Laken Thermo Kids Vacuum Insulated Stainless Steel Leak Free Sports Water Bottle with Jannu Straw Cap, 12 oz

I ordered two of these for my two small children. I love having a sturdy water bottle to take on the go, I liked the stainless steel option to both keep their water cold, and also hold up to the beating they will take from my 4 year old and 17 month old. I also like that they are not plastic, and will not leach anything into the water. The spout is soft, but does not need to bitten down on to open, like a Camelbak. They are easy to open and close, and my 17 month old had the hang of it (much to his delight) after less than a minute of me showing him, after which he continued to open and close for another 10 minutes! The spout and straw can all be taken apart for thorough cleaning, but on a daily basis, I have found simply removing the straw from the lid and using my straw brush to clean up through the mouthpiece effective enough. They get a more thorough cleaning occasionally, but it is a minor pain to remove the plastic collar around the mouthpiece in order to remove it from the lid. As others have stated, the handle is a bit sharp, and digs in when carrying it by a finger, as most people would do. My only other complaint is the straw is rough on both ends, where it is apparent it was cut to fit the bottle size. For the price and overall quality, I would have expected better for something as simple as a straw. It just needs a little buffing to smooth it out.All in all, very good water bottles, and ones I would purchase again!

I purchased Hydro Flask (had to purchase separately the straw lid for Hydro Flask, all together it came to $32.36, which is a bit more expensive than this bottle). I returned the Hydro Flask as it was not leak proof. I also didn't like the fact that even though it's an expensive product, they expect you to cut the straw. They send you 2 very long straws and tell you to cut it. That way they don't need to manufacture different straw sizes to fit their different bottle sizes. I didn't realize that I was suppose to cut the straws myself, so I just took out the straws from the packaging. Only when I realized they're way too long, I saw that on the packaging they show you where to cut. However, since the straws where already out of the package it didn't work well for me. At first I didn't cut enough, and after I cut again, it was too short and I wasn't able to drink all the liquid in the bottle. On top of all that - it leaked.Also, even though it didn't bother me at that time, Hydro Flask's straw tip is made out of hard plastic, and I prefer the soft plastic Laken has.To make a long story short, after being disappointed with the Hydro Flask I decided to give Laken a chance, and I LOVE IT!!Laken has a soft comfortable straw tip which is completely covered when not in use so it doesn't get dirty, and it really is 100% leak proof. Both bottles are top quality, sturdy, and look nice. But Laken is superior because of it's clever and functional straw lid.

My husband and I love our HydroFlask water bottles, but when I went to look for one in 12oz that had a straw lid for my daughter (3 years old) to use at school, they didn't have one. Luckily, I stumbled across this Laken bottle in the process, and after reading the reviews, I let my daughter pick a color. She's very excited to have a bottle that's like ours (insulated stainless steel with the coated outside), and it helps keep her water cold even when it's outside with her in the desert summer heat. The wide mouth makes it easier for her to refill her bottle at the water fountain or with the pitchers of water at school, and she likes the straw lids better than the "sippy" type where you have to tip it to drink.The reason I took off one star is threefold:1.) It takes quite a bit of pressure to push down the spout and have it lock closed. Our daughter is able to open the spout after the "open" button loosened up a little. But she still can't close it most of the time. This will come with time, so it's not a deal-breaker at all, and she's good about just putting the bottle down upright, so it doesn't really bother me that much.2.) When you push the button to open the spout, if you're using your thumb(s) and depending on where the rest of your fingers are on the other side of the bottle, the spout can snap open and the little hard plastic part that opens up with it (to help lock it closed) can hit your fingers. It's hard to explain, but it's gotten me a couple of times. Not a big deal as it mostly startles me and doesn't hurt.3.) Like another review said, the handle has a bit of a sharp edge to it. When I'm carrying it on a finger, it digs in pretty good and I have to adjust it. I can only imagine how it might feel to a smaller finger! I filed it down a little and it was easy to do, but as this is labeled as a kids' bottle specifically, I think this could be a reasonably cheap fix for the manufacturer to make.The three minor things add up to a 4 star review, and really only because this is being marketed as a kids' bottle am I as picky about it. (I'm generally not as picky on reviews like this.) Otherwise, it's a great little bottle. Not too heavy for her to carry around, insulates well (we've only tried cold water, not anything hot), the wide mouth makes it easy to clean.