Seeking Moms with Tips for Transitioning to Drinking with a Straw.

I just got my 11month old a sippy straw cup from Walmart. She seems to enjoy it.it was a bit over $2.50 and is BPA free and dishwasher safe.

I was having no luck with the sippy cups with staws, so I used a McDonald's cup with milkshake in it. I sucked some up to the top of the straw and pinched the straw so it stayed up there. That way, my son could get a small taste and understand that there was something good in the cup. We did that about four times before he got the idea by himself. McD's straws are very wide and easy to get liquid up, so I still have to pinch them so that he doesn't get too much and choke. He loved learning on the milkshake!!

We got some of those sponge bob cups with the straw built in and my son was so excited to try it out.

Yes, he will tilt it to drink out of it, so get ready for that.

Stock up on the straws that bend. It's about $1 for a box of 100 of them at Jewel. Those are very helpful. I keep some in my purse for when we are out. Those straight straws can be a problem.

M.

I work with a lot of speech therapists and one of them recommended a site called talktools.com. I purchased the honeybear straw cup and my son loves it. It is a normal-sized straw, a good fit for little hands and you can squeeze it to push the liquid up until they get the hang of it. He still uses it about 10 month later. It was a great starter cup. Good luck.

Have you tried it? I don't know a single child that doesn't figure out a straw in a matter of minutes. My 10 month old figured out a straw in seconds.

Just give him the cup. Maybe mimic what he should do if he doesn't figure it out right away. But he'll get it in no time. Just give it to him. You will have to watch him to make sure he doesn't try to tip the cup up like a regular cup....maybe show him that it will spill. Just watch him for the first couple of days and he will be fine.

You will be surprised how quickly your little one will pick it up. Give him the cup with some liquid to check it out. Then pull some up yourself (I know some moms are going to think this is gross as a friend thought so) and hold it with you finger. You can also dip the straw in the liquid to let him taste it on the straw. Then give him the cup and let him taste the liquid. He will get it. I think my daughter figured it out after only 15 minutes.

My son is 10 months and he drinks from a straw. I taught him to use a straw with cold water. Water is much easier to suck up through a straw than something thicker. Put the straw in the water and then cover the top of the straw with your finger. Keeping the top covered pull the straw out of the cup and put the bottom end in his mouth and let go with your finger and some water will be released into his mouth. Next time let him suck the bottom of the straw a bit and release the water more slowly. After giving him the water from the bottom of the straw a few times let him try to drink from the top of the straw. Good Luck!

Another idea: when you are around a straw-savvy toddler or young child, ask the toddler to "show" your son how to sip froma straw. My son (14 months) just took his first sips from a straw because he saw his sister doing it.

You might wish to try one of those 'take and toss' cups with the straws. We had a few sippy-straw cups and our son never got the hang of the valve and such.

Just give him the cup and expect that there will be some spills. His first inclination will be to tilt the cup because that's what he is used to with the sippy cup. We would take our hand and gently lower the cup saying "tilt it down" to teach him that he doesn't have to flip the cup to get the liquid.

Hi,

My 14 month just figured it out when we purchased an apple juice from Mc. Donald's and I squeezed a little bit up when he put the straw in his mouth. After that he knew what to do.

Good Luck!
L.