No More Sippy's at Home But...

We have both the Sigg and Camelbak water bottles in the kid's sizes. They work great for water when we're out and about and at home. We haven't had any problems with either of them leaking either. If I had to choose one over the other, I would choose the Camelbak!

At age 3 I think a sippy cup is just fine while you are out. They are still defining their fine motor skills have may have lot of accidents especially if they are wound up about an event. The 5 year will need to be taught to sit still to drink. A few time of teaching them the "rules" of drinking out in public you shouldn't have any problems.

Sports bottles. I love the ones from Tupperware because I know they don't leak, but you can get any kind of sports bottle from Target or where ever you shop. I don't purchase the plastic disposable single serving water bottles. We have a zillion sports bottles in our house and just fill and go when ever we leave the house. You can fill half way and freeze the night before, then fill the rest of the way with water as you leave the house so it stays cold if you'll be gone for a while. My kids are 3, 10 , and 12

My kids are 5 and 7 and have drunk out of regular cups for years. But, when we go in the car or when I take milk to the movie theatre (neither drinks soda) I put it in a sippy cup. Neither of them care and why should I care. Does it matter if it's a sippy cup vs a sports bottle? Not to me. My sister does the same thing with her kids - 3 and 6. Why go out and buy all new cups when the ones you have work just fine?

Also, little tip for McDonalds. The next time you are there, take the cover from the little milk jug home and a straw. Either you or your husband can find a drill bit the same size as the straw and drill a hole in the cap. Keep the cap in the diaper bag and switch it out whenever your there or when you have the same milk container in the car. The straw should fit very snuggly and if the milk falls over, very little spills. I have about 10 of these and used to always keep extra in my diaper bag for friends when we would meet at Mcd's. Someone would almost always dump over a milk. Now I just keep a few in the car for when we get a happy meal on the road.

My kids have their own reusable water bottles with their initial written on so they can tell them apart.

We still have sippys, we have a 3 yr old and 17 mo old. I do let them drink directly out of a water bottle, even the 17 mo old (with help of course). My 3 year old has no problem and likes it. I agree with the straws, my son plays with them and drink goes everywhere.

We took a 4 day family road trip/vacation when my boys were about the same age as your little ones now & didn't want to use sippys either - my youngest would have been ok with a tot straw cup, but the oldest was much too old for those. I was thrilled to find a Gerber cup with a spout that was round vs the sippy oval-it looked a lot like a water bottle spout, but it did have the spill proof valve inside. Then when they got a little older I even took the valve out if I knew spilling wasn't a major issue (ie. for my older son if we were taking a walk & it would be in the upper tray of the stoller, while he walked with my) I don't know if they still make them, but look around for other companies. Or if you can't find any that don't have the sippy spout, take a look in the water bottle section of the store-maybe they have one that closes tight, so you can open & close for them. Good Luck.

We haven't found a straw cup that doesn't leak yet.

We got 2 Camel Bak cups for our kids at Christmas (3.5 and 22 months), and neither of them understand the valve operation.

I'd let them drink from the water bottle. It's water, it won't stain, it will dry if spilled. You can always help the littler one to make sure spilling is less likely.

Hope that helps.

I bought both my boys (at that time, a little over 1 and 4) their own Klean Kanteens. We drive 6 and 8 hours regularly to get to see grandma and grandpa, and the kids are always thirsty in the car. I got sick of them stealing MY canteen, so I got them their own. They've been to the beach, on many, many road trips, and they live in the car in the summer. My youngest is now almost 2 1/2, and he's been drinking from the Klean Kanteen for probably 9 months. Yes, he sometimes spills, but I don't put anything other than water in there...in the summer, it doesn't matter; in the winter, the car is so dry that it adds humidity! :) And, when the car isn't moving, they do fine with the Kanteen--at the beach, etc. We just help the younger one a little.

At that age, I really like the crossover cups that were sold in the sippy cup aisle - water bottles with retractable straws (or ones that close up into the lid somehow). They are either non-spill or little spill.

Sigg or Kleen Kanteen bottles with a sports top. You can even find cheaper storebrand bottles of a similar kind at places like target now.
These bottles have the added benefit that you can fill them with filtered tap water (cheaper) and since they are reusable, they don't add waste to our landfills.

My kids are 6 and almost 3, and both drink out of regular cups at meals. But, they are water hounds--they like to drink water ALL the time. I don't mind, since hydration is good for digestion and all sorts of things. So they take water bottles everywhere they go. The 6yo has several sports bottles with the spout top, and his teacher even allows them (with water only) in the classroom. The 3yo still uses older-looking sippies, since he's not the best about making sure the bottles stay upright on couches, in the car, etc.

It's my older son's job to fill these in the morning with water and ice, and I fill them throughout the day. No one ever begs me for a drink, they take them to bed, and I know they're getting the water they need (and then want fewer snacks).

although i dont mind my 5 year old using the sippy that has no spout, its more like the kind of tops that coffee cups use, here is what i do.

i go to bjs and buy the 48 pack of the smaller poland spring water bottles(you could buy the bigger ones but it seems like they get wasted too much). then i save the sport top caps from poland spring bottles. i keep the tops in my bag, along with 2 little bottles. if the kids are thirsty, i open the water and put the top on. if not, the water bottle is still sealed for the next trip or for me. the sport top wont spill as fast if it falls, and it easier for the kids to close on their own that twisting on the cap.

if they are careful though, and remeber to replace the cap to avoid spills, just give them them the small bottle themselves. there are also other tops you can buy to fit on water and juice bottle tops. they are sold at babies are us and you just take the bottle and put this top on.

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=368632...

another option is to just buy the sigg bottles or equivalent and fill it before you go. the sigg for kids just twists to open and shut. my kids couldnt remember to shut it so it would spill all over. but if you are right there with them when drinking it would work great for you.

My son is almost 4 and I usually give him a pouch of flavored water when we are out or a water bottle. They have the Capri sun or minute maid flavored water that works well. I also found these reuseable water bottles that are made for little kids. They are thicker plastic and dishwasher safe. I have been using those for about 6 months now. Before I found those bottles, I would buy the little 8 oz water bottles, but I found I would waste a lot of water with those. When my son was closer to 3 years, I did use a straw cup.

I always just let my kids use an open cup from the time they turned 2. If we were in a situation that spilling would be a big issue, I either just supervised closely, or got them a "sports style" water bottle with the flip top straw. If they play with it or chew on the straw, you can just take it away.

Good luck,
S.

I've tried a lot of straw cups and found one that my son doesn't play with too much - the Munchkin 10 Oz Mighty Grip Straw Cup. No rotating covers or flipping covers, and better than a regular cup in preventing spills.

I second the Gerber "water bottle like" cups someone else mentioned - and they do still make them - we just bought some for our 3 yo. They are great b/c the top closes and the straw disappears. We got ours at Target. Good luck