Starting a Sippy Cup

Updated on June 23, 2008
K.B. asks from Gales Ferry, CT
20 answers

I am trying to figure out how to transition my daughter from a bottle to a sippy cup..any suggestions??

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L.H.

answers from Boston on

I used the Nuby cup, too, and my daughter didn't even notice (we had Platex bottles before). I spent weeks worried about the transition and she barely noticed a difference. I credit that to the soft rubber spout, which is very much like a nipple on a bottle. I would highly recommend them again, even more so after reading all the great comments here that echoed my good luck with them!

I just bought the Born-free trainer cups online for my son after reading on Amazon.com that they had the same ease in transition ~ and they are certified to be BPA free (my son is only 7.5 months so since I'll still have to heat the liquid in them, this was a concern, unlike my daughter who I transitioned at age one with cold milk). I have yet to receive them as they are all back-ordered, so I can't vouch for them just yet :)

L.

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J.H.

answers from Providence on

i used the avent bottles and they make transition nipple/ sippy tops that you use the same bottle and ring but just change the nipple to the soft sippy tip. FYI the white ones are soft then you go to the green they are hard. good luck

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R.D.

answers from Boston on

My kids both did very well with the "Teddy Bear Straw Cup." It's found in aisle with the plastic containers at Stop 'n Shop. It's made by Rubbermaid, I think. It's basically a little plastic bottle, shapped like a teddy bear, with a screw-on top and flip top straw at the top. Both of my kids took to it almost immediately. I tried them based on a friend's recommendation because her kids' day care provider uses them.

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C.F.

answers from Boston on

I used the sippy cups with the soft spouts. They're mushy like a bottle nipple and flow easily. After my little guy had the hang of those, I gave a regular sippy cup (briefly without the valve - watch for spills!) to give him the idea to drink from the hard spout, then put the valve in. Now that he can hold the cup up by himself too, he loves it.

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S.S.

answers from New London on

I had no problems at all getting my daughter to use a Nuby sippy cup at 6 months. They have soft tops so it feels more like a bottle nipple. After she got used to that for a while, we introduced the hard top sippy cups and she adjusted very well.
One thing I will recommend with the nuby cups is that sometimes the holes in the top aren't really cut all the way through so either very little or nothing will come out. So make sure you test it first. A small knife works very well to get them open. I kept trying the cups for weeks and she would cry every time because I didn't realize nothing was coming out. I thought she just didn't like the cup. The sports sipper might also work as a good transition because of the shape of the top, but I didn't try that one until later and by then, she hated it.
I just read online that Nuby has bpa free cups so no worries with that (I don't know if they're all that way or if it's only ones that are marked). http://thesoftlanding.wordpress.com/2008/01/09/which-nuby...

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S.L.

answers from Boston on

Hi K., I used the Nuby cups with the silicone nipple on the top, they worked great!

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B.G.

answers from Barnstable on

I am currently using one by Nuby. It is a similar shape to a bottle (little bigger) and has a soft nipple. I just picked some up yesterday at CVS (2 pk - 10oz cups for $5).

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S.C.

answers from Boston on

I don't have any words of wisdom because I am having the same problem....hope the advice helps!

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T.U.

answers from New London on

We had been using the Avent brand all along, so at about 8 months or so we started introducing the 6 month sippy spout that Avent has to use instead of the nipple, he didn't take to it as quickly as I would have liked, but we kept trying to introduce it at almost every meal, I would put it on first, he would drink some then would throw the bottle, I would then put the nipple on so he would drink it in the end; it ended up that after a few weeks I waited a bit longer to put the nipple on and eventually he was ok with just the sippy spout. The 6 month spout is soft. I just remembered I also got some Nuby cups with handles b/c those had really soft spouts, I think I did this on the early side of trying to transition him. He transitioned to the 12 month toddler spout very easily recently. I hope you find what works for you.

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S.L.

answers from Boston on

You could start gradually by picking a couple of times during the day when you only offer her the sippy cup (maybe even put a separate drink in it--such as water in the sippy cup, milk in the bottle, for now). If you pick times when she is most happy, energetic, etc., she may be more receptive to the change. If you create a new and special routine when you offer the sippy cup, she may look forward to it and not expect the bottle. Then you can gradually replace the other times of day when she drinks from the bottle (morning and night may be the hardest transition).

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L.S.

answers from New London on

I used a sippy cup every now and then, but my son doesn't really drink much out of it. Just a little. He is 13 months old and today I just bought him a sippy cup with a rubber straw in it. He has been drinking with a straw since he was really little. I gave it to him today and he loves it. He also drinks more water out of then the sippy cup. He drinks out of a regular cup too, but only with my help. For his formula, I still give it to him in a bottle. Not sure when that will stop.

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F.K.

answers from Springfield on

I'm definately no pro at this, but this is what happened. I helped him drink out of a sippy cup and then out of a cup and it didn't work out. I fed him watered down juice at that time. So I gave up. Recently, I put watered down juice in the sippy cup and gave it to him and he took right to it, no problem, no assistance. Here's my advice: make sure she can help herself to the bottle first and then give her the sippy cup with little in it - just in case..

S.K.

answers from Boston on

i use the gerber ones they have a hard spout and the little white insert under the cap..... the first time i gave it to her i didn't put the white insert in - so the water just flowed out.... then i put the white insert in and gave it back to her and she realized to suck on it to get the water. we did this at about 10 mos.

althought the soft spout cups are like nipples on a bottle... i didn't want to go that route b/c the whole point of going to a sippy cup was to get away from the bottle... and found that they harder sippy cups.... made it easier to transition to straws as well.

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N.H.

answers from Boston on

With my son I used the Gerber cups with the soft spout. They look like the bottles. They look almost triangle shaped. They have a 2 pack one cup has handles and the other doesn't. I also use straw cups, and the Playtex sippy cups.

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K.A.

answers from Boston on

Not sure how old your daughter is but I introduced the sippy around 6 mths with the bottle. Slowly he understood the concept and by 1 year, there was no bottle anymore and all sippy cups. I liked the playtex sippy with 2 handles. Easy for them to pick up and drink from.

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M.L.

answers from Boston on

Hi, you can try the Nuby cups. They are great and you can buy the one with the two handles for your baby to learn to tip up. The spout is very soft and more like a nipple that hard plastic from a regular sippy cup. And they are BPA free :)

Here are the BPA free ones:

Nuby: Standard Neck Non-Drip Bottle, Wide-Neck Non-Drip Bottle, Wide-Neck Bottle with Handles and Non-Drip Nipple, Standard Neck Bottle with Handles and Non-Drip Nipple, 3-Stage Wide Neck Easy Grip Feeding System with Non-Drip Nipple.

Good Luck!

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J.A.

answers from Boston on

When my son was about 9 or 10 months old, we started introducing a sippy cup to him. We used the ones that have a soft top (to make it easier for him to suck). I think Playtex makes them. I took out the stopper at times to show him that yummy beverages come out of it. Eventually, he caught on with the stopper in. I definitely recommend the cups with the soft lid (I think they say they are for beginners)

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L.L.

answers from Boston on

Hi K.,

I made sure I bought the sippy cups that have the soft spout which is similiar to the bottle. I would put it on his tray with every meal and slowly introduced the idea of sipping. Even offer a paper cup of liquid, put it up to baby's mouth. You could drink from these items as well and show her how it is done. My son does great with them now.
Best of luck, she will get it!!

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N.E.

answers from Bangor on

HI K., I ordered the SIGG bottles/sippy cups online...my 18 month old love the bright colors and I feel good knowing they are not plastic...she still likes a bottle at times...my pediatrician actually said she should be transitioning to a regular cup? Messy!

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J.M.

answers from Boston on

We had a lot of luck practicing with a sippy cup that didn't have a valve or stopper. It was messy, but then my daughter kind of "got" that water would come out of the cup. Once she was willing to put her mouth on it to get the water, we moved on to a real sippy.

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