Sippy Cups

Now that I have some experience, here's the report on sippy cups.

You do not want the Nuby valve-free sippy cups while breastfeeding! To open the silicone valve, the child bites the valve. Yeah, I don't think I need to say more. After some chewing on the valve, it's no longer drip-free. I discovered this all over my lap while driving out.

You do not want any sippy with a snap-on lid (ours is also Nuby). You want a lid that screws down so the lid doesn't pop off when the child drops it.

Speaking of dropping, you want a sippy valve that's hard to install because you do not want the valve falling out when the cup is dropped. It's a bonus if the valve's easy to replace (you can buy more).

What we like best are the Circo sippy cups from Target that are never in stock around here. For night-time drinking, Karston prefers the Circo sippy with two handles (the model for younger children). Second place, at least if you already have Avent bottles, is an Avent bottle with the Avent Non-Spill Soft Spout. Karston likes the soft spout better than the hard one, and that seems fair to me. You'll also want the handles to go with the spouts. The Avent dome lid should help if it wants to leak during travel. One nice feature of the Avent spouts is that you can separate the valve into two parts to clean it out. (I finally learned why people buy pulp-free orange juice, a product I thought had no redeeming features: it's so that you don't have to clean pulp out of the sippy valve!)

We'll try the Nalgene sippy bottle soon.

After 12 to 18 months, sippy cups are a convenience to prevent messes; Karston can drink from a cup, and sometimes prefers that. On the other hand, he also pours what's in a cup other places, too. (He only gets water in a cup.)