Sippy Cups Advice

Updated on January 07, 2008
J.F. asks from North Augusta, SC
17 answers

I need sippy cup advice!! My son will be 11 months old tomorrow. We have been working with a sippy cup for about 4 1/2 months! He just plays with it. I am not sure if it is the cup or what is inside?? I have tried the "nuby" brand --he kinda has to bite the spout and then drink, the whole spill proof thing. But he bites the spout and with a mouth full pulls the cup out and does NOT close his mouth. So we have juice or whatever all down the front of him!! AAHHH! After a time or two he just throws it and moves on to something else! We have tried water, apple, white grape, pear juice and whole milk. Nothing seems to keep his attention to figure out how to drink it down!! Any advice on cups to try or what to put in it to intrigue him would be great!!!

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A.G.

answers from Spartanburg on

My 9 month old does not like the nuby brand - she too ends up soaking herself. But she likes the cups with the hard plastic tip - strange I think. But that is what she likes. I also let her drink from a straw from time to time and she loves that. So maybe you could try a cup with a straw.

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A.H.

answers from Spartanburg on

Hi! My little boy did not take to his sippy cup until right around his 1st birthday. I took a weekend and got rid of his bottles and only gave him sippy cups. Our pediatrician recommended this method to me. I ended up using the Gerber sippy cups after trying the Nuby and Avent. He did very well with these so you might want to try them out. Good luck!

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L.L.

answers from Atlanta on

I had a time myself w/ finding the right sippy cup. After 3 months of using the nubby brand I finally treid to suck on it myself and could hardly get anything thru it. I just started buying different cups and the one I found that worked was by gerber its a hard nipple. (a small cup I think holds 6 oz) I have only found them at walgreens. Not sure if it will be what your son needs but I just thought I would share.

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S.G.

answers from Savannah on

The Nuby cups are horrible!! They either leak because when you put the top back on the ring and then that on the lid, the top would move and it wasn't sealed right. Or my son would just bite down on the value and it would run out and all down the front of him!! At first he wouldn't use the hard spout cups so I got him the Gerber trainers with the soft blue ones. Expensive but he liked them and after a while he got the hang of it I would slip in a hard spout one (Playtex) and he would do fine. So after a few months he was using the hard top ones no problem.

Good luck!!
S.
shariegraf.scent-team.com

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M.D.

answers from Atlanta on

Don't sweat it... he just may not be quite ready for it. Take it day by day and he may be ready in a couple of weeks. With my first three sons, I had to try different ones until they found the kind they liked. With my fourth son, I got lucky and he liked the first type I tried!

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A.D.

answers from Atlanta on

IMO the Nuby cups stink. I tried those with my 18 month old first because of the soft spout and ended up with messes each time. She was teething a lot and liked chewing on the spout. A friend had told me to try the "take and toss" ones and sure enough, those worked like a charm. I think with each kid, you'll essentially have to try different things as they'll have different likes and dislikes.

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A.K.

answers from Atlanta on

I tried a bunch of different brands of sippy cups. I started my son on those gerber sippy cups with handles, he didn't like the nuby cups with handles and softer nipple. And finally he took to the playtex ones without handles which is all we use now. I don't know if it's because he saw his cousin drinking those or what, but many people use them. They come in different sizes for appropriate ages. They also sell those sippy cups with straws that some kids take to. My son to this day will not sip from a straw, but it may be worth a try. Don't worry to much because he will switch when he is ready, every child is different. My son didn't start his sippy cup until 1 year and we tried many many times. Hope that helps.

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C.A.

answers from Augusta on

My son had the same problem but a little earlier on. I as well tried nuby but had to put two bibs on him so he would not be soaked. I then bought the avent soft spout which worked well but leaked a little when they blow into spout. Now we use the Gerber sippy cups (any of them) and they never leak and he does great. The Gerber has the hard spout which is appealing to teething babies. A trick I did was to pull the sippy cup away slowly so he would try sucking hard to get the drink out. I was just one day that he started drinking from them. He still has to be given the cup all day long because he doesn't sit there and just drink the entire thing. Good luck!

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J.

answers from Spartanburg on

My daughter nursed at home and used a bottle at daycare. We started her on a sippy cup at 7 months but she did not start using it until she was 12 months old. I think the biggest change was her moving from the infant room where everyone had bottles to the beginner room where most used sippy cups. We also took the valves out to make it easier to get fluid out and my husband and I used sippy cups at dinner. we looked ridiculous but she made the switch!

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M.J.

answers from Columbia on

I have two gilrs (2 and half and now 1 y/o). I liked the nubby in the early stage like 6 mos old but then moved to the take and toss ones or the flip lid straw ones. The flip lid straw ones are grewat for their oral motor. I was an ei teacher for several years. Also with those lid ones you can get it most of the way up and it will stay so they can get the hang of it easier.. The take and toss ones are basically sippie cups with out the valve. So not the best spill proff but don't spill immediately. Also because there is no valve they have to use different muscles than they use for teh bottle which is better for oral motor too. good luck.
M. j

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J.F.

answers from Atlanta on

I've been using sippy cups on my kids for many years now, and while there are so many nice fun ones to choose from, I have had the best luck overall by far with the playtex ones. They are sorta boring, don't come in cool characters or anything exciting, but not only are they the most spillproof, but they also hold up the best. I had used the old-fashioned playtex bottles, and the sippy cup is similar in feel, so her natural instinct was to put it to her mouth and suck, as with the bottle. Has your boy used a bottle before or has he always been breastfed? If he's always been breastfed, then it'll just take some getting used to but I'd say to keep the breast as far away as possible when trying to use the sippy cup, in fact maybe have Dad try, and put breastmilk in there.... Oh, and I just remembered one other thing. When my daughter was about that age, I couldn't get her to eat hardly anything. I always had to resort back to carrots and sweet potatoes. By the time she was about two, I was fed up with it, because she'd incorporated chicken nuggets into the diet, but very little else. So I went out and bought a bunch of books. Basically what it came down to, was that these babies are WAY smarter than we realize! They have already got us all figured out! They KNOW that if they turn down the new food, we're not going to let them starve, so we're going to try a time or two more then give up and give them what they want. And as long as they know that, they'll use it. So I took it to the test, and incorporated a new plan. Before, I'd pull ten different things out of the cabinet before I could find what she'd want. How about chicken and mashed potatoes? no... How about.... and no would be the answer to all of them. When she'd finally say yes to, say, mac & cheese, i'd pull it out and make it, and she'd take a bite and change her mind. Not hungry anymore. It was like some sort of performance - let's see how long I can make mom dance - and it was so frustrating! This is when I decided to make a change. I started fixing dinner for myself, with enough extra for her, and I'd put it in a little tupperware (so if she didn't eat it i'd eat it as a snack the next day). I started out with somewhat kid-friendly foods, like meatloaf, peas & mashed potatoes. I'd sit down to eat, and make her sit with me. If she didn't want to eat it that was fine, but she had to sit there w/o tv or anything, and would get no dessert or any other food that night. She didn't have dinner for three nights in a row. I was pretty frantic, and was convinced DEFACS was going to come and get me. In fact I called them to let them know what I was doing just to be sure... and they did say that was ok. Finally she started to SORTA eat what I was eating, but wouldn't eat much. But within a few weeks, she was sitting down with me eating Grilled Fish and asparagus one night, and a greek salad the next! (and she's learned to like it all!) I am SO proud of both her and me now, because I can take her anywhere and she eats everything. She is a cultured little girl. Yes, she still loves Chicken Nuggets more than any other food on the planet, but now they are just used as a treat - like when many moms might allow their kids candy, her big treat is chicken nuggets. If we're with other kids, and they're havign candy, I'll let her choose betwen the candy or I'll tell her I'll get her nuggets instead and she'll usually hodl out for the nuggets :o) I had explained to her a while back that they make you fat if you eat them too often, and that all fast food restaurants do that. And that if you're fat, you can't run as fast, and can't play as much. So she was ok without having them too often. But one day we were at Wendys, and I'd gotten her chicken nuggets, a yogurt and mandarin oranges, and this lady walks past us with a supersize value meal of some sort and my daughters eyes popped wide and she said (rather loudly) "Oh my gosh she is going to be SOOO fat!" I was humiliated! So now we go through the drive-thru ;o) (I've also had the talk about "Remember what Thumper says?" (He says that if you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all.

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M.P.

answers from Atlanta on

try the first years throw-away kind. we don't throw them away, we reuse them. there's no valve & it makes it easier to use. Try water for a while instead of juice so that you don't have a sticky mess with the juice & see if it's easier

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A.F.

answers from Spartanburg on

I to had sippy cup nightmares. I was told by the Dr. to go cold turkey off the bottle at 11 months. To make a long story short, she refused a sip, and after only 4 oz in 2 days I got so scared I just put her back on the bottle. One month later I decided to try it again. She went from screaming her lungs out every time she saw a cup, to drinking only from the cup and no bottle in two days! Just try and give it some time. One month for me made all the difference. As for the brand of sippy cup, I had the same problem with the nuby kind. I really like the playtex ones, the are soft spouted, and can handle a chewing on when she's teething. Good luck!

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V.H.

answers from Atlanta on

dont worry about it. the daycare will probably teach him or even teach him to drink straight from a small lidless cup. once he sees the other kids doing it it will be okay. you can also try the cold turkey method. he will never take the sippy when you keep giving him the bottle. he wont go thirsty. he wont die without liquid for awhile. your choice but i wouldnt stress about it. i think society is putting too much stress on kids to potty train to fast, drink from sippys too fast or even giving up pacifiers. Just relax....they will learn to do all of those things in due time....you are potty trained, dont suck on a paci, etc.

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M.M.

answers from Charleston on

I had the same frustration with my daughter who is now 18 months old... we went through oh I would probably say 7 different types of sippy cups. I tried all the one my girlfriends did, and tried the ones I saw other moms use. It could be just he is not ready....... I know we hate to hear that about our children but why stress out about it. I was freaking because my daughter was not crawling..... all she wanted to do was scoot.... well when she turned 14 months old she all of a sudden crawled for a week and then started walking just like that. So I was stressed and she could probably see that... so he will get it just give it time!

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L.D.

answers from Savannah on

Our second son would occasionally use the Nuby brand. At 10 or 11 months of age, we decided to just forego sippy cups and use 'restaurant cups' with a tight fitting lid and a straw. They are not spill proof, but he wouldn't take a bottle either. In the car we would only give him water (sticky everything otherwise) but with meals he would use the restaurant cups. You cannot allow them to walk around with a drink at all times this way, but that isn't necessarily good anyway. I remember hearing that it can promote tooth decay (unless it is water). This also helped his speaking since he would have to ask for a drink. By the way, we taught him by demonstrating how to use the straw and by placing one of our fingers over the top of the straw while the other end was in the liquid, to create suction while holding a small amount of the drink inside the straw, then placing the straw in his mouth and removing your finger. He picked up on it very quickly that the drink comes through the straw. There are also spill proof straw cups. I do not recommend using any spill proof cups often. Both of my sons have only had one ear infection each and it was while we were teaching our second son how to drink through a straw. Their doctor said that the pressure can cause ear infections if they use them frequently. My older child was almost 4. His younger brother would dump his cups, so I put both of their drinks in spill proof cups. I hope this helps. L.

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M.M.

answers from Columbia on

My youngest boy is also 11mths. and he is pretty much doing the same thing. I think he may decide to skip sippy cups for now. I just give me juice or water in a regular cup and I hold it up to his mouth and let him drink. The spill proof cups are just too hard for babies to suck on. (in my opinion) Just keep offering it to him and if he plays with it...oh well! If you're concerned about him taking in some other fluids other than formula/breastmilk buy one of those Safe Feeders, they are AWESOME, and put a piece of ice in it and let him suck away! You can even make juice ice and put those in there. It's great for teething too! Hang in there, he'll do it when he's ready. My 11mth. old is very active too! ;<)

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