sippy cups

I have been looking at sippy cups lately and I have no clue as to what is good bad or messy.

First, when do you begin to let the babies use them?
Second, What do you put in there?
Third, why begin them? I know that might sound silly but ...Amy and Matthew drink formula and occassionally water from those super, wonderful, fabulous playtex drop-ins. I love them and can't fathom life without them. We have not moved onto juice. Is taht when you need a sippy cup? >>>>>>to separatejuice from formula? WHen are they to drink from a cup? Is there a certain amount of time for sippy then change to cup?

What about straws? Where do they fit in?

What are those VALVE thingies all about anyway? what about a cup with a nipple? I don;t get that...holding practice but not yet a sippy cup....is it a baby step along the bottle to big kid cup continuum?

I need major help in understanding the whole sippy cup story. \\

Please, any advise and or recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Sorry for rambling but A&M are asleep and I had a few moments before I get to help my niece with a senior English project...wwwooohhhoooooo

 

Here's my understanding of the whole sippy cup thing... basically, you want to start familiarizing them with it around when they start solids (or a little after). But they don't actually drink much at first, they just use them as teething toys. If they're still on breastmilk or formula then they don't actually *need* extra liquids. We introduced them around 6mo, but it was kind of joke .

I think the idea is that by 12mo you want to have transitioned them off the bottle so that they drink their milk from a sippy. If they start carrying around bottles of juice or milk it's much harder to wean them, and it can lead to some tooth decay (if they continually suck on a bottle as comfort). There's a pretty strong opinion that you should never put juice or milk in bottle, only in a sippy.

We tried a zillion different sippies and settled on the Born Free (a safe plastic) trainer, which is in between a full on sippy cup and a bottle. Once they can handle the trainer, you can swap out the trainers for the harder drinking cup top. This cup works great for us, and we actually transitioned from the bottle in 2 days! But the advice I've heard from most moms is to find the cup that works and just stick with it.

Right now they just do formula and water in these trainers. I'm waiting on giving them juice, because they don't really need it right now and it's just extra sugar.

Hope that helps a little!

 

Hi, I don't really have an answer for you but I'd like to see the results to this also.

 

I agree with pp. I'm at about the spot you are and mine get sippy cups for snack time in the afternoon and with dinner. I just put water in them. They mainly just chew on them or bang them on the highchair. I've tried to see if they mimick mommy when she drinks from it but they just think it's funny. I suppose at some point they'll get it.

I have a couple of different ones, including the Nuby soft silicone no spill spout with handles and the gerber soft starter spill proof cup.

 

We give them sippys of water with dinner and sometimes lunch. They like the "take and toss" 4 ounce version as well as the Nuby soft tipped one. I believe it just helps them realize that wont be long now before the bottles are gone


Rachel

 

I started giving the boys a sippy of juice or water with their meals when they started finger foods. Now, they drink only from their sippies during the day with the exception of their bottles when they wake up in the moning, at bedtime and at naptime. I give them a sippy with all their meals and snacks. The way I'm trying to do it is formula goes in a bottle, everything else goes in a sippy. That way when the formula is done so is the bottle.

We started off with the Advent Magic cups which they like, but recently we switched to the Nuk Learner Cup and these seem to be easier for them to drink out of. The entire top is soft and flexible and only a little bit tougher than a bottle nipple IMO.

As to the straw thing, I'd like to know how to do that myself. I bought two of them thinking the boys would like them and they just chew on the straw. So, needless to say those are just sitting in the cabinet.

 

Yup, the sippy thing is to just get the babies used to it. It's nice to know that they can drink from a sippy once they turn one and you start to wean off the bottle or breast. I just used water for the sippy, and the girls enjoyed it, but they didn't drink much. I also did it at mealtimes with them in their highchairs while I was feeding them solids. When my ped okay'd whole milk, I started putting that in the sippys too. I don't give my girls juice just because it's just sugar. They only take bottles right now when they first wake up and right before bed. That's our cuddle time. Otherwise their milk is in the sippy. Also, when it was so hot here and we'd be at DS or DD's soccer practice/games I'd take water in cups to drink. It helped keep them hydrated since it was soooo hot. I know with the twins I didn't start the cup till about 8 mos, but you can start as early as 6. I did it with my first two at 6 mos...both singletons. It was just much easier to do it at 8 mos because they were easier for me to handle that. For the valves, well, once you have toddlers the valve is there to help keep the liquid from spilling all over. It's one thing to say that your kids will only have cups at the table, but reality will strike and you'll find them all over the house, and then if there's no valve then it will have spilled all over! I know that I thought that my kids would only have cups in the kitchen, but that went out the window! So, the valve helped...it doesn't prevent it completely from coming out when it's on the floor or sofa etc., but at least it's only a little bit and not like it would be without a valve. Straws...well, it's just another way of getting the liquid out of the cup. If your kids can sip through a straw, then use those, but I know mine can't yet so we're just using the regular type of sippy. I personally wouldn't use the kind with the nipple just because it's basically a bottle and you do eventually want your kids off the bottle. However, with the twins I'm using the Nuby kind...but not the nipple...it's shaped like a regular sippy lid but soft. It has helped them a lot. I think it's because I can't take the time I did with my singles to teach them how to drink from a hard sippy. Eventually I know they'll get it. Good luck with your babies! Sorry so wordy!

 

I tried sippy cups with my boys this month (6month) but i found that they use tem as a toy or teething toys, so i was afraid to hurt their gum, so i stopped them for a while & will introduce them when i found them able to hold their bottles, around 12 months I guess.

Menna

 

We started introducing sippy cups a little after they started solid foods.....I think maybe it was around 8-9 mos? And I think the whole reason behind it is, doctors like to see babies off of the bottle somewhere around 12 mos. But at 12 mos they are nowhere near ready to drinking from a regular cup, so the sippies are for that. Personally, though, I didn't ditch the bottles 100% until just last week. (They were only getting one at night, though & have been using sippies for a long time.)

You really don't have to give them juice. They're actually starting to say that juice has too much sugar & if you do give it, you should dilute it with water. At our 15 mos checkup, my pedi said no more than 4 oz of juice per day; if any. So when you're just starting to introduce sippies, you probably want to stick with water.....and it's just practice. Some babies take awhile to get used to them. I wouldn't use them as a replacement for bottles.

The valves are to prevent leaks. They can be a pain.....dh always forgets to put them in & then I get spills.....but, you get used to it.

As for what kind, you probably have to just find your favorite by trial & error. I went through sooooo many different kinds! First Year makes my favorite one, though. NO VALVES!!!! However, mine weren't ready for this cup for awhile. If you look on the packages, they should have a recommended age. Some of them have a softer spout, so it's an easier transition from the bottle. The ones with the handles on the sides are nice, too, when they're 1st learning. I wouldn't recommend any of the disposable cups just yet. I thought my kids were ready the other week & tried these.....one drop from the high chair & the lid popped off, making a HUGE mess.


The way we did straws was I started giving them little sips of water when we went out to eat from my cup. I'd dip my straw in my water & hold onto one end with my finger so the water wouldn't pour out; then I'd let them suck on the straw & lift my finger off the top. Pretty soon they were used to them & sipping out of the straws!


The other bit of advice on sippies is, try to drink out of them yourself. I was amazed at how hard it was on some cups! There were a few cups I tried, and even I had to suck pretty hard to get anything to come out; especially the straw kinds. They got easier after awhile, though.


Good luck! I think it's kind of fun!

 

Thanks, ladies!

I really appreciate your info! I knew I could count on you all to help me figure out the sippy cup puzzle.

I am going to rereadthis thread when I have time to jot down some notes. Right now I have 2 hungry babies looking at me like "hellloooo stop that typing stuff and get us our bottles , (please)"


Thanks, again!!!!!!!!

 

Maybe I am starting waaaay early but I just introduced the sippy cups this week to my 2. We are starting to do solids more consistently and started veggies and I want them to associate drinking with eating their meals. They actually did better than I thought and drank from them a few times. Evan loves to chew on his and will actually cry when I take it away after we are done. I think it is great practice for them holding it (mine don't hold their bottles well but hold the sippy cups a little better) and to start learning how to drink from something other than the bottle. I put a little bit of water in the sippy cups although my pedi ok'd apple juice. I use the Avent magic cups but I would like to dry different kinds as well. We also have a gerber type that they don't like as well.