In Depth Baby Product Reviews Led by a Pediatrician
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The Playtex Playtime Insulated Spout Cup scored a 66 out of 100 in our tests, which put it firmly in the yawn category at 12th place out of 21 cups. While the cup did well in the leakage category, and the ease of cleaning metric, it really didn't impress in the ease of use category; a metric we feel is pretty important. Given that the cup was more difficult to drink from in our tests than most of the other cups we tested, coupled with an unimpressive eco-health score, it just wasn't cup we would recommend, or could get too jazzed about.
REASONS TO BUY
Slim design for cup holders
Easy to clean
Insulated
REASONS TO AVOID
New design is difficult to suck from
Leaks easily
Harder to hold
Update — January 2017
Playtex has updated their line of sippy cups and changed the name to the Sipsters line. All cups included in the line are sorted by stage. The main functional difference in the new cups is that all lids and cups are now interchangeable. The Playtime Insulated Spout Cup is now the Sipsters Stage 3 Spout Cup.
Our Analysis and Test Results
The Playtime Insulated Spout Cup is a BPA-free plastic cup that offers “twist and click” technology to ensure a leak-proof closure, and it keeps contents cooler twice as long by being insulated. The cup claims to be spill-proof, leak-proof, and unbreakable. It comes in a variety of colors and patterns (including popular trademarked Disney Favorites), and is widely available in stores and online.
Likes
This cup did well in the leakage category with a score of 9 of 10. The cup earned a perfect score for the sideways test, but let a few drops loose when turned upside down and shaken. However, this was minimal, not a deal breaker in our book, and
The new Playtex valve type Credit: Micah James
still an impressive score. In essence, it proves the cup does what a sippy cup should do, not leak.
This cup also scored well for ease of cleaning. We liked the limited number of parts, and how easy they were to take apart and reassemble. The cup was easy to clean, and required no special tools beyond a basic bottle brush, which is a plus. The cup is rated as top rack dishwasher safe, but we like to handwash all plastic parts to avoid possible plastic degradation from heat exposure, like that found in dishwashers, microwaves, and hot cars. The process to hand clean was simple and straight forward taking very little time from start to finish.
Dislikes
This photo shows the new valve version (left) next to the old version (right), the new valve was significantly harder to use in our tests Credit: Micah James
We didn't like the drinking valve in this cup. The valve was harder to drink from than the other cups we tested, which resulted in a lower ease of use score. The ease of sucking was significantly more difficult than the previous version of this cup that had the old style valve. We also feel that the difficulty of sucking indicates a cup that valve that does not come close to meeting the American Dental Association's suggestion that children use no valve cups to avoid excessive sucking for better oral hygiene. In addition, the spout itself is a hard, inflexible plastic that could potentially injure a moving child that falls using the cup. While we recognize this is not how a child should use a sippy cup, we also know it happens, and want parents to be aware of the potential.
We weren't big fans of this cups body style ether. While it was a slim, tall cup that would likely fit in most cup holders, it was also fairly slick and smooth, which made holding it more difficult than the other cups we tested, and it could potentially be even harder if it was wet. Many of the toddler sippy cups don't have handles like the transistion cups, so that wasn't a surprise, but it would have been nice if the cup had some kind of grip texture or contour shape to compensate or assist little hands with gripping.
Conclusion
This cup was unimpressive. It was hard to drink from with the new valve, and
This uninspired toddler sippy cup had a hard spout, which is generally a spout type more likely to cause injury if used incorrectly Credit: Micah James
the body design was hard to hold. While it did okay concerning leaks, it wasn't stellar and did drip when upside down. We did like that it was insulated, but the insulation wasn't as good as some of the other cups in this review. In general, it just wasn't a cup to rave about. It held liquid, it was drinkable to an extent, and it kept things cooler. Plus, it was a cup that was more expensive than many of the other cups we tested, but failed to earn enough points overall to justify the added cost. This is not a cup we recommend.
Meet Your Review Team
Wendy Schmitz Senior Review Editor Wendy is a mother of two who has been a leading member of BabyGearLab's Review team since 2014. She brings a combination of skills and talent to the team that translates into well written, thought-provoking, easy to understand reviews that provide the parents with the information necessary to make a well-informed decision regarding products for their children, as well as, entertain and encourage readers to read more articles on the site. Wendy has a BA in Biology and brings a scientific and... read more
Juliet Spurrier, MD Mom-in-Chief Dr. Juliet Baciocco Spurrier is a board-certified pediatrician, Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), mother of two, and founder of the Baby section of GearLab. Juliet earned her Bachelor of Arts degrees in Anthropology and Italian Literature from the University of California at Berkeley and her Medical degree from Georgetown University School of Medicine in Washington DC. She completed her pediatric residency at the Doernbecher Children's Hospital at Oregon Health & Science... read more
