Best Straw Cups UK 2026: The Little Dutch Slides Shut for the Bag, the Silicone Picks Stay at the Table

COMPARISON · FEEDING TIME

Somewhere between six months and a year, the bottle starts to look like the wrong tool. Health visitors nudge parents towards an open cup or a free-flowing cup, and the straw cup has become the favourite middle step: it uses the mouth muscles differently from a teat, it doesn't need tipping, and once a baby gets the hang of sucking up the straw, water actually goes in rather than down the bib.

The trouble is that "straw cup" covers very different products. Some are soft silicone mugs with a push-on lid that are really table cups. Some are hard Tritan tumblers with twist-lock rings. One has a slide that covers the straw so you can drop it in a changing bag. Capacities run from 120ml to 300ml, and the age printed on the box ranges from 6 to 12 months.

We compared five straw cups from five different brands, all on sale with UK retailers we work with, priced from £12.99 to £18.71. We read the full specs, checked live prices and stock, and pulled together what parents tell us after weeks of daily use, including the bits that don't make the product photos, like where the drips come from.

The headline: only one cup here is designed to be closed and carried. If you need a cup for the nursery bag, that narrows things fast. If you need a first straw cup for a six-month-old at the high chair, the soft silicone picks are kinder and cheaper.

Lil' Bubba's verdicts

• Best Overall: Little Dutch Mio Straw Cup · 8.5/10 - 300ml with a sliding lid that seals the straw away for the bag
• Best First Straw Cup: Mushie Training Cup + Straw · 8.0/10 - soft silicone, handles, rated from 6 months
• Best Value: Babymoov Isy Cup · 7.5/10 - £12.99 for a handled silicone cup with little feet to stop tipping
• Best for Toddlers: Liewood Pavia Straw Cup · 7.5/10 - wide, low Tritan cup with a twist-lock lid and airflow straw
• Best for Small Sips: Done by Deer Silicone Straw Cup · 7.0/10 - two 120ml cups, microwave and freezer safe

Quick comparison

Cup	Rating	Price	Capacity	Material	Age on pack
Little Dutch Mio Straw Cup		About £14-£16	300ml	Tritan, silicone straw	Not stated
Mushie Training Cup + Straw		£14.87	175ml	Silicone	6m+
Babymoov Isy Cup		£12.99	150ml	Silicone	6m+
Liewood Pavia Straw Cup		£18.00	280ml	Tritan, silicone straw	12m+
Done by Deer Silicone Straw Cup (2 pack)		£18.71 (2 cups)	120ml each	Silicone	12m+

How we picked the 5

We started with the straw cups parents add to their Nests most often, then kept only those sold by joined UK retailers with stock at the time of writing. We wanted one cup per brand so the comparison covered genuinely different designs rather than five colourways of the same idea. We then compared listed capacity, materials, lid mechanism, age guidance and care instructions, and matched those against recurring themes in parent feedback about leaks, cleaning and how quickly babies take to the straw.

Ratings weigh how well each cup does the core job (getting a drink into a baby without a flood), how easy it is to clean, how versatile it is between home and out, and value for money. They are our editorial judgement, not lab scores.

What to look for in a straw cup

Lid that actually seals, or a lid that just covers. This is the biggest difference in this group. A push-on silicone lid stops splashes when the cup is upright, but an open straw with no valve will drip if the cup goes over. A sliding or twist-lock lid is a different class of product if it's going in a bag.

Valve or no valve. Valved straws stop drips but make babies suck harder. Valve-free straws are easier for a beginner, which is why most first straw cups skip the valve, but they let liquid run back out when tipped.

Capacity versus weight. A full 300ml cup is heavy for a nine-month-old. Small cups (120ml to 175ml) are easier for little hands and mean less wasted milk or water, but you'll refill more often.

Silicone or Tritan. Silicone is soft on gums, near unbreakable and grippy, but it can hold onto smells, and some brands warn against scented washing-up liquid. Tritan is clear, hard, light and doesn't stain, but it's less forgiving when chewed.

Handles and stability. Handles help babies under a year. Toddlers often prefer a wide cup they can hold with both hands. Low, wide shapes and little feet reduce tipping on the high chair tray.

Cleaning. Straws need a brush. Count the parts: the more a lid comes apart, the more thoroughly you can clean it, but the more bits there are to lose.

1. Little Dutch Mio Straw Cup / 10 · Best for on the go

The Mio Straw Cup is the only cup in this roundup built around a closed position. A sliding lid moves to reveal the straw for drinking and slides back to cover it, and the brand describes the sealed lid as leak-proof and safe in your bag. At 300ml it also holds the most, which matters on a day out when you can't top up every hour.

It's made from Tritan, polypropylene and silicone and weighs about 120g empty, so it's light for its size. It's dishwasher safe and comes in Little Dutch's soft nature prints. It sat at around £14 to £16 with our retailers when we checked.

What parents love

• Bag-ready. The slide-shut lid is the reason to buy it. We hear repeatedly from parents that this is the cup that lives in the changing bag while a softer cup stays at home.
• Big capacity. 300ml covers a long walk or a morning at nursery without refills.
• Light and clear. Tritan keeps the weight down and you can see at a glance how much has been drunk.
• Easy to clean. Dishwasher safe, with no deep silicone folds for milk to hide in.

What to know before you buy

• No age guidance on the listing. The retailer page we checked doesn't print a starting age. Full, it's a heavy cup for a young baby, so we'd treat it as a toddler cup rather than a first cup.
• Hard body. Tritan is less forgiving than silicone for teething babies who chew everything.
• Slider is one more part. Any moving lid needs a proper rinse to stop residue building up in the mechanism.

Best for

• Parents who need one cup for the changing bag
• Toddlers who drink a lot on days out
• Nursery and childminder bags
• Anyone who likes seeing how much has gone

2. Mushie Training Cup + Straw / 10 · Best first straw cup

Mushie's Training Cup is the one we'd hand to a six-month-old. It's 100% food-grade silicone, rated from 6 months, holds about 175ml, and has a removable lid with a soft silicone straw. The handles are the bit parents mention first: babies who can't yet hold a cup in two palms can grab it by the ears.

It was on offer at £14.87 (down from £17.49) when we checked. One honest note: at the time of writing our retailer was showing new stock incoming with dispatch in mid-November, so check the delivery date before you order for a specific weaning start.

What parents love

• Easy for small hands. One parent told us the handles make it "much easier for little hands to grab and hold".
• Gentle straw. The valve-free silicone straw is easy for beginners to suck, which is why parents find babies get the idea quickly. A parent shared that it's "a great way to teach babies how to use a straw with not too much spillage".
• Soft and tough. Silicone survives being thrown off the high chair and is kind to gums and new teeth.
• Simple to wash. Top-rack dishwasher safe, or a quick wash by hand.

What to know before you buy

• Drips when tipped. The straw has no valve. Upright it's fine, but over it goes and liquid runs back out. One parent put it best: it "will drip if knocked over but not spill". Others are less forgiving.
• Not a bag cup. There's no way to close the straw off, so keep this one at the table.
• Lid can be stiff. Some parents find the lid tricky to pull off when it's new.

Best for

• Babies starting weaning at around 6 months
• High chair and mealtime drinks
• Teething babies who chew their cup
• Parents moving away from the bottle gently

3. Babymoov Isy Cup / 10 · Best value

The Isy Cup is Babymoov's take on the same idea as the Mushie, a little cheaper at £12.99. It's 100% silicone with two handles, a removable lid and a built-in straw, and holds 150ml. The detail we like is the pair of small feet on the base, added for stability so it's less likely to topple on a tray.

It measures 12.5 x 8 x 9.5cm, is dishwasher safe, and can be used without the lid as an open cup later, which gives it a little more life than a straw-only design. It's also fine for warm drinks.

What parents love

• Lowest price here. Under £13 for a handled silicone straw cup.
• Feet for stability. We hear from parents that small details like this make a real difference with babies who bang their cup on the tray.
• Two cups in one. Lose the lid and it's an open training cup.
• Unbreakable. Soft, light silicone with nothing to crack.

What to know before you buy

• Small capacity. 150ml is right for a baby but you'll be refilling for a thirsty toddler.
• Lid covers, it doesn't seal the straw. Like the Mushie, it's a table cup, not a bag cup.
• Long delivery times. Our retailer quoted 2 to 3 weeks for delivery when we checked.

Best for

• Budget-conscious parents
• Babies from around 6 months
• Families who want a straw cup that becomes an open cup
• Grandparents' house spare cup

4. Liewood Pavia Straw Cup / 10 · Best for toddlers

Liewood's Pavia is a grown-up looking cup for children from 12 months. The body is shatterproof Tritan, the lid ring is polypropylene, and the silicone straw has an airflow system so drinking doesn't turn into a battle with the vacuum. It's wide and low at 11cm across and 8cm tall, which makes it hard to knock over.

The twist-and-lock lid reduces leaks to a minimum, and the whole thing comes apart for cleaning. At £18 it's the priciest single cup here, and it holds 280ml.

What parents love

• Stable shape. The low, wide body suits toddlers who plonk their cup down rather than place it.
• Airflow straw. Parents tell us cups with an air vent are less frustrating for children who give up when the straw "sticks".
• Twist-lock lid. More secure than a push-on lid when the cup inevitably goes over.
• Comes fully apart. Every part can be cleaned properly, which matters for milk.

What to know before you buy

• 12 months and up. It's not designed as a first cup for a six-month-old.
• Still an open straw. Twist-lock limits leaks but there's no cover for the straw itself, so we wouldn't throw it in a bag like the Little Dutch.
• No handles listed. Fine for toddlers, harder for younger babies.

Best for

• Toddlers from 12 months
• Parents who want a cup that matches Scandi tableware
• Children who knock cups over a lot
• Milk drinkers who need a cup that comes fully apart

5. Done by Deer Silicone Straw Cup (2 pack) / 10 · Best for small sips

Done by Deer sells its straw cup in pairs: two 120ml silicone cups, each 7cm across and 7cm tall, with a 13.5cm soft silicone straw. The pack was £18.71 (down from £24.95) when we checked, which works out at about £9.36 a cup, the cheapest per cup in this roundup.

The silicone is unusually versatile: dishwasher safe up to 100°C, microwave safe, and rated for freezer and oven temperatures from -40°C to 230°C. Done by Deer's care notes ask you to avoid perfumed soap and dishwasher tablets, which is worth knowing before you buy.

What parents love

• Two for the price. One in the dishwasher, one in use, which parents tell us is the real-world number of cups you need.
• Tiny and grippy. At 7 x 7cm it suits small hands that struggle with a heavy cup.
• Small servings. 120ml means less wasted milk or water.
• Warm it up. Microwave-safe silicone is handy for taking the chill off milk.

What to know before you buy

• Only 120ml. Toddlers will drain it fast.
• Fussy care rules. No perfumed soap or dishwasher tablets is a nuisance if you wash everything together.
• 12 months and up, low stock. Rated from a year, and our retailer was showing low stock when we checked.

Best for

• Toddlers from 12 months with small hands
• Families who want a spare cup in rotation
• Small drinks with meals
• Done by Deer tableware fans

What about the Munchkin and b.box straw cups?

Two cups come up constantly in parent conversations: Munchkin's weighted flexi-straw cup, which has a weighted straw that reaches the liquid at any angle, and the b.box Sippy Cup with its weighted straw and push-button lid. Neither is in our catalogue right now, so we haven't given them a card. If you're comparing, the weighted straw is their trick: it solves the "tipped cup, empty straw" problem that every cup above shares to some degree.

How to choose

Need a cup for the changing bag? The Little Dutch Mio Straw Cup is the only one here designed to close the straw away, and at 300ml it lasts the day.

Starting at six months? Go for the Mushie Training Cup + Straw: soft silicone, handles and an easy valve-free straw. Just expect drips if it goes over.

Want the cheapest good option? The Babymoov Isy Cup does nearly everything the Mushie does for £12.99, with little feet for stability and a lid you can lose later.

Buying for a toddler? The Liewood Pavia Straw Cup is stable, holds 280ml and has a twist-lock lid and airflow straw that make it less frustrating to use.

Want two small cups? The Done by Deer Silicone Straw Cup 2 pack is the cheapest per cup and suits small hands and small drinks.

Add it to your Nest

Weaning kit adds up fast, and cups are one of those things friends and family love to buy. Add your favourite to your free BubsNest registry alongside bowls, bibs and spoons, and you'll have the whole high chair set-up sorted before the first spoonful. You can also browse more comparisons in our community section.