Munchkin Click Lock Trainer Cup Review

Name: Munchkin Click Lock Trainer Cup
Brand: Munchkin

Economical, ordinary cup but difficult drinking

munchkin click lock trainer cup transition sippy review — Munchkin Click Lock Trainer Cup
Credit: Munchkin

View at Munchkin

Price: $4 List

Manufacturer: Munchkin

By Juliet Spurrier, MD & Wendy Schmitz ⋅ Mar 3, 2014

The Skinny

The Munchkin Click Lock Trainer Cup is a run of the mill transition sippy cup with very few features to be proud of. On the upside, it does have a single piece, easy to clean, soft silicone spout that we liked, and it did well during leak tests. However, it was really hard to use otherwise. In addition, while the audible click is a nice indicator of it being closed properly, a few testers thought that this feature actually made closing the cup more difficult. Given the cup's reluctance to release liquids on demand, and low eco-health score, we had no reason to like this cup.

REASONS TO BUY

Two handles

Click lock feature

REASONS TO AVOID

Plastic

Spout difficult to drink from

Our Analysis and Test Results

The Munchkin Click Lock Trainer Cup is made of BPA-free plastic for the body and features a one-piece, soft silicone spout similar to the Nuby brand sippy. It has two removable handles, and has many different color options. The cup features a similar click lock close feature to the Nuby Clik-It Grip n Sip. It is widely available online and in stores.

Performance Comparison

munchkin click lock trainer cup transition sippy review - this photo shows a variety of transition sippy cups; note that pura... — This photo shows a variety of transition sippy cups; note that Pura Kiki (pink sippy on right) is pictured here with silicone nipple. For transitioning, either a softer Pura Original Spout or firmer blue XL Sipper Spout can is substituted.
Credit: Micah James

Likes

This cup has a nice audible click when closed properly, which can give parents the confidence to know that the cup won't be leaking all over the diaper bag, or car seat.

This feature was nearly identical to the Nuby Clik-It Grip n Sip we tested.

The one piece silicone drinking spout, which was darn near impossible to drink from in our tests, was easy to clean and required no special tools to do so properly. A definite plus in our book!

munchkin click lock trainer cup transition sippy review - the munchkin transition sippy had nice handles, and a contoured body... — The Munchkin transition sippy had nice handles, and a contoured body shape for easy holding
Credit: Micah James

The cup earned points for being virtually leak free, something a sippy really should excel in, and this one does. However, being leak free does not a sippy cup make. If a child can't drink from it, then it is a sippy that is far too leak free for our tastes.

Dislikes

Our biggest grumble with this cup is that it is a struggle to drink from. Sure we've said it before, but something this significant is worth repeating. Throughout testing, reviewers noted that this sippy was not very easy to drink from and babies seemed frustrated by it. We appreciated that the silicone spout was soft and easy on baby's mouth, but really it wasn't spending much time in the mouth since no fluid came out of it. Given this, it also was a valve we felt was not an American Dental Association friendly valve. Given the ADA's desire for a valve free cup, we felt the cups that were hard to drink from would be less friendly to oral hygiene.

Our next big dislike would be the use of plastic in this cup. Like so many cups before it, and some many more cups to come, the entire body of this sippy is made only from plastic. We liked that the spout was silicone, but liquid isn't spending much time sitting in the spout.

Some cups made of plastic, even BPA-free plastics, can potentially release chemicals into their contents. Which gives us pause as consumers, since we are unable to determine what kind of plastic is used in most of the cups we tested. Don't get us wrong, we aren't saying plastic is always bad, we are just saying being as informed as possible is a good idea.

Also, allowing plastic to be exposed to heat can increase the potential for leaching. So we suggest not washing plastic cups in the dishwasher, or putting them in the microwave (always test temperatures before giving to child), and if it gets left in a car on a hot day, it is really safest not to drink the contents unless dehydration is a serious risk if you don't allow the consumption.

Conclusion

This cup is so generic it was hard to distinguish it from some of its competitors, and while it didn't leak, it also wasn't easy to use.

munchkin click lock trainer cup transition sippy review - babies should be seated when using sippy cups to avoid injuries — Babies should be seated when using sippy cups to avoid injuries
Credit: BabyGearLab Staff

Perhaps it took its job of being leak-proof too seriously because we couldn't get much liquid out of it, even when we really tried. If you put together its difficult to use qualities with its poor score in eco-health, we felt we just could not recommend this cup. While using a plastic cup might occasionally be a necessity due to budget concerns or fear of losing a more expensive cup, this was not the cup to fill that need.

Our Best Value award winner, Gerber Graduates Sip and Smile offers a nice basic plastic cup for a good price. This cup is easy to drink from, easy to clean, and did not leak, earning higher scores in our tests than Munchkin for leakage. In the end, the Sip and Smile had the highest overall score out of all the plastic cups in the review, making it best bet if money is tight.

— Juliet Spurrier, MD & Wendy Schmitz