When to Give up the Sippy Cup....

Try changing to more water and less juice, then you wont have to worry about him drinking too much becaues the more water he drinks, the better it is. At 3, he should be drinking out of a regular cup at the table to learn how, but I still have my 3 yr old use a sippy cup for on the go because of the no-spill ease.

I would not be worried about him still drinking out of a sippy at 3. My girls - 6 and 3- love sippys. Switching to cups would cut down on the drinking. But if he eats well, then I don't think there is an issue. You could limit the sippy to the kitchen table, have a big boy cup at meals when you are sitting with him. But if it works for you than do it. It does save spills!

We took them away at 3 just because I did not like cleaning the sippys and their parts, and most of all I was just tired of storing them and dragging them everywhere. Now we use them in the car on long car trips. My girls think it is a treat.

Good luck!

B.

One thing we have tried with our 3 year old, is to give him a regular cup with meals. That way he is learning to drink from the cup, but also drinking less when he should be eating. I use a plastic coffee mug.

-J. B

my son will be four this month and he still use's the sippy cup when he is running around. At the table though during meals he has a big boy's cup with out a lid and yes we still have accidnets with spilling and all but this is how they learn. I was surprise to find at his day care, when the kids eat they have a small pitcher of milk on there tbles and there own cups with out lids and each kid pour's there own milk into there own cup which is nice I guess because it is teaching them control .
I still like ther sippy cups for when they are runninng and playing through out the house, I don't like sticky floors LOL
so just stick with it and let them use grown up cup there size of course when sitting at the table . good luck if you are worried about his teeth get him the ones with the straws . my son takes his cup of water to bed everynight with the straw ones that have aflip that goes over it it has never leaked yet. if you do this remeber it is only water at bed time never juice it will rot there teeth .

I have 3 girls and my oldest had her until she was almost 5. At meals I would make her drink from a cup and in the car or living room she would have a sippy cup. I finally said she was too old for one and at 5 she was fine with that because she was tapering off anyway. I don't see the big deal as long as he knows how to drink from a cup and WILL. It saves a lot of messes.

I don't see what the big deal is! He should have as much as he wants to drink all day long until about an hour or so before bed. Fluids are great! As for the sippy cup part I don't see why you should take it away anytime soon unless you want to deal with a lot of spills all throughout your house. As long as your son knows how to drink out of a regular cup I just don't see why you should take it. Good luck!

My son is almost 3 and he still uses a sippy when we are in the car or in public places. But at home and other homes where I know they will not be upset if he spills his drink I use a regular cup. I have a couple of fun kids cups just for him. Your son should be using a regular cup at this point. They shouldnt be just drinking the whole day. They should be drinking like we do. Depending on what is in his sippy he could be getting a lot of pointless calories and those will fill him up instead of filling him up with the food he needs to eat. I hope that helps you out!

I have read 2 things about this.
1) kids should be drinking out of a regular cup by around 2 years so it sounds like it's past time to get rid of the siipy
2) kids should only have milk and juice with meals and snacks, water the rest of the day. I guess the sugars and stuff sitting on their teeth all the time is pretty back for the teeth:( Makes sense...we really should be drinking pop all day either, right? Anyhow, cut down to only water available most of the day.
Good Luck!

Being the mother of 7, I actually prefer sippy cups for anywhere in the house- except at the table. While eating meals or anything at tables, a regular cup is "required". I just tell them that is the rule for big kids, and they buy it! No negotiating. It works!
It's great that he drinks a lot- as long as it is never juice. Water during the day between meals, and milk at all meals is what is best for their teeth.

Hi, I am a mother of 4... and the sippy cup can be just as much of a crutch as a bottle. Especially if mom's let them take them to bed.... that is just as damaging to their teeth as their "crutch issues" but the time my kids were 3 we just made a new rule and stuck to it. and that rule was -- no eating or drinking anywhere but the kitchen. they had a cup at the table at all times but not in their hand. so they began to seperate themselves from the cup. we had a few screams at first but it only took a couple forceful no's and standing my ground to make the transition. At 3 they are more than capable of walking to the kitchen for a drink. and soon you can go to a regular cup for meal time. if he loves to drink - start a good habit of drinking Water!!! that can make a huge life differnce!! it worked for mine.... but we know every child is different!! :) Good luck

How many adults do you see driving around every day with a sippy cup...aka...travel mug, or water bottle that they suck from? I guess we never quite out grow it. :)

Hi T.,
Honestly, I think other people should mind their own business.
The sippy cup is a wonderful option for a child who likes to drink, and keeps messes to a minimum for you. I have a 5 year old with special needs who can drink from a regular cup, but will dump whatever he doesn't want, so I have kept using the sippy or a cup with a lid and straw for my own sanity. My older 2 used the sippy cups in the car and if they wanted a drink while they were in the rest of the house, but used regular cups at the table until they were 4. I don't see a problem with you as the mom deciding when and how to do away with the sippy cup! :) The only concern I would have would be to make sure that his desire to drink so much is not a symptom of diabetes. Talk to you pediatrician about it, but I think you are doing fine. Use your own intuition on this one.
Have a great day,
J.

My son just turned 3 and we've decided to take away the sippy because he drinks SO much and PEES so much. He gets a drink with a straw at breakfast/lunch/dinner/snack time and if he wants a drink he'll come ask, but he has cut down on drinking and trips to the bathroom AND grocery bill. He's still drinking enough!

Hi,
I am a developmental therapist. Truthfully, everyone drinking out of sippy cups wouldn't be a bad idea. If it is the type that encourages him to suck (as if out of a straw),it is helping to deveop many facial as well as occular(eye) muscles.
Happy Sipping!
S.

I have heard that using sippy cups are bad for kid's teeth. It is like the bottle. The liquid is constantly in the mouth and it is bad for the teeth.(bottle mouth, where the teeth start to decay from having the sugar from milk or juice on them all the time) I still use them for water, but we mostly drink out of regular cups at the table. ( I have an in home daycare, so I have kids of all ages) The ones with the straws work out great for when we have our trips to the park. Also, as long as weight is not an issue and he is eating okay, you should do what you think is best for your child.

Hello T.
My children all loved their sippy cups, and they were a hard thing to let go for them. I tried not giving it too them, but if its tucked away in the counter--enough cries and whines will get it back out!! I eventually threw them away(no temptation) and replaced them with sports bottles. these can usually be found in the summer at walart. they serve the same purpose(having a lid) and are acceptable for older children to use!!!

Hello there I've talked with Speech Therapists about this issue many times as a teacher (now ex-teacher). I would advise to at least let up on the sippy cup or transition to a soft straw cup. (There are kinds that only have slits in the straw opening to decrease the amount of spill and that the straw can be closed off) I would use the straw cup when he is not at a table or meals and then strictly an open cup no straw for meal time. Not only is the sippy not good for teeth...but it also can make for poor speech or poor oral motor strength. Hope this helps!

I don't understand what the big deal is. Sippy cups are great much better than the transition cups my children used. Spills all the time.

I will say not all sippy cups are alike. I babysit a little boy who has had several different kinds and some leak and others do not. He's just turned 2 and I think they are much better than a bottle at that age. He uses it all the time and I much prefer it for him than a real cup.

I understand where you are coming from. He had this problem with our boys. We made them keep them in the kitchen, which is open to the living room where the t.v. is. They could still go and get a drink whenever they needed/wanted it, but they had to keep it in there and they could see it while they watched t.v. They also learned that if they didn't keep it in there, then we took it and they had to ask for a drink and give it right back. A little tough love but they interacted more witht he programs they were watching and they were only drinking when they needed it and not just because it was right there. As they began to understand this, we slowly started to integrate the cup without the lid (only only water in it until they got the process of using both hands to hold it. We also only filled it half way so if they did spill, it wasn't a whole lot. HOpe this helps.

My 3 year old daughter still enjoys her sippy cup on occasion, but I try to keep it to water. From the information I have read/heard the problem is that when they drink juice or milk from a sippy cup, they tend to drink more which keeps a steady flow of sugar and bacteria on the teeth which can then cause problems. I do sometimes still let her have milk in it, but I limit it to one cup. I tell her when this one is gone she can have water. If I give her juice, I dilute the heck out of it and tell her the same thing, water next. The only times she really wants her sippy cup is when her 18 month old sister is drinking out of hers. She does drink well out of a regular cup, so I use that primarily. I'd work on just getting water in the cup. Then he can still have the comfort of drinking out of it, but not the concern about tooth decay. Hope this helps and good luck!

I think that you shouldn't listen to other people who tell you what you should be doing. He's your child. That said, my son thought it was more fun to make the mess, even though he could drink from the cup. My mom bought him small cups with straws attached. Those are great, they start with teaching him that not all cups can be turned upside down & not make a mess. He can drink very well from a cup & still uses the straws. Do what works for you.

T.:
My advice is going to be pretty blunt, but I think you need to impose what you think is best and not worry about what a 3-yr old wants or does not want. I don't think the sippy cup is the biggest issue, it's just that it's not good for him to get used to drinking all the time. It's a bad habit, which could lead to later problems with diabetes, overeating, etc. It simply needs to be stopped, there is no need at all for any child to be sipping liquid all the time. He needs to be taught to come to the kitchen to get a drink when he is thirsty. If the drink comes in a sippy cup, so be it (I do think you could slowly start thinking about introducing a "big boy cup"), but he simply needs to learn that going around sucking on objects is not acceptable.
If we as mothers fail to teach these important lessons to our children, how do we expect them to grow up and become self-regulating, mature individuals? you just have to say no, and stick by it. He may cry and kick and scream, but he needs to know you are serious. You are NOT going to damage your child at all by taking charge of his upbringing. Mothers have been doing that for thousands of yeas, they've just recently started worrying about the opinions of 3-year olds instead of their own decision-making abilities.
Hope this makes sense to you, please consider doing it. I have a boy (7) and girl (5) who are happy, well-behaved, a delight to be around. I've been a very strict and loving mom since day one, and I've never regretted making my children kick and scream a few times. The thing is, I seldom have to do it any more, since they know I mean what I say. They are lovely children, and I love to be around them, but they do know who's the boss (not them :)
Good luck, and stick to your guns. He'll love you best for that.
M.

Sippies are really convenient. No spills and all. He should however know how to drink from a regular cup and out of a straw. Try giving regular cups at meals so he is good at it. If you feel uncomfortable, you could try sports bottles. But that no spill thing is so nice.

I would suggest having him drink from a small cup at meals. At school in preschool and kindergarten they don't use sippy cups at all. My son drank from a sippy cup at home until he was 3 but at school he started with little dixie cups at 18 months at lunch time. He was there 3 days a week. So it helped slowly wean him. Now we have special seasonsal cups at home that he drinks from, but it wasn't until he was 4 or older that we actually cut out all the sippy cups together. And really we "didn't", his fav. cup is a thermos that has scooby doo on it that he takes places. He has a lid and a stray and a kids cartoon so he calls it his little kid cup! LOL :)

Our son still has a sippy. He will be 5 in June. But, he only drinks water in it. He has one that sits on the headboard at night for bedtime, and also takes it on car trips. As soon as I knew he was comfortable with real cups, I would make him keep his drink in the kitchen or on an end table in the L.R. This way he was still getting his juice/milk, etc,if he was thirsty, but he wasn't killing my carpet if he did spill. People still give me grief if they see him with his sippy before bed, or if we're in the car with them, but I really don't care. :D In the end he's your son, and if he's happy then you're doing a great job. :)