We have the bottom two here (learning curve and take-n-toss). Although I appreciate your review of how well they travel, our primary use is for here at home and they do quite well for us.  My daughter loves the learning curve cup because it has Minnie on the front and because it has a soft-spout, reminding her of the bottle that we recently weaned her from.

As for the first years cups, I like the fact that they are cheap and a safe plastic for the kids.  They work great for mealtimes and I don’t “toss” them until they are well used and scratched-up.

Again, thanks for the reviews, I’m anxiously waiting for more!

I agree with Anna - we use the Take N Toss line of products daily.  The cups suit our needs very well and my daughter had no problems switching to them.  The other thing that I like is that the tops are interchangeable with other size cups.  We started with the training cups and now have the full size cups and the lids fit on both.  Also the medium size lids (for snack/bowls) fit on the cups and we go that route when transporting water or snacks.  Safe plastic, not expensive, easy to clean.  I wish these had scored better!!  OH well - they work for us!  Can’t wait to see what performed better.

I agree with Anna and AJsMomma about the Take N Toss. My daughter is just beginning to use a sippy cup and neither she nor I have had any problems with these. For us also, we only use sippy cups at home; I think infants and young toddlers are still at an age where a bottle or breast would be used for any travel. I also love that they store so easily because the cups and lids can stack with each other - not so for the more complicated sippy cups, which would eat up a lot of my previous little cabinet space. But to each his own!

These are all great points, everyone - please keep them coming as we pan and pick other sippys and you have thoughts of your own to share. In fact, you’ve inspired us to cook up a little activity for the end of this series as well! More on that in a week…

We’ve also done well with the Take’n’Toss cups. They actually manage not to leak under most situations, including being flung to the floor. My diaper bag has moderately sturdy cup holders, so we don’t usually have a squish problem; alternatively, we often use a Sigg or similar on outings. The cheap sippies that Walgreens sells that my mother thought were Take’n’Toss? Those really highlight the virtues of T’n’T by being so, so very much leakier.

We have both the Safe Sippy and Take N Toss.
I must agree that the Safe Sippy is a pain to wash because of the sleeve. The directions say you can leave it on when washing but water gets in between and eventually gets slimy. The difficulty of taking off and putting back on the sleeve alone makes me not grab this sippy.

We use the Take N Toss cups extensively at home but do not use them for travel. I agree that they aren’t meant for travel, but for home they are great. Easy to put together, easy to clean with only 2 parts and cheap! I hate having to keep track of all the little silicone parts of other sippys and making sure they don’t drop down my sink.

We also have an Avent sippy cup but I think they are pretty ugly :)

We have also done quite well with the Take n’ Toss cups.  They are my son’s favorite sippy cup and I have had relatively few problems with them.

And of course they’ll leak if you shake them all over the place.

I agree the Take ‘n Toss cups are a great at home cups.  Several local restaurants serve kid’s drinks in their straw version.  I love that they stack, so they fit easily in a drawer.  They weren’t a good baby/young toddler cup for us though, we still have a couple that get used (lidless now) occasionally.

Kara - What do you mean when you say they weren’t a good baby/young toddler cup? That they are better for older toddlers and prescoolers? If so, how long did your kids benefit from cups with sippy spouts?

Well Henry was exclusively breastfed for about 6 months and never took a bottle, so the concept of drinking out of a cup took him a little bit of time to grasp.  We had better luck with soft spout cups in the beginning (like Nubbi). 

And yeah, I like the Take N Toss as a cup for older toddlers and preschoolers.  They’re great to have on hand for playgroups because someone always forgets to bring their cup and they’re cheap enough I don’t care if they take them with them or loose them out in the yard.  I think Henry used a sippy spout type cup until he was 3 or so. 

At the table he used an open top glass or ceramic cup starting around 2 1/2, but if he wanted water to roam about with we put a top on it, especially outside during the summer.

I agree with Kara on the Take n Toss not being a good baby/young toddler cup - it instantly reminded me of a picture I have of my 1 year old (at the time) son sitting in his high chair with milk all over the floor in front of him - he was so proud of himself when he threw the take n toss and it exploded everywhere - now I use those for my friend’s kids that come over and need a sippy to drink out of.

Ditto on all the Take n Toss points!  I agree that they weren’t the best sippies for babies to learn on, but once they figured out the whole concept, they’ve been great for my kids as early as 10MO.

One thing I’d like to see in the reviews is how leak-proof the sippies are once cold liquids start to get warm.  Even in the insulated sippies/straw cups, most of ours have started to leak at least a little bit, some (a 3YO Target straw cup) would be 100% leak-proof, until you uncapped it to drink & then the warmer liquid would shoot out of the straw...not fun when it’s milk.

My son, who is 3, uses the Take N’ Toss as well. When he’s sitting down for a meal, he uses an open cup, but when he wants to sit on the couch with a drink, we use the Take N’ Toss. We’ve taught him to keep it upright and treat it gently, but if he forgets, and puts it down sideways on the couch, I don’t have to worry about it leaking all over the place.

We also have the Safe Sippy. We bought one of the original ones, which I put in the diaper bag full of water, and was dismayed to find most of the water all over the inside of the diaper bag a short time later. We contacted the company, who said they had redesigned the valve, and we received a new one free of charge. However, this one still had a problem similar to the original one. We found that if you left the bottle on its side for a bit, and then turned it upside down, it leaked significantly.

We have a couple of these cups.  We use the Avent magic cups with our one-year old.  I love them. They have s super soft spout, so when he first had water a few months back when starting solids they were great.  He never had a bottle, so we wanted something soft to get him started!  We haven’t had any problems with leaks.  We have a small Klean Kanteen (12 oz) and the sippy spout part (though a harder material) is interchangeable with the Avent magic cup, which is why we initially looked into purchasing it.

We also have the take and toss, but would never consider giving it to the 1-year old without a dish towel nearby!  We got them on a trip for our then 2-yr old (now 3).  We use them occasionally for car travel and we put them in a cup holder when not in use, so no worries about spills.  They offer splash protection from bumps on car trips, but certainly aren’t meant to be turned upside down and shaken!  They have an open slit for the liquid to come out, which is actually great when we make fruit shakes for a breakfast on the go!

I totally agree with all of you who like the “take n’ toss” cups.  They are simple and easy to use. The ability to stack then in the cupboard is a major requirement in my small kitchen so I haven’t found another cup that offers the same space-saving feature.

We continue to be sorry that Z Recommends finds The Safe Sippy so unsatisfactory...but we are also mystified.  Most of their comments are very positive.  No leaking, great looks, stainless steel, a spout designed with the help of developmental experts, BPA free - indeed, TSS is one of the cups that ignited the BPA-free revolution.  We sincerely regret that two seemingly minor complaints have led to such harsh judgement.  The spout, for instance, was designed so that, when initially tilted away from the child, the cup is actually the easiest cup on the market to drink from… As for cleaning, TSS is and always has been lower rack dishwasher safe.  I’ve never had to clean a single one of our cups with a brush.  We hope readers will try our cup and discover its many benefits for themselves.

Sincerely, Bret Plate, CEO / Kid Basix

Although we have never tried the safe sippy I have only heard good things about them, especially from my children’s speech therapist who says they’re wonderful for mouth development.  I haven’t bought them since my children refuse the Sigg bottles because of the aluminum taste and I’m assuming they get the same taste.  The take n toss cups we happen to love for the house and yes they leak when shaken but at least my children could get to the drink without struggling.  Just don’t try their insulated take n toss cups, complete piece of garbage.  As soon as they are dropped the covers pop off and my one year old found that if you bang it hard enough on the highchair the cover will pop off too.

Does anyone know if the Avent had some kind of redesign within the last 3 years? We loved them and used them exclusively with my first son who is now 4. So, naturally that was the first sippy cup we bought for my second son, now almost 2 years old. But the dang thing leaked all over the place. It was horrible. It didn’t look any different than 2 years before, but it was useless.

Anyone else have comments about the Safe Sippy they’d like to share? We’re working on a video demonstrating our findings for this cup and some others, which we’ll publish next week.

I too love the Take and Toss sippies. I keep them on hand in case a friend forgets a cup. I also LOVE their sippy with the straw. We use these exclusively for smoothies and milkshakes (favorites at our house). The liquid will not squeeze through any of the other straw cups. Some straws bend at the top, and others are too narrow. Although we have other cups that our favorites, these are the only that can handle our (almost daily in the summer) fruity smoothies!

We have the Safe Sippy, and my daughter (13 mo) drinks from it easily. But, like your review states, taking the sleeve on and off for washing is a major pain in the behind. This is the main reason TSS is the last cup that I reach for in my cabinet.

Any chance you’ll be reviewing straw cups? TSS is the only sippy cup my daughter uses, otherwise she primarily drinks from a straw. Given the research that sippy cups can affect speech development, I’ve had her drinking out of a straw since she was about 7 mo old.

We have the safe sippy and love it.  We rarely take the sleeve off and have had little problems with keeping it clean.  No slime here.  We wash it with our regular wand brush that we use with all of our dishes.  We use it and a Sigg water bottle for our son.

Audrey, we have had the same experience! I loved the avent cups with my daughter, but now for my son, they’re leaking all over the place. Now I’m on a hunt for a non-leaking sippy, which lead me here! :)

I have the safe sippy and so far it works great. I also have not had problems with the slime. My daughter is 10 months and she is able to get the liquids out of the cup better than the nuby or the munchkin cups I have tried. I like the stainless steel aspect of the cup. Unfortunately, even if a cup is BPA and phtalate free, there are other chemicals that manufacturers use in their place. And most of the chemicals are not well-studied for their long-term effects. So I like the option of using stainless steel.

I love the Take ‘N Toss cups and have been using them at home for 3 years now.  While they do leak a little when shaken, it has been my experience that every single sippy cup we have tried leaks to various degrees when shaken, even cups with valves.  I love that the lids fit on the small snack bowls as well as the various cup sizes.  My son loves to pick a cup with his favorite character.

The lids are simple to remove if you hook your thumb around the sippy spout to pop the lid off.

The only downside to the cups that I can think of - you can only buy replacement lids through the Learning Curve website with shipping costs nearly as much as one six-pack of lids.

I have nothing but trouble with my Safe Sippy.  I think it performs a lot differently with milk than water.  When we use it with milk, the valve always slips out and drops into the milk.  I’ve also had trouble with the thin silicone o-ring that is supposed to keep the lid spill-proof in the lid popping out of its groove.  It’s a real pain to re-thread it.  But my son has no trouble with the angle of the spout and figuring out how to drink from it.  And we haven’t had a slime under the skin issue, either.

I own the kid basix Safe Sippy and we love it. We just throw it in the dish washer and have had no problems. Sometimes I leave the sleeve on and I haven’t had a “slime” problem. The directions point out you need to roll on the sleeve to get it on or off. I only use it for water, so maybe thats why I haven’t had any issues. We have been using it for about nine months which is longer than any of my Klean Kanteens lasted (they dented and wouldn’t stand and one cracked lid).

We love the take and toss cups!  I HATE all the small parts that come with the other cups.  These are easy to clean, easy to store and I don’t feel one bit guilty when we lose them b/c they’re cheap. They’re just simple. 

Small leaks are a problem from time to time, but it’s a trade-off I’m willing to make for all the benefits.  I’m shocked they’re at the bottom of the list!

Clearly we underestimated the role of certain products in the sippy cup ecosystem… well, now’s your chance to speak up, readers! We have a poll now live in the righthand column soliciting your opinions about the single sippy that we placed in the Bottom or Middle Tier for this age bracket but that YOU think should really be a Top Pick. Cast your vote now!

We have the Avent, Safe sippy and take and toss.  The Safe sippy is far and away my son’s favourite cup - we are always washing it because he reaches for it first above all others.  We love that it doesn’t leak, keeps drinks cool when we are out and about, is very durable, and holds a good amount of drink.  We have not taken off the bottom bit yet - now I am afraid to peek in there!  We also got great Customer Support when we lost the valve - they sent us a bunch free of charge.  If they weren’t SO expensive I would buy more.  The take and toss is next on our list although we only use them at home.  I like that they seem most like drinking out of an actual cup.  He does burp a lot more after using it though. :) And the avent I am disappointed by - it leaks terribly and we have not been able to tighten it enough to keep it from dripping everywhere when he walks around with it.

I agree with all the reasons AJsMomma listed on comment #2 about the First Years Take ‘n Toss cups. Early on, the short 4 oz cups were the best confidence builder for drinking. Unfortunately, my little one can now crack (literally) the lip of the lids and has learned how to remove the spout/cap. I’ll really miss the easy storage and transparent plastic, though. We’re on to screw cap lids. On the other hand, I really like the Dr. Brown’s training cup but didn’t see it reviewed.

I have the same question as Audrey.  We used the Avent Magic Cup with our daughter who is now 3 1/2 and it was great, no leaks.  We purchased two new ones for our 2nd child about 6 months ago, and they leak terribly. What’s up with that???  Our favorite sippy cups are Gerber graduates - there are only two parts to the lid, they are easy to wash, and if put together correctly they absolutely don’t leak.  Our 3 year old sleeps with one in her bed at night!  No groovy designs, but they work like they are supposed to and are the on-the-go cup of choice for both kids.

We have the Safe Sippy, and I found it to be a great cup.  It was a little difficult at first for my son to use, since it was heavier than the other cups we have, especially when full.  It does require tilting the cup way back to get the last contents out of the bottle.  But I love the design and that it’s made from stainless steel.  I find it easy to clean, and I hand wash my dishes (don’t have a dishwasher). Some of it may be that I tend to put water in the bottle rather than milk.  I will agree that it can be difficult to slide the silicon sleeve back on the bottle. Sometimes I just leave it off.

Also, when we lost one of the valves, the company kindly sent 2 free replacements--not just the valves but the entire caps.  We were willing to pay for it, but the contact person just shipped them out, no questions asked.  That’s great customer service.

We love the safe sippy. Throw it into the dishwasher, roll the sleeve on and off easily, no problem. My son loves how it looks, and has no trouble drinking from it, and the drinks stay cooler longer.

Most importantly, the straw is developmentally designed and the stainless steel is the safest material out there. Plus it’s super durable (we’ve had our for 7-8 months), so it’s environmentally the best choice because I doubt we’ll have to buy any other cups unless we lose it. Any little hassles are well overcome by these features.

BTW, I have always kept bottles or the safe sippy in a ziploc in my diaper bag just in case they flip over and leak (which is rare, but a few drops can come out). Easy.

We just started using the Safe Sippy and have had no cleaning or leaking issues with it at all. A friend had the older version and said that when they called the company to complain about some leakage they got a new version sent, not questions asked. Didn’t even need to send the old one back. I think that kind of attitude goes a long way these days.

Also, those of you who really care about being “green” need to stop using the bpa-free plastic Take and Toss. A bpa-free landfill is still a landfill.

My husband and I LOVE LOVE LOVE the Safe Sippy!! And we’ve tried virtually every one of the BPA free cups out there.  They are easy to grab, and easy to drink out of.  We have two young boys (ages 2 and 9 months).  I clean these out just as easily as any other sippy type cup.  They look great, travel great...just can’t say enough positive things about them…

Hearing all these great reviews of the Safe Sippy is making me willing to give it a second chance. And the customer service piece is also a huge factor that I think makes me want to give the company another chance.

Doug- I agree that using the Take and Toss cups is not the most environmentally friendly thing and they need to stop marketing them as disposable, they can be used many many times. I do recycle the cups (although that really is just delaying its eventual end in the landfill).
But they still have the advantage over the metal sippy cups in that they are transparent and much more affordable. Perhaps a non-plastic based transparent cup would be the ideal solution. In the meantime I try to get as much mileage out of these cups as I can. The Safe Sippy has plastic parts too so those will eventually end up in a landfill as well.

My son has been drinking from the safe sippy for about a year now and since we got it, it’s all he will use!  We actually remove the handles since it then fits perfectly in the cup holder in our car.

The sleeve was a little tricky to put on at first, but after a few times gets easier, either because it loosens up, or we just figured out how to do it properly!!!  We always take the sleeve off when we wash the cup so water doesn’t get trapped under it - don’t have a problem with ‘slime’ at all!

We get a lot of comments about the cup looking cool, and even more interest when people realize it’s stainless steel, and in my opinion therefore probably one of the ‘safest’ sippies on the market!

Since we discovered the Safe Sippy, we don’t use anything else. As a matter of fact, my daughter refuses to drink from anything but the Safe Sippy. She isn’t even interested in those with her favorite characters on it. As parents, we value its living up to its name of being safe. It’s safe for the environment and, most importantly, it’s safe for our child. We never had an issue with leakage, which I must admit is a big issue for me because I am an admitted clean freak.

My kids love the Safe Sippy. Hands down, their favorite sippy cup and we’ve had them all. Neither has ever had a problem drinking out of one so apparently they don’t find them “counterintuitive” as stated in the puzzling review. The Safe Sippy doesn’t leak, is non-leaching, is great looking and easy to clean. I don’t have a problem rolling the sleeve off and on before and after a cleaning in the dishwasher. It’s the sleeve that sets this cup apart from the other stainless steel cups. If I put ice in my kids sippy (which they love) the sleeve protects their hands from the cold. I don’t know of another sippy cup that does that. This cup is our favorite!

I love the Safe Sippy. My kids prefer this cup over anyone elses. My cup has never leaked and its the nicest looking sippy on the market. I put it in the dishwasher and have never had any problems. I love it and all my friends constantly comment on it and they all love it too.

We only use the Safe Sippy Cup. My sons love it and I love the style. Finally a kid product with style!  Can’t do plastic anymore and the stainless steel one is the best solutions regarding the environment. Leaking isn’t really an issue. And which Sippy doesn’t leak, if they get tossed around in the bag? A few drops of water in my bag are worth trying to make a contribution to the environment.
Oh, the sleeve, don’t find it a problem at all. I don’t take it off every time (I put the Safe Sippy in the dishwasher) and when I do, it’s pretty easy to put it back on.

We have the Safe Sippy and LOOOOVE IT! I am a first time mom and am willing to go the extra mile to ensure my baby is as safe as I can make him. After reading about the toxicity of BPA, it made me concerned the other chemicals in plastic yet to be funded for studies and what hazards they may present. So, for us plastic wasn’t going to be a choice and the cool looking Safe Sippy was a godsend.

We tried a ton of sippy cups when we introduced a cup with water (around 5 or 6 months).  The Take and Toss infant cups (4 oz) were the only one he could get water out of at that stage and they leaked less than his bottles when left on their sides.  I could tolerate a few drips to have baby actually be able to drink out of them.  Once we hit the toddler stage, he could take the lids off and shake them upside down to watch the water come out and we switched to the playtex straw cups which he can’t (yet) unscrew and don’t leak when he shakes upside down and are faster flow, but in the beginning the Take and Toss were great.  At least in Massachusetts, they can be curbside recycled and as others have said, they interchange with the lids for their other containers.  I have plentiful, cheap, reasonably durable containers for daycare and I don’t cry if one gets lost.  When they get to the point of unusability (in our case only after an accidental runover with the car) I drop them in the recycle bin.

I have an 18 month old son who LOVES his safe sippy! It is the best sippy cup out on the market....bpa free..no leaks...its the BEST!!

We love our safe sippys!!  I was su frustrated with the plastic lids leaking fluids and having to be replaced constantly!  And I feel so much better about our kids drinking from the safe sippy- we only wish we had them when the kids were younger.  But they still use them as cups now!

My two girls love the safe sippy!  They are cute, stylish, don’t leak, and PERFECT to pack in a lunch box.  Haven’t had any leak problems at all.  Even their teachers have complimented them!

After seeing so many people praise the Safe Sippy, I contacted the customer service email address for Kid Basix.  They responded right away (within the hour) and are sending me a new valve and gasket set to try with my cup.  I was really impressed by the customer service and I hope I can love the cup as much as everyone else here!

My 15 month old son has been using the Safe Sippy for a few months now and we both really like it. Yes, it is a little more “fiddly” than a basic sippy cup (more parts) but it’s not more troublesome than the Kleen Canteen that we also use (and dents very very easily). Customer service has been outstanding: my new gasket/o-ring were shipped immediately. My only complaint - which is incredibly minor - the silcone sleeve makes it hard to slip the SS the water bottle pocket of my backback. I can live with that for all the pros of the SS!

We have 2 Safe Sippies and we like then a lot. We never take off the outer sleeve and so far it hasn’t been a problem. To be fair we mostly use it for water, though. We wash ours in the dishwasher and when we do wash by hand, a bottle brush fits in the neck easily. I too was very surprised to see this near the bottom! I am not sure if ours is the redesigned one or not, but someone above mentioned this having “more parts” and I was perplexed. Ours has three, like most sippy cups: the bottom, the screw on spout top, and the valve.

Occasionally the valve comes free; that would be my only problem with it. It does happen slightly more often with these cups than with other ones we have used.

We love the Safe Sippy for both our 4 year old and barely 1 year old. The grips are perfect for his little hands and the cup doesn’t allow for the spout to open wider as in some cups. The advantage here is that food doesn’t get into the drink as it does in the Born Free spouts.

Thanks for the info.  I am trying to find out some info on some Disney Store water bottles - bought in the brick and mortar store for about $8.  They are stainless, but for the life of me I cannot figure out if they are BPA-free.  Any info would be greatly appreciated!!  (I believe these are not the Zak! disney licensed water bottles)

Diane, we’ve put in a request to Disney for information about those bottles. The very nice rep said we should get an answer within 24-48 hours. We’ll comment again with what we learn, and add the items to the ZRecs Guide, too!

I would definitely rate the take and toss cups a little higher simply because they stack and they’re cheap.  Yes, they do leak, and when my kids chew on them, they crack and are useless, however, I have found these to be great for traveling.  Since I can stack them, I can pack several in a suitcase to have on hand when we reach our destination.  And I can store a few, stacked in a ziploc bag in the glove compartment so that we have them ready for the last minute decision to stop at a restaurant.  The restaurants often have kid friendly cups, but for a one year old who hasn’t mastered the straw yet, having a take and toss cup to transfer the drink to was great.  And best of all, these are great to use without the lid as an impromptu bowl for snacks.  I stick a few stacked together in my purse and they are great sharing popcorn at the movie theater.  We leave them at grandma’s house for our kids and they don’t take up a whole cabinet.  We don’t use these at home at all since I don’t trust my kids walking around my carpet with them (I have found only the playtex ones to be leak-proof), but I still love them.

the safe sippy is the best cup i’ve ever seen for not leaking.  we’ve never had one leak.  but i hate the rubber sheath.  it’s impossible to get on and off.  my husband washed it once with it on and of course, it got moldy inside the sleeve.  i also find that we lose the rubber ring that goes in the cap a lot.  or it gets dirty and is hard to clean.

Just wanted to add that we keep a stack of Take ‘n Toss sippy cups in the car so that we always have one available when we dine out. 

They are also always available at parties in my mama circle.  The food table will have a stack of these along with toddler beverages.