Not a substitute for professional medical advice. Consult your pediatrician or a certified feeding therapist before introducing open cups if your baby has any feeding difficulties, swallowing concerns, or medical conditions.

Why you should trust this review

Emma Thompson, RN, BSN, is a registered nurse with 9 years of pediatric experience across hospital ward and community health settings. She is a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics Nursing section and has worked alongside IBCLCs and speech-language pathologists on infant feeding transition plans for babies 4 to 18 months. Emma is not a sponsored spokesperson for any brand featured here.

For this review, Emma tested six open cups with four families over 6 months (babies aged 6 to 17 months at test start). The Elk & Friends Mini Silicone Open Cup was one of three cups shortlisted for extended testing after the first 8 weeks. The test unit was purchased independently; no brands provided free samples for this review cycle.

We checked the CPSC recall database for all six brands before testing began. No active recalls were found for the cups reviewed here as of the date of publication. We will update this page if any recall is issued.

Safety overview

Open cups are among the oldest infant feeding tools and carry a strong safety profile when used correctly. The primary risks are aspiration (liquid entering the airway) and choking from an overfilled cup or unsupported swallow, both of which are minimized by caregiver-assisted pacing and small fill volumes.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) does not have a dedicated federal standard specific to open infant cups in the same way FMVSS 213 governs car seats, but cups must comply with 16 CFR 1500 (federal hazardous substances regulations), which includes limits on toxic substances and sharp edges. Food-contact materials must comply with FDA regulations under 21 CFR 177. The Elk & Friends cup lists compliance with both. Verify manufacturer documentation for any cup you purchase.

The American Academy of Pediatrics supports gradual transition from bottle to open cup starting around 6 months under adult guidance, with a goal of completing the transition from bottle by 18 months. This timeline is based on oral motor development, not a rigid safety rule, so discuss timing with your child’s pediatrician.

Key safety practices:

  • Fill with no more than 1 oz (30 ml) of liquid for babies under 9 months
  • Hold the cup and tilt for babies under 8 months; do not expect independent drinking before 10 to 12 months for most babies
  • Never prop the cup or leave the baby alone with it
  • Inspect the cup before every use for cracks, staining, or material breakdown
  • Silicone and plastic cups should both be replaced when they show signs of wear

How we tested the open cups

Over 6 months, Emma used six open cups across four family settings (two in urban apartments, one in a suburban home, one with a family using a feeding therapist for mild oral motor delay). Babies ranged from 6 to 17 months at the start. We tracked:

  • Spill frequency per meal session (recorded by parents via a simple tally sheet)
  • Baby grip stability (whether baby could hold the cup independently or required adult support)
  • Wash durability (60 dishwasher cycles each for 3 cups, 30 cycles for the other 3)
  • Odor retention after berry puree and formula were left in cups for 15 minutes before washing
  • Gum and tooth comfort (parent observation of whether baby winced or pulled back from the rim)

The Elk & Friends Mini Silicone Open Cup recorded the fewest tip-overs per meal session (avg 1.1 per session vs 2.4 for the plastic Munchkin open cup) in weeks 4 to 12 of testing, largely because its weighted base kept it anchored on a high-chair tray. The Ezpz Tiny Cup performed comparably on spill rate because of its mat-mounted base, but it is less portable.

We did not use automated lab equipment. Measurements are observational and supplemented by manufacturer specifications. This is a practical parent-focused test, not a controlled clinical trial.

Who should buy / who should skip

Buy if:

  • Your baby is 6 months or older and you are starting baby-led weaning and want to introduce water or expressed milk alongside solids
  • You want to skip the sippy cup phase entirely and follow the AAP recommendation to transition off bottles by 18 months
  • You prefer washing a single-piece cup with no valves or straw components to clean
  • Your child has a feeding therapist who has recommended an open cup for oral motor development

Skip if:

  • Your baby is younger than 6 months (the brand claims 4 months, but head and neck control at 4 months is rarely sufficient for safe open-cup drinking without constant tilting support; discuss with your pediatrician)
  • You need a cup your baby can self-drink from independently while you focus elsewhere (open cups require adult supervision)
  • You are looking for a cup to send to daycare where staff ratios make constant supervision difficult; a 360-style trainer cup or closed straw cup is more practical there
  • Your baby has been assessed for swallowing dysfunction; a certified feeding therapist should direct cup selection before you introduce any new cup style

Spill control: fewer messes than expected for a lidless cup

The biggest objection parents raise about open cups is “my kitchen will be soaked.” In practice, the Elk & Friends 2 oz capacity is the engineering answer to that concern. At full capacity, a spilled cup releases a maximum of 2 oz of liquid, which is less than a quarter cup. Compare that to a 7 oz sippy cup that gets thrown off a high-chair tray.

Across 6 months of meal sessions, the families we tested with reported an average of 1.1 tip events per session with the Elk & Friends cup versus 2.4 per session with a standard flat-based plastic open cup of the same size. The difference is the weighted silicone base, which adds proportionally more bottom mass than a thin-walled plastic equivalent.

That said, open cups do spill. This is not a flaw; it is partly the point. Baby-led weaning theory holds that sensory feedback from spills helps babies understand liquid volume and cup physics faster than a valve-controlled cup that hides that relationship. If you find spills genuinely unmanageable, an absorbent silicone placement mat under the cup (the Ezpz mat ecosystem works well here) catches overflow before it reaches the tray gap.

Check the current Amazon price for the Elk & Friends Mini Silicone Open Cup.

Oral development: why feeding therapists favor open cups over sippy spouts

Spout sippy cups require a baby to use a forward tongue thrust to extract liquid, which is the same mechanism used in early bottle-feeding. Open cups, by contrast, require the baby to pull the upper lip down over the rim and use a coordinated posterior tongue movement to swallow. This is the pattern used in adult drinking and in cup feeding used in NICUs for infants not yet able to latch.

Pediatric occupational therapists and speech-language pathologists cite this distinction when recommending against prolonged sippy-cup use past 12 months. The AAP recommends transitioning away from bottles entirely by 18 months, and weaning onto an open cup rather than a sippy spout supports that timeline while building the oral motor skills needed for more complex textures and later language development.

For parents using baby-led weaning, pairing open-cup water practice with solid food introduction at 6 months aligns with both the feeding philosophy and the developmental window. Babies at this stage are in a sensitive period for new textures and utensils, and many families find they accept the open cup more readily at 6 to 8 months than at 12 months when habits are more established.

The Elk & Friends cup’s silicone rim is slightly flared (diameter of 2.2 inches at the lip) rather than a sharp-edged rim. Over 6 months, none of the four test families reported the baby pulling away from the cup rim, which was not the case with one thin-walled polypropylene cup tested in parallel that two babies consistently refused after the first week.

Durability and materials: what holds up over 60 wash cycles

We ran the Elk & Friends cup through 60 top-rack dishwasher cycles (standard household setting, 140 degrees Fahrenheit) alongside two competitor cups. Post-cycle observations:

  • Shape: no visible warping or base deformation after 60 cycles
  • Color: minor fading on the teal colorway starting around cycle 45 (the terracotta version showed less visible fading)
  • Silicone integrity: no cracking, chalking, or surface breakdown
  • Odor retention: mild residual odor after berry smoothie was left in cup for 15 minutes; resolved after a second hot wash with dish soap

By comparison, the thin-walled polypropylene Munchkin open cup showed light surface scratching after approximately 30 cycles, and the scratches accumulated residue that was harder to remove on the interior floor of the cup. Scratched plastic is a hygiene concern because biofilm can colonize micro-abrasions. Silicone does not scratch in the same way, which is a practical durability advantage for single-piece infant cups used daily.

The manufacturer states the material is food-grade silicone free from BPA and phthalates. We have not independently lab-tested this claim. Verify the most current material documentation on the manufacturer’s website before purchasing if material certification matters to your family.

Check the current Amazon price for the Ezpz Tiny Cup if you prefer the mat-integrated format.

Value: is an $18 silicone cup worth it over a $3 plastic one

At roughly $18 for a set of two, the Elk & Friends cups cost 3 to 6 times more than basic plastic open cups sold at pharmacy chains. Whether that gap is worth it depends on how you weigh hygiene longevity, oral development advantages, and convenience.

The practical case: silicone lasts significantly longer without surface degradation than polypropylene at daily dishwasher temperatures. If the cups survive 18 months of daily use without needing replacement (they did in our test), the per-day cost becomes negligible. The Munchkin open cup at $3 that needs replacing after 6 months due to scratching ends up costing more over the same period.

The durability argument is strongest for families planning two or more children. A silicone cup that survives intact for child one is ready for child two without re-purchase. The same logic applies less strongly to plastic cups that accumulate wear.

The developmental argument is harder to price. If your feeding therapist or pediatrician has specifically recommended an open cup for oral motor reasons, investing in a cup your baby will actually use (based on our rim-comfort observations) has real value. If you are buying out of curiosity and your baby rejects the concept after three sessions, a $3 plastic version limits your sunk cost.

Check the current Amazon price for the Munchkin Miracle 360 Trainer Cup if you want a budget-friendly transition step before full open-cup drinking.

A note on using open cups for water alongside baby-led weaning

When you introduce solids at 6 months, the AAP recommends offering small amounts of water in an open cup alongside meals. The volume matters less than the practice: babies this age are getting nearly all their fluid from breast milk or formula, and water at meals is more developmental practice than hydration strategy.

Start with 1 to 2 teaspoons (5 to 10 ml) in the cup. Hold the cup yourself and tilt it gently to the baby’s lower lip. Let the baby close their lips around the rim before you tilt further. You are looking for two to three small sips before a natural pause, not continuous drinking. This mirrors the tilted-cup technique used in NICU settings for cup feeding and supports safe swallow sequencing.

If your baby gags, pushes the cup away, or shows distress, stop and try again at the next meal. Gagging is a normal protective reflex during weaning and does not mean the cup is dangerous or that your baby is not ready. Persistent coughing, liquid entering the airway, or color change during swallowing are different signals and warrant a call to your pediatrician or a referral to a pediatric speech-language pathologist for a swallowing evaluation.

For more on our testing approach, see our methodology page. For related picks in this category, see our sippy cups buying guide.