One thing I love is sippy cups. They are easy and convenient. One of my favorite is Take and Toss. I have washed and washed these for 2 years and they hold up great- even with all the little bite marks from a teething tot. HOWEVER, one must learn and train themselves what can and cannot be stored in these little babies, and be aware of the "risks" that come with using any sippy cup for a long period of time.
I am sure some of you have herd that using a pacifier and bottles for a long period of time can cause bad teeth. What? you haven't? well, they can. This is because the plastic- no matter how much it tries to duplicate a mothers nipple, it lacks the inner structure. This in turns means your baby or toddler is sucking in a non natural way, causing the front teeth to hit the rubber which causes a lot of pressure and friction on the bottom teeth and top teeth. This causes the bottom teeth to go crooked by indenting, and the top teeth to shift, thus causing all of your kids teeth to shift. This can also cause your child's jaw to shift, which in turn, causes your teeth to shift and visa versa. My speech therapy friend has even told me that there are studies done that prove that excessive use of bottles and pacifiers cause speech issues...not trying to scare you or anything, just be aware.
If your kid has a habit of falling asleep with a pacifier or slippy cup in their mouth, remove it immediately after they do so- or better yet, break them of that habit.
Try to get your kid off of bottles, pacifiers, and sippys as soon as possible. This way they avoid teeth issues
I will share another secret, Cavities are contagious. NEVER let your kid share candy, spoons, cups, even play food with other kids or adults. Every time I have a kid come play over and that kid slobbers over play food, I clean it afterwards. My sister is a dental hygienist, so she is my voice of experience on this matter. I even toss my families tooth brushes in the dishwasher once a month or after they get over an illness. Toothbrushes are meant to be replaced every 3-4 months.
Now that is all said and done, I am going to cover what should and should not go in sippy cups.
Remember those take and toss sippys I was talking about earlier? Well, the ones that are sippy cups are designed for water or apple juice type liquids only. Nothing but clear liquids should ever go in those puppy's; but thats kinda obvious because not much anything else can fit through those tiny holes. This means you cant use milk in them either. ok, well I guess you theoretically can, but you shouldn't, unless you spend a lot of time with a tiny nipple brush cleaning out every bit of milk residue- even if you soak the cup over night- prior to it going in the dish washer. You can choose to disagree, but the fact is the milk is going to stick somewhere and I dont think you want your kid to be sucking on old milk residue...
I have to admit, my tot loves her sippy cups. She is nearly 3 and sometimes the only way I can get her to drink water is through a sippy cup, so I cave. My sister warned me that Tot's teeth would shift, and I thought "Oh, she only drinks from it a few times a day, so she wont get any teeth issues". I was way wrong, not even my Tot was exempt. Now I am regretting ever getting her in the habit of using a sippy over 12 months, because there is a clear indent between her two front bottom teeth that I know is caused by overuse of the sippy.
I know I am using the take and toss as an example, but essentially anything that has that design with a few small holes punched in the top of a spout abides by the same rules. I personally prefer something that can be bit and ruined over the hard ones that aren't disposable, because when your child bites down on the disposable ones, the plastic gives, whereas a non disposable will be hard and hold its shape, thus putting a lot more pressure on your child's teeth. That is my own opinion, I haven't herd of any research to back that up.
Take and toss straw sippys run along the same lines as far as cleaning goes. I recommend washing the straw and lid immediately after use- as stuff can cling to the inside of the straw and cling to the straw insert on the lid. These are meant for the more unclear liquids such as milk, milkshakes, chocolate milk, etc. The clear liquids will easily go everywhere if these cups are tipped over. I do recommend these to every child past the milk stage.
I keep a stash of thick disposable straws (like Sonic's Milkshake size) next to our sippy storage, these work wonderfully for just tossing when I have a milk based item going to my child. Regular sized straws work as well, but for milkshakes, spring for the milkshake straws.
It is loads better that your child use a straw over a sippy any day. Again, sucking on a sippy, bottle, or pacifier is forcing our children to suck in a non natural way causing shifting of the jaw or teeth. Ultimately we strive for them to use a regular cup, but it takes a while to get them there. Go for the straw, even if you have to toss all the sippy's in a bag for storage or pass them down to a friend with children.
When choosing any cups for your children, ALWAYS make sure they are easy to clean and don't have hidden crevasses. For example, I purchased a set of adorable Disney Princess tumblers for Tot. She was ecstatic for her own cups. The first time we went to wash them, however, Hubby immediately pointed out that he already hated the cups. What? Tot loved them for her first cup! He went to explain to me how there were 4 little points in the cups put there by the manufacturer for stacking purposes- so the cups would be easier to take out from one another. The problem with this? say, Tot gets milk for breakfast. She drinks it all and the cup goes in the sink. There the cup sits for at least a few hours and the milk residue hardens. Then we go to clean the cup and there are 8 minuscule, tight corners from the 4 indents where milk residue collects, despite our washing dishes prior to putting them in the dishwasher. Then Tot is drinking up the leftover residue! Yuck! That's the last time I will buy a cup or dish like that for tot.
Make sure all the surfaces inside and out of the cups are something you can easily wash by hand and that your hands can fit in the cup. If you cant reach it, neither will the dishwasher.
Always wash children's dishes prior to putting them in the dishwasher. As my brother puts it: The dish washer is meant to clean and sanitize dishes; its not a garbage disposal!
Ok, I cant think of the name of them right now, but those non disposable cups that have the clear rubber nipple tops? Ok you probably know what I am talking about. So, did you know you can take those apart? In fact, you need to take them apart. It is super important you look up on the internet how to properly clean those cups and become a master in Assembly and disassemblely. Not long after purchasing my first set of those cups did I realize that they come apart. I went over to my in-laws and noticed they didn't take their cups like that for all the other nieces and nephews apart. I ask my mother if she knew they came apart and she didn't. In fact, neither did my sister in law whom already had 3 kids- and they're bolt nurses who are extensive cleaners. I showed them this on one of the cups and nearly gagged at what I saw. Mold. Mold in the cups that my tot and 3 nieces and nephews had been using for years! Well, needless to say, we spent the night thoroughly cleaning and bleaching all the sippy cups and straws in the house. The cups were hand cleaned every time they were used and went through a dishwasher cycle. The cups looked clean. the cups smelled clean. But in those tiny areas that were missed was mold from use after use. Its also important you let the cups and all those small parts not usually exposed dry completely to avoid mildew and mold after cleaning. The same for straw cups. So after my experience at my in-laws, I went to my parents and although most their cups were take and toss, I went and found a few similar instances in some specialty kids cups we purchased at Disneyland a few years ago. Those cups were straw cups and the bottom detached because it was one of those freezer cups that cant go through the washer. I looked up the straw part and there it was again, mold. Word to the wise, prior to purchase, learn all the in's and out's of how to properly clean your cups. Especially a those straw cups, those require a special nipple brush to clean.
I cant tell you how frustrating it is to me when I hear other parents complain about something they spent a lot of money on not working to their standers, when in fact, it is the parents misusing the item. Always do research or ask another parent's experience before you purchase. If you take care of your stuff, it will take care of you.
I am going to throw this out there- with the above info, make sure you check all your cups and bottles. We have those nice expensive metal water bottles, and I noticed that they started to smell. They went through several dishwasher loads- even though they say they shouldn't- until it finally hit me to check the caps. When I did, I noticed that there was a rubber gasket that prevented water from leaking. I easily and effortlessly removed the cap and noticed it was starting to mold. Thank heaven for bleach. All it took was cleaning it with a sponge and cleaning the crevasses of the lid- just in case, a bleach bath, and a run through the dishwasher on the top rack. The gasket went back on just fine and the smell is gone. Again, make sure to dry things thoroughly, because I am sure what happened was water would get trapped under the gasket in the lid when we would wash the lid and just never get dried, thus leading to mold. The same thing could happen with something like our Magic Bullet Blender lid- that gasket you need to use the dullest end of a butter knife to remove.
I am sure you can contact the manufacturer and request a new gasket if the rubber gasket does break or crack.
You can be an excellent cleaner, but if you miss one thing just because you don't know about it, it can cause problems down the road. I have a rule in my house for most things "If it cant go through the dishwasher, be bleached, or go in a washing machine; its not worth having". So far electronics are the exception. Yes, even most things that say they cant go through a dishwasher, can in fact, occasionally, go through on the top rack if you take them apart and dry them properly. Just make sure to do research prior to attempting to do this at your own risk.
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