Review on 🧊 THERMOS FUNTAINER 12 Oz Stainless Steel Vacuum Insulated Kids Straw Bottle, Dark Minecraft by Marcus Curry

First of all I have to say how much I love Thermos Funtainers. I have two children and they each have two of these bottles. My oldest child is almost 4 years old and we have had his bottler for almost 3 years. As you know, kids are unforgiving and these guys seem able to stand up to child abuse. And not one of those bottles leaked. They keep cold things cold and this new design even has a handle to hold the bottle. I'm generally a fan of Funtainer and Thermos products. However, I have a small (maybe more than a small) problem with the new Funtainer design. The biggest change I see from the old bottle design is the cap which makes cleaning a lot harder. In the old version you open the lid to find a fairly flat surface with the potion/straw sticking out through. The latch that is in front of the sipper is above the level of this surface. To extinguish, all you have to do is gently press the sipper (top) and the sipper and straw (which move apart) will just pop out. Also, the latch (babies are generally dirty) gets caught on groceries and the like, and the design makes it fairly easy to clean by wiping with a brush. And if things get worse than usual, toothpicks can help remove large chunks stuck in the locking mechanism. I've never had any issues with the design and the cleanup was pretty easy and straightforward. Not so with this version. With this version of the bottle, you open the cap and the surface is slightly convex. The sipper is above the surface as in the old version, but the locking mechanism has been moved below the surface (hence the dome). In other words, the old design had a flat plastic surface between the outside (the straw side) and the inside (the side with the straw that goes into the water), in this new bottle there is space between the outside/teat and the inside. see why they did it. In terms of aesthetic design, this design really wins. This looks neater and hides bits that users shouldn't touch and only presents bits that are important to the user on the surface. In terms of UI, this is a design update. But the real problem IS. This is a children's bottle. Babies. And babies of course. chaotic. Drinking water isn't just drinking water, it's also backwash - food that comes straight out of their tiny mouths to (formerly) and now - get stuck in the locking mechanism. I find the design problematic for two reasons. Firstly, as already mentioned, due to the fact that the mechanism is recessed in the cover, it is impossible to clean it completely and satisfactorily. Of course: the hole that fixes the cover in the mechanism is quite small. But food scraps still fall into it. Instead of rubbing, it now has to be dug up. Second con: Due to the fact that there is a place for the sipper to poke through (there is a space between the flat bottom and the dome), the bottom of the sipper, which is inside the plastic part of the lid, is now half an inch long (or longer?) long. Very different from the old version where this bit is mostly smaller. This means that in the old version I only had to press lightly to deploy or remove the sipper, now I have to press hard to deploy it and fight (imagine him growling through clenched teeth) to get it pull out. What I'm wondering is it just a one time design or is it a new design. I really hope it's the first one because I really love these bottles. If it's a new design, thermos, you may need to redesign it with the baby's parents in mind.