Back in 2005, it took me a while to find the sippy cup that will work best for our first child, but after several purchases, we finally found what we were looking for. Now, I’m back to hunting and spending and frustration. All these new sippy cup technology and features are just way too frustrating that’s the reason why I am sharing my experience and hopefully give light to other parents who are now in the same boat as I was.
BORN FREE 7 OZ. TRAINING CUP 
This was one of the first cup I used after weaning my baby from using baby bottles. By the way, for infant bottles, we always loved Dr. Browns but because of cleaning and washing issues, we ended up with Avent Infant Bottles. I introduced Born Free Training cup to my baby and here’s the verdict:
POSITIVE:
- Baby loved the handles
- Easy to sip water
- No leaking when used for younger babies (6-12 months)
- Easy to clean
- When baby learned to shake the bottle with all might, she discovered that water can come out from the spout and she enjoyed playing with the leaking water. One day, I just saw our carpet all wet with water. I discovered that my baby spilled the water by just tapping and tossing and turning her Born Free training cup until it leaked out all the water.
- The slit/whole on the spout got bigger eventually after a few use (2 months of use)
EVENFLO ZF SPORT CUP 
While shopping at Target, my husband handed me this bottle and said it’s really cheap ($2.99) so we can try it and we might get lucky… we were not.
- Very light
- Easy to wash
- Baby can sip easily
- Nice design
- Not insulated
- Leaks when turned over and shaken
- Straw was hard to clean
AVENT 9 0Z. INSULATED SIPPY CUPS 
One of my favorite sippy. I guess since my baby used Avent when she was an infant, I’ve been leaning towards her using an Avent sippy cup too. Anyway, I saw this online. Not available in stores anymore (except I think at Sears) so I ordered this at Amazon. It’s a little bit pricey but I get three, 9 oZ. cups with cute designs and colors. I am keeping these for when my baby is about two years old. I am sure she will use this because she likes it now except that it’s too big for her to hold.
POSITIVE:
- Cute colors and design
- Super EASY to clean (dishwasher safe)
- Very durable
- Comes with a flip-top lid
- I especially love the Non-spill bite resistant spout with valve to conrol flow
- A little expensive and hard-to-find (Amazon still sells this)
- Too big to hold for very young toddlers like mine (14-month-old)
AVENT TODDLER SPOUT CUP 260 ml. 
I honestly don’t like this cup as much as my baby doesn’t like it. Even if you look around on the web, the consumer reviews for this cup is not so good.
POSITIVE:
- Nice Design
- Handle loved by my baby
NEGATIVE:
- Terribly LEAKS around the nipple/spout area
- Hard to sip for my 14-month-old
- Spouts with valves are hard to clean – need special tools just to be sure it’s clean inside
- LEAKS LEAKS LEAKS – Simple very disappointing for the price..
AVENT SOFT SPOUT 200 ml. CUP 
Their claim that it is non-spill is a NO NO… but because of the soft spout, easy-sip technology, I’d give this cup an 4 Stars out of 5. It serves our purpose so I like it. My baby loved her Avent baby bottle nipple so she really likes this cup too.
For us, it was a GREAT STARTER CUP!!!
POSITIVE:
- Easy to find (Toys R Us, Babies R Us, etc.)
- Easy to clean
- Handle for easy holding
- Easy transition from Avent baby bottle for easy weaning
- Very light and cute design
NEGATIVE:
- When thrown, the soft spout in squished and leaks (but this only happened to us after using if for a couple of months already)
- Nipple eventually became loose and falls off from it’s snapped position of the cup.
NUK ACTIVE CUP 
I got this only because I saw that it has a soft silicone spout and the spout is my top priority in choosing a cup because of my very picky toddler. Nuk wasn’t as we expected it to be…
POSITIVE:
- Cute design
- Lightweight
- Nice on-the-go cup
NEGATIVE:
- Spout was soft but it looked like my baby was still drinking from a bottle (defeats purpose of bottle-sippy transitioning)
- Leaks
- Spout was too soft my baby ripped the tip after a few use (I guess she has sharp front teeth)
NUBY 10 oz. EASY GRIP SIPPY CUP 
We loved this cup for our first daughter. This was her favorite cup back in 2005. Not only was it very cheap, it was easy to clean too.. But here’s the story now in 2012…..
POSITIVE:
- Lightweight and easy grip for toddlers
- Easy to clean
- Very very affordable
- No spill
NEGATIVE:
- For my baby, the spout was too big … she didn’t like sipping from this spout. It was hard for her
- Non-insulated
Because we liked this bottle years back, I still recommend other parents to try it. It’s really cheap and nicely designed. My first daughter liked the spout so it’s worth a try if your child will like it too.
NUBY 8oz. CUP WITH SUPER SPOUT 
Another Nuby products I hoped my baby would like.. But she didn’t. It was worth the try because Nuby products are fairly cheap.
POSITIVE:
- Lightweight
- Easy-to-clean
- Nice handle
NEGATIVE:
- My baby didn’t like the spout. She had a hard time sipping plus it was too big for her tiny mouth
- Super Spout leaks if it is not positioned correctly onto the cover… It was hard to back every after wash
- Non-insulated
- Too wide that it wouldn’t fit a stroller bottle holder
- Lost all the “undetached” covers
TOMMEE TIPPEE EXPLORA® TRULY SPILL PROOF STRAW CUP 
Sorry to say this but I HATE this cup! It was so disappointing and each time I washed it, I was frustrated and upset and I wanted to throw it to the wall. My review might not be accurate for others who had a good experience on this cup but I still want to express my frustration so that others new to this cup will be warned.
WARNING: STAY AWAY FROM THIS CUP!!!!!!!
- Cheap… ($8.99 + Tax at Target for two cups)
- Looks and feels durable (didn’t use it too long to prove that it is durable)
NEGATIVE:
- Too HUGE for toddlers to hold
- HARDEST in the world to clean because of too many parts that not easy to assemble. And even if you can assemble properly after reading the manual, the straw inside falls by itself when bottle is shaken.
- Baby gets upset and frustrated when while drinking, she suddenly sips air and no milk when the straw inside detaches from the attachment with just a light shake (NOT GOOD with sleepy, hungry and tired babies… too upsetting I tell yah!)
- Too big to fit in standard cup holders for strollers, carseats, or even diaper bags
And the winner…..
MUNCHKIN 9 oz. INSULATED STRAW CUPS
How do I love thee… let me count the ways.
POSITIVE:
- Very cute designs (our is Backyardigans but it also comes in assorted animals, Dora, Spongebob, Elmo, Thomas the Tank and I think even NiHao Kai Lan)
- Insulated (and works perfect too)
- Easy cleaning, assembly of parts is a breeze…
- Baby sips well. Not too easy – not too hard
- Perfect grip for my baby… it’s not too wide to hold.
- Most importantly – LEAK PROOF!!!!! Plus I love the Click-Lock Leak Proof Technology
NEGATIVE:
- For now, I don’t see anything negative – that’s why it’s the WINNER!!!!!
For more information on Munchkin’s Click Lock Leak Proof Technology, here’s a quoted paragraphs from Munchkin’s website:
Munchkin’s new line of Click Lock™ Cups are just right because they just CLICK. These cups feature a simple click-and-lock lid to securely close for a leak proof seal – guaranteed. Parents will see, hear and feel the cup lock, so they have triple assurance against dribbles and drips. Munchkin is so confident these new cups are mess-free, we are backing up the promise with a 100% replacement guarantee.
I hope my short review on different sippy cups will help other parents buy the right cup for their use. I have yet to try the Thermos Funtainer. I bought a Ni Hao Kai Lan Funtainer for my incoming Kindergartener back in 2009 and it lasted really long. It was very durable and it kept her drinks cold for a long time. I will buy one for my toddler soon.
That’s it for now! I am done buying sippy cups except for the Funtainer and maybe some extra Munchkin cups for back-up.
Have fun with your hunting! 🙂
DOYDY.COM 
Wow…you tried so many.
We tried a sippy cup for our eldest who’s now 6. We only used it for a few months and then stopped. We tried again with the second child, also not for too long. We only used it for drinking water. I forgot the name of the brand, I think it was Chicco, it seemed the toughest/most durable and easiest to clean that was available in SM Department Store. After that we didn’t bother with sippy cups. The 2 older kids drank from their baby bottles till they were about 3 or 4 years old. We stopped them from using it cold turkey :-).
The youngest, who’s turning 4 in October, still has his Avent and remaining Evenflo feeding bottles. He was exclusively breastfed till he was 2 then bottle-fed afterwards. He still drinks his milk from the bottle today. Our “deal” with him is when all the nipples are burst, no more bottle-feeding. We didn’t have any “bottle-mouth” problems, teething problems or security problems with the two kids and don’t expect to have any with the youngest with him using feeding bottles this late. That’s why we didn’t bother anymore with getting a sippy cup. It was just extra stuff to wash and store for us. 🙂 He drinks his milk from the bottle and gets the rest of his fluids from a regular adult glass. He started drinking from a regular cup when he was about 1.5 years old.
I know of a lot of kids who still drink milk from feeding bottles at 6 years old. It was more to get attention from parents when a new sibling arrives rather than any struggle with “independent-drinking/feeding” issues. They came easily “switch off” from feeding bottle mode to regular glass mode.
I also learnt to avoid getting any bottles with straws that you can “hide”. So hard to clean and such wonderful hiding places for germs – these straws, straw-holes and covers.
Hope you find what you need!
Love,
Mary
Thanks for your comment Mary! Here in the U.S., doctors recommend weaning our children at a very early age for some very important reasons:
http://www.whattoexpect.com/first-year/week-51/bye-bye-bottle.aspx
http://www.parents.com/toddlers-preschoolers/development/social/helping-baby-kick-the-bottle/
http://www.ucsfbenioffchildrens.org/education/baby_bottle_weaning/
Because of this, we have a variety of sippy cups available in the market. We bought some and some were gifted but after trying them, I thought it will be a lot of help for other parents to learn about our experience.
For now, we are sticking with our Munchkin Insulated Straw Cups. Like I said, washing is a breeze and we have a special brush for the straw 🙂 I’m simply happy that Mei likes her cup now.
Check out http://www.bearbottle.com THE BEST STRAW CUPS EVER
Thanks!