These straw cups are nice, but not fun to clean and store.
a neat-freak, the mother of a bright, curious girl, protective of my handbags
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MAY
31
2007
Playtex The Insulator Straw Cup Sport 9 oz —
Playtex's Insulator Sport Straw Cups come in the same colors and patterns as the sippy cups. Mine are purple and pink to suit HRH's feminine tastes. Instead of a lateral spout, the child sips from a silicone straw which cannot be removed from the top of the cup. A flip-top is built into the lid and can be closed over the straw to keep it from getting dirty or leaking. I can remove this flip-top to wash it separately, but I have to be determined because it clamps very tightly to the lid.Unfortunately, the two things that impressed me the most about Playtex's sippy cup are not repeated in their straw cup. First, the cup is not leak-proof unless the flip-top is closed. When it is open, if the cup lays on its side, a slow but steady stream of liquid will dribble out of the air-vent and the straw. If HRH turns it upside down, she is fascinated by the drips. This is not a deal-breaker, since the straw cup only claims to be spill-proof, not leak-proof. The real disappointment is the difficulty in cleaning and containing the pieces of the straw. One of my favorite things about the Insulator sippy cup was that lid contained a slot where I could store the valve in the dishwasher. I never had to hunt for a valve or wash it by hand, because they stayed with the cup at all times. The straw cup offers no such solution, and the two-piece straw is even more difficult to wash, either by hand or in the dishwasher, than the valve was. While the spout of the straw is soft, the section inside the cup is hard plastic. There is no place in my dishwasher for a skinny, hard, plastic straw. I have to wash this piece by hand. Often, by the time the rest of the cup emerges from the dishwasher, I have put the other part of the straw away and forgotten where.
As far as the rest of the cup goes, it is exactly the same as the sippy cup. In fact, the lids for both styles are interchangeable with all the Insulator cups. The cup does a good job of keeping the liquid inside fresh and cool. This means that if HRH loses her cup behind the couch and I don't find it until the next day, the little bit of milk inside might only be room temperature, not curdled and nauseating.
If I find a brand of straw cups with a built in storage solution for the pieces, or easier pieces to clean, I will take two. So far, I am still looking. For a portable straw cup that HRH can't make a mess with unless she is really trying, this does what I need it to do.
Playtex The Insulator Straw Cup Sport 9 oz is recommended by Jessica
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