When Is He Ready for a Sippy Cup? Baby Families.com

Note: Someone recently PM’d me to ask why I almost always refer to infants as males. The reader wants to know if I am aware that babies come in both genders. I am certainly aware that babies come in two wonderful genders. However, mommies do not! Since moms are always female I always refer to babies as males to avoid confusion while writing.

In parenting, many paths lead to the right end. There is no right answer to when you should give your child a sippy cup or if you even have to. One good indication of readiness is when baby is sitting on his own and able to hold a cup. For some reason, we moms have it in our head that sippy cups are always a good and useful thing; a necessary step on the road to development. I am definitely not arguing that sippy cups are useful. It enables your child to drink at will without spilling everything all over the place. However, I’d like to offer some thoughts about sippy cup use.

There is no special badge for getting your child to drink from a sippy cup. With that said, it is fine if he doesn’t want it, if he wants a bottle or if he never uses one. It simply doesn’t matter.

Also, it is not necessarily beneficial for your child to have a sippy cup. Generally, when parents start their children on sippy cups it is to give them liquid other than formula or breast milk. I’ve seen numerous parents give their infant water in a sippy cup. This is fine if they are older than six months and eating some solids. However, as long as your infant is younger than six months and/or is not eating solids, it is really not recommended that you give your child a sippy cup with anything in it other than breast milk or formula. (Small amounts of water are, of course fine.) I’ve also seen many parents put something sweetened like juice or chocolate milk into a sippy cup to entice their baby to take it. This is just a bad idea and will result in your child associating a cup with sweet drinks.

With that said, let’s assume that your baby is ready, and that you’re only giving him healthy drinks like water, milk and/or 100% juice (without sugar). NEVER give your child a sippy cup filled with anything besides water at bedtime as other liquids can pool on the teeth and cause decay. Here are a few tips to get your on your way:

*If at first you don’t succeed try, try, try again! Some babies don’t take to sippy cups right away and that’s fine. Some models are so effective at keeping liquid out, your baby really has to work to get anything! Try different types of sippy cups until he finally takes to one.

*Different sucking motion. . .is used to get the liquid out. If he is nursing and taking a bottle, introducing a sippy cup and expecting him to drink substantial amounts of anything is unrealistic.

*Some parents find great success with the sippy cups that have flexible rubber spouts that mimic a bottle’s nipple.

*Some babies never take sippy cups. My own twins are two such babies. They drink well from regular cups. Although it can be inconvenient, if you really can’t get your baby to drink from a sippy cup, try a regular old cup. I know I was surprised at the dexterity with which my own handled a regular cup.