Please recommend a sippy cup

[wendibird22]

How do you teach a child to suck through a straw?

What I did with DD1 was take a straw and put my finger on the end to plug some liquid in it then put the straw to her mouth and let her suck at it and released my finger so the liquid went into her mouth (regardless of how well she sucked). I'm pretty sure I read about that technique from some smart mommies here. We did this a few times and she really got the concept that putting lips on straw and sucking meant liquid came out. It was a surprisingly short learning curve. I think DD1 was using at straw cup at 9mos.

Neither DD1 nor DD2 now, held their own bottles which is why I think even with the handles they couldn't figure out the sippy. They were so used to someone tipping a bottle back for them that they expected this to happen with the sippy too. With the straw cup once DD1 figured out the sucking action, she never needed to learn to tip the cup up. This also came in very handy when out at restaurants because they usually serve the kid's drink in a cup with a straw and DD1 already knew how to do it.

The Take N Toss straws are not spill proof but don't have a valve so it was easier for her to get the liquid out. Once she got the hang of it (which was pretty quick) we went right to the Nuby flip n sip which is a silicone straw and spill proof valve. I was worried about the size of the Nuby (it's a big cup) but DD1 never had a problem holding it.

[TwoBees]

What I did with DD1 was take a straw and put my finger on the end to plug some liquid in it then put the straw to her mouth and let her suck at it and released my finger so the liquid went into her mouth (regardless of how well she sucked). I'm pretty sure I read about that technique from some smart mommies here. We did this a few times and she really got the concept that putting lips on straw and sucking meant liquid came out. It was a surprisingly short learning curve. I think DD1 was using at straw cup at 9mos.

Neither DD1 nor DD2 now, held their own bottles which is why I think even with the handles they couldn't figure out the sippy. They were so used to someone tipping a bottle back for them that they expected this to happen with the sippy too. With the straw cup once DD1 figured out the sucking action, she never needed to learn to tip the cup up. This also came in very handy when out at restaurants because they usually serve the kid's drink in a cup with a straw and DD1 already knew how to do it.

The Take N Toss straws are not spill proof but don't have a valve so it was easier for her to get the liquid out. Once she got the hang of it (which was pretty quick) we went right to the Nuby flip n sip which is a silicone straw and spill proof valve. I was worried about the size of the Nuby (it's a big cup) but DD1 never had a problem holding it.

Interesting! I learn so much on these boards! Since I have to return the Gerber cups anyway, I think I'll pick up a straw cup in addition to a sippy, and see what happens.