I wanted a BPA-free sippy cup for my son, but I heard so many complaints about leaks and design flaws from other mothers, that I was hesitant to shell out the cash.   I was under the (misguided) impression that most BPA-free cups cost $15-20 dollars apiece, plus shipping, which was tough to swallow considering that I hadn’t heard great reviews.

The Tightwad Gazette offered the simple, thrifty solution of having a child drink out of a cup after turning one.  After all, what did people do before plastic was invented?

We tried instructing our child to gently sip with a straw, but a few dozen cups of spilled milk later, I felt we needed a better solution.  Just then, I read a post on Green and Clean Mom announcing the happy news: Target now carries Munchkin BPA-free sippy cups for between one and three dollars! Eureka!  In her post, Green and Clean mom apologizes for her wild enthusiasm about finding these cups, but I instantly shared her thrill. 

If there were rooftops to shout from, I would’ve.  We purchased four of the sippy cups and were initially impressed with their performance.  There was some occasional leakiness, but it was minor if we assemble them correctly.  They were easy to clean, Roscoe loved them, and the total for four cups was less than it would be for one BPA-free sippy cup anywhere else.  

Sadly though, our sense of victory was quickly quelled when Roscoe learned that he could bite through the silicone nipple.  It made the milk flow much more quickly, but also totally eliminated the “spill-proof” aspect of the cups.  They were quickly retired after one too many milk leakages on the sofa cushions.  

After sharing my depressing news with Rebecca, she tipped me off to a myriad of other inexpensive BPA free sippy cup options.  Here are a few that I’ve discovered since then:

The First Years Take and Toss 10 oz. Spill Proof Cups. A four pack costs around four dollars and they are surprisingly sturdy despite their supposed disposability.  The spout isn’t flexible, but Rebecca found that they held up nicely. They’re also easy to find in most stores.  My son, a biting maniac, has also managed to bite through several of these rigid spouts so they didn’t really work for us.

Evenflo Fun Sip 10 oz. Sippy Cup. A two pack is $8.50 and it’s also widely available.  They come with straws or spouted lids.

12 oz. Sipper by Nuby with Flip-It Straw. This cup costs just $4.50 and works well for toddlers who are transitioning from a spout to a straw.

And there are more!  Go to Safe Mama.com to view a quick cheat sheet of all the BPA free bottle and sippy cup options.   I’d love to hear from you on which sippy cups were easiest to clean, held up the best, and seemed the most drip-proof.  Parent reviews are the most dependable!

For us, we ended up loving the new BPA-Free Nalgene Grip-n-Gulp sippy cups.  The spout is hard and durable and looks like it will last throughout the rest of Roscoe’s toddler years.  It’s easy to clean and Roscoe enjoys toting it around by the little finger loop.  Occasionally the inner piece falls into the drink and it does leak a bit, but it’s easy to fix and far better than any of the other cups we’ve tried.   

Is it really green to replace plastic sippy cups when we already had a few?  This is where green and non-toxic become separate issues.  It may not have been as planet-friendly to buy new cups, but I can’t justify feeding my child milk out of cups that may be leaching toxins, just to save the planet.  I couldn’t pass the cups on either, since I wouldn’t feel good about anyone else using them, but we did recycle them.

Although I am thrilled to have safer sippy cups for Roscoe, I’m even more excited to realize that finally, merchandisers are listening to us.   Canada’s ban on BPA most likely helped the movement quite a bit, but if all of us create demands for safer products, even mainstream brands are going to respond.  Well done fellow green parents!