How to Get My 14 Month to Use a Straw...

this might sound weird but I got a smoothie from Maui Wowi (or from Jamba Juice) and it was thick enough that when I drank from the straw some of the drink stayed in the straw and slowly went back in the cup. I took a drink and my daughter wanted to try it so badly. So I let her try. because it was so close to the tip of the straw her first suck she got a taste of it just kept sucking. I had been trying to teach her to drink from a straw for at least a month. From that point on she was like an old pro. Its hard for them I think because they are so used to sucking and getting a drink instantly where with a straw it takes a few sucks!

good luck!!!!

Hello,

I don't think there's any trick, just let them do it over and over and over and.....
I gave my daughter an insulated sip cup with straw, soft spout that flips open / close at about 9 months just because it was summer, her drink was getting warm, and she showed interest in drinking from my cup. She got the hang of it after playing with the cup for about a week.
She is now 13, almost 14 months and just figured out how to flip the top open and closed, quite proud of herself.

Because it is soft spout and will leak when pressed on, I went with just water in this cup so she could have the freedom to explore as needed with the cup, I believe that helps them get it better. If your worried about a mess and access to the cup is limited, it makes it harder for them.

My daughter never really took a bottle well and was introduced to the stage 1 style sippy cup at about 6 months. It seemed like forever before she would take much volume from the sippy, but it was probably only a month or so before she really started drinking well from it.

Give him time and lots of opportunity, and just know he'll get it in his own time. :-)
Have a great day!

My 3 year old never used a straw when learning to drink. And now my 18 month old uses one but rarely. Straws can be just as messy as drinking from a regular cup. They only drink when sitting at the table or on highchair. I think we parents think "MESSY" too much when we should be allowing our kids to explore the possibilities. Just a suggestion.

I did the same as the other mom that plugged the top of the straw, once he starts to suck slowly ease your finger from the straw, all three of my kids were drinking from a straw by 9 months. Good luck!

This is what I did with my son. He was about I think 1 or so and didn't want anything to do with sippy cups. So what I did was I showed him what to do with the straw and I left so of the drink in the straw and after about a week or so he got the hang of it. Just keep trying and they will get it.

I don't know of any trick other than your son just wanting to try it. My daughter is almost 20 months old and only just started drinking out of a straw in that last couple of weeks!!

Just continue offering a straw cup to him. They are actually the very best kids can use dental wise, not messy. They make cute strawed sippy cups. Just once showing him an dhe will continue to pick it up. My kids 3 and 6 still use them if we are having smoothies or something messy just to save the kitchen, hee hee...even I give my kids hot cocoa with straws and soup so they can get it up better.

My twins are 15 months, and we have been trying to get them to drink out of a straw for almost a week now. What we are doing is, everything that I offer to them, I give it in a cup with a straw. And also, everything my parents and I drink has a straw in it so that they will want to be like the adults. My son almost has it down now, but my daughter is still struggling a little bit, and she gets frustrated and cries for her bottle. But just stick to your guns and only give him a straw (or a sippy as a last resort).

This one is easy, give him a juice box. When you squeeze it the juice comes out through the straw, giving them the concept. And the juice boxes are much easier to sip from (not a lot of effort of their part). Give it a couple times and then switch to a bendy straw and a little cup and he will take right to it. Good Luck!

I was going to give you advice, but I basically did what the other moms did. My son has been using one since he was 9 months old.

The best advice I ever got was from a friend who was a nurse for many years who also raised 5 kids. You'd have to use it on your next kid, if you have one, but it worked well for both of ours. She said to start at between 6 and 9 months while they still have the suck reflex and sucking is still a major part of how they get nutrition. Our first son was a master by 8 months. Our second son had feeding difficulties, but he still got it by a year. In fact, using a straw was part of his therapy. The therapist suggested the sippy cups with a thicker straw. You can get the fluid to sit in the top portion of the straw so they don't have to suck very hard or long. The shorter cups worked really well for teaching him. You pinch the top to get the liquid up near the spout. GL

Hello, to get my two son's to drink from a straw. I bought the juice boxes and I would lightly squeeze the box when the straw was in their mouth and they eventually started to suck the straw to get more of the juice.
I only had to do it a couple of times before they started to suck on the straw themselves.

My mother-in-law showed me this trick with my first daughter. Hold the straw in the liquid and plug the top with your finger. Pull the straw out of the liquid and put the bottom of the straw in your son's mouth. Don't let go of the top releasing the liquid until your son starts to suck on the straw. At that point release the liquid. He will learn very quickly that he needs to suck on a straw to get the liqid to come out. My mother-in-law taught my daughter this in about 10 minutes at a restaurant. By the end of the meal she was drinking right out of the cup with the straw. Good Luck!