The Perfect Sippy Cup

 "My blessings are in front of me
It's not about the land
I'll never beat the view
From my front porch looking in

There's a carrot top who can barely walk
With a sippy cup of milk
A little blue eyed blonde with shoes on wrong
'Cause she likes to dress herself
And the most beautiful girl holding both of them
And the view I love the most
Is my front porch looking in, yeah"

-My Front Porch Looking In by Lonestar


I love this song and I laugh a little because I'm already thinking of how Jill is going to roll her eyes reading this post.  She is not a country music fan, at all.  I am.  I love the imagery of this song as it captures a special time in the singer's life.  You can see it can't you?  The little guy toddling around with his sippy cup?

The is my 3rd go round with a toddler clutching a sippy cup.  We've had many different kinds in our house over the years.  Some great, some useless.  Here's my take on some of the sippy cups that are out there, including my new personal favorite, dare I say it?  I've found the perfect sippy cup!

This was the first kind we ever had.  It is the Nuby gripper.  I liked it when we first had it.  We used it when my first son was about 4 months old.  What I liked about it was that even if he chewed on it he was getting water out of it.  This issue we ended up with was that it easily began to leak.  Every time he would shake it he could get water out of it.

We moved on to the Playtex sipper.  I really liked this cup.  It was easy to use and easy to clean.  I liked how the handles on it were part of the lid.  It had one removable part inside to keep it from leaking.  We did have to buy replacement valves as the originals wore out and would come out if the cup was dropped hard.  Unfortunately, we had bought these cups before all the sippy cups with BPA were recalled and had to get rid of them.  They do sell these style again BPA free. 

These Gerber cups are another kind we used before the BPA recall.  I liked that their stoppers were one valve only.  They were easy for my kids to hold too.

After the BPA recall we bought all new sippy cups.  My husband's one request was that we get all of the same kind of cups.  That way you aren't fiddling around looking for the right stopper to match the cup.  Because we bought about 10 cups at once, I wanted to find something that was cost effective.  These Nuby cups were great.  We used these until all of them were lost or broken.  I honestly thought these were the last of the sippy cups.

Until we got these.  These we picked up on the fly.  I went grocery shopping with my kids and forgot to bring snacks and drinks along.  I had picked up a chocolate milk to share and bought these cups to that they could share them and I could get through the shop.  These are the Gerber tossables.  They worked great for what we used them for.  We kept these in the car for the unexpected times of sippy cup needs.  I wouldn't buy them for every day.  They don't have a stopper so they do spill easily.  They are better for the older toddler or pre-schooler to use for that reason.

A lot of parents rave about these straw type of sippy cups.  I was given one as a shower gift for my second son.  Maybe it's just me, but I didn't get it.  I didn't love it.  My son found it frustrating, so we moved on.

These cups were another gift to us.  I was really hesitant about buying them myself.  They are from the First Years.  At first I thought they looked to fragile for toddlers or preschoolers to use.  I thought the top would come off if dropped.  So far I've been prooved wrong.  These aren't permanent cups.  They are made as 'tossables'.  We haven't tossed any yet, but they are showing their wear after a year of use.

Ahh the Avent Magic Cups.  I think my sippy cup drawer would be full of these if I could afford them.  My 2nd son has one that he has had a difficult time relinquishing to his baby sister.  We got the first one on offer for free from Avent after the BPA recall.  We found a second just this past week at Toys R Us for an incredible discount (it wasn't in its packaging).  I love these cups.  I've never had a problem with them leaking.  My kids have found them easy to use.  The only thing stopping me on these are the price.  Like other Avent products these are not budget friendly.

 

I went back to Gerber with my daughter. I like the Gerber products being one valve cups.  They are sold in packages of 2 which is great.  This model is the Gerber Graduate Cup.  I haven't had any issues with leaking.  The handles make it easy for my daughter to use.  I do wish that the lids would thread onto the cup so that the sippy part is centered when the lid is on tight.  One of the ones we have the sipppy part lines up exactly with the handle when the lid is on tight.  I loosen it just slightly to make it easier for my daughter to drink from, but otherwise I'm pretty happy with this cup.

 

As promised, my version of the perfect sippy cup!  This is the NUK sippy cup (part of the Gerber family).  It has a soft spout which makes it easy for a learner to use.   There is no stopper, but so far, no leaks either.  The greatest part for me, is that the handle can be adjusted easily.  I love that.  It's also the clear favorite of my daughter.  She gravitates to this cup.  I would definitely buy this one again.

And for your enjoyment (or just to get Jill's goat) Here's Lonestar with Front Porch Looking In - Enjoy!