Sippy cups

[PeachBaby]

Yikes! DS is already 13 months old, mostly breastfed, and I just realized I never let him learn how to handle a cup! Well, not really true, it's been at the back of my mind, but I've had lots more other important issues I'd been dealing with for a while, so I kind of let this slide.

Is a sippy cup the best way to get him to learn? They had at the store different age level cups: 2, 3, 5, and 8 months. But which one should I start out with since he is much older already? He still chokes if I hold a regular cup to his mouth and pour it in for him. I also saw a sippy cup without the 2 handles,... it looks more like a water bottle. Are handles necessary or would that do?

Thanks for any input!

[childsplay]

I'd try to find one with a soft spout and no handles. ( handles make for better flinging across the room in my experience) NUBY makes an inexpensive, simple 8oz. soft spouted cup. But I'd buy like 10 of them as sippy cups are the 'most likely to disapear' items next to socks in the dryer : )

I'd keep practicing with the regular plastic or tin cup or juice glass as well. Just put a few drops of water in it and let your DS have at it during mealtime.

[tifpaul]

I don't think you need sippy cups. I have never used one. For me, they are a hassle to wash, and I don't think they ever get really clean.

I think a 13 month old would learn really quickly how to handle a cup.

Especially if he is mostly breastfed, it's not as if you'll want him to drink ounces and ounces of milk in a cup every day.

[swisscanmom]

I like the tupperware ones without valves for learning. I don't let kids walk around with cups anyways, they sit at the table to drink. from there you can pretty quickly move on to the cup without the lid. The nice thing about tupperware cups is that you can use them without the lid afterwards, so the cup isn't a waste, once you are past the sippy spout.

[gcgirl]

Originally Posted by tifpaul

I don't think you need sippy cups. I have never used one. For me, they are a hassle to wash, and I don't think they ever get really clean.

I think a 13 month old would learn really quickly how to handle a cup.

Yeah, they also learn really quickly how to DUMP the contents out of a cup. That's why I went to sippy cups after starting DS on regular cups.

[GoestoShow]

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Edited by GoestoShow - 1/4/11 at 9:14am

[Lula's Mom]

This is one of those topics that people get surprisingly hot under the collar about! Some people cannot understand why others even use sippy cups. Me, I loved cups with lids for my kids. We DO carry water all over the house, and in the car, to the park, in the store, etc. There is *never* a time I am without my sports bottle of ice water- like a grownup sippy cup! My older 2 have graduated from sippies to sports bottles too now.

I also have a cup of ice water with a straw that I keep fuilled and the kids drink from that too. Really young kids enjoy straw cups, so you might look for a straw sippy.

[Girlprof]

Originally Posted by GoestoShow

My 13 month old son prefers straw cups to sippy cups. He'll drink from an open cup with assistance.

Anyway, the Munchkin brand straw cups are really good, and really easy to clean. As well as easy to maneuver.

We use something similar to this. You might want to try a couple of different versions to see what you like and what your child likes. Our kids are also dumpers so we stuck with straw cups for DS for quite awhile.

While people do get bizarrely hot under the collar on this topic, it's pretty much a low impact item, IMHO. Really, I don't think the wrong kind of sippy cup ever turned anyone into a juvenile delinquent, LOL.

[Latte Mama]

My DS never used (s) a sippy but loves his straw cup and I have my own grown up version as well! We both keep ice water in it all the time.

[Anastasiya]

Sippy cups are wonderful inventions. I'm all for them.

At the table during meals, all our kids use regular cups though, including the 10 month old. If I were you, I'd start having him practice with a regular cup there where you can help him learn.

But for "anytime" drinks (we leave the sippies filled and in the fridge so they are easily accessed), outside play, trips in the car, to the park, shopping, etc., we use the sippies because it's just easier and who really wants to have to deal with water spilled all over everyone and everything at random moments throughout the day? Not me!

The big kids have these straw bottles: http://www.organicallyhatched.com/v/...images/108.jpg
and the baby guy has this: http://www.babyearth.com/dr-brown-s-...ining-cup.html

[pianojazzgirl]

My kids would never drink from sippies that had that kind of valve/plug thingie that makes it so you need to suck. I bought them simple spouted cups. My dd also really liked straw cups.

I'm not crazy about sippies because they're annoying to clean, but I do see that they have their uses!

[Ruthie's momma]

Originally Posted by tifpaul

I don't think you need sippy cups. I have never used one. For me, they are a hassle to wash, and I don't think they ever get really clean.

I think a 13 month old would learn really quickly how to handle a cup.

Especially if he is mostly breastfed, it's not as if you'll want him to drink ounces and ounces of milk in a cup every day.

I tend to agree. Sippy cups are quite overrated, IMO. DD does have a Munchkin straw cup from which she drinks milk, while snuggling with me or DH (as she is no longer BFing). At the table, she drinks water, a little juice, or milk from a small glass.

[flower01]

I like the straw cups - I use one myself. It is nice to have a lidded drink for arond the house. We started DD on a regular cup and only during her water dumping phase did we use a sippy or 2. But, i really didn't care for the sippy aspect, I don't think there's any reason for it really whereas if they learn to use a straw early than it's always easy to have a drink for them...since you can get cups with straws anywhere.

[lifeguard]

nak
we use a kleen kanteen with the sippy top for water so ds can have it anytime anyplace but anything else (rare)hee gets from a reg cup.

[NellieKatz]

We loved sippy cups, but only after he had outgrown them did we learn about the dangers of soft plastic.
http://www.ewg.org/node/27543

[lonegirl]

Originally Posted by Lula's Mom

This is one of those topics that people get surprisingly hot under the collar about! Some people cannot understand why others even use sippy cups. Me, I loved cups with lids for my kids. We DO carry water all over the house, and in the car, to the park, in the store, etc. There is *never* a time I am without my sports bottle of ice water- like a grownup sippy cup! My older 2 have graduated from sippies to sports bottles too now.

I also have a cup of ice water with a straw that I keep fuilled and the kids drink from that too. Really young kids enjoy straw cups, so you might look for a straw sippy.

This is us too. My son, at 3, uses his lidded straw cups all the time.... and they get popped onto the furniture all the time... As well as a Foogo straw cup (great in the summer as it keeps drinks cold for ages)

[mamadelbosque]

We have foogo sippys (w/ handles) and love them - they were especially great at that age in the car (I still only let DS have water in the car, generally). Around 2 we switched to foogo straw cups in the car. In the house we mostly use tupperwear cups, with or without a lid (I generally don't give a lid unless he asks), or occasionally the old foogo sippies if all the tupperwear are missing/dirty

[StoriesInTheSoil]

DS has a 12oz Kleen Kanteen Sippy that is always filled with water and always available to him, just like I have a 27oz water bottle available to me always.

He doesn't drink anything other than water.

[ElaynesMom]

My dd never had a sippy cup until she was past a year old either. We went through a few types and I like the basic hard spouted Nuby cups best. They come with a valve, but you don't have to use it. At first we just gave my dd water in case she dribble some out of the cup (it doesn't flow that fast). Now we give her juice and milk as well without the valve in, as the cup is easier to wash that way and she knows not to pour it out. When we go in the car she only gets water and we put the valve in so she doesn't get wet during the drive.

[Marsupialmom]

You will survive with out a sippy cup.

Your child will.