What's Your Take in Sippie Cups?

I agree with you. My 4 and 2 can and often do drink from a regular cup, but really, if I don't want to clean up or constantly refill when they drink outside, at night in bed, in the car, then a sippy cup is heaven sent. I think some kids develop an attachment to their sippy cup, it becomes a comfort object, or the way they can still be "babies" and that is where the problem is, not with the actual cup itself. AND many adults drink from coffee mugs with lids, and cups with straws and lids, and bottles with screw tops....so what's the difference?

Both my kids still use sippy cups. I have a 1 and 3 year old. The 3 year knows how to drink out of a regular cup, but I use it like you to contain spills and she can take it with her. I see no rush in getting rid of the sippy cups.. We will probably get rid of them when the youngest is 3 or 4.

My son never used a sippy cup, there is no reason to have a portable drink all drinks stay at the table in the kitchen so spills are not an issue for us. If your children can use a regular cup then why would you not encourage that and teach table manners.

Not to say mine has the best but he has some.

We have used the "take and toss" straw cups with our children since they were about 9 months old. Since they have water available 24-7 they do get taken around the house but it is only water if it happens to spill. Only a small amount comes out if they are dropped. Maybe not great "manners" to let them drink drinks around the house but I carry my bottle of water around the house with me so I wouldn't be a great example if I told them they couldn't have their water either. The take and toss has a sippy lid variety too, and we have gotten them in the past but my kids have always preferred the straw.

Once they reach two I feel its time to toss the sippies. My 3 year old spills very rarely maybe twice in the last year. The rule has been since he stopped nursing and started drinking from a cup eventhough it was a sippy at the time drinks are at the table only. sippy cups are only meant to help transition from a bottle to a regular cup or from nursing to a regular cup they are not meant to be used for a long period of time.

There is a concern with speech issues and sippy cups. I would read up on it. My daughter was off sippy cups at 2 and we have the rule that cups stay in the kitchen so it really cuts down on the mess. Yes there were spills, but really, it's not that big of a deal. Maybe you can use a bottle of some kind for outside, both my 3 y/o and 1 y/o LOVE those stainless steel water bottles and they each have one for when we go out somewhere.

If my son (will be 4 in Jan) is sitting at the table, I prefer to give him an open cup for the practice. If he will be walking around or in the car I definitely give him a sippy cup. I also give him a sippy cup if he is having something like grape juice and is wearing light colored clothing.

I would like for him to be able to go sippy-less within the next year, since he'll be starting Kindergarten and will need to be able to use an open cup proficiently. It is also fewer specialized kiddie things to wash and to take up cupboard space.

I never used sippy cups. I taught my child to drink from a regular cup. I also have the " We eat and drink at the dining room table" rule, so no wandering around the house with cups and food. Cuts down on crumbs and spills all over the house.

Cups belong at the table or in the kitchen. That's our rule. Sippy cups are for travel or outside.

My kids know how to get a cup out and get a drink (we have a water dispenser on the fridge), they are 5, almost 4 and almost 2.

We use regular cups at the table starting around 10 months. I know - that's extreme, but both my second and third found it much more entertaining to try to dump things out of a sippy (shake shake shake shake) so I gave them up early. I just put an inch of liquid at at time in their cups till they get a hang of it.

J.

I don't know if it is so much about the age of the child as much as it is about the development. Some can hold a sippy cup, others cannot. We are not particular, we grab whatever can hold liquids and he does fine with either (bottle (not baby bottle), cup, bowl, sippy, etc with and without straws. I use sippy cups for trips where it would spill.

I'm not sure what age it was, but my daughter eventually hated the sippy cups that restricted the drink flow. She would hand it back & say it was broken! She didn't want to have to suck so hard to get her drink. So, most of her cups were the cheap ones with just a spout and nothing to restrict the flow.

She's 4 1/2 now and still will sometimes use a lid when there's a bigger chance of her spilling. Adults use cups with lids sometimes too! (travel mugs!) But most of the time she has a regular open cup.

mine were still using them at 4, actually have seen them put lids on their cups even as teens as I still have a few in the house for when we have a baby over to babysit or family members. All 3 of them love the metal bottles that are popular now and wonder why I have a cabinet full of regular glasses when they just want those bottles that are tough to keep clean lol. Is there really a difference? I did start giving them regular cups at dinner and when they were sitting at the table when they were around 2 but mostly used the sippy cup when they were going out of the kitchen or out somewhere.

I know I'm late, but I thought I'd throw in my two cents! I started our girls with regular cups for the most part. I only give our 3-yr-old a sippie cup when we are traveling, or if she specifically asks for one. Maybe once a week. She is used to using a regular cup and rarely spills enough to be an issue. Our 1-yr-old is learning how to drink still, so I offer her a regular cup as often as I can when I can hold it for her and help her, but about 1/2 the time she gets a sippie cup. They are only allowed to have beverages in the kitchen.

When my son was one, we started practicing with a regular cup. Sure it only had an ounce or two of water or milk, but it was practice! Since my son was two, he only got a sippy cup somewhere like in the car. I limit beverages to the kitchen so if he spills, then fine. Now that he is three, he rarely spills and he has a regular water bottle with a lid for the car.

After reading the responses, I am soo in the minority... my own kids are 16,13 and 8, and I have to say my 8 and 13 year old still like sippy cups from time to time! A bit odd I know, but really no harm when they want to have water when reading in bed. They have no problems with regular cups and that is what they use 99.9% of the time. I also have a home daycare and I always cups with some kind of a cover, either a true sippy, a spout or cover with a straw. Kids will often play at the table, sometimes will do "cheers" with each other or just reach for something and over the cup goes. I also don't like any of my kiddos walking around with cups, but I have always have a water bottle that I take everywhere and so why can't kids do the same. When my kids want to play in their room and want a drink, anything with a cover is best for me.I see no reason to stop a sippy cup or something with a cover unless your children really doesn't like them.Even my 16 year old has water in a travel type mug with a cover (has his favorite hockey team), so really not much different than a sippy.

The sippy cups are great for keeping your carpet, couches, and also clothing clean but after age 3, they are not really developmentally appropriate anymore. Kids can and will drink out of a regular cup quite well if offered the chance to do so. I find that parents who don't like to deal with messes or can't be patient with their kids enough to let them learn to use a regular cup are the ones who linger on the sippy cups way past their prime. I'm NOT saying that this is you....nor am I calling you lazy.....I have just found that a lot of parents will prevent their kids from developing skills such as drinking from a regular cup because they don't like the mess. I can understand it to a point. The better way is to have your child relegated to the kitchen or outside if they want to walk around and drink from a cup. This way, you keep the liquid confined to a "safer spill zone" where things don't get ruined or stained badly. Or, if the cup is going to be allowed in all parts of the house, it only gets filled with water. Water may spill but it doesn't stain and it will dry up or be wiped up quickly without the mess factor. Both of my kids were off the sippy cups by ages 2 1/2 to 3 and mine were water drinkers so I had no issues with a bunch of messy stains and stuff. If they had juice or god forbid Hawaiian Punch (lol...it tastes so good but is heinous on staining!) then the girls had to have their drinks in the kitchen where the spill falls only on tile floors and no where else. I was never fond of my kids meandering around my house with plates of food, snacks, or drinks all the time. We have nice things and I wanted to keep it that way so I compromised....they can eat all they want but you have to keep in in the kitchen or take it outside for a picnic! If your little one already knows how to use a sippy cup, good job, Mom!! Let them work on their skills all the time and ditch the sippy then. You'll be glad you did. Developmental milestones like drinking from a regular cup at a young age is something for you and your child to be very proud of. Show it off!

Personally, I wanted to make sure my kids could efficiently drink from a regular cup by 18 months, and we took my son's sippy cups away completely at age 3 and will probably do it earlier with my daughter. We use water bottles in the car or outside.

I think by age 4 you should phase it out. My bigger problem is having drinks all over the house, I guess i might use it in the car, if it was going to be a long trip or packed in a diaper bag, but when you stop bring snacks and a diaper bag that's when the sippy should go.
So just my opinion but it's more a healthy eating thing in my eyes. Good manners is to sit and eat/drink at the table. The exception would be needing to bring drinks with you on errands etc in the car. clear as mud?

My five year old uses both regular cups and the take and toss with straws. I worry he doesnt get enough to drink so I encourage him to carry around a cup of water, I keep a cup of milk in the fridge so it is fast and easy he can get it himself and it keeps fresher. If he doesnt finish his milk it doesnt get wasted it is put in the fridge!

I recently had my 5 year old use a sippie cup because we were at someone else's house and they had white carpet, and it just seemed safer, since even at 5, she sometimes gets distracted and spills. At home I think she stopped using them for the most part around 3 and a half, but honestly, she still asks for them occasionally if the one I have given her 2 year old sister looks prettier than the regular cup I have given her. She has no problem using a regular cup at school or at restaurants, so I don't see that my overuse of sippie cups has caused any problems for her.

Sippie cups don't bother me. My son is 5 and has one left, he also has a water bottle with a twist sports top. If we're having a meal, he gets a normal cup. If he's taking a break for a snack in the kitchen, same thing goes (and has since about 3-3.5yrs), but in the car, he's always thirsty and I'm not giving him a real cup, I use a water bottle there too, same thing for going outside, etc. I didn't feel the need to buy several of those bottle so he would always have a clean one, so I saved a couple sippy cups to use. I do not however, let him suck on it all day long, he needs to be able to grow up some, not not at the expensive of my furniture/cars and my time.

My son is 2 1/2 so we're starting to give him a "big boy cup" (really the take and toss cups with no lid) at the table for lunch or dinner. He's not really awake enough to use one at breakfast yet, still needs the lid, lol.

We never really used other sippy cups, just the kind with the straw (he never got the hang of a real sippy cup) and I think we'll continue to use those around the house and when we're out and about for a long time to come. It's kind of the perfect amount of liquid for him, and I usually have some kind of water bottle with me, so why shouldn't he.