r/Frugal • u/Pretend-Read8385 • 18h ago
Leak-proof small insulated milk container recommendation for my daughter’s lunches to save money? 🍎 Food
I keep wasting money on individual milk and juice boxes because every container I’ve tried leaks and ends up making a mess in her backpack and ruining her papers from school.
School lunch is free, except she is picky and won’t eat it and you can only get milk if you take the whole lunch. It’s ridiculous, but it is what it is.
Ideally, I’d like one container with milk for lunch and another for juice with her snack.
She’s 10 and cool now, so no rainbows or unicorns.
Links would be appreciated. TIA
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u/NeverEnoughGalbi 18h ago
Have you tried a Thermos brand insulated container? That and OXO are the only leak-proof ones that I have had. All of the other brands, especially Contigo, leaked after a while.
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u/Pretend-Read8385 18h ago
I used the thermos little kid ones with the spout lid for a while and they were okay most of the time but would inevitably have a big leak.
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u/klughn 18h ago
Was it the Thermos Funtainer? We have that for my daughter’s water bottle and it’s been holding up well for two years. She’s rough with it and drops it all the time.
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u/Pretend-Read8385 18h ago
Yes, it was the funtainer. It works fine as a water bottle without leaking but when put in a lunch bag and moved around it had several blow outs.
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u/catsonmugs 13h ago
Oh interesting. This was going to be my recommendation as well. We've used that thermos for milk for about 18 months, lots of abuse, and it's never leaked. Did it go through the dishwasher a lot?
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u/nbrown7384 10h ago
I’ve never had issues in 8 years of using these for drinks unless it was t screwed on properly or the top closed.
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u/HoothootEightiesChic 15h ago
Are you sure the school doesn't sell milk for like .50¢? Also Tupperware has cups that seal come in sets of 4
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u/suprswimmer 13h ago
Tagging onto this, our school is low income and everyone qualifies for free lunch. If you bring a home lunch, you're welcome to go to the "free table" and grab whatever is there. When kids get school lunch, they have to get a milk, fruit, and vegetable for number/funding reasons, so kids are allowed to drop that food off at the table if someone else wants it. That's how my kinder gets a milk on home lunch days!
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u/Pretend-Read8385 8h ago
Lunch is free in the whole state so they do not sell it. Students have to take the whole lunch. They can drop sealed stuff they don’t want in a bin like the commenter below mentioned. But I’m not sure she’d want to go take a milk out of there.
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u/Cathyg_99 14h ago
Can she just take a small double walled water bottle? She’s old enough to open the lid herself and shouldn’t need a straw? Those seem to be much more reliable
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u/Subject-Ad-5249 14h ago
Whatever you get you can put it into a large gallon sized ziplock style baggie for extra protection. I'm 45 and have large ziplock baggies I've reused for years to avert and contain disasters.
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u/anotherboringasshole 12h ago
We send our boy off with a yeti rambler full of milk with the chug bottle lid. It goes in the dishwasher every day and 1.5 years later seems fine.
Yeti advises against anything that can rot/ferment as it can pressurize the bottle, but the solution is to just clean it every day.
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u/okrrrrrrl 15h ago
Zojirushi makes fabulous products. I think one of their smaller insulated tea/coffee mugs would be good for you. I've been using mine for years with not a single leak, it gets thrown in my backpack and dropped and it's still perfect
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u/ObviousSalamandar 7h ago
Why does your kid need milk and juice lol
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u/sleepylilblackcat 19m ago edited 15m ago
my thoughts exactly. i work with 2-6yr olds. they each bring a reusable water bottle and drink water all day. maybe in the hottest part of summer do they have juice or gatorade but that is rare.
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u/jeswesky 9h ago
Stanley containers. Just don’t look at the stylish tumblers. Look at their camping gear. It’s good and been used by campers, hikers, and hunters for decades. I also recommend PackIt lunch containers that you put in the freezer, they are an ice pack essentially. I will often stick a protein shake in the snack size container when going on a hike. A few hours in my hiking pack in the summer and it’s still cold when I drink it.
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u/Retiring2023 17h ago
Any insulated bottle or plastic bottle with a good screw on lid and drinking spout would do.
I know people like straws but those would be harder for clean for milk or juice so I’d go with something with a screw on small lid to drink from. The only issue is the straw lids flip down so it’s better for leak prevention while she would need to screw on the other type of cap.
I mainly use the Thermoflask insulated bottles from Costco. They would be too big for your purpose but I’ve seen them in smaller sizes under the Takeya brand at other stores. They also sell non insulated bottles if her lunch box will keep things cold enough. Camelback also sells bottles in different sizes. All these bottles end up on clearance when they change just the colors.
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u/Academic_Deal7872 16h ago
I used pack lunch for my nephew, and we used a smol 16oz. nalgene bottle for milk or juice depending on his lunch. Froze another smol nalgene with water in it and packed it in an insulated lunch sack so he'd have a water only bottle for after school sports. He packs his own lunch now and still does this. Although I think he uses a 32oz for water now that he's in high school. Tried the insulated bottles but there's parts to clean even with top only designs like thermo flask, there's a seal that needs washing occasionally.
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u/SeaShellShanty 13h ago
I use small glass bottles with silicon lids I bought on Amazon. They really are leak proof and it's easy for the kids to put the lids back correctly.
10 oz glass milk bottles, lids and straws, Haley cherie
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u/cole_panchini 10h ago
I used the Rubbermaid litterless 250mL juice box for milk, it didn’t spill. However this was many years ago and it may have changed in quality. Another option that I have used for school milk is a small mason jar, seals great.
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u/NoConnection5252 7h ago
It isn't cheap, but Horizon Organics has a shelf stable milk that doesn't need to be refrigerated. We used to throw it in the diaper bag for trips. It depends on the grocery store where they keep it, though.
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u/GnPQGuTFagzncZwB 10h ago
Just be nice and buy her a single shot milk every day. My mother made me do the thermos thing and pretty fast it got this nasty odor to it that would just gag me to the point I would just dump the contents out every day to make her happy.
When I would argue she would point out that she took her coffee in with her like that, but coffee is not milk. Even now as an old guy the thought of drinking milk out of a thermos gags me.
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u/unassuming_angst 18h ago
You could also use 8 oz mason jars (jelly jar size). They're very durable glass, and won't leak at all if screwed on properly. An environmentally friendly choice as well!
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u/JustNKayce 17h ago
I suspect that it is the proper installation that i part of the problem. What OP has offered as previous solutions have failed but I suspect it's because a 10 YO is not focused on making sure it's on right and tight. TBF though I am a grown ass woman who has definitely put the lid on my water bottle on correctly and it still wants to drip a little. It's annoying!
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u/Pretend-Read8385 17h ago
Yes, user error is most likely part of the issue.
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u/JustNKayce 13h ago
So what you’re saying is we need a kid lid. One that locks and won’t leak no matter how bad they half ass putting it back on!
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u/theberg512 16h ago
Could you possibly double up and put the drink container in a zip lock, so if it does leak it doesn't get all over everything? I always do this when I think whatever I'm packing might leak.
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u/LLR1960 17h ago
Don't know that I'd want glass in a 10 year old's backpack.
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u/unassuming_angst 17h ago
Canning jars are quite resistant to breaking because they are made to withstand being under the high pressure of a pressure canner. It's not the same type of glass your standard drinking glass is made from. Totally understand the hesitation though.
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u/buzzingbuzzer 16h ago
They’re not the same type but most schools won’t allow kids to bring glass to school anymore.
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u/minja134 14h ago
I'd just tell her to take the whole lunch, eat or not eat whatever and toss it? Or talk to the school again and say she has a lot of food sensitivities but you want to see if you can still get her milk...like come on!
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u/Disastrous-Owl-1173 13h ago
At my school, we have kids that just want the drinks. We put the nonperishable food (crackers, applesauce, etc) at the end of the table to share with whoever wants it. Sometimes another kid wants a second helping of the hot item. So I facilitate the transfer, I’m like a food dealer 🤣 otherwise it gets tossed. I would tell her to just get the entire lunch and share or toss. It’s a ridiculous rule to get everything, I agree!
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u/minja134 13h ago
You're a superstar lunch person, thanks for helping kids feel less food insecure with what you do! ❤️
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u/Disastrous-Owl-1173 12h ago
Awe thanks! In all fairness, they know I like the cheese sticks and give them to me 🤣
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u/Local-Locksmith-7613 16h ago
Would a Squeasy work? I used to fill them with smoothies for one of our children.
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u/cakelettes 13h ago
I use some baby food storage jars that I got off amazon for my diy drinkable yogurt, they’ve never leaked on me as of today, 2 years later!
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u/81632371 11h ago
My son is a big milk drinker. When he was in grade school I always sent his lunch and milk. He had the Thermos Funtainer with pop up straw. His had a soccer motif. I packed it with a freezer pack in his insulated lunchbox and never had a problem. I was careful about rinsing/cleaning the straw.
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u/Old_Mud9448 11h ago
The only liquid container that has worked for my daughter is the Contigo Aubrey. I have probably bout 8 different kinds since school started. She uses it for water, but I'm sure it would be ok for milk.
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u/Sad_Goose3191 10h ago
I bought a stainless steel insulated water bottle at the thrift store. There were a bunch, and I told my son to pick his favourite. It has a screw top and hasn't leaked yet. If you fill it the night before and keep it overnight in the fridge, and then keep it in a insulated lunch kit with an ice pack it stays cold till lunch. When they get home, empty and clean before filling again in the for the next day. You'll need a bottle brush for cleaning.
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u/nbrown7384 9h ago
Owala FreeSip water bottles don’t have the silicone part that many water bottles do, so user error is diminished. Smallest they come in is 16oz. They have new cups too.
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u/kaylafromspace 5h ago
Maybe the smaller sized Ceres Chill? It’s designed for breast milk storage. Works really well
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u/dethmetaljeff 1h ago
I'm a huge fan of Camelbak chute water bottles. They make insulated stainless ones. They've never leaked on me and if they do, their warranty is great (I used it because I had an older version and the plastic on the lid started getting weird...it's not a problem on any remotely recent version, they used to have a rubberized top).
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u/WafflesFriendsWork99 18h ago
My husband uses a small stainless steel water bottle with a screw on top that has a gasket. I don’t know the brand but it came from Meijer or Walmart.
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u/Zampano-59 18h ago
Maybe the newer Stanley’s thinner insulated series at 350 ml each? I have one an like it and mainly use for cold drinks. 24 bottles also makes small 300ml bottle and smaller tumblers. Kinto as well. Or GSI microlite.
Just look at regular Thermo bottles or tumbler that are leakproof.
Assume that it makes sense to look a lot at weight here and maybe also at the opening/lid.
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u/theberg512 16h ago
My absolute best mugs are a couple Aladdin brand ones I got cheap at Menards. They have yet to fail me.
My Brewmate trio has been solid as well. I sometimes pack a backup coffee for work and it does great in my backpack, even when it falls off the shelf in the back of my truck
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u/Violingirl58 16h ago
Check on Amazon I know there are kids cups that have a straw it’s locking. They do not leak no matter if they get dumped over and their vacuum wall insulated they’re all stainless so once you do the initial outlet everything will stay cold and non-leaky
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u/DeflatedDirigible 14h ago
I don’t think any container will keep milk at a safe temperature until lunch and likely similar for juice if snack is later than lunch. I’ve seen people do experiments on YouTube with thermometers.
Many students throw their milk away because it comes with the whole lunch. Your kid might be able to find another student willing to give her their milk.
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u/North-Cover5411 17h ago
I think a lot of the vacuum insulated sealing types recommend not to use with milk because if you forget about it, it will pressurize as it warms up and begins rotting (fermenting?). Idk what the real risk is but I think at least Yeti warns against it. If you still want to, I’d recommend Klean Kanteen. They’re lighter weight and not designed for “macho men” like Yeti so probably easier for a kid to open. They also have lids where only silicone (gasket) and stainless steel will touch the liquid.