Advice on Sippy Cup

I started my daughter on a regular open cup at 6 months old. We started also with drinking water out of a water bottle which she just loved and always wanted to drink from. I only started her out with water and introduced juice at 8 months old. I think it is more important for a child to learn to drink from a open cup instead of a sippy cup. But if you do want to use a sippy cup - just take the valve out this way the liquid is free flowing. Hope this helps!

HI S.!

I started my daughter on a sippy when she started solids - about 6 months. I'd just give her a little water in her cup during meal times. It was more for practice than anything else. I tried a bunch of different sippies, but I found that the Nuby cups were the best for us. The cups have a soft top like a bottle so it's easier for them to press their little noses into it. HOpe that helps! Good luck!

B.

Hi S.,
I started all 3 of my children on sippy cups (just the playtex ones) at 6 months...they were all highly uninterested in them til about 8 or 9 months or so...yes, just water at first, actually, it was probably closer to 10 or 11 months with our youngest (almost 16 months)...keep trying a few times each day...they'll get the hang of it...it's fun to watch them figure it out finally!

Enjoy her!
J.

Both my boys were between 6 and 8 months when I introduced the sippy cup, and my younger son didn't sit on his own til he was over a year old (other issues). It's never too early to start the cup - it makes the transition easier! I took the stopper out at first - it's a different motion to get beverages out of the cup - and used water flavored with a little juice. The other suggestion someone gave me was to start at lunchtime - in the morning, they are too thirsty, and at night, too tired, and are generally more amenable to suggestions/new things around lunch.

I would wait until she's sitting up on her own, in my opinion. I don't see the rush! And I just started with little bits of water for my son. You could probably add in a bit of pear juice- but always check with your doctor first. Brendan didn't start grasping the idea of the sippy until he was 9 months old. You'll know when she's ready! Good luck!

I started putting a sippy cup out as soon as he could sit in the highchair. It was filled with water, and he played with it for the first few weeks. Then he would try to hold it, and so on. It made the transition from bottle to sippy cup so much easier!! If you use the sippy cups that wont's tip over, it helps.

yes, just let her hold it and get used to it for fun, dont worry if she doesnt know what to do yet, all of a sudden, you turn around and she will be drinking from it, but it may be months. esp not sitting on her own, it would be more to just let her touch it.

if you bottle feed, i would go for the nuby cup as the soft spout is very similar to a nipple. then when she gets a little older, just try the straw ones at 18 months. they are a favorite of my daughter. and if you bottle feed, yes just give her water. i also love the foogo cups from thermos if you were giving milk and needed to keep it cool for travel.

if you breastfeed, are you wanting to transition her to something other than the breast. if you want to have another way of feeding, then put breastmilk in it. it would be the same as getting the baby used to going back and forth between breast and bottle.
otherwise, if you just are wanting to get her used to it, but are nursing only, then give her water. again, go for the nuby. the handle cups are great for little babies, but they grow out of them quickly, they are a pain to travel and store, and im not a fan of the spout selections.
there is absolutly no need to give her juice. it is the number one reason children have so many cavities. then they start to ask for juice instead of milk or water. my daughter is 3 1/2, no cavities, no problems. to this day, she has probaly only drank juice 10 times. i give her water or milk mixed with water. give the actual fruit instead. good luck!!!

Sippy cups aren't as easy to drink from as you may think. They actually take a lot of force to suck out of. I would recommend you trying it first so you know what your child is dealing with. I found a good transition one to be the Born Free Trainer Cup. It does not have the valve so they don't have to suck as hard (it does drip if turned upside down but is fine if it's knocked over). I also like it because you can replace the handles or top when needed without throwing the whole cup away. There are two different tops for different ages. The first is softer - similar to a bottle and the next stage is harder - more like a sippy cup. It's also the "safe" plastic. You can get them most places now but I know for sure that Right Start and Babies R Us has them. Beyond that I can't help much. My son never liked the sippy cups and went to cups with straws after the Born Free Trainer Cup. Check with your doctor about content at that age. My son was still on breastmilk at that age so I'm guessing formula or water but I'd give him/her a call to be sure. Good luck!

My daughter is about 6 1/2 months, and we started "using" the Nuby sippy at around 6 months. Mostly, she plays with it, but she's getting used to it. It has a soft silicone spout, that she has to suck on or bite down on to get anything out, but it has nice big handles that she likes to hold on it. I give her little bits of water in it, I wouldn't give her breast milk in it (or formula), because she does tend to spill it, or take in too much and spit it out.

While this sippy is pretty good with leaking or spillage, I am tending to think that no sippy is really leak proof.

When selecting a sippy is to make sure that you're choosing one that is BPA free! (The Nuby sippies are.) If you don't already know about it, www.thesoftlanding.com is a great resource for information on BPA free items (they also have a shop if you're inclined to shop online).

There isn't a rush for getting them transitioned, but there's no harm in getting your LO used to holding it. I started mine before she was able to fully sit up on her own, while she was in the highchair. Actually, I don't give her the sippy unless she's in the highchair.

Have fun with it!

I searched for a plastic free one and finally found one that is carried at BabiesRUs. It is made by Thermos and it is stainless steel w/ durable rubber for the nozzle/sippy part.
It has worked great.

Well, there is no time like the present. My kids were both about this age when they were introduced to the cup and my son was off the bottle totally by 14 mos, my daughter only takes 1 a day (her 1st morning one) and she's 13 mos. The sooner you introduce it the easier it will be to get rid of the bottle. I would by one that is spill proof, with a soft spout. Nuby makes some that she isn't required to suck to get something out (which she won't know how to do at first anyway). but if she bites it she'll get juice. Or buy some that have a removable spill-proofer. This way you can take that out and when she holds up the cup she'll get something and it won't take her long to figure out what to do. I liked the soft spouts cuz I felt they were closer to bottle.

Hi Sara,

Be careful with giving your daughter water. In general, pediatricians recommend no water before the age of 6 months and after that no more than 4 - 6 ounces a day. Too much water leads to pressure on the kidneys and can flush out too much soium which can lead to neurological disturbances. Check with your pediatrician but most will say that your baby's hydrations should still come from breastmilk or formula at this age.

I didn't start trying to use a sippy cup until my kids were one, but I guess if your daughter will take it, great. Don't be shocked if she won't though. I wound up using the first years disposable cups - those were the only ones that worked (plus, they stack together, so easy to store). My daugher didn't take a sippy cup until she was about 18 months. My twins probably around 14 months...

hi. i had great advice from my pediatrician to start having my son drink breastmilk (or formula) out of a regular cup starting w/ sips at 4 months. she recommended this because sometimes babies don't like drinking milk out of regular cups when you start them around a year, and i have a neighbor whose daughter was fine with water and juice from a cup (sippy or otherwise), but wouldn't drink milk. so i would try both b-milk/formula and water. (not together;) if i remember correctly, she also said that a little soymilk- as long as there is no allergy -would be ok too. i waited for that until he was eating food though; at first it was just a little breastmilk. good luck!

Hi S.-
When I give water to my 7 1/2 month old, he drinks from a cup. He likes to drink water from my cup instead of a sippy- i think because it's hard for him to get water from it. I also heard it's better to get them to learn how to sip and swallow first from a cup and then let them use a sippy. When I give my son a sippy he doesn't really drink from it- he rubs it against his gums, I guess it feels good for teething. We have all kinds of sippys and the one that works best- flow wise, is made by Playtex, I think the box said first sippy, for months 7+, something like that.

Hi S.!
I Started my Daughter on a sippy cup around 6 months or so with just water. I started on the Dr Browns training cup and she did well, Now we use the Born free sippy cups and she does great with them. She hasn't figured out how to tip the cups to drink and doesnt get a straw yet but when i tip it for her she drinks like a champ. She is almost 11 months now and I started putting milk in it once a day, I am hoping to skip the whole bottle thing and go from boob to sippy.
Hope this helps!

S.,

my son is almost 8 months old and JUST started to sit up by himself, but he's been grabbing things for a month or so now.

anyway, when i was breastfeeding him i used the AVENT bottles. i recently just bought him 2 sippy cups (with 2 handles). i removed the "sippy nipple" and put in the "bottle nipple" for him to get used to the idea of it. he goes for it every now and then. sometimes i have to give it to him, others he'll go for it and try to figure out how to hold it and actually get it to his own mouth.

give it a shot! OH, my son is drinking gerber pear juice, apple juice or apple prunce juice - not so big on just the water. he is for one or two sips and then realizes that there is nothing else in it. so i give him about 2 oz of juice to 1 oz water. (that's what my dr told me to do)

hope all goes well.
nikki

Hi Sara,

Get the cup and start showing her how to use it in her high chair. I would put juice in the cup at first instead of water, normally babies like juice better than water and that would make her want to drink from the cup.

Enjoy your daughter.

I'd say there's no harm in introducing it at this point. I started giving it to my son probably around that age and though it was months before he really started using it on his own, it was good practice for him and a way for him to become familiar with it. I would sometimes hold it for him so he could drink out of it like a bottle and get used to the different shape. When he was ready he started drinking from it on his own and started using cups full time around 13 months.

My favorite cups are the Playtex ones, they make nice stage 1 cups that have handles and a soft spout.