I’m a dentist and this is why you should never let your toddler drink out of your trendy Stanley cup

Everyone from Adele to Meghan Markle is a fan of the Stanley cup, the viral £45 water bottle that has become extremely popular with Gen Z.

But now young mothers are giving the 850ml supersized, insulated water tumbler to their babies, leading to a serious warning from dentists.    

Dr Sachin Soni, who owns the Lady Bay Dental Care in Nottingham, warned that drinking from a straw can be detrimental to young teeth.   

‘If  a mum or dad came and asked if it was okay or not I would say to try and avoid with young children as it may adversely affect tooth position and the growth of the developing jaw,’ he told FEMAIL.

‘Children using a straw too often can sometimes cause changes in tooth position whilst the jaw is still developing.

Dr Sachin Soni, who owns the Lady Bay Dental Care in Nottingham, warned that drinking from a straw can be detrimental to young teeth. One toddler is seen using it 

Another mother shared a video to TikTok letting her child sip out of her expensive Stanley cup

‘We advise parents to limit the frequency of straw use, typically young children between 1 and 3’.

But that hasn’t stopped dozens of mothers sharing clips of their babies enjoying drinking from the giant cup, which has become a viral sensation.       

While the colossal cups come from various makers, such as brands like Yeti (Victoria Beckham’s preferred model) or Simple Modern (Meghan’s favourite), the current king of water bottles is the Stanley ‘Quencher’. 

The hashtag #Stanleycup now has more than seven billion times on TikTok and a cult-like following online with celebrities including actress Shay Mitchell and Love Islander Molly Mae Hague evangelising about it. They come in dozens of different colours, each selling out within minutes of release.

In the US,  hordes of customers queued overnight outside a Target store for a limited-edition offering of the cup, with men even lining up to buy them for their young daughters – and now mothers are letting their children trade their milk bottles for the gargantuan accessory.

As the trend has now crossed the Atlantic, with the flasks quickly selling out in John Lewis.

And it’s not just babies that need to be careful protecting their teeth. 

Trends like watertok, where young people flavour their water, have no doubt helped accelerate the Stanley craze.

Millions of Gen Z women were inspired to fashion funky water, by adding kitchen cupboard staples like chia seeds and lemon, as well as flavour sachets.  

One mother was even keeping a sip count, encouraging her child to keep sipping

Meghan Markle appears in the background of a social media video enjoying a slurp from her own huge cups

While adding colourful agents to your water may make it more palatable if you’re not a natural lover of H2O, may be tempting, dentists urge otherwise. 

 ‘High sugar drinks increase risk of tooth decay, acid erosion, and sensitivity,’ Dr Sachin Soni says.

But this hasn’t put off fans from the craze. 

Primark and The Range to create dupes at a much lower price points of £8 and £4 respectively to keep up with the trend.

But what’s so special about the Stanley, which was first created in 1913? 

All-steel vacuum flask was invented by physicist William Stanley Jr, because he ‘wanted to keep his coffee hot all day’.

It gained popularity for its portability and ability to reliable store drinks for hours without leakage.

James Corden helps  Adele to a drink from her Stanley cup while she’s behind the wheel during an episode of Carpool Karaoke

Victoria Beckham is spotted using one of the viral cups to help stay hydrated while on holiday

Amy Wragg, 25, is a British content creator whose content normally focuses on beauty and lifestyle. Here she is beaming as she gleefully holds up her white 1.2 litre Stanley Quencher 

Just last week, Stanley sent social media into overdrive with a much-anticipated, limited-edition collaboration with Starbucks for Valentine’s Day.

Videos emerged of shoppers in America queuing overnight to get their hands on the bright, £35 pink and red cups. Viral footage even showed one man attempting to grab a box of them before getting tackled and beaten up by other customers who had queued for hours. The cups are now reselling for as much as £150 each on eBay.

So how did an insulated cup – which, let’s face it, was once the preserve of construction workers and mountaineering dads – become the ultimate fashion statement?

Ever since William Stanley Jr – not of the Stanley knife – invented the steel vacuum-sealed bottle in 1913, the Seattle company has sold various tumblers – from 14oz (400ml) to 64oz (1.8l), catering for long-distance drivers, outdoor workers, picnickers, hikers and more.

American actress Olivia Wilde is seen out and about carrying her own drinking cup

Stanley, a brand which used to be the preserve of long-distance drivers, hikers and outdoor workers, has seen revenue soar since the cups have grasped the attention of youngsters

TikTok user Danielle Marie Lettering posted a video online of her car after it burst into flames. Amid the charred debris of her burnt-out Kia, her copper-coloured Stanley sat completely intact in the driver’s seat cupholder, with ice still left frozen inside

World War II pilots carried Stanleys onto their planes. As recently as 2012, Stanley said that its products resonated mainly with ‘a 30-year-career veteran policeman’ and ‘a retired Army soldier.’ It’s safe to say that Stanley fever didn’t take hold overnight.

It was only in 2016 when the company released their Quencher model that the brand caught the imagination of Gen Z – those born between the late 1990s and 2010.

On TikTok, influencers began sharing how much water they carry in their tumbler and how it was keeping them ‘hydrated’. Pop queen and TikTok royalty Olivia Rodrigo sparked a new wave of devotees last year.

‘I was actually TikTok-influenced into buying this,’ Rodrigo said, cradling her lilac cup in an video interview with GQ.

‘I was like, “I need this. This looks like it will change my life.” And it completely did.’

Stanley’s revenue has soared – from $94 million in 2020 to $194 million in 2021, doubling again to $402 million in 2022.

Ostensibly, it is the practicality of the product that appeals. At the heart of the Stanley Tumbler’s popularity is its insulation technology that, I can testify, really does keep drinks hot or cold for up to 24 hours.

In November last year, TikTok user Danielle Marie Lettering proved this point to the extreme. She posted a video showing the aftermath of her car bursting into flames. Amid the charred debris of her burnt-out Kia, her copper-coloured Stanley sat completely intact in the driver’s seat cupholder, with ice still left frozen in the tumbler. The video now has over 94 million views. Clearly delighted with the marketing opportunity, when Stanley saw the video, the company offered to replace not only the cup, but her car.