4yr.old with sippy cup?

[berryMO]

Ok am I making a baby out of my 4 yr old? Do I have to ween him from a sippy cup?

We have a 2yr dd and a 4yr ds, out of convience when we go anywhere I fix them juice in the playtex, sippy cups and little pretzel sticks.

My rasional up until yesterday was that they have milk allergies and that way I always have something they can eat or drink no matter where we go.

We went to my ds first T-ball game last night and he wanted a drink. I was embarrassed to notice he was the only 4 year old with a sippy cup!

My practical tightwad side of me thinks why should I go out and buy some kind of a open & close water bottle when I have perfectly good sippy cups that don't leak. But I don't want to make a baby of my 4 yr old either.

I suppose at 4 it is time to transition him to water rather than watered-down-juice all the time.

Need your comments Please!:

[mamaduck]

My only comment is that there is some evidence that prolonged use of a sippy cup may contribute to speech problems. We switched to using regular glasses for ds when he went into speech therapy because he was basically unintelligible to strangers. We use water bottles when we are on the go.

[3boysmom]

One of my 4 y.o. son's best buddies was drinking from his sippy cup at a preschool picnic just last week and did get quite a bit of teasing from some of the kids for drinking from a "baby cup". His mom was shocked and had no idea that 4 was considered "too old" for a sippy cup. Obviously, the children doing the teasing need serious work on their social skills. The little boy threw down the cup and has refused to drink from anything but a "real cup" since then. I certainly don't think that it is a huge issue, especially if you only use the cup for convenience when going out. As long as he can drink from a regular cup at home and learn not to spill, I wouldn't sweat it until he begins to feel uncomfortable with it. I know my little guy would be mortified at the suggestion that he use a sippy cup, but he has two older brothers that he tries desperately to be like.

[ekblad9]

Maybe we're weird around here but my kids have all done sippy cups well after their fifth birthdays. All my friends and neighbors use them that long too. I've never heard any teasing at all. I suppose my youngest won't want a sippy as long as the others did because they will see the older kids without them but I honestly never thought anything about it.

[berryMO]

SSShewww

Thankyou for your replies. I feel better now!
He can drink from a cup well, and gets his own drinks of water from the sink at home.

I guess part of why he still gets a sippy cup is because if I change him to a cup little sister will have to be like big brother and she is not so good at a cup so far.

I had not heard they could affect speech developement. No problems there for us! He is a big talker and has been from a young age. I have heard they are bad on ear infections.

[sagewinna]

I don't know if you thrift shop, but there are always sport-type water bottles at the shops here for 20-50 cents. I stock up when it gets close to summer!

[3girls1boy]

I think 4 is way too old for a sippy cup. This is just my thing--but I hate those playtex things. I don't think they teach the child how to drink out of regular cup because they do have to pull on them so hard. I think a lot of people use them for so long out of convenience--they just don't want to worry about spills. If someone is worried about spills, they should just give their kid water.

I also have heard that they can cause speech problems.

Now, I'm backing off, because with that rant, you're probably feeling a bit on the defensive.

Why don't you just take the top off when your son wants to drink out of it.

P.S. Also, those valve things can't really be cleaned super well--another reason to ditch them.

[berryMO]

not offended

Hello 3girls1boy,
No I am not offended. I defintely have used the sippy cups this long because they are convient, they don't leak!

You must be thinking of the old type playtex because the ones I have wash up really easily. I have heard the old tpye were very dificult to get clean.

Anyways I am going to gradually switch him over to water and a sports tpye bottle. We have used cups for meals some up to this point but now have completely transitioned them to cups at meals .

[tnrsmom]

We used sippy cups alot longer for my first than for the others. I don't have a problem with them but when my middle two saw the older one w/o a lid, they didn't want one either. But I still loved the ease of a dripless cup. Then I found the Tupperware dripless cups. They have lids with a straw hole. When the straw is not in it, they are virtually leakproof, I just toss them in my diaper bag with a couple of straws. The upside is that because it is a straw and not a sippy, my 7yo drinks from them too (as do I). They are a bit pricey but Tupperware holds up very well. I also saw that Ziploc make what looks like the exact same thing for quite a bit less. You can find those at the grocery store. I think it was about $5.00 for 2.
Good Luck

[Mothra]

I was using a sippy cup with ds until he was two and a half and started going to daycare part time. There they used regular cups for lunch and snacks and he did just fine.

I don't think there is anything wrong with using a sippy cup for having a drink around the house if you are worried about spills. I don't know if you are planning to homeschool him, but if not, he certainly will need to be proficient with a regular cup before he starts school.

I would suggest carrying around the water bottle-type thing. They are much easier to clean and he won't have to suck as hard. One of the reasons that toddlers like the sippy cups so much is that they can still suck when they drink-- not all babes loose interest in sucking magically at their first birthday. Most four-year-olds won't have that need. The issues with speech and teeth are definitely real. One of the first questions our speech therapist asked us about ds when we took him to see her when he was three was if he still used a bottle or sippy cup. He didn't, but she explained those can cause speech problems in some kids. The constant sucking can also cause orthodontic problems.

So maybe you don't have to get rid of it completely, and I certainly wouldn't get rid of it because you are worried about him being a "baby", but there are definitely solid reasons to cut down on using them and finding alternatives that are more appropriate for his developmental stage.

[cottonwood]

I really dislike the look and feel of plastic, so I've always avoided sippy cups, and I hate not being able to get those little inserts clean (though you can get sippy cups without the inserts.)

But what I want to know is, what is the basic difference between sippy cups and water bottles? None, except that they look different. People are weird about appearances. So if you want to protect your child from feeling embarrassed, by all means wean him to the water bottle, but in private what difference does it make?

[berryMO]

Originally posted by sweetwater
what is the basic difference between sippy cups and water bottles? None, except that they look different. People are weird about appearances. So if you want to protect your child from feeling embarrassed, by all means wean him to the water bottle, but in private what difference does it make?

Sweetwater, that is my point?! Really other than looks there is very little difference from water bottles and sippy cups. and in my tightwadery idealism I couldn't see having to buy another type of container to toat water around in.

We have transitioned him to cups at home and it works very well. He even did not put up a fuss when little sister gets to have a sippy cup at the table and he doesn't.

[Mothra]

It isn't really true that sippy cups and water bottles are the same thing. Kids have to suck much harder from most sippy cups to get the drink than they do from a water bottle. Try it. I was really surprised at how hard I had to suck to drink from my son's sippy cup when I tried it.

[cottonwood]

Are you thinking of the sippy cups with inserts? Those are definitely hard to suck from. I'm thinking of those that just have a little funnel to suck through -- the liquid flows much more easily out of those. And water bottles are all different -- I've bought some that are as hard to suck from as those sippy cups with inserts. But my point was that it's only a "baby cup" because we say it is -- there is nothing inherently babyish about a plastic container that has a hole that you sip fluids through. After all, sippy cups and water bottles are both plastic, and they both usually have devices that you suck the liquid through, one is just bigger than the other and shaped differently. In other words, there is nothing inherently wrong with using a sippy cup past a certain age -- even if you're an adult.

[Juliacat]

Okay...I had to post this story.

When I was 20 I lived with my close friend, also 20. One weekend we had a bunch of friends staying with us, and her back went out. She was in a LOT of pain and her stepfather had to drive across town to get pain medicine, so her mother gave her some codeine, which was all she had on hand. The codeine made my friend totally loopy. She was so weak from the back pain that she couldn't lift her head or hand, so she asked one of the guys to go in the kitchen and get her a sippy cup. I walked into the kitchen to find him messing around.

Me: What are you looking for?

Him: A sippy cup.

Me: We don't HAVE any sippy cups.

But, what an idea! So I drove to the store and bought 3 sippy cups and a bottle--enough so that everyone could have one. My friend was so happy, she was still loopy from the codeine going, "Oh I love you, you're so wonderful for bringing me a sippy cup...look, it's mice dancing with cheese! I want to dance with cheese! Can I dance with cheese?" (referring to the design on the outside of the cup)

The next week, after she was better, she said, "You would be the coolest person if you would take one of those to work with you."

So I did. I got a few stares, but nothing really bad. I still do use them/take them to work with me sometimes, and they worked really well when I was down with bronchitis because I didn't have to worry that my cat would jump on the bedside table and knock them off.

I have a male friend in his 40s who drinks out of them at work too. But he has two little girls and is very absentminded so it could be that he didn't notice what he was grabbing on the way out.

so that's all I have to say, sippy cups are cool and fun sometimes. And SOMEWHERE on the Internet I believe there is floating around a picture of me drinking out of a baby bottle. (my friend and I look a lot alike so she had to convince people it was me not her and no it wasn't a fetish)

[naturalmama]

WE love them!

I think they are one of the greatest inventions!!!! My four and a half year old still uses his - great for bedtime when he needs a drink in the middle of the night - great when we are going out the door and i need to throw drinks in for both my children - no leeks on my tote bag! - My carpet has no stains!!! And about the speech thing - maybe they should take them out of their mouth before they try to say something -LOL!! Just joking!!!!

[Ms. Mom]

Ds is 7 and we love our sippies! They make dinner time much better. Spills are no fun!

No healthy risks, so I don't see a problum. If the child becomes uncomfortable, I would let them have a regular cup though...

[daffymom]

HI

My 5 year old dd still drinks from a sippy cup she is so "spirited" that she is accident prone if she did not drink from a sippy i would be cleaning up spills 24-7 not my idea of fun LOL.

[zzzz97]

We still use sippy cups occasionaly. My dd is 5 and she loves them. She seems to drink more water out of a sippy cup during a hot summer than she does with a regular cup.

We don't, however, make it a point to have her drink out of a sippy all the time. She gets much experience from straws, open cups and sports bottles.

Comment on the hard to suck from - I don't use Playtex. Thay are very hard to suck from AND they're more expensive! I can't remember the name off the top of my head, but the ones we use look like fat hour glasses. Thay are easier to suck from and much cheaper.

Also they do make spill proof sports bottle. The top flips open and a straw popps out. The bottom unscrews so you can freeze it to keep your drinks cool. I think I bought it for around $6 and it broke after 1 use.

[3girls1boy]

Ms. Mom--Sorry but did you say your SEVEN year old uses a sippy cup!?