No more sippies

Last week we gave away most of the girls' sippy cups. They've been drinking out of real cups for awhile, but I would still use the sippies if I was not in the mood to deal with spills. But they are big girls now and we don't need those cups, so I gave them away (except for a few).

Overall the girls do great with cups, but sometimes they get silly and then when they spill a whole cup of milk, I just lose it! I hate to 'yell' over spilled milk, but seriously?! I just told you NOT to play with the cup at the table!!! I hate to yell, and clearly I need to change my expectations, but when will the silly stop!?

I borrowed my mom's deep carpet cleaner because I need to clean the rug in the dining room or else my house is going to smell like spoiled milk! Is this just a phase I need to power through? Or do I just need to buy my own deep cleaner or take the rug out of the dining room?

 

Well my girls are a year younger than yours, but they do the same thing with big cups. They love to drink from real cups but it turns in to playing and then it becomes a big mess. They are capable of drinking from real cups but I don't want to deal with the mess. I have no idea at what age it's real cups all the time?

 

We got rid of sippies when they turned 4. Now, we have a rule that they must drink all milk, juice, water, etc. at the kitchen table. That way, if there are spills, it isn't too difficult to clean up (no carpet). Do you have an area with no carpet where they can drink their milk (other than at mealtimes)? Ugh, I know exactly what you mean, though, I hate it when they spill because they are playing around!

 

Ours have been gone for a year and I love it. That said we do 2 things and only get spills maybe once a week. 1- I only put 1 1/2-2 inches in the bottom of their cups. If I have to refill several times, it it better than spilling. 2- They keep their cup on the back side of their plate. They know this and if I see it I remind them to move it. This keeps an elbow or hand from accidentally knocking it over. Good luck.

 

On this issue, you are MY twin. My girls do great with cups, but when the silliness starts, watch out - the milk goes flying. Fortunately, we have a rug in the dining room that can be shipped out for cleaning instead of wall to wall. I'm hoping it's just a phase too... but for now I've switched to water only at meals. Milk is drunk at the counter in the kitchen for ease of cleaning.

 

Thanks ladies. Its a really nice oriental rug in the dining room and I hate that its getting ruined. Maybe I'll make a new rule about milk in the kitchen only (move their little table in there or something), and then only water at meal time. Glad to know I'm not alone in this. :headbang:

 

When we got rid of sippies (my girls were around 2 1/2 and my son sometime before 2) our rule was only drink at the table and usually it was water at that age. We had milk for meals but they were sitting down and we only put in about an inch of milk or even water. We were refilling a lot during meal times but if they spilled it didn't really make that big of a mess because there wasn't much in them. I also tried to use cups that had a wider base so they were a little harder to spill. When they got better at drinking and didn't spill as much we did let them drink water in our living room.

 

When they were about 3 we switched to open cups at the table. If it spilled, they got a straw cup the next day. If they wanted to use open cups they had to be careful with them. Even now, if they are getting too silly at the table, we tell them we'll have to break out the sippy cups (the First Years take n toss straw cups) if they can't behave with the big kid cups. We also do the "cup at the back of the plate" thing.