When Bubs was 18 months, all the talk in baby world was on BPA. How parents were giving their children harmful chemicals every time they handed them a bottle or sippy cup. Like every parent, I became concerned and researched for a better product.
I stumbled upon the Klean Kanteen. It seemed to overall get the best reviews. It was stainless steel, a plus as it did not leach chemicals into the liquid as the child was drinking. Although typically they come with a regular top, Advent made a top for Klean Kanteen that fit to the bottle and was a sippy cup. Since Bubs fine moter skills are delayed, and he had severe mouth sensory issues at the time, that was a definite plus. He could not drink out of a straw cup yet, so other stainless cups such as the safe sippy where out of the question.
We have not used the Klean Kanteen with Advent sippy attachment for over two years. I bought two, and we are still using those two. They have help up amazingly well. We use them daily and they get put up against the brunt of an active little boy. They have been dropped, tossed down the steps, thrown at walls, and besides the lettering wearing off, are no worse for wear and still look shiny and new.
The sippy attachment came with a cover, which was huge for us. Most sippy cups have open tops, especially the stainless ones, I hated the thought of the spout touching everything and they him drinking out of it, germs and all. The cover is large enough for little hands to take off and put back on again, which is another huge plus as any parent knows! The spout it also a hard plastic spout, thus when he would chew up the spout, it was never cut into or destroyed. As a matter of fact, we are still on our first set of spouts (although I have another set as back-up). There is an option of a soft spout, but since Bubs was chewing on all of his other sippy cups at the time and ruining the spouts, we opted for the hard top. He never had a problem transitioning.
Another big bonus was the fact that he can use these after he is done with the sippy. Buy a new attachment, such as the sport or loop top top from around $5 - $10 and you have a water bottle that a child can use for years.
The Klean Kanteen has four main downfalls I have learned about with ours. First, they leak. No matter what the company and other parents may say, they are a sippy and do leak like every other no leak sippy cup on the market. I wash the attachment by hand, and it has gotten very worn th
rough the years. I plan on replacing them soon with the sports attachment. Secondly, all Bubs drinks is milk. Although faint, the cups have a milk smell to them I can not get rid of. No matter how much try, the smell is still there. This may be due to the fact that I do not like milk, so I am sensitive to the smell, because it seems I am the only one who is really bothered by it. This will not hinder me from buying more in the future, I will just make any new cups for juice or water only.The third problem is although they are stainless, the do not keep beverages as cold as oth
er insulated cups. As I mentioned before, Bubs will only drink milk, and thus I need a cup that keeps it cold. I solved that problem by buying a Built brand insulated cover for it. I love this cover because I can easily fold it down when he wants to take a drink. It also protects his hands from the temperature if the cup is very cold. It cleans up well when it gets dirty (and you know two and three year olds get everything dirty) and finally, it has a strap so I can easily hook it to my diaper bag and I am not constantly digging for a cup as he has a meltdown wanting a drink.Finally, it is a rather large and heavy sippy cup, so I would recommend it for older babies, Cakes, who is just about to turn one still struggles to hold it up and drink out of it.
Overall, even with its downfalls, I think the Klean Kanteen is a great sippy cup. The durability alone is enough to encourage me to purchase more. Although the price may seem like a lot for a sippy cup, around $17.99, I can tell you it will last longer than plastic sippy cups, that cost around $5. It seems in this case, you do get what you pay for.
