5 Year Old with a Sippy Cup

I know it's a bit late but my son is 8 and still has a sippy cup with water at night. It's easier than having him spill a cup of water in bed and having to change the sheets every night. The only thing I would ever say about juice or milk in a sippy cup is that he does risk getting cavities in his front teeth. My son had a cavity in his baby teeth at around age 5 or so and my dentist said it was from that. But don't worry about him never giving up the sippy cup. He will give it up eventually.

Another 2 cents :) Contigo makes sipping cups that you push a button to drink. They make a child size one but, my almost 6 yr old (who is also not a fan of regular cups) is able to use the adult one. They can be found at Target and sometimes Costco.

my daughter is 4 1/2 and drinks out of sippies, regular, and straw cups. I know lots of kids the same age who still have them so I wouldnt worry.

I probably would not sweat this but one suggestion I would make is to find some really fun cups for him. I found a cool Halloween goblet at a Harris Teeter grocery store and my 4 year old loved drinking from it. Also, if your son has a favorite character, try and find one of those plastic cups with a lid and a pop up straw. In addition, just this week-end, we put a smoothie in a (not expensive!) wine glass for our son as well and he loved the novelty of it. But if he sticks with the sippy cups for awhile, I don't think you should mind.

Hi C.!

As a homeschooling mom of 8 with 6 all grown up and 2 teenagers still under my tutelage, I would like to encourage you to be at peace with allowing your little guy to drink out of his beloved sippy cup for as long as he likes, especially if that practice ensures that he drinks plenty of water, which is a great habit to form. Soon enough, his own friends or other kids will say something not so nice to him about it, and he will discard it on his own. If you wish to have some weaning of it, perhaps, you can offer him juice or milk in a regular cup only, but he can enjoy unlimited water in his sippy cup. With all the upcoming challanges in parenting your little man into responsible adulthood, this is one that need not be. In light of Eternity, this is nothing. :)

I really like my starbucks cup with the lid so I don't spill and I'm quite old! And it doesn't break if I drop it.

As long as he doesn't use it for sugary liquids, he should be fine. Maybe he'd enjoy a Sigg bottle. They come in lots of sizes with diffent tops are a great alternative to drinking water from plasic bottles. There are some fun designs on Cafe Press. You can even design your own with a photo or artwork or words.

a five year old with a sippy cup... whats the big deal about that ?? oh, wait some "expert" said that a five year old shouldnt be carrying around a sippy cup.yeah, well i feel
pretty certain that the "expert" would have been happy to
sell you an very expensive replacement for this sippy cup.
snideness aside if the child likes the sippy cup and thats
what they typically drink out of, then why feel like you
should take it away from him simply because some supposed expert says so.
K. h.

My son is seven and still takes one to bed, he's healthy and happy, I wouldn't be concerned.

i have a 5 yr old daughter who has a sippy cup. i threw it away one day and she had a fit wouldnt stop crying till i gave in to her....i talked to the social worker at her school and she told me that she will throw it away when shes ready and its normal....but she only uses it at night. during the day she uses reg cups.

I don't know if you can really go wrong at this point. Part of me says, just take it away (it doesn't sound like he would be traumatized) and he will drink eventually. The other part says you are doing the best you can, and he isn't hurting anyone or being developmentally delayed, so who cares? I guess it also depends a little on how he uses it. Is it a comfort item that he sucks on (like a pacifier)? Or is it just a habit? I am one of those people who hates to see older kids with bottles, and I don't even believe in pacifiers. But for this, I don't have a clear opinion and am curious what other moms suggest.

Honestly, peer pressure will likely kick in soon and he will realize that this is unusual. I would only worry that he might be embarrassed someday about it. I don't know... but I do have a suggestion. What about sports bottles with the squirt tops? It might make a good transition since you can kind of suck on it, but it is more socially and developmentally appropriate for his age. Good luck!

Don't worry, just let it run it's course

Your little boy has his favorite cup and he likes the softness of the spout which feels good against his lips and teeth. When he is ready, he will give up the sippy cup.

What I really think is that we do what we have to do! You will have moms that say...NO WAY, yet really, if they were in your situation with your exact child, they would so do the same thing! Please...this is totally no big deal. I have a son that does the same thing. He is 4 and my mom still gives him a bottle at times as a treat and he gets so excited. Other than that he mainly drinks out of a hard sippy cup and will drink out of a regular glass at dinner. I really think that the soft top of a nuby is bottle like and it is more about soothing than drinking for these little ones. My son takes a cup to bed as well, I, like you, know all of the things to keep an eye on..teeth, etc. Other children have blankets and stuffed animals...these cups are probably what our kids use for comfort. So what, right? One day we will look back on this and wish this was our only problem :)

I wouldn't worry. My 3 kids kept the sippy cups until the oldest was in middle school. They would still be drinking from them if I hadn't thrown them away. They liked not having to worry about spilling. It wasn't a big deal. Shoot, I drink my coffee out of a travel mug, same concept, I think.

Ok, this is where I say to the 5 year old...tough nubby's! The 5 year old may prefer the sippy cup, but if he is thirsty enough, he will drink from a regular cup. You have to throw out the sippy cups so that he can see they are no longer available and he needs to be a big boy. I'm guessing if he goes to his friends houses, he drinks out of a regular cup...he drinks out of your sippy cups because they are still available to him. You are the mom...but he seems to be in control. Change is sometimes hard for kids, but they adjust and you have to be in control again.

I let my older daughter use a sippy cup til she was about 5 or 6. I did it because it was convenient and no spills. With my 2 younger ones I had the same plan, but I got sick and tired of the 2 of them always asking for drinks and filling them up and taking them w/ us whereever we went, not to mention washing all the parts...... So I finally decided to call it quits. They are 3.5 and 4.5yrs old now. Yes, they went a few days w/out drinking much, especially my son, who was more attatched to his.
I bought them new, big kid cups and told them that from now on we will drink at meal time and snack time and that there will be no more sippy cups. I also had to make sure they got a drink before we left the house and remind them we dont have drinks w/ us. My son was carrying his cup around w/ him all day. He had the hardest time adjusting, but was fine after a couple of weeks. I leave the cups in the fridge all the time so they can sip if they want. And I will do that until it becomes a novelty and they get into the fridge too often. I also dont think its a good idea to let them keep drinks in their room at night. I think it could lead to bed wetting if they are always taking a sip here and there. And its just not really necessary. AFter having 3 kids, Im all about doing only whats necessary and not making more work for myself :)
At some point in time you need to take away the "baby" stuff so he can "grow up". He needs to learn to make transitions and move along in life and it all starts now. It starts w/ giving up diapers and pacifiers and potty chairs and cribs and favorite blankies and sippy cups......

I know you've pretty much already decided to stay with sippy cups, but I wanted to let you know that we were advised to not let my girl use sippy cups past 4, because they hinder the development of her lip muscles, which could lead to difficulty with her speech (she had a significant speech delay). They recommended that she use a cup with a straw if not a regular cup. I would strongly suggest you switch to a cup with a straw for this reason. It still allows the child to suck and prevents spills, but does not alter/hinder development.
just my 2 cents :)

i think it's wonderful that you have set up his world so that he is drinking plenty of water happily, is healthy and only drinks water before bed. what a lucky kid! and being homeschooled in the bargain?
dang. i wouldn't change a thing.
:) khairete
S.