Teaching Toddle to Drink from Cups with Straws

Updated on August 17, 2010
B.H. asks from Rockville, MD
11 answers

my son turned 2 in June & ive read questions & answers that to break a toddle from the cup at night to just take it or to throw the cups away and tell him things like hes going to be a big boy or just make them diappear but my son wont drink from the other cups with straws on them he will only drink from the soft tip nubby cups so my question is are there any tips on how to get him to start taking a straw?

he doesnt have to stop sippy cups all togeather just at night cause he doesnt like juice or water at night he only will take milk & i dont want it to mess up his teeth & it always gets all over his bed & ive tryed the hard tip cups & straw cups but he just doesnt remember how to suck or something cause with the soft tip he just chews on them & the juice comes out but ill keep trying different things & give him time to figure it out thank you all for the ideas

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B.P.

answers from Washington DC on

My son was also a big fan of the soft spout sippy cups. Refused a hard spout. He went straight to no lid cups. This may work for you.

We also struggled with teaching him to use a straw, but it became necessary because it was the only way to drink on the go since we no longer had the soft spout cups (he kept ruining the tops from chewing on them). My sister just got him to drink from a straw a couple of weeks ago. She just told him to put the straw in his mouth and "give it a big kiss." It clicked with him and he's been happily drinking from a straw ever since. Hope it helps you too!

B.

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A.C.

answers from Cincinnati on

We taught my son to use a straw with juice boxes. The straws are small so they don't collapse, and you can help get things started by squeezing the box gently. Then, he would suck to get more. He quickly figured out how straws worked, and was able to apply it to other straws as well. Good luck.

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L.D.

answers from Las Vegas on

I wonder if, developmentally, he's just not ready to drink with the toddler straw cups. I would keep on introducing it to him for practice and exposure and when he's ready to drink through it, he will. I don't think there is anything that you can do right now to teach him to drink through it, given that he is still very young. That just comes with time and development.

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S.H.

answers from Honolulu on

Is there a reason he has to stop sippy cups?

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D.C.

answers from Syracuse on

Try travel coffee mugs. They're kinda a cross between anyway, as they offer some protection from spills. You can also try using a straw with them too.

Or, you could just transition to regular tumblers. Find some smaller cups, and just pour an inch or two at a time. Keep experimenting!

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J.P.

answers from Boise on

The straw is usually easier, but not the only way. You could go to a regular cup or to the hard sippies. You can even take the valves out of the hard sippies so that it is just a cup that slows the flow and they don't have to suck at all. I went to cup and hard sippies from the soft sippies. I called it a to-go cup and the insulated one was a coffee cup. The others disappeared overnight and we only had these other cups that he could choose from. First day was hard, then he was good.

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A.H.

answers from New York on

We taught our son how to drink from a straw in 2 mintues by getting a chocolate frosty from Wendy's (at that time he had never had chocolate, which admittedly helped a lot) I cut the straw in half b/c it was too long. Then I put a bit of the frosty on the tip of the straw and put it in his mouth. He just immediately started sucking b/c he wanted more chocolate and that was that.
Good luck.

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R.K.

answers from Boston on

he's 2 years old just give him a regular cup it will be messy at first but sippy cups aren't meant to replace bottles they are supposed to be to help make the transition between bottle and cup easier time to move away from them. Moving to a regular cup means only drinking at the table in my house if you start instilling that rule now then you won't have to worry about the milk in the bed.

P.G.

answers from Abilene on

My daughter is 17 months and she doesnt use a sippy at all. The way I got her to stop was I slowly transissioned from sippy to, like Dan said a type a travel mug. But it wasn't an actual travel mug. I got it a United in the baby section and she loved it. Then I moved from that to the sippy's that have the straws, I got those at walmart. Those taught her that she had to keep the cup down instead of tilt it up. From there I went to just reagular cups with lids and straws. I found some paper ones at United in the paper plates section. My daughter love's them because now she is a big girl. But just keep practicing. He will get it. :)

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L.D.

answers from Los Angeles on

Try what he likes with a straw cup.All my kiddos weren't bottle users they were all out of a bottle by 6 months sounds odd but sippy cups were introduced early when they sat up unsupported they were into sippy cups my baby loved straw cups at 4 months.Keep it simple it'll take a few tries till he gets used to using a new cup

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H.M.

answers from Detroit on

my husband taught my daughter at a very young age to drink from a straw. all he did was have the straw in the water/juice and plugged up the one end with his finger and put it in her mouth. little by little he tilted it down so she had to suck it from the straw. hopefully that makes sense.

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