Review: Silikids Glass

With glass baby bottles making a comeback, it was only a matter of time before there came glass products for toddlers and older kids. Okay, I know what you are thinking- Toddlers have always been able to use glasses if only we would let them. The difference with the Silikids toddler glass is that it is safe, too! I don't know how things go at your house at dinnertime, but with my husband gone 50% of the time, things are usually a little hectic at that time of day. And, while I would like to say that we sit down and pass dishes around the table and devote our full attention to one another (so much attention that it would be safe for my children to be handling real glass over our tile floor) that is not always the way it goes! Oh, sometimes it is that lovely, but more often than not I am cooking and preparing and cleaning and opening mail and reading the notes from school all during that dinnertime period, so handing over a glass to my precious one and three year olds is not something I have even considered! But with a label that reads, "for families looking to use glass with a little more ease", we happily welcomed the Silikids glass into our dinnertime craziness! Click on Read More for the full review.

The Official Review (on a four star scale)

Materials and Durability: **** The inside is just your basic glass- made of, well, glass. It cannot be heated in the microwave and, the company warns, will break if it is dropped. Unless of course it is covered by...you guessed it- silicone! The siliskin outer layer is made of bpa-free, food grade silicone. Obviously, glass is quite a long lasting material as kids cups/glasses go! And I have no doubt that silicone outer shell will last as well. At the side you can see some of the many Siliskins that are available to cover bottles of all shapes and sizes. So, with the idea that you would use this in place of a plastic drinking cup for little ones, one of my concerns was its recylability- Am I just swapping one eco-unfriendly item for another? Turns out that silicone is in fact, recyclable! And, while you might not be able to throw it in your curbside container, there are some local facilities who will take it, and, if not, the Silikids company will take it back and recycle it for you!
Functionality **** The cup is just the right size for little hands and has a great grippy feature so that it is easy to grab and less likely to be dropped. I would say that the only issue that we have had is getting the silicone sleeve put back on after each wash. Then, of course, I more fully read the product information and learned that it is not really necessary to take it off and put it on each time! Because silicone is nonporous, bacteria cannot hide on it, and therefore, mold cannot grow. Then when I really thought about it, I realized that the feature that makes it hard to get on and off, is the same feature that makes it unnecessary to do each time-- the silicone shell fits so tightly on the glass that it is unlikely that anything could sneak in between there! We do take it off and wash them separately occasionally, just to be sure.
Style **** This is a cute glass and Lilly loves it! She likes that it is a "big kid" glass like the ones that we are using and is only occasionally willing to share it with her brother.
Price: Toddler sized glass (6 oz) is available at the Silikids site for $7.95 or at various retailers throughout the country.
Overall **** We are big fans of this glass and may even be convinced to try out the siliskins and glass bottles should the need ever arise :)