My son (22 months) has never been interested in the straw. I can put one in his mouth but the same second he pushes it out like it's a foriegn object. I should also add he wasnt' even off the bottle until about 16 months. I'm trying to get him to start drinking from a straw so I can kind of get him away from the sippy cup, because he's been extremely picky about his cup, and will only drink out of one specific style of cup. If I can get him off of that and onto drinking from a straw, then there are more options because there are many cups with straws. His new preschool class drinks out of open cups, but he really doesn't have the experience or self control for that yet, so they're giving him his sippy also. I'm not too worried about tooth decay right now because he's not really into the sweet drinks, all he really likes to drink is either milk or cold water. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to get him to start drinking from a straw?
When my son was going from bottle to cup we used chocolate milk as a treat. He really liked chocolate milk and so we told him that the only way he can have it is by drinking it out of a cup instead of the bottle. Maybe you can find something that he likes to drink and say he can only drink it with a straw.
Good luck
OK, honest-honest truth: he only drinks from one style of cup because you allow it! Seriously, I hear this all the time from my daycare families.....& guess what....as the adult in the situation, just don't give in & ride it out! Eventually he'll learn that if he's thirsty...he has only one option & that's to use whatever is given to him.
This is not cruel, this is not mean....it's simply teaching your child to be adaptable & not single-focussed.
& at 22 months, he should be fully capable of drinking like a big boy...whether it be with a straw, a lidless cup, or from a variety of sippy cups. In my daycare, even the 13 month old can drink from a regular cup....I help control her actions....but she can do it! Good luck!
The way we taught our 19 month old to drink from a straw was to take an empty honey bear container and cut aquarium tubing to fit it as the 'straw'. Then we encouraged him to try to drink from that. The reason this works is because you have control of how much liquid comes out of the 'straw' by squeezing the honey bear container to make liquid go up the aquarium tubing.
We learned this trick from my son's speech pathologist and within 1 day of trying, he was successfully drinking from all types of straws.
I hate to be the negative Nancy, but I will. The only reason your son can't drink from an open cup is because you haven't let him. They can handle an open cup beginning at 12 months. Think how far his walking ability has come and you'll see the improvement he could have made with a cup. Since he likes water give gim that, in small amounts, from a small 5 oz glass. I am sure he'll pick it up quickly and then you can be done with sippy cups (which are an evil invention, in my mind). I don't want you to think I speaking straight from a textbook, so you should know that my 19 month old drinks only from an open cup while at home.
Good Morning S., Zane will be 2 next month and he drinks from a straw and sippy cup. Never will he drink from an open cup he does what your son does with the straw pushes it away! usually spilling it If I don't have a good hand on it.
Zane sucks his thumb grrrrrrrr so I think the sucking just came naturally for him. There are sippys with straws attached already. Maybe try one of those. Make a big deal of how nice it is and easier then his old sippy. Big boys can use them etc...
Really there is not an easy way to get kids to do and use things we think they should at any given time. It's all a learning experience for all of us.
God Bless you S.
K. Nana of 5
One day I was drinking chocolate milk through a straw & my youngest (probly 2 at the time) really wanted a drink, but he didn't know how to drink out of a straw. I put the straw in the milk, then held the other end with my finger then I took the straw out of the cup then I put the straw in his mouth so he could try my chocolate milk. Then he tried a few times to drink out of my straw & the next thing I knew my milk was gone!
Try putting his favorite drink in a cup with a straw.
God bless!
All I can say is to be patient. Just keep introducing the straws to him, he should eventually get the idea. my God Daughter is about 14 months & if you even put a sippy in her hand she gets really mad. She'll start screaming looking right at you as she chucks the sippy across the room. One presumes she is aiming for the one to hand her the sippy LOL. Every kid is different & grows @ they're own rate & pace. It will all work out fine. Good luck!
I think that drinking for a straw does offer more options for him and does make it a little easier for you. I totally get that. We have four kids. They have to learn to associate the straw for drinking, otherwise it is just an object, not for drinking, to them. My husband taught our kids, but he would take the straw and put it in a drink and put his finger over the top so the liquid stayed in and put the other end in their mouth and then let the liquid go with his finger so that they understood that there is something good in there they want. After doing that for a while, he would keep his finger on the tip and put the other end in their mouth, getting slower at letting the liquid go so after a bit they would be sucking on the straw while he was holding it and they would have to suck to get it. Then they associate the straw with drinking and sucking on it to get it rather quickly.
I didn't take the time to read your other responses, so I may be repeating what someone else has said. If so I apologize.
I always started teaching my kids to drink from a straw while they were still "on the bottle" as the sucking reflex came natural to them at that time and it was so easy to teach them.
I have however, taught a few who were a little older with some advice my mother gave me.
Use a short cup, like his sippy without the lid (you will have to hold the cup and straw to avoid spills) and fill it with the child's favorite drink, or even a treat like Kool-Aid (to entice him to keep trying).
Cut a straw in half. You want the straw very short so the child will get a reward quickly for sucking properly.
Put something like ice cream or jam on the tip of the straw to encourage him to keep the straw in his mouth and suck on it. You will have to keep putting a tiny bit of the ice cream (or what ever) on the tip, and encourage your child to suck on the straw until he finally gets some liquid through it.
This will take a lot of patience, but when he finally gets that liquid for the first time, the look of surprise on the child's face is priceless ! Make a big deal and praise him !!
Once he has "gotten it", he'll never forget how.
That having been said, I had one child who didn't need to be taught at all.
She was still a bottle baby, sitting up well, but not yet walking. We went into a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant to grab a quick dinner. They served us our drinks while we waited for the rest of our order. As always, I put my straw in mine immediately and took a sip, then set it down. I held her in a sitting position on the table in front of me as I turned to speak with my husband. When I turned back around, she was leaning over, drinking from my straw and loving every bit of the Dr. Pepper she was quickly consuming !!! We laughed so hard !! Not only had this child not been taught (yet) to drink from a straw, but she had never tasted soda pop ! I guess she had watched me enjoy mine too many times without offering her a taste, and she wanted to check it out for herself !
