Changing Current Straw Cups To Thermos FUNtainers

There is nothing worse than a sub par sippy cup. I lost a digital camera to one that leaked in my purse. Therefore, I’m picky when it comes to sippy cups that La Jolla Girl uses.

I bought a Thermos straw cup in Hong Kong that looks similar to the FUNtainer. In fact, I thought it was a FUNtainer (maybe a version for Asia?). I wasn’t too happy with it because it leaked and made a horrible, loud noise when dropped. I didn’t give it too much thought, however, because that’s the way it goes with kids products. You try and if it doesn’t work, you move on to something that does. No big deal.

A few friends of mine, including Theresa of Rock On Mommies, have raved to me about Thermos FUNtainers since then. As La Jolla Girl’s plastic (BPA free) straw cups are wearing out, I thought I’d give the FUNtainer another try. Thermos kindly sent me a blue camouflage FUNtainer Straw cup and a pink camouflage FUNtainer food jar complimentary. They are both shown in the post main photo above. I’d never seen the food jar. I made the mistake of opening the box in front of La Jolla Girl whose eyes bugged out when she saw the pink camouflage. For the next few days she insisted on eating her meals out of the FUNtainer food storage food jar. That was a little inconvenient.

For the last month or so, we’ve been using, washing, dropping, and abusing the FUNtainers. They are drastically improved from the one I bought in Hong Kong. La Jolla Girl calls them her “tainers”. One day she saw a girl with a Tinkerbell “tainer” and then it was all over. I scoured greater San Diego for the Tinkerbell FUNtainer. No dice. I eventually hunted her and Cinderella down on Ebayand bought them. The Cinderella FUNtainer was timely because we took it to Disney World last week. La Jolla Girl received envious looks from other little girls checking it out (also has Sleeping Beauty and Princess Belle on it). It was funny.

FUNtainer Pros:

Solid construction.
Fun designs.
BPA Free.
Doesn’t leak unless you hold it upside down, lid open, for a period of time.
Does not leak at all with lid closed. It’s tough to accidentally open the lid once it’s secured, like when it’s being tossed around in a diaper bag.
Keeps food and drinks cold or warm for hours.
The food jar is easy to put food into and eat from. It’s great for fruit salads on the go and things like that.
They don’t seem to slip like some plastic kids cups.
La Jolla Girl can open and close the hygienic push button lid very easily.
GREAT for airplane travel. They don’t seem subject to as much air pressure as some other kids cups. I have had straw cup explosions on take off and landing.

FUNtainer Cons:

More expensive than other alternatives. This is not a con for me, because I think in this case you get what you pay for. But I can see it as a deterrant for some.
A little bit heavier than a plastic straw cup.
Loud when it drops at the wrong angle. It has plastic on top and bottom that cushion the fall and noise, but if the stainless steel sides hit anything (not too likely) themselves it can be loud.
The lid can be a little bit tough to screw on tightly at first, takes getting to know it.
Lid is not dishwasher safe, but stainless steel cup is. I did accidentally put the lid in the dishwasher once and it was totally fine. It’s not recommended, though. Putting the cup portion in the dishwasher might wear off the exterior design so if you’re already handwashing the lid, you might as well handwash the entire thing.

I have read concerns on the internet regarding the durability of the plastic lids. Some report that they break. I can’t see it happening, but I’ll definitely let you know if it does. What I am slightly worried about, however, is how long the exterior designs are going to last and whether or not La Jolla Girl is going to care if they wear off. I would also say that FUNtainer straw cup is not for kids, say under 2. This is because it’s not 100% leak proof when the lid is open and straw exposed. I’m not finding it a problem, however. La Jolla Girl is very active and sometimes careless and we haven’t had any disasters. When the lid is closed, as I mentioned before, it’s bullet proof.

We’re happy with the FUNtainers and I’m slowly phasing out the other cups we were using so that eventually we’ll be 100% Thermos. The Thermos Foogo straw cup looks great too but La Jolla Girl likes the designs (Cinderella, etc) on the FUNtainers. Next purchase is Spiderman. They sell some FUNtainers at Target.

Thermos is on Twitter at @ThermosBrand and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ThermosFoogo.