Works great!
Written: Apr 03 '05
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Big kid feel, insulated, hold 9 ounces
Cons: Price, drips slightly out of air hole
The Bottom Line: I would recommend these cups. They have been easy to use and clean, and I have not had any major issues with them.
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| oakleysmommy's Full Review: Playtex Insulator Sport Straw Cup |
I purchased our first Playtex Insulator Sport about three months ago. I have since purchased two more since they work so well and my son loves them so much.
The Straw Odyssey
Our straw drinking journey began a few months ago. My son, who gave up his bottle the day he turned one, took to sippy cups right away. He never had a problem drinking with one and seemed content carrying along his favorite cups everywhere. Then the peer pressure started when he turned three. Or, I should say, grandparent pressure.
My mother and grandmother have always been quick to point out things he should be doing by a certain age or hinting to how far behind he is compared to their children at that point (you know the story, my kids were potty trained by the time they were 2 months old!). I usually let it go in one and ear and out the other (my son is in no way behind other children), and encourage my son to do the same, which worked until the straw issue began.
My son took to what they were saying about him. Their negative comments about him still being in diapers seemed to do nothing to him, but the sippy cup issue hurt his feelings.
I felt I had done everything to help my son learn how to drink from a straw with no avail. Allowing him to try to drink from mine, showing him how to wrap his lips around the straw and suck up. Nothing I did seemed to help. I purchased the Playtex cup thinking I would put water in it and just let him hang out with it and see what happened.
I picked this one versus others simply because the graphics seemed to be something my growing son would like. No more pastels and baby colors, but bold colors with sports themes including his favorite, skateboarding. I had no idea when I was in the store that the Playtex straw cups had gotten better Epinion reviews than any other brands. Lucky break, I guess!
I washed and filled the cup and handed it over to my very excited son to try out. He tried that straw for hours and could not figure it out. He was very upset and when he fell asleep I put the cup in the cabinet. It stayed there for almost a month before one day he saw the cup in the cabinet and asked for it. When I handed it to him full of water he wrapped his lips around the straw and took a long drink, first try. I don't know who was more excited, me or him. He was so excited that we went out and bought two more cups for him and threw out all his sippy's!
The Specifics
The Playtex Insulator Straw cup has four parts.
CUP
The cup is insulated and made of hard plastic. I have seen many different colors and themes offered. All of which are bold colors and big kid designs. The cup holds 9 ounces of liquid. I have never had any issues with sweating, even with ice cold liquid left in the hot, hot car.
LID
The lid is also hard plastic and matches the main color of the cup. The top straw is housed in the lid and I have never had a problem with the top straw becoming dislodged from the lid. The lid also has, in my opinion, the best feature of the cup - the flip top. The flip top flips over the straw and air valve and helps to make the cup more spill proof when not in use and keeps the straw a little cleaner. There is an air valve on the lid letting air flow in and out of the cup. This is the only part of the cup that has leaked in any way. If you turn the cup completely upside down it will drip one or two drops of liquid out. They are tiny drops as the air hole is small, but drops nonetheless.
TOP STRAW
The top straw fits through the hole in the lid and latches underneath the lid with an attached plastic piece, similar to a sippy cup valve. It is made of soft plastic so there is little risk of injury. It also is flexible so it can be pushed over by the flip top. I would estimate that the top straw is approx. 2 inches long and sticks up about one inch over the flip top mechanism. I do not know how long the top straw would last if a child had biting issues, my son has never been a chewer of cups. The straw does seem very durable.
IN-CUP STRAW
The straw that hangs out in the inside of the cup is made of harder stronger plastic and is approx. 5 and 1/2 inches long. The inside straw connects to the top straw by attaching to a valve. You simply push the long straw into the top straw valve and viola! one long connected straw. I have not had any problems with this straw coming detached from the top straw during use. The inside straw is long enough to get the very last of the liquid out of the cup without tipping the cup.
Bottom Line
I love this cup! It washes great in the dishwasher and has not seemed to be any less spill proof after multiple washes.
My son loves the fact that it is brightly colored and boyish. It keeps liquids cold for a good amount of time and fits in all cup holders in our car, a Honda, without tipping over. It also has done well to quench my big kids thirst. He always takes long, deep drinks from the cups with no problems and no hard sucking involved.
The straws have lasted well through all types of liquids. I have put milk, juice, water, and iced tea in these cups. The top straw did slightly discolor when my son had dark colored juice and tea in them. When I washed them they came right back and are still very clear like they were to begin with.
My two cons would be the price and the few drops the air valve leaks. These cons are small enough to still get a five star review in my opinion.
I paid almost $4 a piece for these cups at Walmart and that is the cheapest I have seen them. But, the excitement my son got out of learning to use these straw cups and how much he likes to show people and carry the cups around makes every last penny worth it.
The tiny drops that leak from the top made me nervous at first. But after teaching my son to never tip the cups and always use the flip top when he was not drinking from the cups has made that con slight. No major accidents to report from the tiny drops.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
oakleysmommy
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Location: CA
Reviews written: 22
Trusted by: 2 members
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