when did you introduce an open cup?

[nona]

hi moms,

i have a 16 mo boy. i'm curious when you introduced an open cup and when your child was able to drink out of it w/o spilling, etc. when we started solids @ 6 mo, i started using an open cup w/ water but then got lazy  .  my LO uses a cup w/ straw most of the time. we use a sippy if i run out of straws. i was reading in WTE the Toddler Years and it stated that by the end of the 17th month, your child should be able to drink out of acup. i was confused - do they mean open cup? we haven't used a bottle in months.  if i gave cade an open cup, he would def dump it all out and laugh hysterically!

TIA!

[tylersmommy]

Heather, we always seem to be leading parallel lives! I was wondering about open cups the other day too!

I'll let Mackenzie practice with an open cup of water when she's in the bath. I kind of have no choice...if I don't hand her a cup of tap water, she finds a way to use her toys as cups and drinks the bath water. Ew. She can drink with no problem and hardly ever gags anymore, she just doesn't seem to know that she should take it away from her mouth when she's had enough. We also give her sips from our water cups if she asks during the day.

Do you give Cade an open cup with a straw normally? Doesn't he dump it? Every sippy we've bought leaks all over the place as soon as it's on its side, so I'm reeeeally anxious to get rid of them. I'm almost annoyed enough to give her an open cup at mealtimes and ditch the sippy, but then laziness prevails...

[Fiona (Leah & Kians Mom)]

Think dd started at about 15 months with the open cup and had it mastered at about 18.

[nona]

i use nuby straw cups or the take n toss straw cups. neither spill too much unless cade starts to shake it. 

that's a good idea about bathtime. i need to remember to do that. i'm sure cade drinks the water as well. ( i never give him baths, that's Dh's "job". )

i'm tired of dealing w/ all the sippy cup parts. we lose most of them and they are such a pain to put together.

thanks fiona for the info. we'll def start using one soon. 

[deb]

We try to save covered cups for things that need to be shaken or for cups that go along in the car. Natalie has been using open cups (we found tiny little plastic ones at IKEA in a child's dish set, along with tiny usable utensils since she could sit up in the high chair, first with our help and then on her own; by the time she was 18 months she had it down, and could drink for bottles too w/o spilling (much ).

With Josie we were totally chicken and she had her sippy till she was THREE  and to this day she can't drink as well from a regular plain cup as well as Nat.   (Ditto bottles....)

We did find some cups with integrated straws at WalMart in the kitchen/picnic section, pretty plastic ones in bright colors, and bought about 8-10 of them; Josie still prefers to use a straw and gets really annoyed if they're all in the dishwasher (or more commonly still in her room ), so we also have a pack of straws we can use with any cup or glass if we want.

Anyway, my advice would be the earlier the better. You can start with shot glass-size cups, or small kids' cups with just a couple ounces in them at first so any spills would be limited in scope, and work up from there. Prepare for messes, encourage the kids to help in spill cleanup as part of the process (same as we often encourage them to help clean up potty-training accidents), and it'll "take" just fine, assuming no other factors that might interfere.

[Fiona (Leah & Kians Mom)]

We started with the sippy at about 4 months, got the hang of it at about 8 but for water only, mainly cos we live in a very hot country and I have a thing about milk in plastic cups. Also cos she drank in the car we only allowed water in it. When we went out for coffee we started letting her lose with plastic cups  with tiny drops in it. We always used a free flow cup.
Have started with ds now on the free flow cup with a lid and he is just getting the hang of it though he wont hold it yet.

[tylersmommy]

Okay, you guys have given me some courage...I'm going to take a deep breath and see if we can get Mackenzie off the sippy this week. Tyler also had a sippy until he was 3.5 yo. I started off not wanting to go down that same road with Mackenzie but we've gotten lazy. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...

[deb]

You can do it!!!! After it took so long to get J off the sippies, we just never introduced them to Natalie at all and if I ever had any more kids I'd pass along any sippies I got as gifts to someone else, 'cause barring some reason we'd NEED them (which I can't imagine), I wouldn't ever go there again.

The first couple weeks are the hardest, but they do get better and better at it, especially the sooner you try!

[nona]

melissa,
i want to start...but keeping forgetting to give cade an open cup! i'm going to write myself a note tonight....

i'm so tired of our sippy cups falling out of my cabinet everytime i open the door!

[EmMUK74]

we only started with open cups about 3 months before her 2nd birthday because we are always on the move and she drinks upwards of 3 litres a day so needs to have a cup with her everywhere - not possible to have an open one in the car, push chair, at various classes or when running in the park.  we used the really simple flip top free flow spout ones which are meant for 6 month olds but can be made to flow even faster and wash in 2 seconds.  to be honest she wasn't interested in open cups at all because she hates to get messy and had such poor coordination but then suddenly (actually that reminds me - it was when she PTd) she wanted to be a big girl and she took the cup and it's always been fine.  she still only has an open cup when she's sitting down at the table or still on the floor and has the sealed cup for carrying around.

[nona]

yea, i don't think i'm going to stress over this too much. he can drink out of straw, which i prefer myself as well! this morning i did give him an open cup and he did ok w/ help. however, when i gave it to him later he wanted nothing to do with it and handed me a clean straw sippy cup that i just unloaded from the dishwasher. this kid doesn't like change i guess! anyway, i'll keep offering.

[swiper]

My dd has just turned 2yr and we have started giving her a cup but only has a small amount of drink in it.

[skatty]

Leorah started with an open cup at 6 months and has always had an open cup at the table but she has a straw cup or sports bottle on the move, I think it's fine that toddlers don't use open cups all the time, even I have to be careful not to spill!!

[tylersmommy]

Today is day #2 of no sippy cup. She's been doing pretty good with the open cup but I have to watch her constantly. I've also found that even the smallest cups that are supposed to be for kids are too awkward for her to handle. I've been using the caps from her bottles as cups...whatever works, right? She hasn't been drinking quite as much and has gotten a little dehydrated, so I think I'll give her a sippy at dinner, which will also give me a chance to eat instead of spending the whole meal helping her. I just don't know where to draw the line between learning and table manners...she seems to like dipping things into her cup and blowing bubbles.

[Vicku]

I mostly offer the sippy, but my mum always insists on giving her an open cup and she actually handles it really well! It's just me being lazy I think. Should try it at home a bit more often and see how we go...