Sippy Cup-It's a fine art

Maybe i over think things but i think there is a fine art to buying a sippy cup for your kids.  


I try and buy cups that will last.  Cups we can use now that aid in development and will go with us through all these growing stages.  So here are some of the reason it takes me SO long to buy a sippy cup! 

•  My Bug has learned that if the "nipple" on the cup is soft he can turn it upside down on his table or even using his hand and all the liquid will come rushing out so he can play in it. So i no longer buy soft top cups. 

• I personally have issues with cups that have to many curves and nooks b/c they dont get clean. A lot of cups also come with the extra guards inside to help the flow of liquid come out and prevent leaking.  When your not the only one washing sippy cups then you have to show everyone how to wash it or else mold grows in them and lets face it mold in a cup when he is drinking is no good at all. 

• Just because the cup says spill proof and leak proof doesn't mean that it wont.  Trust me i have a destructo boys boy who knows there is liquid inside and he is gonna do all he can (before he gets bored) to try and get it out.

•  The little "extra's" are some times to much but they help me so the Bug cant turn his cup over and shake out all the liquid.  Its also gotta with stand the occasional leaving it on the carpet half full on its side with out leaving a puddle on my carpet!

• Insulation is also good too.  My bug s on Lactose free milk and i promise you it seems that milk goes sour faster than any milk i EVER drank in my life. SO all i can do to keep it fresh and cool i will.  

• Straws we are not to into.  I have tried and i have a new cup he seems to be getting fond of but straws aren't so good for us b/c he wants to tip his cup upward and take all his goodness to the head, and with cups that have straws that's the worst thing to do b/c you get no juice! SO we are learning but frustration comes way quicker than the want to keep trying and learning.  

• Colored cups are also great.  My Bug KNOWS the color of milk vs. water and if he can see that the liquid is water he will not touch the cup.  If he cant see its water then i have a good chance of him sipping it at least two times to taste it before he ignores the cup.  Him being smart enough to associate certain cups with certain liquids unless he see's you pour in a different liquid that's a whole 'nother Oprah. 

• Cant be to bulky.  The bugs little big hands need to grip his cup, if he cant grip it he wont use it. 

• Some of the tops on cups have a plastic coating on them, which matters.  Because over time the wear and tear with the cup falling being drug across the walls etc. will make that plastic coasting start to fall off.  Which really sucks b/c the cup just doesn't look bad but the plastic just peels in rolls and then that is almost impossible to clean and traps germs, and allows mold to grow. Of course this always happens right around the spout. 

• If possible cute counts too.  We are into trains and cars so a cup where he knows the characters or the colors he can associate better and get a little attached to which he then doesn't just throw around.  We have a train cup and that cup he will hold and not throw out the stroller. 

OK i know this blog was a wee-bit long but these are my top ten things i try to keep in mind when i am buying a sippy cup.  I know i tend to over think things but i've wasted a bunch of  money on sippy cups and if i can help someone by planting little seeds that might help them in the future and save you 5.99 a cup i definitely do not mind sharing!