10 Best Sippy Cups 2024 in the United States

A sippy cup is made to train your child to drink from a regular cup, without spilling. They're the next thing to use when the child is already too old for drinking for a bottle, but s/he might spill (or break) a glass. Also, dentists say that it's best to get kids off bottle-drinking as soon as possible—between 6 months old to a year—to prevent the tooth decay that's common from drinking from a baby bottle for too long. The sippy cup with a snap-on or screw-on lid can save you from having to clean up spills. But there are still plenty of different materials and styles to choose from. Here is a guide to some of the best sippy cups on the market.  

• Handles: Some sippy cups have handles that can help reduce the chances of dropping the cup. The best models allow you to remove those handles as the child gets older. That way, they can get used to drinking from a glass.

• Insulation: Some sippy cups are insulated with rubber. You won't want to give hot drinks to a child, but insulation is good for cold drinks, to keep them fresh. It also keeps your child's hands warm and dry, if the drink inside is cold.

• Material: You can get plastic sippy cups, but some parents want to avoid using plastics, because they might contain chemicals that seep into the drink. There also are steel or glass sippy cups as well, which avoid this problem.

• Spout: Some sippy cups are made with a NUK spout. It has a special shape to ease the transition from nursing to drinking.

• Easy to clean: If you put fruit juice or milk in a sippy cup, you'll want it to be easy to clean. If the cup isn't cleaned well, any residue of the juice or milk will help bacteria or mold develop. Make sure that the cup and its parts come apart easily, so that they are easy to clean. Some are dishwasher-safe as well.

• Drop-proof: It's expected that your toddler will drop (or even throw) their bottle. The best sippy cups have a screw-on cap, so that they won't open so easily if dropped. Also, you don't want the cup to crack. So look for cups that are drop-proof, leak-proof, spill-proof—that cover all the bases.

• Easy to drink from: Sippy cups are made not to spill. But people said that sometimes the manufacturers overdid it: it might take a lot of effort for the child to suck the drink out of the spout. If that's the case, you might want a cup that allows you to control the flow of the liquid.

• Replacement spout: If you buy an expensive sippy cup, make sure that they have replacement spouts for your model. That's important, because kids tend to chew on the spout when they're not drinking from them. That'll put holes in the spout—and the spout will start to leak and be almost impossible to use for drinking.

• Allows drinking from a straw: At some point, the child will not want to drink from the sippy cup spout, and will want to drink through a straw. Some sippy cups allow you to replace the spout with a special straw.

• Travel plug: It's good to be able to seal the cup when traveling, so it doesn't spill. Some have a cap that fits over the spout, which also keeps the sippy cup's spout clean.

The Safe Sippy—is a product made by the company Kid Basix. The company was founded in Santa Monica, California in 2007. They wanted to design a drinking cup for children that is no-spill, and also plastic-free.

Gerber Graduates— is a division of Gerber Products, based in Fremont, Michigan. They were founded by Dorothy Gerber in 1927, when she started preparing strained solid foods for her baby. Gerber expanded from preparing baby foods to a whole line of baby care products—including pacifiers, baby bottles, and baby toys.

Sharebear-- is a line of baby care products, selling bottles, plush toys, and diaper bags.

Eco Vessel—is a company based in Boulder, Colorado. They specialize in making drinking cups, water bottles, and food containers from safe, sturdy, sustainable materials.