Whats up W/ the Newest Advice on Sippy Cups

Stop worrying! Both of my kids have used sippy cups and have had no problems. My 28 month old has a great vocabulary and speaks normally, as well as my 9 year old. Mothers on here go a little overboard with advice sometimes, and frankly, I do what works for my family, and that includes hot dogs, the occasional piece of candy, McDonalds every so often, a sip of Mom's Dr.Pepper, and yes, even sippy cups. My kids are healty, happy, and balanced. :)

I have never heard this. My son does have speech delays, but that is because of Autism.

He finds the sucking of the sippy cup to be very comforting to him, and I only give it to him before bedtime so he sleepy better, we are slowly changing over to a regular cup.

If I was you, I would do what works. There are many people who has the perfect answer, but not all children are the same. We as parents will make mistakes, but there is no right or wrong in these little matters.
good luck

i agree with bethany

Yeah, I'm with the other moms. I think whoever decided against no-spill sippy cups never had kids or white carpet in their house! Both of my kids are great talkers, and I used no-spill sippy cups.

I haven't heard about this and all 3 of my kids used the playtex brand sippy cups and none of them had a speech problem at all even at 2 they could be understood and I started them on sippy cups at 4 months. They were off the bottle at 12 months.

Most kids I know that have speech problems, their parents also had speech problems so maybe hereditary, some of the other kids were preemies. It amazes me how many products get blamed on these new so called health issues when these products were used for years when we were kids or with our older kids and they didn't seem to have a problem. I have also noticed speech problems with kids that watched teletubbies and other shows like that where the characters are grunting or making sounds but not actually saying words. Kids need to be talked to from a young age to learn how to talk and don't baby talk at them, talk like you would to an adult so they can hear the proper pronunciation of words and that is how they learn how to talk.

Let's start looking at the other problems which is probably the way people eat. Kids aren't getting nutrition in their meals like they used to. Look at all the foods we buy and all the unhealthy ingredients that is in just about everything we eat.

yes, according to some studies, there is a coorelation between use of sippy cups which require sucking vs. learning to drink from a cup AND increased speech impediments. & this is not new - I learned this in Early Childhood Ed when my son was a baby....13 years ago!

Yes, babies drink from bottles. Sippy cups can be used safely until toddler age. But, the longer those sippy cups are used....the longer it is before the muscles used in proper speech formation are able to develop. That's the whole point in allowing your child to use an open cup, it develops the muscles required for proper speech. It's really that simple.

The same holds true for development of other muscles groups. For example: allowing your toddler to use crayons/markers paves the way for scissors & beginning writing skills. Allowing your child to hold books/turn pages, looking from left to right.....aids in early reading skills. It all connects in a very basic & simple way. AND the more we allow our children to develop these skills, the better off they'll be in the long run. I'd much rather chose wiping up a few spills over having to deal with speech therapy!

& as a disclaimer, using a sippy cup does not mean that your child will flat-out have speech issues......this does not affect all children, just some.

I think that when kids use sippy cups they are using different muscles in the mouth & jaw than they use when sucking on the bottle or breast. However, the only reason I can think of that would cause speech delays is that kids tend to walk around with sippy cups and bottles stuck in their mouth. How can you learn to talk if you are constantly sucking on a bottle/sippy cup? My advice to you is use a sippy cup b/c they are amazingly convenient & help for an easy transition off the bottle, but try not to use them too long. I usually didn't let my daughter walk around with a sippy cup unless we were outside playing in the heat....as far as her speech is concerned I'd say she was/is pretty advanced for her age. So, I'm all for the sippy cup!

We didn't use sippy cups per se, my boys used steel water bottles with sport tops. I think the problem is with the people who let their kids walk around all day with a sippy cup stuck in their mouth (or I suppose a pacifier is the same thing) and they just suck down juice or milk all da. Its bad for the teeth, bad for the jaw, to be doing that all day.

My boys were drinking out of an open top cup by 1yr old at the table for meals (they were breastfed beyond a year so they didn't have bottles) and the steel cups when out of the house.

Straw cups work too, it keeps the liquid away from the teeth.

I haven't heard of this study. My son is 2 and a half and uses a sippy cup. His teeth have come in just fine. He talks fine. He knows how to drink out of a regular cup without spilling and does great. However, if you're on the go a lot like we are and if you want him to drink more often than 3 times a day during meals, it's sooo convenient to have a spill proof sippy cup to give them. I say don't worry about the study. Your son will be just fine. :)

I have not really gotten out of the sippy cup stage yet, my son is two and a half and we use a sippy cup that is made by Playtex. We only use it for his milk at nap time and bedtime and whenever he wants some milk during the day. I try not to have it out to where he can get it anytime during the day. We just now started trying to use a sippy that has a straw that you slide open and closed and he has been doing well with that. My son was the same way with liking to watch whatever was in his cup drip out when he would turn it upside down, and this one with the straw, so far, has been great. I only put water in that however because that one is on the table all day in case he wants some water. He loves that he is drinking out of a straw. I would do what works for you and your son, i mean me personally i would not worry about it. Just use the one that does not spill and if that one has a valve, just monitor the use of it. Good luck~

Personally, I say do what is right for you and don't worry so much about the studies. I have also heard that studies show that sippy cups are bad for their teeth. Years ago, they also told moms to put honey in water for babies. The information that comes from "studies" changes all the time. As long as you are using it as a transition tool and not a bottle replacement, there is NOTHING wrong with a sippy cup. Just like a pacifier, don't let him talk with it in his mouth or suck on it none stop. At the table with a meal, no problems. Of course he is going to think it is way cool to watch the liquid pour out of a no valve cup! That is part of exploring his little world. But when he reaches for your cup, let him take a drink with help. This is how they learn. Limited use will not hurt him.

I've never heard this either. My 27 month old has used various sippies since he was 7 months and started talking in sentences at 14 months. I'm not going to worry about it with my new baby either!

I remember reading about this one when we were starting my daughter on cups. I read a post by a speech therapist or pathologist that suggested that the no spill cups could be a problem...so we took the valves out of our cups (but we have hardwood floors...) she also said that drinking from a straw or straw cups was good for speech development.

It's not a problem until they are 3, so no worries you still have time! ;) You have some great suggestions of other cups and bottles to use, so maybe just start to transition his in a few months. My daughter was pretty much done with sippies at 2, but the "experts" are recommending no later than 3.

The people who put out that report are full of hogwash and I think it is an outright lie to defect people away from the truth.

Speech impediments and delays are most likely caused by toxic overload, either bacterial , fungal, or heavy metal/pesticidal. That is what all the medical papers I have read point to anyway.

I used sippy cups till my kids were 2 then it was regular cups or straw cups.I really don't like the NUBY soft top with no valve it isn't spillproof,Munchkin has a soft sports type bottle not spil lproof either.My daughter is almost 1 she never really used a bottle she is exclusively BF but when I give her drinks she doesn't like sippy cups she loves straw cups & sucks just fine with them,The First Years has soft top cups with characters on them they are spill proof so far I like that better than other ones without the vavle

I had never heard of this until my 3 1/2 year old (now 4) started pre-school. They had a speech testing at the school & we found out she had "tongue trust", which they claim is from using sippy cups. My DD is a great talker, she could say 75 words by the time she was 18 months. I just never took the time to realize she said her "s" and "r" incorrectly, she sticks her tongue out when she says words with s & r. Since then we really have cut out sippy cups with her, she has a regular cup at dinner and a straw cup if were out & about. I am going to use what I have learned and not give my second daughter sippy cups and long as my first. I think they are just fine for toddlers, all part of the learning process and easier on our carpet, but come 2 or 2 1/2 they should be done & using a big girl cup. I did make the mistake others mention below, my daughter would love laying on the couch in the morning watching cartoons and drink her milk. She didn't have it "stuck in her mouth ALL day" as other mention below, but I should have quit giving it to her earlier than I did....

i quess dr are paid to by the comp that sells those cups to tell us that cause they dnt care about the stress of mother hood and that the few sec it takes us to clean that spill does affect us but do they care no!!! cause my 3 kids ped. dr told me the same thing but they said it also is a issue with tooth decay i thaught that was from sucking bottle so long thats my problem with my daughter who's 4 and still takes a bottle