Bottle vs. sippy cup - pls advice

[Martini~]

Hello Ladies,

I would have question to you about a sippy cup introduction.

DS is almost 8mo and is drinking his milk from Avent Natural bottle (3-flow teat). He is very happy to drink it, no problems here. I also managed to offer him some water in this bottle (with solid meal like tea, he sometimes will drink 20-30ml). He is not a fan of water drinking but I think it is also because he drinks still a lot of milk (24oz per day: 3x 8oz bottles) so this is making him full. Some of you wrote somewhere here that it is not a problem that he drinks so little water and that I shouldn’t worry. So I am not.

But I have a concern about a sippy cup. I have NUK Ease Learning 1 one. I am encouraging him to drink from it after his solid meals, water inside. He usually put it in his mouth and… bites it:). He looks like knowing that it should be used for drinking as he open his mouth and put it there but in my opinion he is not drinking from it…. However difficult to assess as this sippy has no amount scale. I usually offer him water in a bottle afterwards and he is also not interested but very rarely he will take 2-3 sips.

So – should I worry? Should I try to offer milk in a sippy…? Should I change this sippy to I don’t know what:)?
Every experience sharing will be useful!

TIA!

[Haribo2012]

Hi
Personally I wouldnt offer the water in a bottle, id stick to milk in it and water in a sippy. I introduced a tommee tippee free flow sippy at 6 months just with meals more so my DS could get used to a cup. Sometimes he'd drink some, sometimes he'd just chew it.
He didnt really drink milk properly out of his sippy until he gave up his morning bottle at 13 months and then bedtime at 15 months and then it was and still is (29 months old) milk in at breaki and after a bath before bed.
I think at 8 months the milk is the most important so stick with the amount you are giving and just have the sippy around.
Plenty of time to worry about drinking out of it I say, and they learn with having it about as something familiar and watching you drink too.xx

[Martini~]

Thanks Zoe.

Question... The cup we are using is shown below - this is not a free flow one, isn't it?
An equivalent in tommy tippee range would be something like this (also shown below), but it is  also not a free flow  one...?

[Kellyjs]

We introduced a actual cup around 6mo but it was more hassle that it was worth. I then introduced a valved non free flow tommee tippee one. Similar to your first pic. This is because I didn't want water everywhere! IMO I know they recommend a free flow sippy cup, but as long as it only has water in it it will not be detrimental to the teeth in any way.

She still uses an older toddler version of the valved sippy cup and I found milk was easier in a straw cup although those are absolute bu**ers to clean!

ITA with Zoe though.. Offer water with meals and worry about the milk in a sippy later on. Mine dropped the morning bottle at 12.5mo (took me 2 weeks to find out the straw cup was the way forward after posting on here!) and the BT bottle at 14mo. Water was always on the coffee table so readily available after she dropped her day time bottles. Hth xx

[Martini~]

I know they recommend a free flow sippy cup

Really? I didn't know! Good that I posted here, I will learn something:D!

She still uses an older toddler version of the valved sippy cup

I thought that it is how it works... That's why I bought this one from NUK as it has its toddler follow-up.

And what about straw cup? Should I introduced it right now for water if he is not interested in normal valved sippy cup? WDYT?

Sorry for my ignorance.... I know nothing....:/

[Haribo2012]

Sorry for my ignorance.... I know nothing....:/

Ha ha I think we have gotten through about 10 cups, straw ones, spout ones etc...its a question of trial and error. I still use his original one for milk at breaki but he has water out of a straw one. Sure my DS was a bit older when I started on this one though. We did have quite a few with a silcone valve too. xx

[Haribo2012]

Oh and now ive done the quote bit wrong haha! x

[Kellyjs]

Omg! I have hundreds (slight exaggeration) of the things! Funnily enough DD is not too bothered about taking water from a straw cup... Go figure?! I got so fed up one day I took her to mothercare at around 12mo and asked her to choose one! The people in there must've thought I was mad. Worked though.. Bottles were ditched the next day.. I held onto the night time one for me rather than for her for a couple of months.

They recommend a free flow one as the valved ones can contribute to tooth decay if juice is in them. Mind you, even with any cup it's the frequency of sugar throughout the day that's an issue really. DD downs her milk out of the straw one and doesn't have it all day.

Ha ha Zoe, I'm rubbish at the quote thing too!

[Lolly]

Never mind the tooth decay thing have you actually tried drinking from the valved cups? We had a variety with DS and I couldn't work out how most of them worked so we gave up on them because I couldn't see how he could work them out!

The only had water so I wasn't worried about it going everywhere and I think they really need the free flow to work out there is something in the cup to drink! They joy of the TT free flow is that you can blow into the cup and it all shoots back up into your mouth and you can shake them and give everyone a shower. It's good fun experimenting with free flow cups!

Seriously though I would stick to milk in bottles for now and offer water to sip in a free flow cup with meals. If you are doing puree, the cups are good for a bit of distraction while you get a bit more food in!

Laura