Transition from sippy cups, how do you tolerate spills?

[peg2001]

We realize that our kids are plenty old enough to give up sippy cups (almost-4 and just-turned-7) but we (the parents, not the kids) are having a tough time. Here's an example:

At dinner last night, DD7 knocked over her cup. DD apologized, we cleaned it up and I gave her more to drink. Then DD7 knocked over her sisters cup. DD apologized again, we cleaned it up and I took their drinks away. I know this is mean but I wasn't prepared to handle another spill.

I gave them both sippy cups of milk this morning. Argh! I think I should just throw them all away so that I'm not tempted. The kids don't care either way.

Any suggestions/advice/words of support?

Thanks!
Peggy

 

[Serena]

Being prepared is the only thing you can do. This is a stage you have to get through, but you will get through it.
If I remember right I put only a tiny amount of liquid in the cups until they spilled less and less. I may have to refill the cups a lot, but I liked that better than cleaning up more messes.
Getting rid of the sippy cups is a good idea.

 

[mrsv98]

Well, with DD in preschool, I figure she gets plenty of practice there. At home we use the Playtex sport cups. They have straws instead of sippy tops and work great. The dentist doesn't mind them because of the straw and I don't have to clean up spills all day. Otherwise, you just have to put little amounts in and tey and find heavy-bottomed cups, they don't tip as much.

 

[CEDmom]

DD is 4 and can't use a sippy cup at daycare either. They actually stop allowing them at age 2 so she's had a lot of experience with a plain cup. She still uses them at home when not sitting at the table and also when we're out. At home I just put a tiny amount in the cup - maybe an inch of drink. Also she uses a cup that's short with a wide bottom and 2 handles. It's much more difficult to tip over than a regular tall glass. It actually has a lid to make it into a sippy cup we just don't put on the lid.

 

[Stepharoonie!]

Umm...isn't 7 a little old for a sippy cup? Not trying to sound rude, but it sounds a little too young for her.

Have you considered getting one of those cups with a straw in it instead? They have all sorts of different characters, and they usually do not spill.

 

[FreshTressa]

Why is 7 too old??? Who really cares? It isn't a big deal. Why is everyone in such a hurry for kids to grow up??

We still use them for DS 6 and DD 5. They just prefer to have the lid. And I will use them until they don't want to anymore or feel embarassed. I don't like the straw ones cuz I never feel like I get the straw clean enough.

It is not like a bottle or binky that might cause mouth problems.
I am not going to take them away. I am going to wait until they request something different. Why mess with something that works?

 

[shortbun]

Serve water in the cups for a while. And I agree. Had the 7yo
started a long time ago, she'd be much better at it by now. Good
that you're starting the 4yo now. Experience is the only way.
DS8 hasn't used "sippy" cups for years. He started out with water-no stains, not sticky, not expensive. He also learned how
to clean up his own spills a few years ago. P.S. He still loves drinking water!
Good luck. Practice is the only way.

 

[Pembo]

Ds, now 7, used a sippy cup until last year I think. He is the clutzy type and spills were very common. Our old house had carpet in the dining room and I just didn't want to have clean it everyday!

As for how to tolerate spills.........it's just downright annoying! It does improve with time. I use big, heavy, plastic cups. Hard to knock them over.

Now if I could just get dd, age 16 months, to use a spill-proof sippy cup. She just won't drink from it. I suppose that is a good thing, but we can't give her a cup in the car and that would help some times. Oh well. Kids! Who can every figure them out!

 

[FreshTressa]

I wish they would make a thing to put cups in so they wouldn't tip over, like a big base that attaches to the bottom or something.

My kids know how to drink from a cup, they use little paper cups all the time to get their own water from the fridge. They just still like their tippy cups at dinner and breakfast.

 

[Pin Wizard]

I kept DS with the sippy cups until he could handle it without it. I can't even remember a spill. But when he tried to pour milk from the container into a cup was a different story.

 

[MHopkins2]

Another vote for the "tiny amount at a time" method. You could also try some positive reinforcement - no spills at dinner = 1 sticker of choice from the "Special No Spills Pack" that they don't get for anything else. Or whatever small (non-food) incentive would work for your kids.

 

[Wishing on a star]

Here is a good idea... You know, like when you get drinks from restaurants for kids in the plastic cups with the lid and an opening for the straw. We have a few of those that we have collected for DS. He uses all the time! Any neat plastic cup would do if you could manage to find a top that fits. You could get a regular plastic top from any container and use a hole-punch to make a hole for a straw.

We too used the sport-bottle with a straw for DS when he was three and four. And, we too really liked it. He liked the kind that has a handle that allows the drink to flow when he sipped. (No contraption to open or close.......) I am thinking that this is made by Gerber??? Definately not 'baby' looking. Our Walmart does not carry this, so we had to find it at other stores like Kroger or Food City in the baby/toddler section.

And, yep, they gotta learn to handle a regular cup at some point!!!

 

[ByTheSea]

We have some travel coffee mugs that are some sort of plastic but with very wide and heavy bottoms - I think they are designed to rest on the dashboard or something.... We got a set of two as a gift one year, use them at home but not in the car, the bottoms are too wide for the cup holders - but they are hard to tip, you might look for something like this.

 

[Mskanga]

Boy I am lucky!!! My 6 yr old ( 7 in April ) has not used a sippy cup since she was 3, and almost never spills anything. This is also the kid who was riding the bike without training wheels at the same age. I guess that having to keep up with the older kids , sometimes has advantages.

 

[DisneyObsessed]

Zoloft.

 

[peg2001]

Thanks for all the suggestions! Don't worry, Stepharooni, I didn't take your comment as rude at all. The truth is, *I* think 7 is too old for a sippy cup but we've just been lazy to make the transition, to be perfectly honest.

I appreciate all the suggestions about covered cups with straws and so forth. We have all these and we do use them sometimes. But, I really think now is the time for both children to learn to handle regular open drinks. They drink from them just fine, but need to learn how to "act" around them so they don't knock them over.

I've already followed some of the advice and gave up trying to use the small plastic open cups we had. They are too light-weight and easy to tip over. I used some heavier squat glasses last night and we had one "sloshing" spill but did not dump the entire contents.

Now, where is that prescription pad for the Zoloft?

Peggy

 

[mbb]

Disney souvenir-refillable-for-length-of-stay-only-at-this-resort Mugs

I'm gonna be in trouble now, aren't I ??LOL!!

We've got quite a collection now, and the kids love them...I just buy a pkg of straws, or they can drink right out of them...minimal spillage - if any - and no Zoloft....although DH is a pharmacist - this could increase sales...hmmmmm

LOL!!

 

[Wishing on a star]

Hey Peg,

Something else comes to mind... If you have kind of relied on the sippy cups all this time, then so have your kids... They are simply USED to NOT having to be careful. I think if you use the regular cups that you just mentioned, exclusively, and get rid of the sippies all together, it may be only a few days before your kids are re-conditioned !!!!

Try and see if just a few more spills won't do the trick!

 

[Miss Jasmine]

I have visions of business lunches with sippy cups. I really mean that as a joke.

I haven't had to deal with the transistion yet. The kids I married (along with their father ) were already using regular cups. The pouring your own drink thing was our hurdle.

 

[Toby'sFriend]

How do I tolerate it?

hmmmm, there is a reason the dog is invited into our dining room after dinner. He does the initial "mopping" for me and leaves much less for me to clean up.

He's especially good at cleaning underneath the high chair.