# How Often Do You Wash/Sterilize Sippy Cup?



## not_telling (Mar 31, 2008)

Do you wash (hot soapy water) your child's sippy cup every day? Do you sterilize it from time to time?

I'm thinking I'm doing something bad/unhealthy because we only wash DS's sippy 2-3 times a week. For the most part, he only has water in it...only sometimes some diluted juice. We're in the habit of just sticking it in the fridge in the evening and then getting it out the next day when we need it again...without washing in between. I've noticed, though, some dark spots (mildew?) on some of the interior pieces (we use a Born Free cup) that are appearing after a day or two. So, this seems to point to "wash very thoroughly every day." Is this what y'all do?


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## Skippy918 (Jul 15, 2008)

I could be wrong, but I don't think you're supposed to sterilize sippy cups. I just wash them out with warm soapy water or put them in the dishwasher.


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## Grace and Granola (Oct 15, 2005)

We wash ours in the dishwasher just like all the other cups. I try to get them to use one cup per day and then wash at the end of the day, but usually they misplace them and we end up using 2 per day and they both get washed at the end of the day. I would invest in a couple more cups and make sure they get washed in the dishwasher. Most cups have so many parts and nooks and crannies I would be worried about mildew and backwash dwelling creatures.


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## Louisep (May 1, 2009)

We don't sterilize - just put in the dishwasher each night. I myself might re-use a glass that's just had water in it a couple of days running.


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## bubbamummy (Feb 25, 2009)

ugh, sippy cups are the bain of my life







I wash out with hot soapy water daily and put the main 'cup' part in the dishwasher every couple of days. We have the 'straw' kind and they drive me NUTS. They straws are SO hard to get clean, I notice black stuff in them which worries me. I end up using a q-tip to try and clean them. He has his morning milk in his sippy which i think is the culprit for the black nastiness


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## rebecca03 (May 27, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *bubbamummy* 
ugh, sippy cups are the bain of my life









ITA! I can't wait till we're done with the sippy cup stage.

Anyway, the cup parts get washed in the dishwasher, all other pieces get washed by hand in hot hot hot water. I have been known to re-use her water sippies for an extra day, I don't think that's bad at all.


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## greenbeanmama (Jul 14, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *bubbamummy* 
ugh, sippy cups are the bain of my life









...We kinda skipped the sippy cup stage. We just gave my son a juice glass (yup, real glass!) to drink out of when he started sipping water, and now he gets one glass at the beginning of the day, and it sits on the counter all day. He asks when he wants a drink (he insists in "fresh" water every single time). He's perfectly capable of getting his own drink from the bathroom, but at least this way, I can make sure he's drinking enough water. The only time he ever gets a cup with a lid is in the car, and then he complains because the flow is way to slow for him.


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## JBaxter (May 1, 2005)

To clean the straw parts... the little brushes that come with the Dr Browns bottles work WONDERFUL

Ours goes in the dishwasher we probably go through 2 or 3 a day


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## dachshund mom (Dec 28, 2007)

Dishwasher at the end of the day, and only water in it. I add ice cubes all day to keep it cold.


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## lifeguard (May 12, 2008)

We have 3 kleen kanteen water bottles with the sippy lid that are ONLY for water. They get thrown in the dishwasher when they happen to be in the kitchen when I'm cleaning up (so maybe once a week) but I rinse them well everytime I refill them. This is how I treat my own water bottle so I feel it is sufficient.

Milk is put in a proper glass & ds doesn't generally get juice.


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## StrawberryFields (Apr 6, 2005)

Their nighttime no spill water cups, and their daytime water bottles may go several days (2-3) between complete emptying, washing and refilling. I basically just catch and wash them out with soap and water any time I can get my hands on them! Meaning any time I stumble on one laying on the floor or see a kid walking past me with it.









If I give a sippy of juice or milk, I either hand wash it with soapy water or put it in the dishwasher the same day.


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## Latte Mama (Aug 25, 2009)

I wash his nuby straw cups every day and I have a method







. He has 4 of them so they get rotated, usually ones not in use stay in the fridge with cold water in them.

At the end of the day, I remove the straw pieces and stick them inside the cup. I squirt some dish soap inside and fill with super hot water and let it soak. Then I hand wash the straw and rinse well. Then I use a bottle brush cleaner for the cup part-done! We're silly here and rarely use our dishwasher. We should use it more!


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## Drummer's Wife (Jun 5, 2005)

Ugh, sippy cups. Hate 'em. They get tossed in the dishwasher when I find them, or tossed in the trash if I find them hidden.







. But the ones I tend to buy don't have extra parts, and are cheap (First Years Take and Toss).

I'd think if you are just using them with water and juice and putting in the fridge in between, they would be okay... except that if saliva mixes with the liquid, would it cause bacteria to grow? I've definitely put a cup of milk into the fridge if only a sip or two was taken, and DS doesn't want anymore - but most if the time he chugs it all in seconds (and wants more).


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## ~cassie~ (Sep 30, 2006)

They get 2 cups a day--one for milk, one for juice. At the end of the day, it is dumped and washed in the dishwasher. Sometimes I will keep the milk one in the fridge if they didn't finish it off at night, and then they can drink it in the morning and then it goes in the sink as soon as empty.


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## Katie T (Nov 8, 2008)

We use the same cup all day (as long as it doesn't go MIA) and throw it in the dishwasher every evening. I have never sterilized a sippy I guess I never even thought to do that lol.

I would wash it every day.


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## Stitches (Jul 28, 2009)

I learned that you can't save through any amount of washing a plastic sippy full of milk that your toddler puts back in the cupboard and you discover as yogurt a few days later.







Since then I've been a little obsessive about getting the cup out of her hands and into the sink as soon as she is done. I just wash them in the sink but I take a nipple brush to the mouth piece to get it clean.


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## Peony (Nov 27, 2003)

I throw them in the dishwasher when I think about it, which isn't that often.







Our sippy cups never get anything but water in them so it isn't that big of a deal.


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## redvlagrl (Dec 2, 2009)

I think I must be the grossest mama here! DD has a Klean Kanteen that is for water only (she doesn't have juice and milk is in a regular glass). I wash it out probably once a week with soapy water. It gets rinsed every few days.

Her other KK which lives in her bed gets a thorough rinsing every second night or so because it gets kinda slimy because the water is touching the valve all the time and it grosses me out.

This is so embarassing. I can't believe I am admitting how disgusting I am!


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## MissE (May 12, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *~cassie~* 
They get 2 cups a day--one for milk, one for juice. At the end of the day, it is dumped and washed in the dishwasher. Sometimes I will keep the milk one in the fridge if they didn't finish it off at night, and then they can drink it in the morning and then it goes in the sink as soon as empty.

Same here.


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## mamadelbosque (Feb 6, 2007)

Sippy cups get washed everyday just like all the other dishes in the house, at least once, sometimes twice a day if I think of it and its not got something in it besides just water (ie: juice or milk) when I'm doing the dishes.


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## JudiAU (Jun 29, 2008)

Sippy cups are washed at least every day, somtimes they get replaced more often if they get grimy. They almost always contain water. Have you tasted the water in an old one? Nasty. We have clear plastic in the house which I prefer because I can easily monitor volume. After a few hours there is always gross stuff floating around in there. Toddlers are horrible backwashers, even through a sippy cup. They need to be cleaned every day. We don't use the valves so they leak more than often but otherwise they mold over.

We use Siggs when out and they get the same treatment.


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## MamaPhD (Jul 30, 2009)

Eeeeeeeeeeek you guys! Sippy cup gets washed after every use in my house. We go through 5-6 sippies in a day, and then wash them all in the dish washer in the evening. It's not the water, it's the saliva and all the bits from the child's mouth that goes back into sippy, especially the spout. Also the handles get dirty from touching food/mouth/floor, whatever.

OP, the black bits you see are probably fungi or bacteria. Since both of these are microscopic, there must be millions of them for you to even see them, so eeeeeeeew.


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## Baby_Cakes (Jan 14, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *bubbamummy* 
They straws are SO hard to get clean, I notice black stuff in them which worries me. I end up using a q-tip to try and clean them. He has his morning milk in his sippy which i think is the culprit for the black nastiness

The straws are the worst! But DD will only drink from those. I take a bamboo skewer and wrap some paper towel at the end, and push it through. Works pretty well!

I wash the cups every day with soap and hot water. I put them in the dishwasher maybe 2-3 times a week, depending.

My rule of thumb is simple -- I think to myself, if I fill this w/water again, would *I* drink from it? Once, I sipped from one that I didn't wash, just rinsed and refilled, and the water tasted fishy - probably had some mildew or algae. Gross. So now I always wash w/hot water & soap.


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