[leosmommy]

My LO is only 3 months so it's not like this is an urgent issue, I'm just wondering. He is exclusively breastfed and his Daddy gives him one or two bottles a day a few days a week (of expressed BM) when I am at work (soon to be school). He's never had any issues with nipple confusion. We use Dr. Brown's glass bottles. I feel guilty about the bottles because of them causing poor jaw/tooth alignment, but DH insisted I go back to work when DS was 2 months old and I have to go to school or we'll live with my inlaws forever. Thankfully school is only 20 hours per week.

When should I intro a sippy cup? He's still on the Level 1 nipple (and doing fine). Should I move up with the nipples? I'm afraid to because I don't want him to prefer the bottles to me, and faster flow = easier to get.

And we're going to delay solids as long as possible (lots of allergies in DH's family and diabetes type 1 in my family)...so when do we intro water in a sippy cup? ever? I can just give him EBM in a bottle/cup when he wants it, right? I know BM is mostly water, anyway...

I know we're going to do BM popsicles and slushies in a few months when he wants something to do at mealtime. I was just wondering about this whole sippy cup thing...

Thanks, Mamas!!!

 

[kochanyk]

We started straw cups about 6-8 mo with just a couple oz of water or BM. BF'd babies often have an easier time with straws.

 

[LoveChild421]

IMO it doesn't matter all that much. When they can actually hold and bring the cup to their mouth or can almost do it is a fine time.

Ds2 is 6 months old and getting really good at the whole hand eye coordination deal so I will probably introduce a sippy cup with water in it soon (more as just a play thing than a source of necessary fluids).

By a year you can pretty much replace all bottles (EBM or otherwise) with a sippy cup.

IMO its fine to offer water in addition to breastmilk in a sippy at any age (it isn't like you will be replacing any of the milk intake with water).

Ds1 did have a much easier time with cups with straws rather than sippies. He was drinking very well from a straw by 7 months old.

 

[amberskyfire]

I'm not sure ifyou want a sippy for any specific reason or not. I decided not to go the sippy cup route. I and my brother and my stepdaughter had issues with the sippy cup and wanted to continue to use it for many years after they (and I) were able to use a regular cup. I guess it was just the novelty of the thing. After a while, they would chew the tips up and they would be all gnarled and icky looking like a chewed pen cap It was a HUGE fight to get them off of the thing.

I swore I'd never do it again. I don't know, I guess I just don't like transitional objects. I started my 5 month-old on just using a regular cup a few days ago. It's easier to spill, but I don't want her toting a cup around all day anyway. I'm a "drinks and food in the kitchen/dining room table only" kind of person. I just don't want to deal with cleaning up spills constantly all day long and even a sippy cup doesn't prevent spills altogether, the just leak slower.

Not only that, but I'm a firm believer that using a sippy cup just makes it take longer for them to learn to use a regular cup. They don't have to worry about how far back they tip it, etc. when using a sippy and they don't really learn to be careful with it at all.

 

[hellyaellen]

i was just going to post the above.

i hate sippys. my 8yo dd has friends whos mother still makes them use sippys at home

:

 

[tree-hugger]

I second the last two posts. Sippy cups are bad for mouth, tooth, and speech development. Just use a regular glass. A shot glass works great--perfect small size, glass, and very sturdy!

 

[amberskyfire]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tree-hugger I second the last two posts. Sippy cups are bad for mouth, tooth, and speech development. Just use a regular glass. A shot glass works great--perfect small size, glass, and very sturdy!

Or if you don't have any heavy shot glasses, those little glass jam jars work great. Most grocery stores sell jam in jars that are the size of a yogurt container. They are usually made of pretty thick glass, so if it gets dropped it's unlikely to break unless it falls on stone or concrete. Plus, if you have to go somewhere, you can just screw the lid on and take a drink with you in your purse or something.

Anyway, if you're trying to transition from a bottle, it doesn't really make any sense to go to a sippy cup. It's the exact same thing as a bottle only the nipple is hard and not soft. It's essentially just a bottle for "big kids."

 

[Valerieg]

Neither of my children would ever take bottles so I introduced the sippy at 4 mo for the times when I absolutely had to leave. The only sippy that I found that didn't take super effort for them to get liquid out of but also didn't pour right out were the Take n Toss ones. My DS does great with them now and can drink from them all by himself.

I'd say that neither of them got real proficient until 6-7 mo. But you can introduce them as early as 4 mo. I've always read that you shouldn't give babies water in any real quantity until they are a year old because it just causes them to drink less BM. An ounce or two in the sippy so you don't waste golden EBM is okay but babies should not be drinking water.

 

[SandraS]

We have skipped the bottle altogether with my 4th, she just refuses to take any bottles at all... so she has had a sippy cup since about 4 months.