I recently wrote about my 4-year old who only drinks milk from her straw sippy cup wondering when to give them up. A number of you mentioned you had no idea either. So I asked around, did some investigative work, and discovered 5 important things parents need to know about starting, using, and stopping sippy cups.
1. Start them early
Babies usually start solids by the time they’re 6 months. This is also the time it is okay to introduce sips of water with the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) now recommending parents wait to introduce juice until toddlerhood. It’s a good idea to get a few starter sippy cups, with handles, lids, and a hard sprout, to get your child used to the idea that liquids (including milk) can come in something other than a bottle or breast. That being said, some experts recommend skipping the sprout cup and going straight to #3 (straw cup).
While babies will have fun throwing these cups for a while, by 9 months many will start drinking from them. The AAP recommends phasing out the bottle between 12 and 24 months of age and if possible, breastfeeding for at least one year.
2. Use sippy cups wisely
Once your child is using a sippy cup you need to use them wisely. According to Healthy Children, a website powered by the AAP, avoid using sippy cups as a pacifier or allowing kids to sip on them throughout the day unless it’s filled with water. Sprout sippy cups filled with milk, juice, or juice drinks, allow sugar (even natural sources) to stay in the mouth longer and increase the risk of tooth decay.
This may be why cavities have increased by 15 percent from 1994 to 2002 in children 2-5 years old according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
3. Drop the sprout cups ASAP
Traditional sippy cups are only supposed to be used as a short transition to real cups. Overuse of sippy cups can cause more than dental caries, they can also contribute to speech difficulties.
Because children suck on sippy cups the way they do bottles, if used too long, it can change the position of the tongue and teeth, potentially causing lisps and articulation problems. According to this Web MD article, the traditional sippy should only be used for about a month. Using cups with a straw is much better for speech development and dental health.
Bottom line: switch to a straw cup as soon as you can.
4. Encourage kids to drink from regular cups
The AAP recommends teaching children to start drinking from regular cups between 12 and 15 months. Once children master this, you might want to use regular cups at meals and straw cups for water on the go.
Another drawback to young children sucking for too long is something called Oral Myofunctional Disorder (OMD). According to the International Association of Orofacial Myology’s website, the symptoms include one of the following:
1. abnormal thumb, finger, lip, and tongue sucking habits
2. an inappropriate mouth-open lips-open resting posture problem
3. a forward interdental rest posture of the tongue problem
4. a forward rest position of the tongue against the maxillary incisors problem
5. a lateral, posterior interdental tongue rest posture problem
6. inappropriate thrusting of the tongue in speaking and/or swallowing.
These abnormal habit patterns, functional activities, and postures can open the dental bite beyond the normal rest position. This can result in a disruption of dental development in children and over-eruption of selected teeth in adults.
A prime example of an OMD, familiar to all pediatricians and dentists, is a retained sucking habit or use of a sippy cup. While it is tempting to ignore such habits since some children do outgrow them, many children do not spontaneously discontinue noxious habits and will need help in eliminating the habits.
5. Part with sippy cups between 2 and 3 years
According to the AAP Pediatric Nutrition Manual, children are developmentally ready to give up sippy cups by 2 to 3 years of age. Will it hurt to use them to prevent spills once and a while? Probably not. If your child uses an open cup and some sippy cups with straws it is probably okay.
But just like we advance textures with our babies and let toddlers use utensils, we have to do the same with drinking. It’s an important and overlooked part of development.
Anyone having trouble getting your child to give up the sippy cup habit?
For more on feeding kids at every age and stage, check out Fearless Feeding: How to Raise Healthy Eaters From High Chair to High School
I wish I could get my kid on it! I feel like we’re going to have a hard time transitioning off of bottles next month when he turns 1. He cries for a bottle any time he sees one, and I have no idea how to wean him from it. The thought strikes fear in my new-momma heart.
May sound cruel but cold turkey at nightime. I’m a first time mom too but as soon as I eliminated bottles at Bex I went three day and nights then I bagged up all bottles and tossed em in pantry in case I choose to have another .
This is a wonderful post and I’m going to share it with my mommy friends. My youngest just turned 20 months old and I’m trying to get him off the bottle, though he does enjoy drinking out of a big boy cup during the day. He’s not a big fan of sippy cups but enjoys drinking out of a straw on occasion. I am hoping with my other two kids out of shcool that my 20 month old will want to be a big boy like them and ditch the bottle!
I guess just another one of the benefits of breastfeeding is you never have to wean from a bottle. LOL. I’m not sure what the purpose is of the Sprout sippies. I mean, if only for a month, what’s the point? I started my 9 month old son straight out on a straw cup when he was 6-7 months old. He took to it immediately.
Makes sense goodfountain. Some kids who are attached to the bottle may transition better with a sippy but many can probably go straight to a straw cup like you said.
Our little guy, my grandson who lives with me, was given a cup early on, but at 2 1/2 is still breast fed when he feels like it, that is when his mommy is home from work. He will sometimes go a few days without then all of a sudden need a sip. As for cups my kids had the tommy tippee cups with a lid similar to a playtex coolster, just not quite as thick. I’ve seen some take along coffee cups like this. We have found that this cup still slows the flow somewhat of the liquid but also is less similar to a bottle nipple like a regular spout sippy. Now we give him any cup he wants from the cupboard, he doesn’t seem to have any preference for only one style. We also used this method on our grandgirl when she arrived at 8 mos. at my home. We started her with water, in a high chair and let her spill it to her hearts content. Then we added a little bit of juice to sweeten the deal. It became more serious business for her then. By a year she was totally taking any kind of cup/straw offered.
One last thing, when they were tiny, we took the lid from the playtex coolster, and screwed it on a smaller, lighter, two handled playtex cup so it was easier for the child to handle.
I’m not sure what my mom did with me but… I had “tongue thrusting” issues as a grade schooler and had to take swallowing lessons from a speech therapist for a year! no kidding! That was all because I had a horrific overbite where my lips would not even close and the orthodontist wouldn’t treat me until I had completed the swallowing lessons. THEN, I had head gear for a couple of years. Trust me, this is NO fun and not cheap.
That said, my 3 year old still uses a sippy cup a bit in the mornings for her OJ. It was a fight to transition to “real” cups, but we’re mainly there. I have noticed, however, that her water consumption has decreased since the switch. She only gets OJ 2 times a day (for the calcium) and water the rest of the day. Any thoughts on how to up her water? Thanks!
Green — I agree with Goodfountain. Have a water cup around all the time for you kids to sip on. You can use a straw or any fun to-go cup you can find (or have you child pick).
Quick question. Did you have tongue thrusting from thumb sucking early in life? My son has a wierd suck (sucks on his index and middle finger). I want to break him of it but don’t know how.
Thanks Jill! I think we as parents forget that kids can learn to drink from a real cup early. What did parents do before sippy cups?? Clean up messes!
Green: My daughters (4 and 6) drink lots of water because I keep a thermos filled with cold water available all the time. They use cups with their meals but I keep the thermos available in the playroom and while watching TV.
Kids can learn early, but if there’s one thing I think we might all agree on is that kids will do just about everything in their own time. Very rarely does pushing an issue work. I found that by introducing something new ahead of when you prefer them to do it works great. Give them time to get used to seeing it, how it feels, how it works. We did the same thing with many things, including the potty chair. He got that when he was just sitting at around six mos. He played with it, used it for a hat, and one day he decided to use it.
With the cup, yep, expect spills, start with water. Our little guy got so much excitement over seeing how far he could throw it. It was so very frustrating at the time and I did keep telling myself it would stop and it did. Just had to remember at the time to duck.
My mom bought all of my kids their very own ‘big kid’ cup when they turned 2. It’s almost a sippy, but designed to mimic a regular cup except that they can’s pour the drink out and still have to suck slightly to get it out of the cup. So, I think I cheated a bit, because they used those cups for a couple of months and then went straight to regular cups with no problems. 🙂
Thank you for this. I definitely needed this information. Hope I’m not too late to avoid any teeth/mouth issues – we use mostly sippy cups, not straw cups.
I was unaware of how temporarily sippy cups were to be used! Thanks for the good info! I shared this link on my blog so my friends will know!
I’ve often wondered when kids were supposed to learn how to drink from a regular cup. My almost-3-year old had a tooth extracted several weeks back and his dentist advised that he not drink from a sippy cup for a couple of days. He did great, so he’s been using a regular cup at meals most of the time now that his mouth is healed. Also, I found this Mom’s Guide to be helpful as we were dealing with our son’s tooth injury and extraction. May have some helpful tooth tips that could be useful to other parents. Thanks for the post. Very helpful to me.
My son turns two next week and he is a major sucker. He LOVED his pacifier, but I broke him of that at 8 months, then he turned his bottle into a pacifier and would suck on that instead, so I broke him of the bottle at 1 and introduced a sippy cup with a soft spout and I have noticed that this cup has become his newest pacifier. UUUGGHH, and I thought I was doing so well. I just noticed that one of his bottom teeth has shifted and I am assuming this is because of the sippy. He practices drinking from a regular ‘ole cup, but hasn’t mastered that yet, so we can’t do that all the time, and while we have the straw cups, he has not grasped the concept of NOT tilting the straw cup up like he does with the sippy or did with his bottle. When he raises it up, he gets no liquid because the liquid has moved up and out of the way of the straw and he gets VERY frustrated. My daycare mom is on me to take the sippy away but I feel on one hand, he needs it for comfort but on the other hand I know she is right….
Dianna,
I think it would be more difficult if you are a working mom. Not all kids take to transitioning, especially at 2. Plus, I remember years ago the women saying, oh my, he’s got a bottle at 2 or whatever. But then I started thinking, why is it okay to nurse until 2 but not have a bottle. My thought was why not treat it the same way. For example, your toddler might nurse only in the evenings after work or bedtime. But the rest of the time he works on using a cup. Can the daycare mom work with your little guy? I’m sure when you get home it’s not always easy to tackle things like that, at least for me it wouldn’t be. LOL! Do give it a go, and I think you are doing well. Just keep working on it, he will master it. I wouldn’t let him carry his cup around like a bottle. We have never allowed that unless there is illness. We found that by placing definite places for drinking his liquids then you will have more control of amounts, and which cup, and it makes for spills to more contained. Work on only one skill at a time if possible. Such as straw cups. Praise him like crazy when he does well, if he doesn’t do well, tell him that it’s okay, that you love him and say that we will keep working on this together, or something similar that you know your child would like to hear.
Yeah, little ones love cheesy love, and being a “big boy or girl”.
Please any suggestion… My 3yrs old is using her straw sipper cup like it’s a bottle mornings, days, nights and whenevers she’s upset. How can I get her off it. She could have a full meal and still wants it.
My 10 mo old can’t figure out how to use a sippy or real cup because he doesn’t grasp the concept of tipping it up. He uses playtex drop-ins, so he can suck the milk upward in his bottle (we try to make sure he’s laying down when he drinks so he doesn’t get too used to that…) Should I try transitioning him to a straw cup or will that reinforce the problem making it harder to transition to a regular cup?
You can use both. Try straw cups and continue to offer a regular cup. Babies need to be helped at first and after while they will get it.
Hello. I need some tips for breaking my son from wanting a sippy when he goes to bed, and first wakes up in the mornings. He does great throughout the day with drinking from cups and straws, but seems like a big step backwards when its bed time. Ive tried cutting it out completely, but that ends up in many restless nights. I am concerned this is going to cause dental issues and or speech problems. He is almost 4. I know, 4. Just need some tips that may work. Please help!
My son is four and cannot part from his sippy cup either.
I feel like its a comfort thing for hi m and feel badly for trying to take
it from him! He only uses it a couple times a day but will suck on the end even when there is nothing in it. I understand it may cause problems with his teeth but how do I get him to stop without him feeling as though I am taking his comfort away?!? Any suggestions? Would a sippy with a straw be better for him to use? E have tried regular cups but he spills so easily 🙁 help!
Thanks!
Tabatha — I agree with Jill. Switch to a straw cup first and give it awhile. Then maybe you can get him to using the straw cup once a day and that can be fine for awhile. I know kids spill but that is how they learn. Like Jill said, you can designate places in your house for drinking. You might want to take him shopping for new special “big kid” cups. Maybe even wrap up the old sippies and tell him they wil be going to kids just learning to drink and he already knows how. Good luck!
Tabitha, yes, give him a cup with a straw. The sippy has become a habit. I would alternate all kinds of cups, even without tops. He should be learning not to spill. You need to set rules for where he eats/drinks. That way if he does spill it’s a quick clean up, usually.
We only use sippy cups sometimes in the car. We do it so many different ways that he doesn’t seem to mind any which way. Sometimes I just bring cups for all of us and we refill when we stop. Same with food, no eating while we are driving.
I will also advise to not try to do it all at once. Start with the straw cup, then when he’s used to that, go on to the next thing like alternating with an open cup. Then also start setting up your own rules for where you want to allow him to drink. This is just my own personal opinion of course.
Also, check out cups like the playtex coolster, it has a different type of top, more like a regular cup. Since your son is 4 now, it will be a tad harder possibly to switch around, but all the same, take it slow, and give him great praise.
My little brother is 5 YEARS OLD! He still drinks out of sippy cups, and he rudely requests that his milk be warmed up for “two-zero” in the microwave. He throws a tantrum if I give him cold milk in one of his cool big boy cups. He also demands that he receives a cup of milk in bed. He drinks lido merging like 2-3 cups while lying down in bed each night. He also gets chronic ear infections as a result. Every time that I mention something my mom yells at me for trying to be the parent. In reality, she is being lazy. I have a different father, and I am much more intelligent. I started reading by myself at his age. My mom will be having another child soon with a different dad. This is kid #6. I’m just trying to help my brother, but I can’t. What do I do? By the way, the kind encouragement philosophy does not work. He abuses it. Please help. He also drinks out of normal cups at daycare and preschool as well; I forgot to mention that. Also I am 16. Any help is much obliged.
Were having a hard time getting our 25 month old to give up her sippy cup. She drinks several cups a day and the worse part asks for 2 to 3 cups at night. Weve tried letting her cry and see if it would pass but it doesnt. Feel like we have an infant still since were not getting much sleep. Any other tips or ideas that might help us?
Hi, I believe your site may be having browser compatibility issues.
Whenever I take a look at your web site in Safari,
it looks fine however, if opening in I.E., it’s got some overlapping issues. I merely wanted to provide you with a quick heads up! Apart from that, fantastic website!
Thanks…will be re-doing it soon so that helps!
My son will be one next week and he is currently drinking 5 sippy cups a day of milk/formula mix and then a water cup that he drinks off all day long. I’m not sure if I’m giving him too much milk/formula to begin with but then yesterday I found out that when he moves to the one year old classroom at daycare, they will only give him milk at lunch and not give him a sippy at all…only “big kid” cups. I appreciate the fact that they will help train him on the big kid cup, but I’m worried that he’s not going to get enough milk and water when we cut back from what he’s getting now. I see that I need to get him off the sprout cups, so I’m going to start trying the straws, or should I skip them and just go straight to big cups if that’s what daycare is going to do?
So confused — Lauren is right that too much milk can increase the risk of iron deficiency. After one, children shouldn’t get more than 24 ounces of milk (3 cups). It can also displace other nutritious foods causing a child to fill up and eat poorly at meals.
To “so confused”, have your son’s hemoglobin checked. Sometimes too much milk can interfere with iron absorption. If it’s at a healthy level, he’s not drinking too much milk, but if it’s low, you may want to consider cutting back his milk intake. At least that was my experience with my first child.
I would just move him straight to a regular cup or rim cup (which is like a travel coffee mug for kids) without a regulator or “spill-proof valve”. I feel like I wasted money “going through the stages” with my son. I bought him straw cups which he didn’t understand how to use, so I had to remove the straw so he could use it like a sippy cup. Then once he got the hang of it and started recognizing that it really was a cup and not just a mean trick, I put the straw back in. To anyone dead-set on teaching their kid how to use a straw cup, that is the solution I would recommend, however, with my next kid I’m skipping the straw cup entirely.
Now my son is on a rim cup which I immediately removed the regulator from because even I could barely get milk out of it and my son was just getting frustrated. I don’t think the straw cup helped him at all and he now uses a travel coffee cup the same way as the rim cup. He still doesn’t really understand regular cups, but we’re working on it. He just turned 13 months on the 18th and I didn’t give him a sippy cup until after his 12 month checkup. I saw all this stuff about how bad sippy cups are for their teeth and how they can cause lisps, but nobody told me bottles were worse…
I think after he finishes mastering the coffee cup, he will be able to switch to a regular cup without problems and just use the coffee cup for traveling. My son just needed to master tipping the cup, and then get ones with faster and faster flows. The coffee cup I got him has a deep rim and a cover over the opening that twists to the side, so I figured if the flow was too fast I could just open it part way and keep opening it further as he adjusted. Luckily, he is doing fine even with it open all of the way and he learned with the rim cup that he cant just tip the cup all the way up like he could with a sippy or bottle. Also, it allowed me to teach him to set the cup down upright or give it to me without him spilling entire glasses of milk first. He still spilled, but a small puddle is so much less aggravating than a big one, especially when you consider the price of milk.
I must say I’m still confused by everything I’ve read on the internet. Practically everyone seems to agree that babies should be completely off bottles by 1 year. Then they should only use a sippy for about a month while they transition to a regular cup. But I haven’t read anything that says your kid should be off sippy cups by 13 months. I’ve seen 2 years… 3 years… my pediatrician said he should just be able to use a real cup by the time he started school!! This makes me wonder if my definition of “real cup” and “sippy cup” are standard definitions. I was worried I’d have a harder time transitioning my son to a real cup, and while it’s going well now, who knows? And what if my next child is more difficult? I consider a real cup to be a simple cup with no lid and a sippy cup to be anything with a spout (including straw cups). I’m not sure where rim cups fit in, but I think I’d hesitantly call a travel coffee cup a real cup. Now, considering bottles, soft spout sippy cups, hard spout sippy cups, straw cups with and without a no-spill valve, rim cups, and just plain cups, at what age should kids be at each stage? Do kids need to transition off of rim or travel cups at a certain age or are they a non-issue as far as speech issues go?
@Brother
Has anyone helped you yet about your baby brother?
I am a primary school teacher who used to work in daycare. The 18 month children I worked with all used regular cups with no straws/spouts. Yes, they got a bit wet the first few times but quickly learned. Three year olds should NOT be using sippy cups! They are far too old.
Not sure if this is a dumb question but I bought my son a sippy cup with a straw, I didn’t notice that it said 18 months and over, my son is 11 months but he loves drinking from straws…..is it dangerous for me to use that sippy cup?
@Vanessa — no dumb questions ; ) You would have to check with company to know for sure, but I doubt it. Those ages are based on suggested developmental readiness where some kids will be ready earlier or later than others.
My son just turned 3 and he will not give up his sippy cup. He uses it as comfort to fall asleep. He has never used a passy do I never had to break him from that and I don’t know how to break him from the sippy cup. He only drinks milk with it and drinks his water from a regular cup throughout the day, but when nap time and bed time are near he screams for his “milk” and it has to be in his sippy cup. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. He also wakes up in the middle of the night wanting his “milk”.
It sounds like he is taking the milk cup to bed and falling asleep with it which is bad for his teeth. You could offer him milk before bed in a straw cup. You could also try a reward system where you have a certain amount of stickers (like 3 or 5) getting him a toy. Let him know that sippy cups are for babies and he’s a big boy now. First drop the naptime one and give him a sticker each time. Then move onto bedtime. Good luck!
Add me to your mailing List
Go to the homepage and enter your email address — you’ll get sent an email to confirm. Thanks for reading!
I am having a hard time teaching my 9-month-old to use a straw. She started a sippy cup at 6 months with just some water and she usually drinks from one everyday. She also doesn’t take bottles anymore since my pump broke, but did once a day for awhile there, so that was an easy skill as well for her. She even drinks from open cups with no problems. We’d share sips of our water with her since she would be so demanding and spills a little, but mostly has no problems.
However, the straw doesn’t seem to register with her. I do give her water via a straw at restaurants sometimes when I forget a cup for her, but I never thought of it as a way to teach straw usage, so I’ll focus more on letting her actually suck from it. But, do you think the straw cup is even that important? She obviously gets the real cup and that is the ultimate goal, so perhaps I can just try to teach her later when she understands what I’m saying.
What do you think?
My daughter is 4 yrs old just turn 4 on 08/10. The only way I can get her to sleep is by a regular sippy cup it is like her security blanket. If she doesn’t have it she cries for it and won’t go to sleep without it. Throughout the day we use straw ones but bedtime we use regular ones
Crying doesn’t hurt. It’s a pain relief. Growing up is hard to do sometimes. Our jobs are not to keep our kids happy if what brings them temporary happiness isn’t good for them. Taking alcohol from an alcholic is painful, but must be done. That’s way worse than a few nights of crying about not having a sippy cup. The younger it’s done, the less painful it can be. Tear it off like a band-aid. You can provide hugs and kisses, and a regular security blanket that’s more appropriate.
I like the helpful information you provide in your articles.
I will bookmark your weblog and check again here regularly.
I am quite certain I will learn a lot of new stuff right
here! Good luck for the next!
Funny thing our child had no care for a sippy cup he went from bottle to a cup lol he’s currently 13 months and stated the cup at 11 and easily drinks without spillage!!
i have just started to give a traditional sippy cup to my 8 month old for milk…how soon do u think she can start with a straw sippy cup ??
My boyfriend’s daughter is 4 and he, along with the daughter’s mother, still give the daughter frequent sippy cups filled with milk. And she takes one to bed too. I have tried to intervene and let him know he needs to stop, but is just insistent on pleasing his daughter. I get where he is coming from, but her health is on the line. Any tips on how we can stray daughter off sippy cups and how I can explain to my boyfriend that he needs to help?
My son is 11 months old and trying to switch to cup. He will use a straw cup, but not so good with a sippy. He will not drink water, but will drink formula from his cup. THe doctor says no juice so how can I get him to drink more from his cup?
If he takes a straw cup that is better than a sippy. Keep offering him water, maybe add juice to it (unless there is a medical reason for not doing this) and formula. Bring water in the straw cup where every you go and have it handy. Offer but don’t force. Good luck!
My little girl is now 15 month a sippy cup on a morning with a soft end and a bottle on the night, her grandparents give her a straw cup and she seems to drink out of this fine, you think I should give her this cup all of the time,
I would try to transition her to the straw cup by 18 months (no more bottle or spout cup).
My 2 1/2 year old went straight to straw cups, because she didn’t like the sippy/spouted ones. My 4 1/2 year old uses the straw ones sometimes, but also still uses regular sippy cups all day/every day and has no dental problems or speech problems. The doctor was even impressed with how well he inunciates his words when he speaks and is VERY easy to understand. I think these things are honestly to scare people, like most things. Do what you think is best for your child. Only you know best.
My 21 months daughter still uses the bottle when drinking her milk. I’d started and tried these sippy cups and the spouted one when she was 18 months but she doesn’t want it at all. She’d refused it! But with drinking water, it not a problem at all, she even drinks it in the glass, open cup and the straw cup. I even tried to alternate the regular bottle to an open cup, but still no luck. ( I wanna throw this bottle now).hahha. Need an expert advice from you guys…thank u!!!
As long as your daughter know she will get milk from a bottle, she’s probably won’t take it any other way. I would discontinue the bottle (gradually or whatever you think is best) and keep offering milk other ways. Is she doesn’t drink milk you can meet her calcium needs through yogurt and cheese and a vitamin D supplement.
My 14 month old won’t drink out of normal sippy cups (only straw cups) so I was pleased. But wondering why am I still allowing my 3 1/2 year old to drink out of sippy cups then. I first tried to limit the use just to certain times but realized he would not drink through out the day waiting for the sippy cup. So I took them all away. He has always been able to use regular and straw cups but he loves sippy cups. I just wanted to remark that my 3 1/2 year old has no speech / teeth / tongue issues what-so-ever. But the longer they use a sippy cup, the more they will become attached to it.
I keep wondering how much difference there is in the water bottle that I use every day and my two year old’s sippy cup, not much to me. So I I’ve been going back and forth on when I should ditch his sippy cups. I will go out and get the kind with the straw, but other than that, I don’t care much about getting rid of it. He keeps it with him or near him all day and gets all the water he wants, so I’m loathe to limit his drinking to when we are at the dinner table.
I need some help here. My son is 6 years (that’s right, YEARS) old and still drinks from a sippy cup a couple times every day. My wife gets very defensive when I simply ask if its time to get him to drink from regular cups. She says that he is grumpy when he first gets out of bed and will be until he gets his milk. So, she puts the milk into a sippy cup every morning before he gets out of bed so he can sit on the couch and down it without spilling. On top of that, my 4 year old daughter has the same habitt. My wife does say that he’ll give up the sippy cups when he’s ready, but I don’t know if that’s going to happen because she’s enabling this behavior. Is therr anything I can do myself to break this sippy cup habit?
Justin — My daughter also liked milk from the sippy cup first thing in the morning. This is often more about comfort than nutrition for the child. They are used to having milk first thing and like the sucking action of the cup. One thing you can suggest to your wife is to cut down the sippy cup maybe to once a day while offering regular cup. Then it can be offered weekends only etc. Some kids may stop it but they may not, just as some kids continue to suck their thumbs for a long time. Gentle guidance is key. Try to bring it up to your wife in a non-threatening way. She probably likes that he still drinks milk and worries that by stopping it he won’t drink milk. This link might help http://www.maryannjacobsen.com/2013/05/how-i-got-zen-about-my-childs-refusal-to-drink-milk/ Good luck!
Justin, that’s a tough one if you and your wife are not on the same page. I think some kids are grumpy in the morning. It’s difficult when the adults in the house are all doing something different. My daughter takes raw milk etc. for Aiden in his room everynight. But the cup lids are not sippy, they are indented, like the Playtex coolster lid. We have a variety of those, such as a small stainless steel cup from a popular sporting goods store.
For me, I let it slide, since I have aiden the majority of the time, and he will drink from anything I give him, his most favorite being a glass. I just call it a special time with his mommy. I only object if the food she gives him causes him to bounce off the walls for the next two days. Even then, I approach it gently as possible.
At 6, I would think he should learn to recognize that he needs the milk first thing and come out and ask for it. Aiden knows he needs protein to be in a good mood, or simply a meal/snack. Teaching kids about nutrition, and what’s good for their bodies is one thing we strive to do.
So, I think maybe you can try to gently cover these topics, self responsibility, independence, and good health habits. By 6 he should be up and getting himself ready for school or the day if he is homeschooled. Hopefully whatever you do the 4 yr old will join in. Maybe buying some cool cups for breakfast, and it will be waiting at their table for them with their favorite beverage or milk at breakfast time.
The best cup to transition from a bottle for us has been the Nuk active with the silicone spout. My daughter would not drink from hard spout sippys or even the ones with a little silicone (like some of the nuby and munchkin ones) at 6 months. Once we introduced the nuk we slowly supplemented one feeding at a time with it until she had it for milk only at 9 months.once she turned one she tried every cup (straw, regular, sports bottle etc. Now that I know she is completely capable and not reliant on any sort of cup we give her ANY of the spill proof ones. I think as long as they don’t go to kindergarten only able to drink from a sippy and are able to drink from anything there is no need to worry which cup they have. And the learner cups that look like real cups are great too! Heck I drink from a reusable sports water bottle all day long, I think it would be ridiculous to make my 16 month old carry around a cup without a lid when I know she can drink from it and stress myself out about water and milk all over the house.
Help!! My 12 month old doesn’t like drinking! I have to surringe fluid into him. Tried a few different beakers but won’t have any of them. Yet to try a straw!
My 7 1/2 year old stepson drank exclusively out of sippy cups until I came into the picture when he was 4. He now can’t drink from a regular cup well because he feels the need to suck on it. He was on the sippy for so long because he was with grandma and grandpa all the time, and they did whatever they wanted with him. They still give him a sippy sometimes, and we don’t have the option of keeping him from staying there because of money. Grandma says if we’re sending him there, she’ll do what she wants. How do I put an end to thus, and help him learn to drink normally from a regular cup?
My son is 26 months and just doesn’t understand the concept of an open cup. He’s been drinking from a straw cup since about 10 months old. When I offer him an open cup he either sticks his tongue inside and then tries to drink or just plays with it and dumps it every where. Any tips or trainer cups out there?
my five months old daughter has no problems drinking from a regular cup, and she seems to like it, is this something we should encourage?
Jorge — The AAP recommends waiting until 6 months to have babies drink anything else than breastmilk or formula so be sure she isn’t taking too much. After 6 months sips from a regular cup is fine as long as you are there to watch her….little sips are best.
My son drinks from a spout cup and has difficulty with straw cups because after it’s about half empty it doesn’t work all that well he has to tip it a certain way to get it to work, eventually he gives up. He is two.
Here is a question I’ve had. What is the difference between a sippy cup and a water bottle, and if we can drink from water bottles with a spout as older kids and adults, then why bother worrying about a sippy cup?
Because we have developed the oral motor skills necessary to transition back and forth. This really is a HUGE issue with kids. I am a speech therapist and see issues caused my prolonged use of a soppy cup all the time. When a kid is doing something really weird and I can’t figure out why I usually ask them if they still use a sippy cup or when they stopped. The last answer I received from a 7 year old was “a couple of months ago” Answered a lot of my questions!
Deborah, I have a qq if you don’t mind answering as I entered a google search for straw cups vs sprout cups. I have twins. A boy and a girl. They just turned 3 in November. The eat regularly, drink only water throughout the day, maybe and occasional capri sun, not daily and still love their chocolate milk once in the morning and at night, sometimes before nap. They like to drink their milk in straw sippy cups. Only reason I created the search for sprout or straw is because my son has chewed up his straws, my daughter doesn’t. He only did this because he doesn’t drink the milk right away and is preoccupied with whatever it is he is doing and holds the straw in his mouth with his teeth and therefor chewing the straw so in order to replace their cups, I was going to buy him a spout cup instead of straw so he can’t chew it up. He has a bit of a lisp. Did from day 1, I don’t think it had anything to do with bottles or sippies. They very well know how to hold and drink from open cups and have been able to do so since maybe a year of age, both of them pretty much without spilling. It’s just that they like their “sippy cups” for milk, water bottles for water and juice from the capri sun package it comes in. They aren’t on paci’s anymore. My question is, do you think it’s really bad or can affect them to continue using sippy cups (probably straw now I would assume rather than spout) at 3 years old….JUST when they drink milk?? Thanks for any info you can provide. I appreciate it.
My 3.4 months childs drinks milk from spout bottle and water from a straw bottle.. he takes few sips of water from small glass and then dunks the remaining on the floor.. also I see that he bites the rim of the glass with teeth and does not use his lips appropriately.. he’s also been diagnosed with PDD-NOS.. how do I proceed to drink anything from cup / glass ?
OMG!!! You shouldn’t give your baby water until they are SIX months old!!!!
Who says so? If you’re connected with your baby you do what YOU feel is right, not follow a bunch of guidelines….whilst also instructing others like its the law.
She said few sips of water. Key word FEW. Everyone does what they think is best for THEIR babies.
Formula is made with water……….
I’m pretty sure she is referring to a three year, four month old child. Relax people. Do you honestly think a 3 month old is holding a regular glass AND has teeth lol.. To the mom of the post, I don’t have expert advice except there are cups that look just like adult cups but have a lid. They are sproutless. There is basically an open rim around the lid where you tip the cup like a sippy cup. I would google sproutless sippy cup and you should find them easily at target or Walmart.
In the seventies parents were TOLD by doctors to offer bottles of water for several reasons.
No one is going to college with a sippy cup or bottle! Lets not worry too much!
Right
No you are right. Nobody is going to college with a sip cup. However, what they will go to college with is terrible speech because of their anterior tongue placement that years of speech therapy can’t touch because its such an ingrained oral motor habit. Oh well. Go ahead and keep giving kids sippy cups until they are 5. Job security for me I guess.
My son is almost a year old and he hates sippy cups. He will take juice or water from a straw cup but his formula/milk has to come from a bottle. Our pediatrician told us to relax and let him decide when he wants to switch to the sippy or straw cup. I guess it seems to me that, as a society, we want babies to be born doing everything and we won’t be happy until we get to that point. I’m 30 – my Mom never gave me a sippy until after I turned 1 and that seems to be pretty characteristic of my friends as well. Even though I take a lot of crap for my son not using a sippy by now, I am okay with how he has progressed and I am 100% positive that when he is ready to switch, he will. Kind of like when he finally decided to crawl.. and then walk. No sense rushing the child – let them be little because you’re going to wake up one day and wish time had not gone by so fast.
No sense rushing the child! Couldn’t agree more. Most parents today use their child’s milestones as a proxy for their parenting skills. My son started crawling at 6 months. That only made my life harder. He started walking at 11 months. I cried–the little guy was no longer my little baby. Slow down and enjoy them.
Oh, and to the “I spent 12 years after high school becoming a doctor” people out there, so did my son’s doctor. And she didn’t teach her own kids how to use a real cup until age 5. So there; the score is 1-1.
You know what? Thank you for your blunt comment because I think from reading all these comments I’m beginning to read into all this too much and all I’m doing is trying to replace sippy cups my son chewed up and I’m wondering if I should buy spout or straw so he won’t do it again and i’m freaking about speech therapy and tongue twisting. My twins are only 3 lol.. The only time they use a straw sippy cup is when they drink their chocolate milk a couple times a day ( am and pm) because they are used to it and like it in “that” type of cup. They know how to drink out of water bottles and cups just like I do and they’ve been doing it since age 1 if not before. So, heck, I’m gonna go ahead and buy another sippy cup cuz that’s what they like for now.
Nature intended for infants to suck on their mother’s breasts as long as they can so how can a sippy cup cause speech impediments? Although the nipple is usually smaller than the spout of a sippy cup. The cup, however, is not in the infant’s mouth all the time, like a pacifier. I’ve seen kids with misaligned teeth because of pacifiers.
I agree on the breastfeeding portion of this, but there is a huge difference between breastfeeding and using a sippy cup. A womans nipple changes shape inside of a babies mouth and does not cause any kind of problems. A hard spout sippy cup, on the oyher hand, is jusy that- it’s hatd. Instead of changing it’s shape to suit the baby/child, the baby or child must change to use the cup. It is exactly as you said, nature intended for infants to breastfeed, buy man created the sippy cup.
I am a childcare professional, sippy cups need to be changed out every six months, and yes they do cause a lot of issues as well as pacifiers, most parents like to bash with out knowing from being in a daycare setting. Most of these cups come with so many gadgets they are hard to clean, also why must you not allow your child to learn the skills of a child size cup, maybe because parents are lazy and don’t want to deal with the mess, know they need to learn new skills on a daily. I have sippy cups coming in on a daily, they are nasty,have not been cleaned properly, throwing them in the dishwasher don’t get, so many with mold around the rubber part inside the rubber part, they are very gross little cups.
Hi my daughter just turned a year old and she likes to drink with straw cups she is all about drinking with the cup on her own but her bottle she has always wanted us to feed her but she knows how to do it I guess we just gave her what she wanted so we always gave her a bottle and my dr just told me at her 1yr old visit to get rid of the bottles since she has no problem using her straw cups on her own so today is the first day I have tried and I’m already frustrated Because she wants her bottle and us to feed her please help me with some useful tips!
Its not the spout that is the problem its the valve and how hard the child has to suck. You can give them the sippy without the valve.
Ok so I am having a huge difference of opinion with my girlfriend about all this sippy cup jazz. I dont think in any case a child should even want a sippy cup after the age of 3. I have 3 children and she has 2 my 3 speak very well but her oldest son seems to have some trouble getting out what he needs to say. I feel that the “sippy cup” is the reason for this. So to the point, we have a babysitter that seems to think it is ok to give our kids a sippy cup throughout the day. Needless to say her youngest son has a speech impediment also. So I tried to talk to my girlfriend about it and she just got upset about it. So I don’t know what to do or say to actually get my concerns across to her without her getting over worked up about it. So what should I do or say to try and make her understand that it is more bad then good? Maybe im wrong but from reading this whole page it seems that im right.
That might not be because of a sippy cup. My kids are 2 and 3 and have sippy cups and talk fine. As a matter of fact they won’t shut up. The reason they’re still on the sippy cups though is because they tend to drop them a lot; most of the time on purpose.
I love how parents make statements about their children using sippy cups beyond the recommended 2-3 years of age and claim they have no difficulties in development. While I can call my congressman to pass a law because it’s ultimately up to the parents if they want to comply with the doctor orders. Doctors go thru advanced schooling. After high school, I had 12 years of school and training. We don’t issue these guidelines to make life hard or to be mean. We do these things to help people. Now parents are somewhat right, the issue of sippy cups and development isn’t black and white. That is to say, if a parent discountinues sippy cup well before 2-3 years of age, there is no risk of sippy cup associated development issues. But if a parent chooses to believe that doctors “don’t know what they’re talking about” and “I know what’s best for my child” then using the sippy cups beyond the recommended age increases risk for development problems. I doubt the current lack of development problems means no future development problems. Much like how the user “Kristi” says her 4 1/2 year old states her child does not have any difficulties right now. But unfortunately the key word is “develop”, meaning grow, emerge, mature. So when we doctors say there’s a risk it means we’ve done research and reviewed research and found a clear risk associated between the above mentioned development problems and sippy cup use. Just like how I wouldn’t say, “my child doesn’t need to wear a helmet, he’s outside riding his bicycle just fine, and he’s fallen off his bike but never hurt himself seriously.” Research has been done showing a clear risk associated between severe head trauma and not wearing a helmet. But parents make their children wear helmets almost always. So just because a parent doesn’t understand the logic or the significance of the recommendations, doesn’t make them “know what’s right for my kids.” It’s irresponsible for parents to encourage other parents to disobey doctors recommendations. I could go thru the process of how recommendations are made but not only is it too long, it’s too complex and difficult to understand the importance of the overall process.
This was great! Thank you. I will continue to
Get my info for my Health care pro. 🙂
It is NOT a good idea for a parent that is wishing to allow her child to self wean, to introduce sippy cups with water at 6 months of age. They can start to have preferences and since the sippy is MUCH easier than suckling at the breast, many may prefer the sippy and start rejecting the breast. It can cause the child to wean far sooner than they should have. If a child refuses a sippy, it is NOT a big deal when the mother is still breastfeeding, as she can offer the breast. It IS a big deal when the baby refuses the breast, because breast milk is FAR more vital than water for children. A child under the age of 1 that is exclusively breastfed should NOT be receiving water as the breast milk has a VERY high percentage of water and according to MD’s and breastfeeding experts, is the ONLY hydration that they need when provided at their access. When away from mom, they can be offered expressed milk and do NOT need water. Water is not going to hurt them, but under 6 months of age it could. It is bad for their kidneys etc actually. Water as I said does not necessarily hurt a baby over 6 months, but you are taking away from the breast milk that they really should be receiving. I read that initially and opt to skip the rest of the article, just because of advice like that of which I am not comfortable with. I have a child that I wish to have self wean on his own time and I prefer to stick to my milk over other juices etc.
my son is 19 months old he has been reallu good bout breaking away from bottle but not the sippy he wilk drink from straw but he always want his sippy ay night. what can i do?
My niece uses a sippy that she sucks from 2x a day in the morning and at night before bed…. Her brothers r both still using bottles any ideas how to get them to stop?… She’s 7. Her brothers r 5&3…
Can anyone help me figure out a way to get them to stop?
Cold turkey. Took our son off the bottle at 16 months. One day it was there next day it was gone and he was on to just a straw cup and regular cup. Kids are resilient and adapt. If you don’t have any sippy cups and bottles around they won’t stop drinking, they’ll just use something different.
Very true I winged my baby off bottle at 14 months..I threw all his bottles away he adapted just fine ..he didn’t like sippy cups instead used a straw ..it was very easy he never fussed ounce…. im still having trouble with him useing a cup with no lid or straw and hes now 20months old but everything takes time and training and he will get it down in time..all kids are different you and your child will know when he or she is ready for a new tranisition just be patient .
My son is almost 2 1/2 years old and still on his sippy cup, I never really liked the idea of children older than 2 on bottles or cups. I always said I wouldn’t let my child go on that long especially since I knew it affects speech. But he is very demanding. Any ideas or help on how to take him off of it?
You can just try to do it gradually. Start with one meal and move on from there. Maybe still allow it once a day and move to a straw cup?
What a fantastic idea! Praise the Lord for this website and I am so thankful for your advice. My 4 year old is so adamant on drinking her daily ovaltine in a sippy that she’s gone twice now without it. The gradual once a meal idea never occurred to me. Thanks so much. I’ll try this.
My daughter is almost three and she uses her sippy cup at night. I dont want her to use it anymore what can i do. Or what should i do so she wont use it anymore.
My son is 2 i just tell him no i dont like saying no but he gets over it after a couple of minutes and just falls asleep wakes up happy as the same loveable boy he was that previouse day and now he is fully potty trained
is 5 an 9 years old to old for a sippy cup? I know a parent who is allowing this and dont think it is right.
the same 5 and 9 year old are also still sleeping with bed rails what are your thoughts on that.
I really hate to kill the vibe here, but this is really bad advice. A child shouldn’t even be on anything other than the boob until at least 9 months, and juice should NEVER be offered to a child. All juice is is sugar and it gives kids cavities; not to mention an early sweet tooth.
My daughter is 18 months and dislikes juice and prefers water. She also knows how to hold and drink from an adult cup on her own. We need to encourage longer breastfeeding and discourage juice of any kind (diluted or not). We’d have a much healthier generation of kids if we did.
Thanks for stopping by. Because this is an evidenced based blog, I just ask for research to support your claims.
Amen to that one jesi
I’m sorry Jesi but not every womans “boob” as you so kindly put it, is able to provide milk for her baby. I have had 2 babies and I was devastated to not be able to breast feed either child. Not for lack of trying. I sat in the NICU for hours with tears pouring down my face as I tried and tried. I even tried pumping until my nipples were swollen and bleeding for only a few drops of milk. Even the lactation specialist made me feel guilty and like i was somehow a failure as a mother or less of a woman. No woman should be made to feel like this. Please please do not pass judgement on other mothers who do not breastfeed. You do not know their story. You dont know why they are not breastfeeding their precious baby. I would have given anything to have been given the opportunity to breastfeed my babies. BUT even though neither of my babies were breastfed, they are both thriving and doing amazing.
That’s a judgmental response. But I guess you know everything since you are licensed and trained to provide advice.
My niece is 5 yrs old and still using a sippy cup. My sister even alouds her to take it to bed. All she drinks is chocolate milk. Is this a bad thing for my 5 yr old niece?
We stopped my 14 month old cold turkey with the bottle about 6 days ago. He knows how to use a sippy cup but he will only drink water out of it, not milk. Because he hasn’t had much milk the past week I have giving him more baby yogurt to get his Vit D. The sippy cup I am using is the one they use at daycare. I didnt want to confuse him and try a different sippy cup. Do you think I should just try and use a regular cup instead of a sippy?? I know it is a learning curve, but I”m getting worried he is not getting what he needs nutritionally, any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.
Why don’t you try a cup with a straw in addition to trying with a regular cup? You could also gradually wean him off the bottle — still giving him one at night. There usually isn’t vitamin D in yogurt (unless fortified) so I would supplement with vitamin D. Even if he started drinking to cups of milk daily he wouldn’t get enough (600 IU recommended — 100IU per 1 cup milk).
My son is 2 on a sippy cup and speaks fine i got him tested and they said he should be put into kindergarden this blog is non sence really but yea i would like to get him off the sippy to a straw are to a cup but is he the right age to no baby should come off the breast at 6 months but i dont think its right for a kid that is 1 and over to be drinking from a bottle ither are sucking on a pacifer i think its right to start the cup around 10 or 11 months cause it kinda hard for them to get use to that hard surface i started by trying to giving it to him at night when he dident like it are fused i just give him the bottle so then i just started to give it to him furing the day no bottle during the day then thats when he started to get use to it and soon enough he was off the bottle about a year befor he turned 1 i know he is not quite ready yet for a cup but i know he is ready for the straw ill just try and see…its a bad habit the only way you can do it is just slowly take it one step at a time you cant force your child just to stop there bad habit out of no where so just give it some time and he are she will get threw it soon enough good luck to you all but i really dont think you should listen to that blog its false
My son is 22 months old and he does drink from a sippy cup. But he also still uses a bottle. When he wants that bottle it’s the only thing that calms him down. I tried putting just water in it I tried taking them away. Nothing worked, the doctor did say he is very over active and will most likely have ADD OR ADHD so I’m not sure if that has anything to do with it. He uses cups, straw cups, sippy cups but when he wants his bottle he wants his bottle and it calms him. Relaxes him. I can’t explain it. I don’t know what to do. He doesn’t get milk or juice at night if he wakes up looking for a drink he gets water but when he is tired or mad the bottle soothes him. I need help what do I do to take the bottle away for good without him freaking out. He is in early intervention but when he gets mad he hits, pulls hair, bites, kicks. He wants to hurt you. I’m at my wits end and I don’t know what to do I need help.
My baby started a silicone sippy cup at 7 months. It was a seamless transition from the bottle. I used Dr Brown bottles and you know the clean up of those is a bear. Soon switched to hard spout no prob. Now comes the problem. Sippy cup became major soother and would not sleep without 1 in mouth and another one beside her.
We worked it out. At age 3 I told her a little baby needs them. She packed them all in bag and I ‘put them in the mailbox”. I showed her a picture of little baby w. Sippy cup.
It worked no more sippy no problem ! I was amazed as my kid is so strong willed ! She did not fuss at all that night.
We just removed them from the home so there was no option.
Denist says she is fit as fiddle.
I was reading comments and they are so intense on topic of sippys. Please relax and enjoy your children.
I wish I had been saw this my daughter is two and her teeth are already decaying from her sippy cup I know its going to be hard to break her because its the only thing that puts her to sleep but i’m going to take the sippy cup
I took my son’s sippy cup last night & we are still tired because he stayed up most of the night asking for it… I told him that we threw them in the trash:/ How long will it take for him to sleep thru the night? And, I noticed he won’t drink milk from a regular or straw cup, does this mean he will lose weight and stop drinking milk forever? PLEASE HELP!
@Trelyn — how old is your son? Does he eat solid food?
i don’t see the difference between an adult water bottle and a sippy cup except one is no spill. My son is four and I still give him a sippy cup in the mornings for chocolate milk. For meals, it is a regular cup and water bottles (with ice water) in lunch. Until He is less impulsive and a little more coordinated he will continue to use a sippy when we are both having a beverage in the living room. But that’s the extent of it.
Good Morning,
I have a daughter whom just turned 3 in August. She has been on a sippy cup since she was about 9 months I believe. I never wanted her to be on a sippy cup past the age of 2..but I was not in a rush to take it from her. She did really well weaning from a bottle but with this sippy cup..smh I cannot get her off of it. It’s frustrating, upsetting, and sometimes I just don’t know what to do. I know that we should not rush our children and that’s not what I’m trying to do but EVERY NIGHT..it’s a struggle. She is potty trained and gets up to use the restroom in the middle of the night on her own.What can I do to get her off of this cup? It’s to the point where I’m like raising my voice at her because she won’t stop crying for a cup (please don’t judge me). Well not all the time but I’ll give her 1 cup of milk..she’ll kill it..asks for more..I’ll say no..she has a fit..so I give in and get her water or milk! smh I feel like I’m the weakest mother out there..as if I have no backbone. I was reading the comments earlier about the developmental delays these cups may cause and I’m starting to see that she is really hyper..like sometimes I feel like I can’t calm her down..especially around bed time. Then my mother was saying that she believes she might have ADD smh because of how she acts. Idk what else to do?
She just turned 3! I don’t see anything wrong with drinking from a sippy cup, I promise you she will not be drinking from one when she’s 30. And sippy cup and being hyper before bed have nothing to do with each other. A pediatrician wouldn’t even look into testing a 3 year old for ADD either, please don’t listen to your mother. Maybe try cutting out the milk before bed and just keep handing her water. Also look into a straw cup she may just like the sucking aspect of the sippy? I love fogo cups by Thermos they are awesome.
hugs to Dianna. I went through a similar situation. And reading comments where mother’s are sitting behind their computers telling other mothers what the right thing to do is sickens me. These blogs are great for advice and sharing stories, but people need to refrain from telling other people what the right thing to do is without knowing everyone’s situation.
My son is almost 3 and still uses sippy cups, he dose use all types including handled ones. Handle cups should be introduced between 4 and 6 months of age. Sippy cups without handles can be introduced between 6 and 9 months of age. Sippy cups with straws can be introduced extra early at 5 months if has handles. Your child should pass their sippy cups onto a younger sibling between the ages of 3.5 and 4 years old. By the time your child starts school he should not still be on a sippy cup. Some children can be on bottles until their 5 years old!!
My daughters 2 about to be 3 in June. She was born 4 weeks early. I’m having trouble getting her off the sippy cup. She refuses to use anything else. I tried so many different cups and nothing works for her. Is she not ready to be off the sippy cup? Or what other alternatives can I use?
Regarding statement 1: Diluted juice at 6 months of age??? Why?? For what reason? There is no reason a 6 month old should be drinking juice, even if it is diluted!
“This is also the time it is okay to introduce sips of water and (diluted) juice, although the AAP recommends waiting on juice introduction.”
After 6 months it is okay to introduce some diluted juice if a parent wants. Now the AAP recommends waiting until toddlerhood. I added this part in to clarify.
I think society as a whole has gotten completely ‘anal’ about just about everything in life and the Internet is an overused tool for people to post their mightier than thou opinions on others with or without research. Common sense can prove more valuable than scientific research. Think people. Take 2 reputable scientists, doctors or educators and put them in a room to discuss a topic and guess what? They too will have different opinions about some area of the topic.
Children have been using sippy cups for half a century folks…none of my children, or my friends children or my sisters children have speech impediments or above average orthodontic issues from sippy cup usuage. I do believe soft spout is better than a hard spout but then again, I was raised, like thousands of us with hard spout. I spoke early, my daughters spoke early, using pacifiers and sippy cups as did many of my friends kids. Not to say it doesn’t happen but I think the law of averages is to play here. Some kids just talk slower, as for tooth development, I can’t say. I guess since the fluid in a sippy cup comes out much faster and down the ‘hatch ‘ than a baby bottle, doesn’t it stand to reason that the juice or milk isn’t sitting in the child’s mouth longer than taking a swig from a cup, which if you think about it fills the entire mouth? Anyway….I agree with the many parents who comment that we as a society seem to be in a mad race to get our children to develop faster and make Milestones faster than they need to baby’s or babies toddlers are toddlers And they have plenty of time to grow into happy healthy adults were they then get to worry about paying bills and working for the rest of their life. Give a baby and give a toddler time to be those things and don’t be in such a rush to make them grow up faster.
You’ve never seen a child in elementary school drinking from a baby bottle or sucking a pacifier. Why? Because they learn. In their own time. Relax. Focus your energy on some issues in our world that actually matter like child poverty or abuse.
Peace.
That’s a wonderful answer. We should enjoy them, and help them grow, without constantly panicking about milestones.
My niece is 6 almost 7 years old and still drinks from a sippy cup. What harm could this cause in the long run?
My daughter is 1.5 years old. Shes been off the “bottle” since 1 but she uses this transitioning sippy cup to drink milk at bed and naps. She typically drinks out of straw cups through out the day we are trying to get rid of this bedtime cup and she refuses to drink milk out of any other cup. Ive tried hard nipple sippys as well as her straws. And none. So she just doesnt drink milk at night time but that also means she refuaes to drink it regularly during the day. Any advice?
My grandson just turned four. He still drinks mostly from a cup with a straw.
He is burping frequently at meals – and with noise for which he gets in trouble and might get spanked.
Do you think drinking with a straw is causing the burping?
can a four year old control burping as his parents believe? They think he can. I don’t think so.
I hate for him to get in trouble for something he can’t control!
Doctor, please comment!
The cup he drinks from is the sippy cup style with a straw – like older children use.
So glad I read this. My son turns 2 in a couple of weeks & I have been wondering a lot about cups. He switches between straw sippy cups and regular sippy cups (based on which are clean) and I want to replace his old ones for his bday. Definitely going to just get straw ones. Thankfully he doesn’t seem to favor one kind over the other. I’m also going to give him regular cups more often. Thanks for all the info!
I just tried to give sipper to my 5.5 months old daughter but she was not comfortable with it. Because she didn’t know how to suck and I was quite stressed how to make her suck it easy.
A risks for decay and discoloration begin with a child’s first baby tooth. It’s crucial for a dentist to keep a close watch, as infants with dental disease can’t receive typical in-office sedation for treatment.
Holy smokes. I’m not sure how I even just stumbled upon this article, but apparently I needed it! My daughter was late to come off the bottle but surprisingly easily transitioned to a sippy cup (probably since we were so late!). She doesn’t coddle the sippy cup like a pacifier, as she did with the bottle (also, a no, no, I’m aware), but she does sip on it whenever she’s thirsty throughout the day.
She will sometimes ask for a regular cup or drink straight from a plastic water bottle, which I happily oblige but it was not at all on my radar that I was behind on moving her away from that, too! She’s 2.5 years old. Time to head to Amazon to find some fun cups and travel cups with straws…
Very informative blog! Giving children a sippy cup at a young age can cause tooth decay. Dentists recommend that parents do not give their children sippy cups until they are one year old. Sippy cups allow liquids to pool around the teeth and gums, which can cause bacteria to grow and lead to tooth decay. Children who use sippy cups are also more likely to develop cavities in their adult teeth.
Parents should start weaning their children from sippy cups when they are about six months old. At this age, most babies can drink from a regular cup without spilling. Giving children water or milk in a regular cup instead of a sippy cup will help them learn how to drink properly and reduce their risk of developing tooth decay.
Great blog post. Most toddlers are ready to start using a sippy cup between 9 and 12 months old. Some children may be ready earlier or later than this range, so parents should watch their children for signs that they are ready to start using a sippy cup. When a child is ready to stop using a sippy cup, there are several things parents can do to help make the transition easier. One way is to slowly reduce the amount of liquid in the sippy cup until it is empty. This will help prepare the child’s mouth for drinking from an open cup.