Replace Funtainers or get something new?

[elektra]

I am doing a cabinet overhaul of our kid dishes, drinking containers, etc.
I have been using Funtainers for milk and plastic sippy-type water bottles for water.
I was thinking that I wanted to start using the funtainers for water only and just have the kids drink mostly water with some milk just at meal or snack times in a small cup.

But after a closer inspection, almost all of our funtainers are broken. I have around 8 and all but 2 have the bottoms that have twisted off and the tops are broken so that they either don't close or the top is completely gone.
I have liked them overall but they always break in that manner.

I did some searches and it looks like people like camel backs for the kids. Will I like those better than the Funtainers?

[Neatfreak]

I like Camelbak bottles and Funtainers/Foogos (btw, Foogos have been more durable for us) for water equally, but I've never been keen on using my kids' Camelbaks for milk. I worry that I wouldn't get the spout clean enough and they'd start smelling of sour milk a bit. I don't remember if the stainless steel Camelbaks are insulative - if not, they won't keep the beverage inside as cold as the Funtainers do.

[elektra]

Maybe I will try one camelback just to check it out.

Any other funtainer converts? Or loyalists?

[AnnieW625]

For DD1 we stopped putting milk in a sippy cup at around age 4. We use the Picardie glasses we got from Costco last year. DD2 drinks smoothies out of these.

We use water for DD1 in the water bottles listed below.

We have one Camelbak kids and DD1 says it leaks esp. if you tend to bite down hard on the bite valve. She doesn't use it much anymore, it is the spare for the car.

We recently got her a Nalgene Kids bottle (http://www.rei.com/product/776172/nalgene-everyday-grip-n-gulp-water-bottle-kids-12-fl-oz) (at REI), which has a hard spout and she likes it better. She hasn't complained about it leaking. I also like that it doesn't have an actual straw or bite valve that needs to be replace. We went through a couple of those with the Camelbak Kids.

DD2 still uses a Funtainer or a Nuby straw cup.

DD1 does have a Funtainer straw cup somewhere, but it is lost and she had no problems with it either. We occaisionally put milk in it for school, but it was easier to just buy milk tickets for her.

[georgiegirl]

After going through a bunch of leaky kids water bottles (to pack for lunch), I've found contigo kids to work well.

[KpbS]

We love our funtainers here and I've only had one fall apart with the bottom coming detached. I think it was dropped on the concrete floor of the garage :( We also use the klean kanteen 12 oz sport bottles.

[Kindra178]

Maybe I will try one camelback just to check it out.

Any other funtainer converts? Or loyalists?

My kids struggle with the bite valve of a the Camelback. I agree with them. Who wants to bite something in order to get a sip of water? So I am a funtainer loyalist. Milk stays cold all day (with a couple of ice cubes), they don't leak, and the part where a kid's mouth goes is totally covered. All that said, we are going to try the Camelback for ds1's daily water bottle, because that one doesn't fall out of his new Critter pack. He will still take a KK or funtainer for his lunch water bottle.

[sunshine873]

2 cups here that have lasted the longest & I would replace in a heartbeat:

Foogo
Nalgene kids

If either one of them broke I'd buy them again too. We've had both of these for quite awhile & they've proven to be very sturdy (& easy to clean) over time.

[craftysierra]

Twice I have sent off our funtainers to thermos after calling for an authorization. (it has been about 2 years since I have done it) You pay the shipping of the bottles to them and they come back new. Worth a call if you like the containers.

Sierra

[craftysierra]

http://www.thermos.com/careuseFUNtainer_Beverage_Bottle.aspx

[hillview]

We are migrating from camelback straw cups (all stainless minus the straw) to kleen kanteen

[mypa]

Twice I have sent off our funtainers to thermos after calling for an authorization. (it has been about 2 years since I have done it) You pay the shipping of the bottles to them and they come back new. Worth a call if you like the containers.

Sierra

Please explain! How did you do this? Were the bottoms broken and they told you to ship it to them and they fixed it?

So far, I have replaced the lids at my cost (to change out the old lids to the new ones) and received 1 replacement lid when it broke (lid wouldn't stay closed). But I have 1 w/ a broken bottom (plastic ring) and wasn't sure if that could get fixed.

[Piglet]

We have now retired all our Funtainers and have switched to kid sized Contigos from Costco. They don't leak at all and have been solid. The only catch is that we tried the grown up Contigo water bottles for the kids (so we could all just have the same ones) and 2 have cracked in the exact same spot which means they are not usable. I think they have a weak spot at the top so if you keep hitting the hook/handle thing, it will crack along the top of the bottle.