Friday, February 20, 2009

Searching For The Perfect Sippy Cup

(a.k.a Toddler's Holy Grail)

Searching for a safer sippy cup was not as easy as I originally thought it would be. I wanted a sippy cup that can be used in the microwave as well, as this is the easiest way they warm up the milk at the day care. The best to use in microwave would be a glass-made sippy cup but there is no such thing (due to various reasons, not least toddler's ability to smash unbreakable things). I could not find a sippy cup that I could use in a microwave (I do not use plastic) and I ended up asking the teacher to warm the milk in a glass and then pour it in the sippy cup provided.

My choice was based on the fact that I do not want to use a sippy cup with plastic containing BPA and based on the choices made for bottles (I have used only glass bottles) I did not want to use any plastic at all. So I ended up reviewing the stainless steel sippy cups.

Kleen Kanteen - made from stainless steel; the lid is made from polypropylene. The toddler size is 12 oz. and it costs around $18. This is the one I ended up buying. Some problems I had with this bottle are those it dents very easily when dropped and is leaking when shaken upside down (and my kid is doing this a lot). Otherwise, my toddler liked it a lot, although it looks like he will go pretty fast through the sippy cup period since he learns and likes it more to drink from a cup.

SIGG – made from aluminum with baked enamel interior (a water-based resin which does not contain BPA) and powder paint exterior, and the cap is made from polypropylene. SIGG looks very cute and stylish. The toddler bottles are coming in 0.3 liter and 0.6 liter sizes and costs about $20.

THERMOS – made from stainless steel, thermoplastic elastomer, and polypropylene. The toddler size is 7 oz. and it costs about $15. Some friends of mine are using these for their kids and their kids are very happy with it.


Polypropylene is considered safe (although one study is questioning this fact) and there are many brands switching from polycarbonate to polypropylene. Polypropylene is labeled PP and/or #5 (its recycling number) and often you find this information on the bottom of the bottle but I saw it displayed on the bottle as well. If you plan to use a bottle made from polypropylene make sure that you never put it in the microwave to warm up liquid. Use it for water, juice or other liquids that do not need to be warm. Some examples of PP #5 brands that are making sippy cups are: Avent, Parents, Munchkin, Born free, Sassy Mam, etc. You can find more information about plastic on a post I wrote earlier.

6 comments:

Meetthekellys said...

Thanks for bringing awareness to this. Sometimes I feel like I am the only Mom with a toddler that carry's a canteen for a cup. I use both sigg and Klean Kanteen for my whole family. The 12 oz size canteens on greenfeet.com are a great price and perfect size for both my kids.

Unknown said...

I have a client that makes BPA-free sippy cups and I'd love to tell you about them!

Sarah said...

I like the thermos ones...we have a klean Kanteen but my daughter likes her drinks warm and the body gets a little too warm to hold with the Klean Kanteen. We do still have some plastics (BAD I know) like the nalgene BPA free, they are just so practical...hard to toss. But I never put anything plastic in the micro.

Unknown said...

Laken (lakenusa.com) makes healthy aluminum and stainless steel water bottles that are CERTIFIED BPA-free. To be transparent, I represent Laken in public relations. This year, because of the increased health awareness of BPA products, Laken expanded it's line of children's bottles (not yet featured on their website, however you can pruchase them at REI or contact Laken directly for retail details).

Unknown said...

Are there silicone sippy cups? Perhaps there should be. As far as I know, speaking from a sex education background here, silicone is an extremely body-safe material, and greatly heat resistant. Also it is very durable against baby-teeth gnawing. ;)

Multi Me said...

I too, have gone down this path more than twice already and going on a 3rd to find a microwave safe sippy for larger milk volumes for my underweight (10 percentile) little girl. The Tilty is labeled micro safe, the nuby wash or toss plain sippy, and the Camelbak bite valves for toddlers as well (these are super cute, absolutely spill-proof, also available in stainless).