thinker]

UGH!! I used to have the same problem. I also had WAY too many sippy cups, so a few months back I sold all the avent ones (too many pieces) and went to 4 gerber ones w/ spill proof parts (2 for each kid) and then I had a 4-pack of the first years ones posted above in the link. I would LOVE to get another set of the non-spillproof ones, but I can't seem to find them anywhere around here.

[mamapixie]

I do have some spare playtex valves. I'm on the way to purging all sippy cups, for now, they reside in a drawer in my kitchen. DS uses Avent and Playtex cups.

As for losing them, I had a recliner that "ate" things. I was on a rampage one day, trying to find a missing sippy cup, because I knew it had milk in it. Sure enough, that chair had eaten it. I was so happy when the chair became un-repairable so i could put it out on the corner.

And there's always toy boxes, dirty clothes hampers, under the couch, behind the entertainment center, etc. I've found sippy cups everywhere.

[ollineeba]

Originally Posted by singlemomto3

try some that don't have seperate valves, like nuk at walmart for 1.67 spillproof, yet no seperate valvepiece

I wish I had tried those before we bought them. They don't work for us~ they leaked & are very prone to getting holes in the spout (I think dd must bite them or something?).

[Adamsmama]

Ughh--I have the same problem. I finally switched over to all Playtex, too. I just keep them all in the cabinet with drinking cups (I match up the lids/valves out of the dishwasher so they are ready to go). We always lose ours in our car. We have so many (probably 10-12 sippys for 2 kids) that whenever we get low we go out to the car and find a bunch under the seats (the kids throw them and they roll).

[wawap]

I'm so anal about them after finding one that was old & moldy... I pumped a lot so we had one of those bottle drying rack-thingys. They usually live there. I'm working on phasing them out, but he really loves them. I'd love to get him switched over to ceramic or enamel mugs/cups, but it's not gonna happen anytime soon. I can't stand all the pieces & parts for much longer.

[SaraMama]

We have a bunch in several different brands. I match up all the lids/valves/cups as I take them out of the dishwasher. I keep them in the cupboard next to where our regular glasses are.

I've gotten to the point now that I give them each one cup a day. If they want more to drink they have to bring me their cup. If they can't find them we go on a hunt for them right then. I HATE finding 2 or 3 day old milk in a sippy cup. *blech* I do usually have to fish them out from under the seats in the car when we get home from wherever.

Although no one else is as anal as I am about it (DH, grandparents, etc), so if someone else has been here with them instead of me it's likely that each kid has 2 or 3 cups strewn all around the house. Then I have to go on a hunt for them before I run the dishwasher...

That is a really good idea about keeping them in a drawer where the kids can reach them. My 4 yo climbs in a kitchen chair to reach them right now since he can pour his own drinks. I think I'll go move them right now - I do have a drawer that is semi-empty!