Our kids have gone through their fair share of water bottles since the older twins started pre-school. I also love thermal water bottles for cold water or my hot coffee.
Here’s some quick reviews on the ones we’ve tried.
- Top pick- Zojirushi. Available on Amazon. Most expensive, but worth every penny. When the older twins started school I got them the pink ones in 120z. They were a great size for their age and were used the next year in Kindergarten. Our younger twins are still using them 3 years later. We bought the older twins 16 0z bottles for first grade since they were running out of water with the 12 oz.
- Pros: Great quality. All pieces on the lid are removable and can be taken apart for a thorough cleaning and sanitizing unlike the Contigo mentioned below. Keeps drinks cold for hours even when water bottles are in the sun at school.
- Cons: Higher price, no “fun” kid designs but the classic colors means they’ll grow with them
- Cozyna – Available on Amazon. Seemed like a great deal – I got two for the price of one Zojirushi. They look like the Zojirushi but they are definitely not the same quality. After 2 weeks, the lids broke. I exchanged them for new ones but they broke again 2 weeks later. All 3 went back to Amazon and that’s when we got the 16 oz Zojirushi.
- Pros: Looks like Zojirushi, and cheaper
- Cons: Poor, poor quality lids.
- Contigo- I really wanted to like this, and thought I found the “one”. Before I bought any for the kids I used it myself for water, then coffee. The insulation is so good! Then one night as I was washing it, I saw “crud” drop into the sink. I thought – please no. More and more came out and with my mom OCD – I used straw brushes to get it all clean. I soaked the lid overnight and was horrified at what came out the next day. I can’t imagine what I was drinking every morning! It looked like dried creamer. I was so sick. The lids on these are “innovative” but you cannot take it apart to clean every nook and cranny. After that, the search for a water bottle with lids I could fully take apart started and that’s when I found the Zojirushi mentioned above.
- Pros: press open lid is easy to operate
- Cons: All the working parts of the lid means you can’t get to all the parts to clean it.
Update September 2016: The Zojirushi’s have held up after a whole year of school. This is the 2nd year we’ll be using the 16 0z’s, and the 4th year of the 12 oz’s for the toddlers. They get banged up a lot, only have minor dents and the lids are as good as new.
About Us
We have five children including 2 sets of twins. Currently ages 7,7,5,2,2. That’s 2 fraternal twin girls, a single boy, followed by 2 identical twin girls. Life After 5 – kids that is, has definitely changed.