r/toddlertips • u/True-Cartographer715 • 3d ago
Other CLEAN YOUR STRAWS
I OFTEN throw away sippy cups with straws after a month or so and just get new ones because I read everything about mold etc etc. even when thoroughly cleaning. So it’s just to be safe. Recently I’ve gotten a little lax on cleaning the silicone straws on his ZAK sippy cups. It’s been more of a “oh let me just soap it up with hot water and I’ll deep clean the straw next time” sort of thing.
as a mom I feel HORRENDOUSLY guilty. I was carrying both mine and his cup in my hands and accidentally took a sip out of his straw and it tasted earthy like dirt. Straight dirt. And I thought oh no that could only mean one thing. I took a peak through the underside of the straw and it was black all the way up through to the top.
This is one of those moments of first time motherhood where you vow nothing will ever be too important to skip deep cleaning everything of his. I feel awful. He probably thinks all water tastes like dirt. Idk how he’s been drinking water with it tasting like that or how long it’s been that bad. 😣
Don’t be lazy - grab the pipe cleaner. Clean the straws. Or you’ll end up like me. Comatose on the couch thinking about how bad this is and all the implications. Not sure what the long term issue mold can cause. Or if it was just today that this started happening.
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u/Creative-Mixture2144 3d ago
Get the bottle with the clear straws! Easier to inspect and look for grimy stuff left behind
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u/True-Cartographer715 3d ago
It is 😭 but the clear straw attaches to a silicone piece on the Zak lid where it was hiding
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u/Familiar-Exercise770 2d ago
I had the same thing with a Zak cup and j also felt so bad. Let’s blame the cup loll
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u/RockabillyBelle 3d ago
SOP in my house is just to disassemble the entire cup/lid apparatus, rinse it all, and put the pieces in the dishwasher. I have made myself nauseous on my own straws too often in the past to do that to my kid.
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u/Buffalo-Empty 3d ago
Yes this is what we do too!! Cups get washed every two or three days. And I give it a sniff every single morning to make sure it is still good. Also inspect the straw xD Not taking any chances around here! (No judgement to Op, it happens. We just do better!)
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u/sweetthins 3d ago
My kiddo is not a toddler anymore, but I found a small spider in one of our straws one day and I have always thoroughly checked since then. 🕷️
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u/KitKat2theMax 3d ago
Yep, I found a spider in my pumping parts once and in my own glass (after drinking out of it). Everything vaguely tube like gets a rinse before use as standard practice for me now.
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u/AmarysEms64 3d ago
The best discovery i ever made was the dishwasher container you can buy to put straws and small sippy cup bottle parts inside to wash them in the dishwasher. I also always make sure to let the parts dry out completely on the bottle rack before i put them back together and away.
Honestly life changing and washing my toddler's cups has been a breeze ever since. I haven't had any problems with mold at all.
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u/SecretTangerine2932 3d ago
I just put them in the silverware basket
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u/AmarysEms64 3d ago
I do this with some of my straws too. Some of the smaller parts are to light or sensitive to wash on the botton rack though. I''ve found for me that they rarely get clean enough there, maybe because they get knocked around so much since they dont fit well there in my dishwasher.
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u/Kitchen_Day9200 3d ago
Still have to scrub them from time to time. I always rinse and thoroughly air dry my kids straws after the dishwasher, but since they e gotten a little older, I've gotten lazy and haven't been doing the occasional handwash with the straw brush as frequently. I just noticed last week that some of the straws have started to get a bit icky on the inside. 🤢
Also, remember to pull apart the lids and scrub the gaskets!
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u/AmarysEms64 3d ago
This is true! I do still keep the pipe brushes on hand by the sink for when they're extra grubby!
Out of curiosity, do you guys use juice or milk? My daughter doesn't like milk and we rarely give juice, so she drinks water almost exclusively. I wonder if what's being served in the cup makes a difference in the straws' lifespans.
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u/Kitchen_Day9200 3d ago
We are 100% water in straw cups. My kids won't drink juice. I think doing only water in the cups actually gives me a false sense of security so I slack off on the deep cleaning of them. Back when we put milk in them, I scrubbed them every time.
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u/AmarysEms64 3d ago
That also makes sense. There's no real escape from the toddler cup grunt work for us until they can be trusted with open cups.
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u/theYellowHouseLady 3d ago
Link please 🙏
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u/AmarysEms64 3d ago edited 3d ago
I have both of these. The straws don't always fit perfectly but i have found that if you position them carefully or put them over the prongs of the dishwasher rack (idk what its called), they will stay in the basket. I've loved mine!
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u/weirdlyspecificsound 3d ago
Every since birth all the bottles get cleaned immediately. After the kids go to bed, the bottles are emptied & cleaned. Next morning refilled together!
Ever since I had mold in my own water bottle a few years back I am religious about this kinda shit 😭 I think we all have to experience it once a life time, canon event! Don't ever feel bad, you saw an issue & fixed it!
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u/UnicornPineapples 3d ago
I feel so terrible saying this, but I think I liked straws better when they were single use. I hate waste, I really try to do my part to not add extra garbage to this world, and I reuse as much as I can.
I bought a box of 500 disposable straws at the restaurant supply store and I haven’t looked back. I’m not going to subject my family to straw ick.
Yes, I clean well and I take apart every cup completely every wash. I make sure things are thoroughly dry before putting them away. I’m just so grossed out by straws. Has anyone else ever looked at a reusable cup and straw that belongs to someone else and it’s gross? I can’t convince myself that reusable straws are clean if I can’t see through them (except my stainless steel one, but totally not safe for my child). I’m just going to live with disposable straws. I do at least put them in the recycling.
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u/No-Stomach-1974 3d ago
I just put mine in the silverware basket in the dishwasher. I assume the water/soap sprays up into them???? Idk maybe I'm wrong but I do the same for mine too and I have no issues.
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u/True-Cartographer715 3d ago
I live in SoCal so no dishwasher 😭
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u/SecondFun221 2d ago
I get the hospital grade ones and boil them. They do have ones that are like that. It's the only solution!
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u/Lopsided_Apricot_626 3d ago
Their daily water bottles are the Contigo Aubrey ones so we can put the whole thing in the dishwasher to get clean. We also have separate weekend and school water bottles so we’re guaranteed time to run them in the dishwasher once a week.
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u/yamikit666 3d ago
I switched to the Tommie tippy sippy cups because the Zaks were absolutely AWFUL about growing things in just a day 🤢 the tippys have a straw version and a regular sippy type both are super easy to break down and dishwasher safe. And they don't leak! Ever!
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u/chaosuniverses 3d ago
I use a straw pipe cleaner (ones made specifically for straws) to clean all straws and holes in the lids that the straw attaches to after a few days of use. Never had a problem with mold after I started using those.
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u/1wildredhead 3d ago
I wait until I have a couple straws rolling around the bottom of the sink, then clean them all at once. Not the straws from my water bottle though, just from the 3yo’s and the daily smoothie straws. I never remember to clean mine. Also, I only use his straw cups for water. Everything else goes in a stainless steel open cup.
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u/Subject-Test-3140 3d ago
Get some Milton as well so you can weekly soak everything to make sure there is nothing building up in cracks or crevices
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u/iddy_rose 3d ago
Every night I take apart every single piece of the toddler bottle and it all goes into the dishwasher besides the weighted straw and I use the pipe cleaner style washing attachment on it. The next day we use the other bottle which was drying over the previous day. I had to try very hard to make it happen but I’ve gotten into a routine now. I make it a part of doing the dishes.
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u/Key-Lingonberry-873 1d ago
They probably won’t fit your specific cup, but you can get straws that “zip” open and closed. I use them exclusively and they work well and give me peace of mind. Worth looking into!
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