When did you start teaching your child to drink from a cup?

[RadioFanatic]

I've been reading that 6 months seems to be a good age to start - and my DS is 6 months. When did you start - and any tips on how to do it? thanks!

 

[rt2dz]

Do mean a sippy cup or a regular cup?

 

[JEAhrtWDW]

i introduced the sippy cup at 7 months and my DS (22 months) is beginning to master drinking out of a regular cup (although I only let him have water at this point - he tends to throw things when he is finished )

 

[Subrbnmommy]

I started using sippy cups when my DD was 9 months. I started by switching her midday bottle with the sippy. I chose the midday one because she always drank less and seemed less interested in that bottle time than the others.

Good Luck

 

[RadioFanatic]

I've read in one parenting magazine to try to avoid teh sippy cup altogether so I'm not quite sure what to do.

 

[Mahnahmahnah]

I read in "What to Expect...." That the earlier the better. It gets them used to a cup so it's easier to take the bottle away. They say 5-6 mos is good.

I have given my DD a sippy cup with just a little water in it now. She mainly just bites the spout . Bit I think she's getting the "jist" of it.

Last week I gave her small cup (not sippy) with a little water and she figured it out pretty quick. I was really surprised. Then this weekend my SIL had a cup of coffee and she kept going after it and trying to put her mouth on it - it was so funny!

I watched on Rachel Ray that woman from the "King of Queens" show, I can't remember her name....

Anyway - her daughter was like 4 and still drinking from a bottle - she just couldn't take it away from her.

That's why they say the earlier the better - just have to watch that sippy cups aren't the only thing they ever drink from. It can possibly cause tooth decay down the road. And they may not ever want to drink out of a cup.

 

[MonicaInFlorida]

I watched on Rachel Ray that woman from the "King of Queens" show, I can't remember her name....

Anyway - her daughter was like 4 and still drinking from a bottle - she just couldn't take it away from her.

That's Leah Remini. I know she's a Scientologist, so maybe that's some kind of Scientology thing, I dunno... Suri Cruise is still on the bottle at two.

 

[ChrisandDon'sMommy]

6 months and I'm nursing, so that may make it a bit easier.

 

[Jenvenza]

My nephew is 7 months and is in no way ready for a sippy cup. Every child is different when it comes to this, and you just have to know your child and do it when you think it is best. Our daughter started taking juice and water in a cup with a straw at around 7 months. She is almost 1 now and still takes her bottle. Nothing wrong with that. 4 years old is a little too old in my book though.

And pediatricians say to use cups with straws because the sugar doesnt settle right on the front teeth like it does with sippy cups or bottles. With straws, the liquid goes to the back of the mouth, which is better for their teeth.

 

[Mahnahmahnah]

That's Leah Remini. I know she's a Scientologist, so maybe that's some kind of Scientology thing, I dunno... Suri Cruise is still on the bottle at two.

You're right! I also think her kid was very spoiled and her mother just gave in to everything. I learned a lot from that show

But "they" say the longer you wait, the more they might fight it. Right now their brains are very malleable (sp?) and they are much more receptive to new experiences. As they get older this changes - hence Suri still on the bottle!

So I just tried and it worked! Every kid is ready when they are ready - but you just don't know until you try.

OP - I bought a Playtex sippy specifically for 4mos+, just to try it. Just don't push it.

 

[Rachie0507]

My kids started 'playing' with sippy cups at 6 mos, got the hang of it by 8 mos, and were weaned from their bottles by 10 mos. I started giving them regular cups at meal time at 2 and stopped sippies around 3 or 4. I like the newer straw cups (my big kids are 6 and 8, I use the Tupperware tumblers with them still!), but they weren't really available when my kids were toddlers. I'll have to think about this again in a year when the new baby is ready--I'm not sure I'll bother with sippies. My big kids don't have cavities or any problems with their teeth though, so I'm not overly concerned!

 

[eclairemom]

I've read in one parenting magazine to try to avoid teh sippy cup altogether so I'm not quite sure what to do.

I never used a sippy, and took DD's bottle away the day before she turned one. DD was able to drink exclusively out of a straw from a cup when I took away the bottle. We trained her to the straw by taking a cup of milk, putting your finger on the end of the straw so it has milk in it and letting her suck on the other end, she got the idea pretty fast although I can't remember what age we started doing this.

 

[noodleknitter]

We always started at about 8 months. I had a couple of my grandmother's Fenton juice cups. They have funky bumps all over, which made them easy to hold onto.

 

[momtomatthew]

My son started drinking from a water bottle at about 8 months (Thanks DGM!) and then went to a cup with a straw at 1 yr. He never did get the concept of a sippy cup. At 4 1/2, he can do it, but his brain doesn't work that way. He's been drinking from a regular cup since about age 2 1/2. He's always been fine with it (the occassional spill not-withstanding...)

 

[rt2dz]

DS#1 nursed until he self-weaned at 11 months. That was when he started on a sippy; I didn’t try before then, although he took a bottle with pumped milk. He switched to a straw sippy at 2yo and to a regular cup at 2 ½ ; I wanted him off the sippy before we had DS#2 (right before he turned 3).

DS#2 nursed until he self-weaned at ~10 months. He went to a sippy immediately. I tried introducing it before he weaned at around 6 months or so, but he wasn’t having anything to do with it until he quit nursing. I put him on a straw sippy at 2yo, and he started using regular cups at 2 ½ also. He will still use a straw sippy around the house from time to time, when he wants to drink, but not be in the kitchen.

DS#3 is 2 ½ yo. He had sucking issues, and he nursed until 15 months. Once he got him able to drink in some other fashion, he quit nursing. Granted, I was done so I wasn’t complaining. I did not want to give him a regular cup because he’d choke on it prior to that, probably related to his sucking issues. He is still using the sippy, but he also drinks from a straw and from a regular cup. It just depends on where we’re at and what we’re doing. He tends to still dump a regular cup down himself 80% of the time (on purpose), so I need to be able to deal with that.

 

[Erin13178]

We took away the bottle at 11 months, and replaced it with a very soft tip sippy cup. It's a Nuby cup. Well taking the bottle was a snap, but taking the Nuby cup away was a nightmare, lol.

Good luck.

BTW my child who is going to be 4, still uses sippy cups sometimes, like when we are in the car, etc.

 

[Tink3Bell]

at 2 but we also use sippy cups - less spills.

 

[hmacmahony]

With my oldest she was off the bottle at 9 months, onto a sippy. She also has speech issues, and we found out (not that I think it is what caused her speech issues), that sippys are equally as bad as bottles. If you can go straight to a straw cup, do that.
It is something about the muscles in the mouth, and how they suck on a sippie (the same as a bottle), where as a straw cup makes the muscles work, and is better for speech.
My next three kids have gone from bottle, to straw, or breast to straw. We don't own any sippies at this point.
But, they all did it between 6-10 months, it just depends on the kid, one day they just get it, so keep bringing it out, and they will get it!
Good luck!

 

[princess&her4princes]

I have all three of my boys using straw cups (Playtex insulated) by approx. 10 months. They all did great..I introduced them to them about 8 months and by 10 months they were drinking away. My oldest could never figure out the sippy cup and since we did the straw cup with him we just went with it with our other two. I've heard that a typical sippy cup can cause issues with speech, not sure how true this is or not, but something worth looking into anyways. My baby nursed until 12 1/2 months and he was the only one that nursed exclusively all year long so my pedi recommended a cup about 6 months old but I had NO luck with that at all. Good luck...they are all different and your experience will be different from all of ours too. Just don't put any pressure on you or your baby...they fiugre it out when they are ready!!!!

 

[emh1129]

My dd is still exclusively breastfed at 6 months. We've just started to dabble with a bite of baby food here and there, when she is interested. But she loves her sippy cup! I put some ice cold spring water in there and she loves it. I don't think she really "drinks" too much of it.. but I know she gets a little because I can tell that some is missing.. and it feels good on her teething gums.
I wouldn't have even tried this early, but she kept trying to take sips from my cup (they have quick little hands!) so I figured she might like her own.