Seven Month Old and the Sippy Cup....

You might also try a cup! My son was exclusively breastfed and got that before a sippy, which means weaning him from the sippy shouldn't be too hard (I hope!) I use a cup at meals in the kitchen and then sippy when he's in the car, at friend's houses, etc. He also used a plastic water bottle with a twist lid before a sippy and now drinks out of water bottles easily. He also saw us drink from them and wanted to do it too. (We now use metal canteens not plastic water bottles, but it was sort of spill proof and yet "big boy" too.) Good luck!

I started with The first years Take and Toss cups. There's no valve but it is spill resistant. My son wasn't getting it either at first. These seemed to help without creating a big mess.

Hi S.,

My daughter didn't take to a regular sippy cup either. So I thought I'd try a different kind. I bought the kind with a pop up straw, and I'm soooo glad I did. It took my daughter a day to figure out how to suck the water from the straw. I loved the fact that the straw retracts and "closes" the cup, no spills while traveling...yeah. My daughter was sipping from her cup during one of her checkups, her pediatrician said "Oh, I see you've read the research about straw usage versus sippy cup." Of course I said I had no idea what she was talking about, Maddie didn't like the sippy but loved the straw. The Dr told me that studies have proven that babies that used straws developed their mouth/tongue muscle control faster and therefore their speech developed earlier as well. I was thrilled that I had accidentally made a great Mommy choice...lol. And I must also tell you that we do believe the straw did help our daughter speak earlier. By the time she was 1 & 1/2 she had a vocabulary of approximately 500 words she could say clearly, and actually spoke in complete sentences. I don't give all the credit to the straw, but I believe that it certainly helped. The cups we used are called Munchkin Straw cups, they can be found in your grocery stores, walmart or target and some even have Dora on them. Good Luck!

I think that your 7-1/2 month old may be a little young to try on a sippy cup. The hard, flat spout on a sippy cup is probably a little confusing. Try a bottle with a nipple that simulates the breast. It will be more familiar to her.

Hi S.,

My advice is to keep offering it, and trust that she'll figure it out. My son was exclusively breastfed--never had a bottle--and at around 6 or 7 months old, we started offering sippy cups--we had a few different brands for him to try--and he eventually got the hang of it. We offered water or diluted juice in it. We knew he was getting plenty to drink from breastfeeding, so we could just relax and let him figure it out. My daughter (who turns 1 in a couple of weeks) had pretty much the same experience--she had had a very occasional bottle, but it still took about a month for her get the hang of the sippy cup. Again, since she was nursing, we weren't too worried about giving her whatever time she needed. You might try to offer a few different styles and try different kinds of liquid, too, to see what works. She'll get there! Good luck!

In my experience, she will figure it out, it just may becloser to 12 months. I have had two breastfed babies (with occasional bottles) and with both, I introduced the cup at 6 months as soon as they started solids. With both girls, they didn't really start drinking from it until 11 months or older. My 15 month old really just "mastered" in it the last month or so (but I am also still nursing a little).

I recommend giving an open cup occasionally so they can practice and get a significant amount to drink with their meals.

Take the "valve" out to let her know she can drink water from it. Hold it for her so she dosn't get the water to come out too quickly. Once she drinks from it this way, put the valve back in and she if she'll suck. If she doesn't, take it out again and repeat this with her. It's worked for both of my boys! Pediatrician is the one who told me about this trick...

Hi S.,
I breastfed dd and she never took a bottle after she was 2 months old. We gave her the Gerber Nuk trainer cup with a soft spout at around 7-8 months and at first all she did was chew on the spout but after a few weeks, she all of a sudden figured out how to drink from the cup. At first I had to hold it for her to drink, then she learned to hold it herself. She absolutely loved the Nuk cup and kept using them until she was about 15-16 months. Then we switched her to the playtex hard spout cups which she loves now. I was afraid that she wouldn't take a sippy cup since she was bf, but she did and still loves drinking milk and water from it at 19 months. I say let your dd figure out the cup on her own w/in a reasonable time. She'll get it.

She is probably a little young for the sippy cup. I think my sons were closer to one when they really started drinking from a cup.

Just continue letting her play with the sippy cup at mealtimes. You could also try other types of cups with different spouts.

Hi S.,

It may just take your daughter a little longer to figure out how to use the sippy cup. My son didn't get good at it until he was about 10 months old. Prior to that he would just chew on the spout and play with it. But once he figured it out he quickly got good at drinking from it and now that he is 13 months old has no problem taking all of his daily fluids from a sippy cup. She just needs a little more time :)

Try the built-in straw cups instead. That's what my son takes. He HATES the other kind of sippy cup.

I have several of these:
http://www.amazon.com/Luv-N-Care-Nuby-Sipper/dp/B000LK6KOO

The top of the straw is a pain to stick through the hole, but the silicone is easy on their teeth and gums, and it doesn't leak.

i offered my son a sippy cup when he was a year old and it took him a few tries to get it. he was also exclusively breastfed and never had a bottle. it really clicked when he watched me pour water into the cup then offer it to him, and it was a small cup that he could manage himself. It was one of the portable, disposable kinds that is very small but also hard plastic spout.

what are you offering her? she may not want to drink anything if she is not thirsty cause she's getting everything she needs from you. i was not aware that babies less than a year old need anything to drink besides milk.

There really isn't much you do. It's all kind of found out on her part. I would sometimes turn it upside down and show her it dripped. Or i would tip it into her mouth and she might get something and she would go OHHHH that's what's in there. But you have to have a drippy cup for that otherwise it doesn't work. Good luck

We had this issue with my middle daughter. We tried different cups and still had issues. So we put a little bit of chocolate syrup on the tip and she figured it out. :)

Keep giving her the sippy cup though, she'll figure it out. My 8 month old now has been stealing my daughter's sippy for quite some time and now has the hang of things.

my kids didn't figure it out until they were about a year. continue letting her try and she will eventually get it. Some people teach open cup feeding if they don't want to use a bottle.

Hi S.,
My son is 12 months old and he was also breastfed. I too had a hard time with the sippy cup (still am since he can't figure out how to tip his head back to drink), but there was a post on here a while back that suggested using a straw cup and that has worked great! (you might still be able to find the post, it was back in like december or november of last year).

To get him used to the straw, it was suggested that you take a regular drink straw and dip it into the drink then hold your finger over the top so you get some liquid in the straw. Then put that end into their mouth and let go. They instantly beginning sucking on the end and after a few times of doing this you can have him try to drink directly from the straw and cup. Just like the sippy it's all trial and error, but with my guy it worked great and he doesn't have to tip his head back to use a straw cup. Good luck!

My son had trouble switching to a sippy cup too. He was breastfed as well although he took a bottle okay. We really didn't push the cup until he was at least a year. I tried a lot of different cups and I found that mostly it just took time. After a while he got it. You may want to try using a real cup (no sippy lid) with a lot of supervision, but I suspect you daughter just needs time with the adjustment. She'll get it eventually.

http://www.greatbabyproducts.com/Cupsicle_My_First_Straw_...

Hi there,
Check out the link I pasted at the top, this is the sort of straw cup I bought for my daughter. She was also nursed and didn't so the sippy cups. She loves them and so do I, they are made for little ones to hold onto the handles. All you need to do to get your baby to learn how to use a straw is to suck up some of the liquid yourself, hold the other end of the straw with your finger to suctionit so it won't go out, and then put the open end in your baby's mouth and have her suck it out. You may have to do this a couple times, but she will get the hang of the straw! It is also better to use a straw cup for the development of the muscles in the tongue for speech, this is what I was told!

Now the only problem I occasionally experience with these cups is that is you tighten the top too often, it will crack, this happens by using the handle to tighten with. All you have to do is keep the little piece off the top of the cup. Call Munchkin (the number will be on a little pc of paper with the cup) and let them know they cracked, and they should send you a replacement lid. Unfortunately, this has happened a few times, so I waited until I had like 4 cracked ones, I bought 8 cups all toghether, then I caleed for the 4 replacements. Once your baby is old enough, inbetween 1-2 then you can get the cups without the handles, I think those lids should be fine not to crack?

Well good luck!

S.,
It took my daughter a long time to learn to use a sippy cup. You have to suck so hard to get liquid out, it is hard for little ones. Your daughter is a little young to be able to do that. Have you tried the sippy cups with the straw? Nuby makes some with handles that I used for my daughter when she was young. You can find them online or at Babies R Us. Those seemed to work better b/c the valve is in the straw and you don't have to suck so hard to get liquid out. They do leak a little, but it helps if you don't put them in the dishwasher. They are a good training cup. From there we moved onto other sippy cups with straws. However, my daughter still doesn't like regular sippy cups, she only likes them with straws.

We took the valve out. My daughter didn't like the valve in.

We started offering the sippy cup at 6 mos, as recommended by the pediatrician. We started with the Nuby and Munchkin cups that had the soft sillicone spout. By simply chewing on the spout, the water comes out. After a month or two of him using those cups, we were able to switch to the playtex cups with the hard spout.

Would you put juice, water, or formula in a sippy cup for a 10-month old? Obviously I haven't introduced sippy cup to my baby yet cos I'm a little unsure what to put in there.