The Sippy Cup Conundrum

This cup retails for $29.99.

You know you're a Mom when you spend hours looking through reviews and research on the best sippy cup.  (Or potty seat, or magnetic letters, or some other seemingly mundane thing that costs less than ten bucks . . . )  There is a  blog out there named The Best Sippy Cup.  There are various recommendations.  There are cups that cost thirty bucks apiece!  There are also cups that you can pick up at Walmart for a buck or two.

But seriously!

There are so many options, each one touting its superiority to all the rest-- but all seem to have their drawbacks.

Catherine's is identical to the left--
Pink and Purple

Catherine's current cup isn't too bad.  She has the Playtex First Sipster Cup.  It does come pretty highly recommended.  It has roughly four stars on Amazon (well, at least one of the many listings) and I heard good things from some other Moms that I know.  It wasn't too expensive.  (Of course, I waited and lucked out with a sale and a rare coupon!)  Until recently all she drank out of it was water and it seemed pretty perfect.  Now that she is drinking milk from the cup it has become increasingly apparent how difficult it is to wash.  The lid and spout are so hard to clean--especially when it has milk gunk that has sat  overnight.  Yes, I know . . . the easiest solution is to make sure to wash it ASAP, and NEVER let it sit overnight.  That is all well and good, and even my goal, but let's face it, that just doesn't always happen.  Bedtime has always been rough for Catherine, and thus for Mom and Dad too--although things are getting smoother on that front--and remembering what dishes got washed and which didn't is not a very high priority.  Half the time I'm not even sure where Catherine has placed her sippy!

Vintage!?!?!?!

Growing up my Mom had the Tupperware set--like these that I found on Ebay.  ( I can't believe they consider them vintage!)  They are much simpler than the cup Catherine has--no helpful handles, no flow controlling insert, no fancy click and twist lid.  However, there is something about the simplicity of these older generation sippy cups that I find attractive.  The lids are simple to clean--and you can see immediately if there is something in the spout, unlike Catherine's.  Of course, I would be quite remiss if I said these older ones were perfect!  I seem to remember the spout being chewed to pieces quite easily.  I think by the time my little sister was through needing these there was only one lid/spout that could help reduce the flow of liquid--the others were fairly large gaping holes, err, spouts.  And these weren't good "trainer" cups--Catherine's cup is a great transition from a bottle.  The flow control devise and the soft (but so far durable) spout helped make the switch from sucking to sipping.  Now we don't even use the flow control device.  Although, I stopped putting it in because I didn't feel that the milk was getting cleaned out of it!

Maybe if we had a dishwasher I wouldn't have any difficulties or any complaints or dislikes about sippy cups.  Maybe it wouldn't be so hard to clean.  Maybe.  To be honest, I'm not convinced even a dishwasher would be able to get into all of the crevices.

In the end, it's just a cup.  A cup that Catherine likes and uses.  A cup that she learned to drink from.  A cup that I hope we don't lose.  And a cup that I will continue to wash, because that's my job as Mommy.