Sippy Cup or Regular Cup?

[newtonj]

DS is 6 months and when he sees me drinking from a cup he loves to grab it and "drink" from it himself. He usually gets way more down the front of his shirt than he drinks but he has a great time. I'm not sure if it's the holding the cup, the feeling of liquid in his mouth or the cold on his gums. He seems unsure what to do with the water that makes it to his mouth so some gets swallowed while some runs out.

Since he's showing an interest in real cups do you think I should skip the sippy cup for now and just train him on that? Is that even possible? I've heard mixed things about sippy cups and I'm afraid of getting him hooked on a sippy once he's finally off the bottle.

[hillview]

I think a regular cup is great but I believe you will need a sippy cup of some sort. My kids use regular cups at the table -- for DS #2 he has since he was about around 20-24 months. However when they are roaming the house or in the car a sippy cup is the best option at our house.
/hillary

[Pepper]

Since he's showing an interest in real cups do you think I should skip the sippy cup for now and just train him on that? Is that even possible? I've heard mixed things about sippy cups and I'm afraid of getting him hooked on a sippy once he's finally off the bottle.

Sure, it's possible, though you might not have total success at only 6 months old :-) . Our DS had to be completely off bottles before his palate repair at age 15 months, and no sippys were allowed for several weeks afterward. His speech/feeding therapist started working him with an open cup at about 11 months old. If your baby is already starting solids, you could try these tips she taught us:

Put something THICK in the cup - we used plain yogurt thinned with a little mango juice, since that was DS's fave. Part of the reason that it takes a while for babies to learn cup drinking is that they don't know how to control the flow of liquid. Taking a sip uses very different mouth actions from taking a suck. If your DS isn't into yogurt or can't have it, try using whatever baby food he likes - the stage 1-type foods are pretty pourable.

If you can, use a cup that has a rim (I used one of those plastic cups from single-serving applesauce). Hold the cup against DS's lower lip and when he opens his mouth, pour a little bit in there and then quickly move the cup away.It helps to stimulate the lip to close.

It also helps to give them cool or cold things in the cup (rather than warm milk, etc), apparently cold stimulates swallowing.

Good luck!

[brittone2]

My kids both started w/ an unlidded/non sippy cup by probably 10-11 months. We use sippies primarily for the car/travel, but at home have always used primarily open cups.

I think at 6 months you could also try a straw. Some babies do well w/ an early intro of a straw. I think you might need a straw cup or sippy to bridge the gap until DC has a little more control.

[jren]

DS started drinking well from a regular cup at 6 months. But it was/is messy. Even now at 14 months, when he's done with his drink, the cup is thrown on the floor, so we had to train him to use a sippy as well. But it's still good to practice with the cup. I just put a small amount at a time.

[new_mommy25]

We always do regular cups at home during meals and sippy cups while out and about.

[sansdieu]

There's more to it than just being able to use a cup. Mine was perfectly able to drink from a regular cup by 9 months of age (we used the little cups from Ikea with 2 handles). Then by 10 or 11, she decided it was way more fun to spill its contents -- on purpose. Much as I tried to ignore it and act non-chalantly, it turned into a game for her, where she'd wait for me or DH to lose focus momentarily and then spill the whole thing on herself (in fact, BOTH of us would sometimes be watching her intently, and she'd still manage to fool us, to her great delight). For some reason, at the age of 2, she still hasn't grown tired of this game (at daycare, she spills other people's soups and drinks).

We use those aforementioned Ikea cups (the cheap MATA series; they were 1.50 on sale this week for a whole set with the plate, cup, bib, and spoon). The lids have spouts, but no valve (so they are not spill-proof, but you don't have to suck as you would with a typical sippy, so it doesn't interfere as much with the learning to drink from a cup process). In public, we keep the lid on (to minimize spills); in private, I recently reintroduced them without the lid (after a year or so), and she is getting a little better about purposeful spilling. Hopefully, by the time she's 18, she will no longer feel compelled to throw her drink!