Teaching To Use Sippy Cup

[Mom to M&M]

My LO is supposed to drink some water throughout day to help with constipation - problem is that she gets upset with water in a bottle and can't figure out a sippy - she just wants to chew on it! Have tried the Nuby one, First Years, Avent, etc... Any ideas? How do I teach her how to drink from it? Or would a straw cup be better? Any ideas? TIA.

[katesmum38]

Hi, if it's help with constipation you might want to think about diluting some fresh orange with the water ration one in ten.  I'm not sure whether the type of cup matters, my LO wouldn't take anything except when feeding from the breast.  We tried bottles and cups etc and she would just bat them away - she would play quite happily with the mouthpiece and chew it, but as soon as she detected liquid she would screw up her face.  After a while of trying different things we decided to stick with a very simple cup with a rubber spout and offered her the cup little and often.  She slowly came round to the idea.  Sometimes we have to hold the cup up for her, other times she's happy to hold it and drink herself.  We have now stopped the juice and she still drinks plain water from the cup.

HTH

Tina and Kate

[tylersmommy]

If you haven't already, sometimes it helps to take the valve out so the water flows freely. Messy, but sometimes it does the trick. We'd also offer it to him like a bottle...we'd hold him in the same way and hold the sippy for him like a bottle. You might also try a regular plastic cup with no lid (with you holding it). Again, messy, but Tyler learned to sip from it long before he got the hang of the sippy. HTH!

[Mom to M&M]

Thanks guys!

Melissa - I've tried two cups with no valves (Nuby and First Years Take n Toss) - will try offering like bottle and also try the normal plastic cup like you mentioned.

Don't want to try orange juice as DD does have some allergy issues, but thanks for the idea Tina!

[colenliam]

hi
Heinz has a little sippy cup that ds enjoys.  hes not the greatest at it but it has a soft spout and he loves to gum on it.  I give it to him everyday.  Although he is not sucking a constant flow, he still gets some water from it every now and then.  It takes a while but they will get it.  Its a hard step for them.
 :)Good Luck with the constipation issue

[LŠuren]

http://mommyshop.com/tomtipeascup.html

We use something similar to this from Tommee Tippee, he has to chew on the soft top to get the liquid out and it is also spill proof.

[lotti]

My 8 month old took about 8 weeks(!!!!!! ) to master the sippy cups but now loves it. (Is breastfed, never had a bottle so thinks anything other than boobs are very strange!)

He has aTommee Tippee "First Cup" and it's great, really simple, no valve etc. and is non-spill as it has a flip down lid.

[Kate A]

lotti - so glad to hear there is another mom with a baby that refuses to take a bottle. I checked out the tommee tippee.  Did you get the one with the handles?  I found one here so I'm going to try it.  sounds neat and a good transition to sippy cup.

[lotti]

Hi - yep, the one with handles and the push down spout. It has given Henry something to bite on aswell as he's cutting some teeth .... and aswell as refusing a bottle he doesn't like teething rings / dummies ! Henry flatly refuses a bottle, even with pumped milk  So you're having similar problems?!

[Kate A]

yes...she will take a paci...took alot of coaxing, but no bottle.  we are going to try once more and then i'm giving up.  i ordered the cup so we will see.  i think she might bf until she's 12...   i'm done at a year so we are going to have to figure something out

[NKmommy]

My kiddo would always get frustrated with regular sippy cups, and would only drink a sip here or there.  We had so much luck switching to a straw sippy.  He drinks much more since he is able to hold the cup upright and doesn't have to work hard to sip.

Hope he gets the hang of the sippy soon!   

[lindsaysmom]

Nathan'sMommy

That's good to know!  My dd took forever to figure out the regular sippy cup but can only drink small amounts at a time.  Any specific straw cup you recommend?  Lots of them have the label indicating they are for older (age 3? and up) kids, can babies try those or there are other ones?

[NKmommy]

Any specific straw cup you recommend?  Lots of them have the label indicating they are for older (age 3? and up) kids, can babies try those or there are other ones?

Well, we probably have a few of each brand of straw sippy, since I am the worst at sippy cup collecting, and he has done fine with all of them.     For a while, I didn't even notice the age recommendations, but lately I have purposely been getting ones with a faster flow (I think ages 2 and up).  He seems to get less frustrated when he doesn't have to work as hard.  I really like the Playtex cups since they only have two pieces to each straw instead of the three that most of the others have (makes a big difference when you are assembling all the parts and pieces out of the washer.)  I think I got those at Target.  Hope that helps!   

[themarlatts]

My DS also had a terrible time learning to use the sippy cup - he would suck the water up and then open his mouth and let it all fall out!  We had much better luck with a cup and straw.  After using the straw to drop some water into his mouth he learned to sip from it, and now he can suck down a whole cup in just a few minutes.  We use the The First Years Take and Toss cups - they are clear colored plastic and have snap on lids.  I know they are meant to be thrown away, but I just put them in the dishwasher and they are fine.  They also don't leak for me, unless they are upside down for a prolonged amount of time - we just watch him with it.  I tried some other cups with straws but like the others said, they were for older kids and they were really large and heavy.  The First Years ones are so light he can easily hold it even without handles.