When is a sippy cup inappropriate?

[brennan]

We never use a sippy cup around the house or at other people's houses, just when we are in the car/outside.  I was planning on getting her a new klean kanteen (in orange! her favorite colour) and I was automatically planning on getting her the sippy cup one, but then I thought that maybe I should get her the sport cap?  

She's 2 (as of 2 weeks ago).  Is she too old for a sippy cup?  Isn't a sport cap kind of exactly the same thing?

[mamazee]

I know some people are anti-sippy cup but I think it's silly, as you're right they're basically the same as cups with sports caps.  I think they're awesome and would stop using them when the child prefers something else.  I don't remember when that happened with dd #1, but she was certainly using them at 2, and the little one is almost 2 and absolutely using them.

[babydanielsmom]

My ds is 3 yrs and 3 months and still uses his sippy cup ( he can use an open cup but the sippy is WAY less messy). At 2 yrs the sports gap would have probably flowed out too fast for Ds.

[globe-trotter]

My son is 16 months and loves his sports cap KK bottle. We have used if for a couple months now (I didn't do the sippy cups at all we only used KK with sports cap and the straw cups) I only put water in them and it really doesn't spill much when he tosses it or drops it. If you didn't see them drop it it does give a little puddle but its less than he spits out when he is in a mood :D

[belltree]

We don't use sippy cups. If they are used occasionally used and as a learning cup for a short while, that's fine, but sippy cups are bad for the teeth, not only can prolonged sucking on them misform tooth alignment and inhibit proper jaw development, but they are especially bad with juices and other sugary drinks. The first teeth are very vulnerable compared to our second teeth and cavities develop quicker.

He drinks from regular cups and bottles. He is now 13 month old and hardly ever spills.

Edited by belltree - 12/2/10 at 5:21pm

[zebra15]

DS used sippy cups until he was about 4 then switched over to something with a straw until he was 5-6 (what his sitter preferred).  He is 10 now so some things have changed I'm sure in that product line etc but I LOVED those items. No spills, easy to transport, etc...

[altoidmandy]

My 23 mo son has the KK sippy cup, and I have one with a sport lid.  He likes both equally and can use the sport lid with no problems.  I personally don't like the sport lid too much- it makes a squeaky sound when you drink.

[brennan]

Originally Posted by belltree 

We don't use sippy cups. If they are used occasionally used and as a learning cup for a short while, that's fine, but sippy cups are bad for the teeth, not only can prolonged sucking on them misform tooth alignment and inhibit proper jaw development, but they are especially bad with juices and other sugary drinks. The first teeth are very vulnerable compared to our second teeth and cavities develop quicker.

He drinks from regular cups and bottles. He is now 13 month old and hardly ever spills.

Yes dd drinks from regular cups without spills, and like I said we don't use them frequently and we did open cups first, before anything else.  I appreciate the information about the teeth.  I'm not going to be carrying an open cup around with me when we're outside or especially when she's alone in the back seat and wants a drink and has trouble spinning the cap of a regular drinking bottle.

[belltree]

Originally Posted by brennan 

Originally Posted by belltree 

We don't use sippy cups. If they are used occasionally used and as a learning cup for a short while, that's fine, but sippy cups are bad for the teeth, not only can prolonged sucking on them misform tooth alignment and inhibit proper jaw development, but they are especially bad with juices and other sugary drinks. The first teeth are very vulnerable compared to our second teeth and cavities develop quicker.

He drinks from regular cups and bottles. He is now 13 month old and hardly ever spills.

Yes dd drinks from regular cups without spills, and like I said we don't use them frequently and we did open cups first, before anything else.  I appreciate the information about the teeth.  I'm not going to be carrying an open cup around with me when we're outside or especially when she's alone in the back seat and wants a drink.

I understand, that open cups are not always an option. That's why I wrote occasional usage is ok. We just bring our regular bottles when we are outside. And on long car rides someone sits in the back with him; we just haven't had the need for a sippy cup.

[mamadelbosque]

DS2 is 16 months and still definetly in the sippy cup phase. DS1 over the past year has moved on to regular cups, though I still put lids (just ones with a spout) on them if its something I'm vaguely worried about spilling (ie, juice/milk/etc) if its going to be anywhere but the kitchen table... we have 4 tupperware kids' cups w/ 2 lids that we rotate through. :shrug DS1 has straw cups for the car from thermos (Foogo). 

[nukuspot]

Wow!  I thought my sport lid was faulty, it makes such a squeak when I drink.  I get embarrassed when I am in a quiet place and try to drink from it!  DD uses her KK with the sippy lid now but sometimes I put my sport lid on just for a change...But just in the house.  She makes a mess with it shaking it upside down, I don't want to get her soaked in the car.  In the house she usually uses an open cup but always a sippy when we are out due to the mess factor.  She's 19 months.
 

Originally Posted by altoidmandy 

My 23 mo son has the KK sippy cup, and I have one with a sport lid.  He likes both equally and can use the sport lid with no problems.  I personally don't like the sport lid too much- it makes a squeaky sound when you drink.

[treeoflife3]

My kiddo uses the sippy on her KK... otherwise she pours it out eventually because she thinks it is funny.  I like her having constant access to water so sippy it is!  also easier for travel.  She is 20 months and I don't find it inappropriate at all.  She can drink from cups and so forth just fine but her drinking needs are random and I just don't want to deal with a water park in my living room :D

As for the squeak on the sports cap, if you press the little air thingy before drinking, the squeak is much quieter to gone.  The pressure is a bit different but its quieter!

[pranava]

Ds is 20 months and still uses sippy cups.  Any liquid in a real cup would be immediatly dumped  - not because he isn't coordinated enough not to spill, but because it is so much fun!!!  (For him, not for me!)  He likes to see what happens when he turns the cup upside down, and then he can have more fun by slapping his hands in the spill and splashing it all over - Yay!!!   A real cup would just be one more thing I have to say "No" to constantly to keep it from dumping, and I try to limit the No's in a day so life doesn't seem so negative.  Maybe in another 6 months we'll try again. 

[carmel23]

I just use the sports cap with my almost 12 month-old... If I drink out of it I unscrew the cap, so I always considered the sports cap as a sippy cup...

[sapphire_chan]

Dd made a puddle in the car seat once with our old camelbak bite valve bottle (she'd chewed on it so much the drinking part was broken and leaking) and never did it again because she hated getting wet like that.

With our new bottles, that we make sure to tell her to stop chewing, there's no leaking problem.

[Llyra]

Good grief, my DD1 is six, and she still occasionally drinks from a sippy-- maybe once or twice a month or so-- and my DD2 and DS are nearly four, and have milk from one every night. They can drink out of regular cups just fine-- they do at the table, and during the day. But all three of them still take some comfort in curling up on my lap for some sucking time. I had to wean them too early, because I have a serious illness, and the sippy became their main source of substitute sucking. There are plenty of kids still nursing at 4, and a few still nursing at six, so I see nothing wrong with this. They don't drink juice, though-- they drink water, milk, or herbal teas.

I think it's nonsense to say a toddler is too old for a sippy. I would say that six is probably too old, but I still don't see why some people make it into such a big moral issue. And I don't mean anybody on here, specifically-- I wouldn't be snarky like that. I'm just saying in general, I don't see why it's such a big deal. It's not like they're sucking on the cup all darn day.

[nextcommercial]

LOL.. I'm one of those VERY anti sippy cup people.  BUT, for the car, or visiting other people, I think it's awesome!  There's always a time and a place for them. 

I'd also get the sport cap and the sippy top, just so she has options.  The loop sports caps are nice to have.

 http://www.bundlebabyshop.com/p-388-eio-glass-sippy-cup.aspx?gclid=CLfIzvXx0KUCFRxqgwodxHWvkg Someone posted a link to these the other day.  They aren't leak or spill proof, which kind of defeats the purpose.  But, I though they were kinda neat-o.

BTW, the "Orange sunset" Klean Kanteen isn't really orange.  It's more light brown/rust.  But, "Commuter orange" is.