Sippy cup questions

[Fizzyfefe]

At what age did you introduce a sippy cup? Do you give your child milk, water, or something else in their sippy cup? Or, did you skip a sippy cup entirely?

I only ever tried giving my son a sippy cup once. He choked. It was my own fault for thinking he could handle the flow when he's still on medium flow bottle nipples.

Also, do you personally give your baby water if they are older than six months? I still haven't introduced water, and the doctor hasn't said anything about it yet. I just do milk on demand at the moment.

 

[SarahBear]

I think I tried somewhere shortly after 6 months, but she was having trouble with it. I don't remember at what point I tried another type, but it leaked, so I just went with cups. By 14 months, Violet could use an open topped cup. At some point she stopped using cups altogether and just stayed hydrated with nursing and then around 17 months, began using a cup again and was a bit out of practice but soon re-gained her cup using ability. With Leo, I plan to skip the sippy cup and just use an open topped cup.

 

[SpringCrane]

I started giving my son one with a small amount of water around 6 months, just to play with. He definitely didn't drink from it with any sort of grace or skill. He stayed with my mom for a weekend at 8 months, and he refused the pumped milk in bottles (not surprising since he had only had like two bottles ever around 3 months). She tried the breastmilk in sippies... still no. Then she tried water and he drank. He didn't use them much after. He fell in love with his granny's camelbak water bottle on a trip at 11 months, and the love is still going strong.

I'd say he's been capable/interested in sippies since 9 months, but he's also been fine with an open cup since about one. He only gets water as a drink, so I don't worry about spills. He does have a simple sippy that stays in his crib in case it gets knocked over. On the rare occasion he gets chocolate milk (because I'm craving it this pregnancy), he drinks from a toddler straw cup to keep the sugar off his teeth and his shirt safe from stains.

There are so many varieties, I'd try a few (ask friends to borrow some?) and see which you like to clean and which your LO can manage.

 

[jstarr]

At about 6 months, it took about a month for him to get the hang of it though and try and do it himself successfully

 

[minties]

Mine had cups from about 6 months, I bought expensive ones with valves etc for Thomas, and just cheap ones for Sophie with no valves. They had a bit of water to sip. neither really needed it and it was just to play with and slowly learn the skill of using a cup. Sophie had an open top cup about 11 months I think. Both were breastfed, I think I would just give the baby their own bottle if bottle fed.

 

[AnonymousCAT]

We started giving water in an open cup around 6-7 months but only with meals. Once he got the hang of that we introduced the 360 degrees miracle cup by munchkin. It is similar to the Wow cup. It's a spoutless cup with a silicone seal that allows them to drink the same as from a normal open cup but prevents messes if you drop it or turn it upside down. It has worked really well for us. It does leak a bit if thrown on the floor but otherwise it's fine. My DS could never figure out a bottle or sippy cup with a spout. And I honestly didn't try to hard once he figured this cup out. It's super easy to clean with three parts. I'm going to be trying milk in it soon. We still only give water with meals though. Otherwise he gets milk on demand via bf.

 

[Fizzyfefe]

Thanks for all your responses! I actually saw that miracle cup when we were at the store the other day. We have four sippy cups, all different types and brands, that were gifted from different people. I will have to try them all out to see what he likes.

 

[Fizzyfefe]

Okay ladies, I just gave him one. He really wants to drink out of it. However, he can't seem to lift it quite high enough, so he's sucking on air. Isn't that bad? He can burp on his own, but I didn't think babies should suck on air. What do I do? Help hold it for him, or let him suck on the air and hope he'll figure it out?

 

[SarahBear]

Personally, I'd help him tip it so he gets the idea.

 

[Kitteh_Kat]

I got her a Playtex TrainingTime sippy between 4-5 months just to get her used to one; I don't think she actually started using it until 6+ months. I'd show her how to tip it back and one day it just clicked. She self-weaned off bottles by 13 months and was fully on straw sippies, but was comfortable drinking water from a sippy before that.

 

[k4th]

Personally, I'd help him tip it so he gets the idea.

^^wss

I'd hold his hand and show him what hand movement makes the cup tilt.

I introduced sippy's at 6months with dd and it took ages for her to understand how to use it. She often just tipped and then played in the mess! She got there in the end & while she was still working on it I'd offer the sippy with meals and then a bottle with water in between meals & milk feeds to make sure ahe didn't get constipated.

 

[Fizzyfefe]

Ha, I've been doing that even with his bottles for months, and as soon as I remove my hands, he lets go. We'll keep practicing!

 

[mel28nicole]

We started around 6 months with water and around 7 months she figured out how to lift it high enough. I always helped her and said "up up up" and she caught on. She figured out how to suck through a straw around 10 months and now she only likes to drink water from straw sippy. I just recently took her off the bottle at 13 months and she drinks her milk from a Munchkin soft spout sippy I think it's for 9 months and up

 

[MindUtopia]

Probably around 9 months we began to offer it with meals and give it to her to play with in the bath (still had milk on demand, so wasn't too bothered really). I think we probably offered it before this as well, but she had no interest so I didn't do it regularly. She started to drink out of it (with help, I had to support it because it was heavy) around 9 ish months, but didn't really master it until probably 1. We very quickly after that move on to using a doidy cup and then an open cup as she just found that easier. At that age, we only offered water. From 13 months, she had her milk in a straw cup and occasionally now has other things like squash or the very occasional juice (she's 2.5), but as a baby, just water. Offering a cup in the bath was a great way to introduce the concept as the mess didn't matter and she didn't notice if she spilled it all over herself. And yes, if he's interested, I'd help him hold it until he is strong enough to do it himself.

 

[wifey2013]

We started giving it to our son once in a while with a little it of water in it. He loves trying to drink from it, he is however, not always successful lol. He's now almost 9 months old (next week) and we offer him water with snacks in his sippy cup. Sometimes he takes some, sometimes he just plays with the bottle.