(Roll over the image to see the name of the cup)
The search for the perfect sippy is a little like the search for the perfect pair of jeans. So many Nos and so few Yesses.
You want one that’s easy for baby to handle and drink from, one that’s free of BPA and other nasty stuff, one that doesn’t leak, one that’s easy to clean, and one that fits your budget. You probably also want one that you can buy replacement valves and/or tops for. Whew!
There are dozens of styles to choose from, so to narrow it down, I polled over 450 BC readers about 19 popular cups and ask them to rate them according to the following criteria:
- Easy for Kiddo to Use
- Easy to Clean
- Easy to Find Replacement Parts
- Budget-friendly
- Leakproof
The Results
The four most popular cups overall were as follows (in this order). I’ve linked to the cups at Amazon so that you can take a closer look.
- First Years Take and Toss Cups (Under $1 ea.)
- The Playtex Insulator Cup ($5 to $6 ea.)
- The Nuby No-Spill Cup ($5 to $6 ea.)
- Nuk First Choice Learner Cup (around $6)
The Playtex First Sipster (around $4 ea.), The Gerber Graduates BPA Free Fun Grips Soft Starter Spill Proof Cup (around $5), and the Tommee Tippee Cup ($8 to $9 ea.) were also popular.
The Thermos Foogo (around $13 ea.) and the Kleen Kanteen (around $12 ea.) were the most popular stainless steel cups.
- Overall, the most leakproof cups, according to readers who responded to the poll, are the Playtex First Sipster and Playtex Insulator, followed by the Gerber Graduates BPA Free Fun Grips Soft Starter Spill Proof cup and the Tommee Tippee cup.
- The First Years Take and Toss cups, the Playtex Insulator, the Gerber Graduates cup and the Tilty cup (around $5) were the easiest for kids to use.
- The Take and Toss cups, Thinkbaby cup (around $9), and Tilty Cup were the easiest to clean.
- The Take and Toss cups are also the cheapest, at under $1 each.
- When it comes to finding replacement parts, readers gave the highest scores to the Playtex cups.
- As far as durability goes, the stainless steel cups score high, not surprisingly. The Playtex cups also fare well. The Tommee Tippee cup scored well, too.
Related: Straw Cup Showdown Results: And the Winner Is…
take & toss cups are evil, if your children happen to enjoy throwing their cups on the floor.
I can’t wait for straw sippy info. The perfect sippy is so hard to find!!
The best straw cup, by FAR, is the Lollacup. It was featured on a recent episode of Shark Tank. AWESOME, no leaking, weighted straw (so it stays in the liquid, even if your kid tilts the cup). Best cup EVER!!!! It’s available on-line at: lollacup.com.
We use take and toss at home because that’s what they use at daycare too, and my daughter just go to a point where if she didn’t recognize it as a sippy she wouldn’t drink from it (she’s always been that stubborn about stuff like that). They’ve been pretty durable, provided you make sure they are secured well when in a dishwasher (otherwise: melty mess).
For more in depth reviews, ZRecs did a sippy cup showdown in 2009 in all divisions (baby, toddler, straw, etc)
http://www.zrecommends.com/detail/zrecs-2009-sippy-cup-showdown-baby-and-toddler-division/
http://www.zrecommends.com/category/2009-sippy-cup-showdown
I couldn’t complete the survey (site was blocked at work). I am surprised that born free sippies are not on the list. We have used them with 3 children. There are a lot of parts, but they work so well and don’t drip. Just my 2 cents.
The best sippy cup EVER in my humble opinion is Nalgene Grip N Gulp. Got ours from Target for around $8 each. Pricey for a sippy, but it DOES NOT LEAK. Extremely durable, the easiest to clean I’ve ever used, no tiny crevices to scrub, one simple piece valve to plug into the lid, fits in cupholders… I could go on and on. These are now the only sippy cups I’ll ever buy.
I honestly can’t believe the Take N Toss scored that high. Cheap? Yes. But I have a cup thrower, and every. single. time. she threw one of those, the top popped off and I was mopping up a mess.
i LOVE Take & Toss. Maybe there aren’t a lot of cup throwers?
My daughter threw hers all the time and the lid never came off. We have hardwood floors too, so it’s not like she was dropping them on carpet. They dripped out the spout a bit when thrown, but that’s it. Luckily she’s out of that phase now.
My daughter also throws her cups, and the lid has never popped off. Granted, you have to make sure you sealed it properly to begin with, but it’s not that hard to do.
I am not an idiot. Yes, it is easy to seal the take and toss properly….my kid still threw them and the lid still popped off….hardwood floors, carpets, concrete. Maybe my kid just has a really good arm and a really strong throw.
I was going to say the same thing. LOVE our nalgenes, and have never had a problem with them.
My son has a swallowing disorder. His therapist recommends using the Take & Toss Straw cups, exclusively! It promotes the best head down suck/swallow/breathe technique for proper swallowing.
We are always on a quest.
I recently bought a couple Nuby’s because my daughters friend loves them. They were only $2 something at Walmart. Glad to see they scored so well. So keep an eye out, you can find them cheap!
I use Nalgene bottles for myself and was impressed how my son was able to easily drink from it at 6 months! Sippy cups didnt work for us bc he was solely breastfed and didn’t take to a bottle. The soft spout was great for gnawing on during teething phase, easy to wash, bpa free and virtually unbreakable and leak free!
Thanks for gathering this information! Sippy/Trainer cups happen to be the bane of our parenting these days. We’ve tried so many. Thankfully, a few of them have come from family so the expenditure was less.
I used playtex ones with my now 8 year old and I just started using playtex with my 8 month old.
They are the best on the market.
i have a two year old still drinking out of a bottle but does drink out of a sippy cup the only thing he has trouble trying to drink out through a straw im trying to find a good size sippy cup but u pay alot for a nice size sippy cup but they end up leaking when they say leak proof