Eenie Meenie Miny Mo!

The quest for the best water bottle started quite early. There were spills, spills, and more spills. The essential criteria involved spillage, insulator support, ease of opening, and most recently, safety (BPA-free).

I've come up with 4 bottles to compare:

1. Foogo by Thermos
2. Insulator Straw Cup by Playtex
3. Juice Box by Rubbermaid
4. Sigg 0.3 L Bottle

I was happily surprised to see the Foogo in the children's section of Rustan's Department Store. I had been reading about it in ZRecs as one of the newer products which were BPA-free. As the second priciest among the four, I had high expectations from this bottle. On the package, it read "keeps liquids cold for 6 hours" and "easy to assemble". Unfortunately, I've found that it takes a lot of time and a keen eye to ensure it doesn't spill. The pieces are difficult to remove for washing and when filled with water and shaken upside down, some drops manage to escape from the spout. I do love though the heavy duty look as well as the soft spout which resists Caelum's gigil bites.

Moving on to the sipster, it pretty much gets a low score for me because of its straw. Again, Caelum likes biting straws and this one pretty much broke down too soon. This poses a choking hazard so I had to trim off a little of the torn edges. As for keeping liquids cold, it scores a measly 1 out of 5 for me. Another drawback of this bottle is that it quickly gathers dirt in its insides. This "libag" forms in the bottles crevices, straw openings, and what have you so every now and then, I have to take out my Dr. Brown's special brush tiny enough to get to those places. No one wants to drink from a filthy bottle now, right?

I have to say, the Rubbermaid juice box is my second best choice among the four. I just grabbed this in the department store, curious that a lot of the students in Caelum's preschool, plus my students had this as their bottle. It takes a little effort to flip up the straw at the beginning but Caelum was able to manage eventually. Plus, it is the cheapest and there are no spills. Also, somehow he manages to drink a lot of water when he's using this. Go figure.

Last but definitely not the least is the Sigg bottle. While I was in shopping glee at Whole Foods in Chicago, I saw their children's section and saw these super cool-looking water bottles. At $16 without tax, it is very pricey. But I think it fits all my criteria for the best bottle. Its spout turns to open, it has a nice red dome cover that snaps shut. The spout is solid white too so you know when it gets dirty. No spills here too and though it's not as insulated as the Foogo, it is BPA-free. It is quite durable but gets dents naturally if you drop it on cement.

Which bottles have you tried???