How to Teach 15-Month-old to Use a Straw?

How to teach to drink with a straw in 1 minute:

You need:
1 Juice box with a straw
1 thirsty toddler

Method:
1) Insert straw into the juice box
2) Call over thirsty toddler
3) Place straw into thirsty toddler's mouth
4) Carefully squeeze juice box so juice travells up the straw into thirsty toddler's mouth
5) " Uhhhhh" and " MMMMM sooo good"
6) Repeat step 4
7) Stop squeezing the box, thirtsy toddler's sucking reflex will kick in and Presto....kid can drink with a straw.

Works like a charm, everytime.

try a juice box.. you can squeeze juice into her mouth and then stop so she can figure out what the straw does and then she should take it from there

i can't help but laugh... :) i guess my suggestion is, to wait awhile? does she need to know how to use a straw right now? i'm trying to think why she would. at this age we took our own sippies to restaurants. often the kid drinks (which come with straws) don't even have lids, so it was a lot easier to just bring our own drink. i'm sorry...i don't think there's really a way to "teach" a child how to use a straw...it's a skill that comes on it's own. good luck!

Hi Dmpearls----We did exactly what you did----cover the top of a straw with our finger, trapping the liquid in the straw. But keep your finger on the straw when you put the bottom of it in her mouth. Make her suck the straw to get the liquid---when you see her suck, release the liquid. After a couple of meals like this, they were pros.

But I also brought our own cups. And, we would also ask for their smallest glass and then pour very small amounts of liquid in it to minimize the amount of potential spillage. Just let her pick up her glass herself. It's actually best if we don't drink too much liquid during a meal. Doing so dilutes stomach acid and that leads to less than optimal digestion.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me. I'd be glad to explain. Good luck. D.

TRY JUICE BOXES! That was how we taught our son to use a straw at a young age. They are very convenient because you can "help" by slightly squeezing the box to get the straw started. Once they grasp the concept, they can move on to other types of straws.

Having said that, most kids (I don't know what percentage) don't master the skill until they are about 2-2.5. Our son got it at a little over a year, but we were told by several different people that that was unusual. If your daughter doesn't get it right away, don't despair. Just carry an extra sippy cup with you when you go to restaurants.

in all honesty put something in the cup that they will really try to get and they will eventually learn how to use it. it takes little ones a minute to figure it out but one they do they love it. but watch out for when they think they can tilt the cup back like it's a regular cup(they don't realize the straw won't prevent a spill). just give her a little time and she will get it. good luck.

Even though sucking through a straw is the same physical mechanism as drinking from a bottle, the fact that gravity comes into play makes it really difficult. They're trained to raise their drinks up to pull the liquid into the nipple/valve. Then we try to teach straws, and we get upset when they tip their cups.

Our soon-to-be 4 year old son still tries to raise the cup with a straw sometimes.

I'd advise being patient and continuing to offer it. If you choose times where you're outside, not concerned about liquids getting all over them in the process, it will be much easier. But, it's tough and takes a lot of time/patience to master

Fill the straw with a little liquid and place it in her mouth. When she closes her mouth and starts to drink, take your finger off the end. Try again, and again, each time leaving the finger on a little longer, so she has to suck on it a little harder. You will have to keep the cup and straw positioned, as they all like to tip the container and still try to use the straw.

I just gave my kids a cup with a straw in it and held the cup for them until they figured it out. If they held it themselves and tipped it up, I would correct them. They figured it out pretty quickly. I think my kids all started with a straw by the time they were 9 months. Why so early? Mostly because they always wanted what Mommy had so they were drinking out of my cup if we were out. I started all of my kids on sippy cups around 6 months. Anyway, just help her out with the straw one. She knows to suck, you just need to help her out a little.

My daughter had mastered a sippy cup and a straw well before a year...so I know it is possible.

One thing I noticed with "no spill" sippy cups and straw cups was that the valve inside made it REALLY hard to get fluid out of the cup and up the straw--really just glorified bottle. I found that that the "take and toss" type cups were a fast road to success. I used a hot paperclip to enlarge the hole on the sippy cups (though I found one or two with free-flowing holes) and the straws have no valve. My daughter is three now and we've been using the same cups for at least two years now.

Granted, the lid just snaps on...so if she really chucks it across the room you are going to have a spill.

When she was learning, I would just demonstrate the sucking motion without a straw...they are good at mimicking and make the association in no time at all. Exaggerate the motion a bit when you are drinking from a straw yourself...it only takes success a time or two before they get it at this age.

I still pull all the no spill valves out of cups that we have. I wanted her to learn that she can't just set a cup down anywhere...she needs to keep things upright and I think it has helped with open cups as well.

Good luck.

I smiled when I read this...
I don't really remember what we did. I think we just stuck the straw in their mouths and waited... It just happened.
Most of the time, we took our own sippy cups... I usually had a stash in the car...
YMMV
LBC