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Oct 31, 2023

We found the best 'leakproof' water bottle perfect for your kids' school bag

If you're on a mission to find the perfect 'leakproof' water bottle that doesn't lose a drop no matter what - keep reading for our parent reviews on four fantastic options

From one academic year to the next, for many parents it can feel like the hunt for the 'perfect' water bottle, which basically means one that doesn't leak is an endless undefeated task.

But we are here to tell you that this is certainly not the case as three Mirror mums give their opinion on four water bottles that have been tried and tested by their kids, that will finally put a stop to all of your water bottle frustrations.

Long gone will be the days of soggy books and squash-soaked school bags. No more will you have to purchase 3,000 bottles each year only having to throw them all away because they're just utter trash. And no longer will your kids have to endure warmish, plastic tasting water.

To find out which bottles are going to transform your world we have picked our favourite but, supported this with four very honest reviews.

Mirror Choice reviewers Narin Flanders and Charlotte Henry figured that, when taking into consideration the bottles leakproof qualities, varied price tags and their durability, the Sistema bottles came out on top. Our favourites from testing four water bottles were the Sistema and AirUp- but they are noticeably, massively different in price.

While many parents will consider the AirUp to be the top rated product on the market (mainly because of their popularity amongst kids), they are still so extortionately priced. The AirUp can absolutely be an option if money isn't an issue, as it's key features are similar (if not slightly outweigh) the Sistema- we feel that, the majority of families just need to know that there is a product out there which is just as good and doesn't break the bank. The Sistema has proven to us that it does everything it says on the tin:

- Leakproof

- 'Non plasticy' taste

- Dishwasher proof for over a year

- Regularly in Back To School deals

- Massively affordable

Here we have delved into the reviews a little further for you to potentially make your own mind up and find what brand is best for your children's backpacks, and there are a couple of alternatives which could be better for your little ones.

Buy now from Amazon (£5.04)

My two kids have begged for just about every fashionable fad and accessory over the years and I’ve had to learn the expensive way, that most of them turn out to be a little bit rubbish, especially when it comes to drink bottles.

We’ve tried trendy insulated metal bottles, flip top fancy ones with integrated straws, ones you can put ice in, ones you can put fruit in, ones with cartoons on, monogrammed ones, oversized ones and everything in between. Having become an unexpected connoisseur of drink cups, I can say wholeheartedly that the best one we have ever purchased comes in the form of the SIS Sports Drinks Bottle that costs just £4.49 on Amazon.

Made from durable plastic, these bottles come in 800ml or 1000ml sizes, in a choice of bright yellow or clear designs. With a wide neck opening, you can squeeze some ice or even the occasional lemon in your drink if you are feeling fancy.

The absolute best thing about these bottles though, is their apparent inability to leak. No more soggy school books and bags that need to go in the wash, thanks to the pop up screw top lids that fit perfectly to create the most excellent seal.

Apparently designed with the needs of athletes in mind, we have at least five of these on rotation at any one time, and while they may only be used for everyday school life in our house, I still think we are on to a winner.

Buy now from Amazon (£4.49).

In most ways I’m happy to let my kids express their individuality. Most years wear-and-tear paired with their love of marking a new start means they end up with new school bags or lunch boxes reflecting their latest obsession.

But despite the pleas for trips to Smiggle and debates over Lego Ninjago versus Super Mario (depending on which of my two children is talking) there remains one constant in the Flanders house and it is the humble water bottle.

It took me a while to find the Sistema. When my eldest started school we were naive newbies who bought a drinks bottle branded with the school logo. On day three of reception all her belongings were sodden after it leaked and the search began for the Holy Grail, a bottle that wouldn’t leak but wasn’t so expensive that I’d weep if she left it at school or, even worse, lost it completely.

I bought my first Sistema Squeeze in the supermarket, for the princely sum of £1.50 on offer. At that price I didn’t have high hopes but it looked robust and it was pink - which at the time was a determining factor for how keen my daughter was to carry it around.

I soon realised what an epic piece of kit it was though and, five years later, I have a rainbow of colours in use and a couple of spares in the cupboard with my Tupperware for luck.

Other bottles may say they’re leakproof and good luck to them. But I have never used another bottle that my children can chuck directly into the main pocket with all their other belongings (bottle pockets are for wusses apparently) and then juggle and throw around their bags all day and still come out without so much a drop on the outside of the bottle.

The Sistema is totally leakproof, easily opened by big and little hands alike, and washable in the top of the dishwasher it also had the added perk of not leaving the water ‘tasting plasticy’ when you drank from it which was a common if inarticulate complaint from my then four-year-old.

Over the years the shape has changed slightly but the lids are universal so it doesn’t matter if you have several and mix them up in the cupboard as long as you buy the Squeeze version each time - there’s a slightly wider necked version that we’ve also tried but we’ve always come back to the classic simplicity of the original.

What’s more at such a budget price and regularly making appearances in Back to School deals, you don’t need to get a bank loan to buy a few.

We tend to have a few in rotation so at any given time there might be two in the fridge with water chilling in them, a couple in school bags (or even occasionally forgotten at school) and a couple in the dishwasher.

The two bottles in the picture are the most recent and have been used for at least a year - I’m about due some new ones. They might look a bit scuffed but are still in great condition even with regular dishwashing (and yes, as a side point, on the back of the blue bottle is a Stikin label that is still firmly in place and has my son’s name visible on it after a year of nightly dishwashing, my other Back to School must-have).

They might not be trendy but for me Sistema can’t be beaten.

Buy now from Amazon (£5.04).

I bought my daughter an Air Up water bottle for her 10th birthday last year (2022) as the hype surrounding the bottle was at its peak. She had been hounding me for one for some time, but the hefty price tag for what would have been her millionth water bottle in that year alone wasn’t sounding all too appealing. Like most kids, she had a long history of losing bottles at school, breaking them, or they leaked in her school bag, so our search for the perfect bottle was endless.

In her quest to get the Air Up bottle, my daughter informed me that as it’s flavoured water, she would definitely drink more of the stuff whilst at school - so I gave in. We had been using the bottle for at least eight months before I realised the flavoured pods were just a smell and that the water wasn’t in fact flavoured in any way, and my daughter knew this all along, and I can’t lie, I felt conned. How it works is, you take a sip, the smell manipulates the senses so that your mind thinks the water is flavoured.

That said, my daughter loves the bottle, she hasn’t lost it and it is, so far, the longest lasting water bottle she’s had in six years. This is mainly due to the fact that the ‘hefty price tag’ has turned me into a water bottle spy. If I don’t see it, we hunt until I do! Back through those school gates we go missy! It’s so worth it though because the great news is, it doesn’t leak. Hooray!

Buy now from Amazon (£55.00)

The Contigo Autospout insulated water bottle is a great option for little ones because it's nice and small, making it perfect for school bags, as well as not being too much for little hands to get hold of.

And if your little one struggles to consume water throughout the day because it 'doesn't taste good', you won't need to worry about that any longer due to the bottle's insulated design, that will keep any liquid nice and chilled for up to 14 hours. Ours had been left in a warm car, so I'd say for a good five to six hours the water remained super chilled, but because of the intense heat in the car the chill started to decline, but only very slightly.

The Autospout is a great feature - little ones just need to push a button and the straw pops up, and while it's popped up, there'll be no spills if the bottle get knocked over or if it's left popped up while in school bags, as it's spill-proof. The spout is also nice and soft, which my daughter said 'makes drinking from it more comfortable'. To close it down after drinking, the straw just needs to be pushed back down.

The winner for us is that it doesn't leak. No matter how hard we tried to see a drop of liquid escape by turning and tossing it in different directions, thankfully, all liquid remained inside the bottle.

All parts are detachable, so when it needs a thorough clean, you can really get to each part, or they can all go in the dishwasher.

Buy now from Amazon (£23.00).

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