Best sippy cups and beakers: spill-proof, transitional and eco-friendly first cups for babies

Tested by Mumsnet: Read our full Munchkin Miracle 360° Sippy Cup review

This spoutless cup from Munchkin is a big hit with parents who deem it pretty much spill-proof - worth an award, in our book. Its 360-degree drinking edge allows your child to sip from any side, helping develop their muscles ready for open cups. It seals up again as soon as they stop drinking: goodbye, spillages! It’s also easy to fill and clean with no fiddly parts and it’s dishwasher-safe on the top rack: another big tick from us.

While this cup isn’t completely free-flow, it does teach children to sip from the edge of a cup rather than chomp on a spout, which means they won’t have any liquid swilling around their teeth. If it seems this might be too tricky for your little one (as some parents, including our tester Laura, reviewed), they could grow into this after something with more of a sucking style (see below).

Related: How to transition from bottle to cup

Tested by Mumsnet: Read our full Tommee Tippee Essentials Free Flow First Cup review

The classic cup has been a favourite with parents for years and it can be found in most supermarkets. There are cheaper cups, but we think it’s excellent value for money as a solid, well-made model from a trusted premium brand. With a low-ish price tag, you can buy a few (one for at Grandma’s, one for under the pushchair…) without breaking the bank.

Free-flow cups are a recommended option and this is a great one thanks to easy-to-grab handles and its good size for babies to wield themselves. Though it doesn’t promise to be totally spill-proof, the spout flips down and many parents have been merrily carrying a Tommee Tippee like this in change bags for years. They’re great for on-the-go. This can be used from as young as four months too, so you can get your child started on sippy cups early. Graduations on the side help you keep track of how much your baby has drunk. Lastly, they’re also easy to clean with no fiddly valve.

With its soft, silicone, free-flow spout, this cup from NUK is a great choice for breastfed babies as it mimics the shape and feel of a breast while teaching them to sip from a cup. It’s a great place to start for your baby to develop more strength and coordination before moving onto an open cup or similar.

We love the upside-down trainer handles with no-slip grips - really easy for babies to grab hold of. The spout features NUK’s anti-colic air system which prevents babies gulping air as they drink and getting windy. It has a no-spill design too which, though not totally spill-proof, will reduce the amount of water that ends up on the floor. A plastic lid covers the spout to keep it clean while on the move, it’s very easy to hand wash and it can be sterilised (though it’s not for dishwasher use).

For total cup newbies, the MAM Trainer Cup offers a clever design to aid transition. Just attach the teat and your baby can start using the MAM as a baby bottle. Once they’re used to handling the cup themselves - encouraged by the easy-grip handles that aid development - swap the teat for the soft silicone spout (which is non-spill and free-flow). It’s a clever system, but bear in mind that the teat top could mean your baby doesn’t move onto a proper sippy cup quite as quickly.

Gradations on the cup itself let you know how much your baby has drunk. The dust cap also displays measurements and it helps to keep the cup clean. We like that the MAM Trainer Cup can be used from four months old, to get them started early. Bonus: the parts are simple to take apart and easy to wash, with a wide lid that makes it easy to get a bottle brush right inside.

Trying to reduce your plastics? You’ll love Klean Kanteen’s stainless steel water bottles for kids as it’s a bottle for life, which reduces wastage. The Classic Sippy comes with a spill-proof sippy cap and dust cover for little ones, but it’s also compatible with Klean Kanteen's bamboo, sports and loop mouth pieces so it can grow with your child. The bottle itself is virtually bomb-proof - it doesn’t scratch or dent, so it'll survive as time goes by. Just don’t lose it (eek!).

It’s recommended from six months old, though we think a six-month-old might struggle to hang onto it reliably (no handles) but it’s a good and long-lasting starting point. It has a plastic cover to keep the spout clean but bear in mind that it isn’t attached to the bottle itself and customer reviews say it’s just asking to get lost. To add to its credentials, the cup is BPA-free.

Tested by Mumsnet: Read our full Doidy Cup review

Doidy Cups may not look terribly modern. In fact, this same design has been around since the 1950s but we say: if it ain’t broke, why fix it? The Doidy is a slanted cup that's easier for babies to sip from than an ordinary open cup. It’s loved by healthcare professionals because of the independence it brings, the fact that it’s an open cup (the Holy Grail of cup training!) and the way it helps children to develop hand-eye coordination. The downside? You might end up with a few spills on the floor.

The handles are easy to grasp and, as your baby brings it to her lips, she won’t need to tip it too far to take a sip - the water sort of comes to them. It’s also available in a huge array of colours that babies will enjoy. While it can be used from just three months of age, frankly, we’d be impressed if any three-month-old baby was sipping delicately on this without help. No harm in helping them with it for a while until they’re familiar and can lift it themselves.

Tested by Mumsnet: Read our full Tum Tum 3 Way Trainer Cup review

Designed with the help of Stacey Zimmels, a speech therapist who specialises in feeding and swallowing, the Tum Tum 3 Way Trainer Cup is unique in that it transitions from a free-flow straw cup to a transition cup without the straw and then to an open cup. This allows your baby to develop their sipping skills while progressing to eventually using an open cup.  

It’s suitable for use from six months, which is when you’ll typically start weaning, and will last long into the toddler years. 

Available in three colours (grey, blue and pink), this sippy cup looks both stylish and minimalist. It’s also made of silicone so is soft to the touch and feels lovely to hold, although you should be aware that its capacity is relatively small for older toddlers. 

Tested by Mumsnet: Read our full Camelbak Eddy+ Kids Bottle review

Boisterous or busy toddler on your hands? Kids aged 3+ won’t argue over the Camelbak Eddy (we can hope…) thanks to the fun, adventurous designs. They’re made for flip, bite and sip use with a straw, a button-press lid and a valve that delivers a steady flow. Important for active toddlers, they’re supposedly leak proof when closed and spill-proof when open, and our Mumsnetter’s review supports that.

Your toddler can carry this fave cup around using its convenient handle. Yep, it’s toddler-adventure ready! The cap and bottle are odour and stain resistant, safe to pop in the dishwasher and free of BPA, BPS and BPF. In fact, they’re made of 50% recycled material. Lots to love!