Drinking from Straw

I really don't have any great advice for you, it just made me laugh! My daughter (who is now 2.5) would not drink from a sippy cup at all. The only thing she would drink from was a cup with a straw. I have no idea how she learned this, just one day she started drinking it. I think going from sucking on the bottle straight to sucking up on the straw was big. I wish I knew how so that I could give you some decent advice.

Yes, I went from bottle to straw cup with my son at 12 mos and am already working with my 9 month old daughter. I like them much better than sippy cups. At any rate, you take a regular straw, dip it in water (or whatever liquid you choose.) Plug the other end so that some water stays in the straw. Put the end with the water in it in your child's mouth while keeping your finger on the other end so the water stays plugged. Let him suck on the straw and let the water out slowly by releasing your finger. He'll realize quickly that sucking makes the water come out. I hope this makes sense and helps.

I second the juice box. My daughter (8 or 9 mos at the time)leared when I just squeezed a bit in her mouth. Her natural reflex was to suck on the straw to get more.

I good way to teach your child to use a straw is to have them drink a milk shake. Since it is thick, they have to try hard. It might take a few tries but soon they will realize that they have to change the shape of their mouth to drink. Good luck!

My mom taught me by telling me to kiss it...I tried with my daughter and it worked!

Hi,

I had to "teach" my son how to drink from a straw as well. Here's what I did - put the straw in the liquid and cover the top with your finger so that there is some liquid in the straw when you pull it out and then put the uncovered end in your child's mouth. Do this a couple of times, just so that they get the idea that something's going to come out of there. Then try letting them drink from the straw normally. I did this with my son and it took all of one minute to get him to drink from a straw. My 10 month old daughter was the easiest - she found her brother's straw cup on the floor and just figured it out all by herself.

Good luck.
Aarti.

This is a hard concept! My daughter learned by watching her cousins drink from McDonald's cups. Once I saw that she had an interest, I would empty out the cup, clean it and give her water. I also bought her sippy cups with built in straws. It took her a while to catch on, but she eventually got it. Watching you play/drink with straws will help too. Now my daughter loves to drink with a straw...and she gets more liquids too! Good luck and have fun.
J.

My oldest son took forever to learn to drink from a straw, where my other boys were drinking from them between 8-10 months!
What we did with my oldest, was get a juicebox. We would trap the juice in the straw, and try to get him to suck it out of that. We also tried just having him put his mouth on the straw, then squeezing the box. It didn't take him long to grasp it. Good Luck!

Hi C.,
I suggest you cut the straw in half, that way there less time sucking required for the drink to come up (you'll need a short cup ofcourse)sometimes a coffee stir straw works too. Good Luck!