When and How Is the Sippy Cup and Finger Foods Introduced?

Sounds normal to me. I'd put watered-down juice in the sippy cup to possibly make her more interested in it, and I'd leave off the puffs for now and just do Cheerios until she handles them real well. However, I think this will all work out fine. Don't worry!

You sound like you are doing the right things to me. Children are more interested if you let them control it, however, this can be quite messy. I am a huge advocate of letting children experience feeding themselves, it also helps them learn more than just feeding themselves. It helps their motor skill development. Just watch how they at first struggle to pick things up and get it in their mouth, before long you will see it is automatic and they don't have to concentrate. The downside is the cleanup. Have fun watching your daughter grow and learn, try to take joy in her messes by focusing on her as she expands her skills.

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Hi M..
Just continue to give them the cups and foods when you can.
in time they will catch on.
I never warried when i was gone to give them the cup and differnt food.
As they grew I would show them these things and watch to see if they could handle them.
if not then They would stay with what they understood at that time.
You just keep showing them by what you do.
they are watching and they will learn in their own time.

Have a Good day TODAY.

Vicki W.

Introduce sippy cups with the soft spout at age 6 months and biter biscuits at 6 months also. Biter biscuits are very messy but it is a great introduction to hand mouth cordination.

I used a Gerber cup with the soft latex spout- it has slits in it, and no valve underneath. My son was 7 months when I introduced the cup, even though the latex variety is for younger babies it helped him learn to use the ones for actual 7 month olds in the future. Now I have 4 sippy cups with valves, but he really only likes two of them, even though they're all for his age range.
As far as introducing table foods goes, first I started thickening his cereal so he kinda had to chew on it. Then we started on the puffs... but don't rush her, she might need the next month or two to adapt. My little boy usually only takes a day or two to catch on to new things, but everyone's different.
Your pediatrician may have a nurse you can talk to about introducing table food, as well. Good luck!

The sippy cup sounds like things are going about par for the
course. It just takes a while for them to catch on to the sippy cup.

As for the puffs, I would hold off on those until your daughter is doing well with stage 2 foods (that have little chunks in them). Then I would put a few on the table in front of her and let her feed herself. Sure, it gets a bit messy, but it's great entertainment both for you and her.

I presume that you have already started her on cereal, applesauce, and the like (stage 1 foods). If not, I would go through all those first and then move on to the chunkier stuff. Cheerios are also great for teaching coordination and they're significantly less expensive than the puffs...with a similar consistancy.

My daughter is 7 1/2 months old. This sounds exactly like what she does if that makes you feel better. I jut assume she isn't quite ready and that if we keep trying (with the sippy cup) she will get it when she is ready.

Every baby's sensitivities to texture and taste and their 'gag reflex' is different. What does she eat? Baby food? Offer her dry cereals like plain, dry cheerios, honey grahams, etc. She'll surely get interested in new foods, so don't push her as long as she's eating, peeing, pooping, playing with energy and resting well. Some kids eat anything and some are very picky. All you can do is offer and encourage, but don't sweat it. I promise you she'll eat before she'll starve!

Hi M.
It sounds like you're doing the right things. Just give her a sippy with a little water, not juice, and keep showing her how to bring the cup up to her mouth. She will chew on the lip of the cup because she is teething, that's fine. Just make sure she doesn't bite off a piece of it :)
As far as the finger foods, if she's gagging, just wait a bit. Try again in a couple of days. My son would still gag on food even at 10 and 11 months. They'll get the hang of it. Finger foods that are well cooked and soft and just give her very tiny little bites. Put a few pieces in front of her and let her play with it. Do this with her meals, sometimes the food will make it to the mouth and sometimes it will end up on the floor :) Patience is a virtue. They are learning textures as well as developing taste buds.
Good luck P.

You're doing good, keep it SLOW!! You don't have to have her drinking out of sippy cup right away. My son never really got the handle cup thing either. Instead, we went straight to straw and him and his sister both drank from a straw before learning the sippy cup. Nothing wrong with that, better on the teeth anyway. Don't stress about the cup, in time she'll learn. My son did the same thing chewing on it and dropping it and playing with it and not using it. That's why we always used water. Water is not as important as either breast milk or formula. REMEMBER feed either Breast milk or formula FIRST before foods....that is what is more important at this point. As you continue to introduce more and more solids into her diet, you are technically weaning off of your or bottle. You're just doing it oh so slowly with food. Puffs...dont' worry about those either. Encourage them slowly, but don't force, some kids it's a texture thing. They don't like them, my son did the same thing, but around 8 1/2 months he got the idea. I was in NO rush to push puffs or other snacks on him. Breastmilk or formula is best right now. ALL perfectly NORMAL. Just keep trying, no pressure, she'll get the hang of it soon.

A. B