Toddler's Sippy Cups & Bowls - Lurking Danger.

The bowls and cups shown below are just one of the many designs of toddler cup and bowls with built-in straws in the market today. This type in particular is growing overwhelmingly popular with toddlers boys ages 2 to 5 yrs. One of the reason this is so popular with this age group is, it provides lots of fun during meal time.

The kids will race through who can suck out their milk the fastest. My now 6 year old used to love blowing into the straw and watch the bubbles that ensues from his milk or juice. Well, I know that kids are not suppose to play around while they eat, but lets face it, they just do!

With my toddler in the house, I used to keep a lot of these bowls and cups handy for his visiting playmates who may want to join in the fun. Well, he's too old for them now, but back then I discovered a health menace lurking in those built-in straw that kids love to suck through. Those straws, if left uncleaned after a couple of use, can be the breeding place for some very dangerous bacteria (very grimy looking dark substance).

You see, the problems starts with us parents just tossing these bowls and cups into the dish washing machine and never thinking to clean out the straw itself. Even though the dish washing machine does a good job of cleaning the inside of the bowl and cup, it does not clean the inside of the straw. And drinking continuously from these straws with all the lurking bacteria can cause your toddler to be sick.

So how do you keep this suckers clean?

It by giving your sippy cups and bowl a thorough cleaning ever so ofter. Cleaning these cups and bowls is not that hard, It's rather very simple. And the way to do it is to follow these simple steps.

You're going to need the following household products:

1. Cotton balls or bounty paper towels, and
2. 12 inch. bamboo skewer.
3. Dish washing detergent, and
4. Baking soda (to freshen inside the straw)

After a couple of use, or if possible, every week;

1. Run some warm tap water through the straws.
2. Wrap some cotton balls or a tiny piece of the paper towel (enough to fill the straw top opening, but not too much so it doesn't get stuck in it) around the skewer head.
3. Dab skewer head into dish washing detergent and baking soda.
4. Push the skewer down into the straw hole, moving it back and forth. Push the skewer all the way until all the cotton balls or paper towels are out of the straw. Repeat the process to get all trapped food particles out.
5. Rinse through with running tap water to get all the detergent and baking soda out.
6. Final check. Look down the straw under your kitchen light, and straw should be clean and ready for use again.

Follow this simple steps as often as you need to and you'll keep you toddler healthy and happy. And that's what every mother wants. Note: If you are a very busy mother, and can't afford to do this often, just get as many of these as you need to replace the old ones.

These bowls and cups are considerably inexpensive. I usually get them at my local grocery store for about a dollar a piece.