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My daughter started Kindergarten this year, and though she ate lunch at preschool 2x a week Jan-June, they served water there, so I didn’t have to send a drink. I was looking for something re-usable and BPA free to send her to school with this year.
I did pretty much all of my back to school shopping at Target (love that store, but very, very dangerous for my wallet!) and found these Thermos Beverage Containers. They have a stainless steel interior, double wall vacuum construction, silicone straw, and non-slip base. They hold 12 ounces of liquid, are dishwasher safe, easy to open (but also easy to open accidentally!) and will keep drinks cold for 12 hours.
When I bought this, I didn’t know any of that. I knew it was BPA free and my daughter liked it!! On the first day of school I sent her with a thermos of water and a little bit of ice. After 8 hours, this is what I found:
Wow, it still had ice in it! It really did keep it cold!! This worked swimmingly for about two months. Then one day I went to unpack her stuff after school, and her lunch box, bookbag, and everything in it (including a library book) were soaking wet. She claimed that she closed the top, but I wasn’t so sure. I sent her with it again the next day and this time everything was soaked again, including the special class Tooth Fairy Bag, complete with 2 more library books!! Thankfully, it was just water, but still. We tried keeping it in an outside pocket of her bookbag, but then she was forgetting to take it to the lunchroom. So, we’re still working on a new solution, and I have a different bottle to review as well.
I also bought her a Funtainers Food Jar so I could send her with leftover soup, mac & cheese and so forth. before I sent her with anything, I wanted to test to make sure the TherMax® double wall vacuum insulation really worked.
I put hot water in the thermos, closed it up, and took the temperature of the water to see how it retained the heat. I checked it after 4.5 hours:
and again after 6.5 hours:
It has worked really well. When I send her with something hot, I make it just a bit hotter than I would if we were eating it right away, then close it up!
The regular price of both of these at my Target was $13.99 each, but I got them on sale for $12 each. Just a few packs of juice boxes would add up to that quickly!! We’re still using the thermos at home sometimes; if I could get her to stop chewing on the straw it would be perfect!
Maria wants to live in a world where cloth diapers are the norm and moms can make parenting choices without judgement. When she’s not chasing her 18, 14 and 11-year old kids around, you might find her checking out the latest gadgets, organizing something (again) or exercising in the fresh air. 
