Still using a sippy cup

My ID boys are 2 and my bigger one is a good eater, but my smaller one only has days when he wants to eat well. They mainly want to drink alot. They turned 2 in August, at what age is it ok to take their sippy cups? I don't want them drinking all the time and not eating. :ibiggrin

 

When you say "take their sippy cups" what do you mean?
Are you offereing them all day long? or just at meals? are you keeping a full cup available at all times?
I woudl think you should offer a drink at every meal, and a limited amount of liquid inbetween. At 2 if they are thirsty, they should be able to communicate that to you.
Also if they are drinking milk or water I would think thats OK. I dont have experience with toddlers of that age but just thinking about what I did when I babysat..GL, I hope you get some helpful responses!

 

QUOTE(E&Msmom @ Dec 20 2008, 12:26 PM) [snapback]1117608[/snapback]
When you say "take their sippy cups" what do you mean?
Are you offereing them all day long? or just at meals? are you keeping a full cup available at all times?
I woudl think you should offer a drink at every meal, and a limited amount of liquid inbetween. At 2 if they are thirsty, they should be able to communicate that to you.
Also if they are drinking milk or water I would think thats OK. I dont have experience with toddlers of that age but just thinking about what I did when I babysat..GL, I hope you get some helpful responses!

Some people think that you should do away with sippy cups by the time that they are 3. They can communicate and tell me when they are thirsty, but they want liquids more than food. I offer it at meals. I was just wanting some insight from others on how much to give them in a full day. Thank you for the reply!

 

I have the same problem with my DD. She only wants to drink. I started giving her her cup after her meal and she knows in order to get her cup she has to eat first. It was REALLY hard at first bc she kept asking and whining for it. I stuck to it and now she is actually eating better.

 

I would do what the PP says, offer food first, and don't give a drink until they have eaten. I got that from working in daycare--the kids only got their drinks after they ate, otherwise they would just fill up on the liquids. Also, try giving water instead of milk in between meals. Water will quench their thirst but will not fill them up like milk does.

 

Mine drink out of regular cups mostly, but if we are in the car or going to someones house they drink out of straw sippies.

 

mine get their cups at meals and whatever they don't finish with their meal they're allowed to have afterward for a while (until they've lost interest in the cup and then I stick it in the fridge)...if they want something to drink in between they'll tell me

 

I would let them keep the sippies (since drinking is important too!), but just offer water except at certain times of day. It won't hurt their appetites if they drink a lot of water.

Just FYI though, our speech therapist did say we should ditch the sippy cups (my girls just turned) as there is apparently a lot of literature in the ST world saying that it can hurt their articulation development. Straw cups are supposedly better. So, I'm not taking the sippies away, but I've told the girls that when the lids wear out (as they always do, because the girls chew on them), I'm not buying more.

 

my girls still use a sippy cup and they can reach it anytime they want it. at meal times we focus mainly on using open cups. and I noticed an "appetite problem" starting at age 2. I found that smaller portions was better, that way they had fun asking for more. I give milk at Bfast and dinner, juice once per day, and water the other times, once the juice is gone.

 

I'm in the "get rid of the sippies" camp but it started mostly because I HATE cleaning them! We began by using open cups at mealtimes before 2 and now we're down to just a few cups we use rarely. I guess I don't see the desire to keep those sippies around but then maybe not everyone has kids who think sippies are fun sprinklers and/or entertaining to disassemble. I'd rather they get their water themselves at the refrigerator dispenser with a cup and drink it standing on the tile floor. It's also much easier to say, "No cups in the livingroom" than to try to enforce different rules for each type of cup. That said, they do have a pair of straw sippies (that are not allowed to leave their bedroom) for nighttime needs because I don't want them climbing the bathroom cabinet in the night.

I've never offered anything but water between meals. At mealtimes, I give them a small amount of milk or juice to start and they may have all the water they like if they're thirsty but milk/juice is treated like a food. They can't fill up on milk/juice because I don't give refills if they aren't eating.

 

I forgot to post, that at 21 months, we threw out all sippy cups and switched to straw cups at the advise of a speech therapist. We used the straw cups up until they turned 3 or so, and gradulally transitioned over to open cups. Preschool was a great help in this

 

The twins had their cups the longest, and that was until right around the age of two..dont remember if it was within the month, or a little later.. but I treated them like bottles. . in the way that they had them in bed w/ them at night. They were able to use a regular open child size (4-6oz) cup, but I would give them the sippy cups at night b/c mainly DD would always wake up at night, and/or she would need a drink right as she was dozing off... so it got to the point that they were only using them at night, and we just stopped giving it to her. I would give them a drink in the kitchen before going to bed, and then I MIGHT bring an open cup into the room in case they needed something I wouldnt have to go into the kitchen to get them a drink..
In my own situation, I had experience w/ them having access to the cup all day before they turned 2...and it was like they were constantly drinking. At this point I dont remember if it affected their eating but I dont think it did. My DD didnt start sleeping through the night until I took her sippy cup away, and she will still ocassionally wake in the night for a drink, but its MUCH better than it was.

sorry for the rambling. . im just thinking of all the 'stages' they went through in relation to bottles, cups, and how and when and what , etc.

 

My girls had their sippys until about 2 and then had a straw cup until about 2 1/2 then after that they mostly had open mouth cups and by three they were on all open cups. My son was using only open mouth cups (no sippys or straw cups) by the time he was two. I HATE cleaning the sippys so I got rid of them quickly with him. I am now working on my niece right now with using open mouth cups (she's about 19mths).

I agree with the others I try to offer food first and then milk with dinner. For breakfast my kids get one small cup of oj. Lunch they sometimes get water or juice if they ask but if they don't they don't get any drink. Dinner is always milk. In between meals if they ask they get water. My son goes through spirts of being a good eater or not and if I notice him not eating as much I do make sure he drinks more water or milk.

 

I used open cups at the table from about 2, but used sippies for roaming drinks or take along drinks until 4. Now they have their own stainless steal water bottles for take along and open cups for everything else.

One of mine went through a time when I think she was filling up on liquids instead of eating, instead of refusing or withholding liquids, I just gave her a tiny bit at a time, like 1/4 of a juice glass size. I did refill the same amount durning a meal if she asked, but often she didn't. Also keep in mind that if they are growing, there's usually not as big of an eating problem as us worry wort moms tend to think there is.