Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I got this cup as well as the 7oz version with handles. I am posting the same review on both, except note that this version has a slightly higher flow rate than the smaller version. It's certainly not a big difference in speed, but I think this works better for my child as he was drinking the liquid faster than it could come out with the other version. I think I prefer this one better for him, though the slower rate may be more appropriate for other children. --- My 2 year old has decided that cups with lids and straws are for babies and gets all offended when we try and give him anything but a real cup like mom and dad and his older siblings use. For the most part, he does very well with real cups, but he does have a certain tendency to knock his cup over at least once a day which pretty much limits what we give him to just water. When I saw these cups, I thought they may be the answer to our problems. As it turns out, the cup *IS* a fantastic answer to our problem, but with one catch: he couldn't figure out how to use it with the silicone stopper in place. Perhaps now would be a good time to explain the anatomy of the cup. When I first saw these cups online, I couldn't figure out how on earth they were supposed to work. As it turns out, it is ingeniously simple. There are 3 pieces: the base that actually holds the liquid, a screw-on lid that looks like a strainer/colander, and a silicone stopper that "snaps" onto the bottom-most part of the inside of that colander and exactly fits the lid so that it "seals" all the way around the rim. When you tip the cup, the liquid comes through the holes in the colander lid, but the silicone stopper provides just enough pressure so that the liquid can't get past the rim. When you suck gently on the rim, the silicone deforms just enough to let some liquid through, but only in that spot. So, back to my 2 year-old. He was used to just opening his mouth and pouring liquid in and couldn't understand why I gave him this cup with the lid on that very obviously didn't pour anything into his mouth when he tilted it back. I tried to show him how to do it and emphasize that you have to suck on the edge, but he just didn't get it and after several seconds of this, he got frustrated and wanted a regular cup. Then I had an idea. I took the silicone stopper out and gave him the cup back. Now he can drink out of it like a normal cup, but the liquid comes out at about the same rate he drinks it down (just a little slower) which means if he knocks it over, it doesn't all spill out all at once--it's slow enough that you can pick it back up and have only a little mess to clean up. Phew. That's much better. Note, I thought that perhaps the reason the 2 year old had so much trouble with this was because he had already learned how to drink from a normal cup, so next I gave it to my 1 year old who has no problem with using "baby cups" and is used to sucking things out of straws. She couldn't figure it out, either. To be fair, we've tried to teach her how to drink out of a normal cup, too (and she can generally do it, but is usually pretty messy) which means that she may also have been having a hard time for the same reason. ALSO, we don't usually do traditional "sippy cups" but rather "straw cups". It's a subtle difference, but I suspect an important one because I think the kids have figured out that you EITHER tip the cup OR you suck on the straw, but you don't do both. So in summary, when we use this as intended, the kids couldn't figure it out, but I suspect if they were used to traditional sippy cups, they would have. When used NOT as intended, it works beautifully. The (I suspect unintended) flexibility is fantastic. OTHER THOUGHTS: 1) At first I thought the cup was insulated, but upon closer inspection, I think I was wrong. 2) On that note, I would be interested in an optional replacement lid with much bigger holes that you could put smoothie into. 3) When using in the dishwasher, note that the screw-on lid is shaped in such a way that it makes it somewhat difficult to decide the best orientation. Whether right-side-up or upside-down, either way you have a concave area that can collect water (when right-side-up, that's the center, when upside-down, that's the edges). While that water will drain out because of the holes, it may still trap bits of food that weren't rinsed off of other dishes before loading. So far this hasn't proved to be any real concern and I can't think of a way to change the design to fix it, so no stars off.