Sippy cups and your baby?

Question

My son is 6 months old and we're hoping to introduce him to a sippy cup soon. Just curious as to when you introduced one to your baby? What brands did you find the best? What sort of drinks did you put in it? Any tips for this first time mom?
We've used regular cups for him but he makes a mess and our pediatrician said we could try giving him one at 7 months.

Answer 1

We used a Nuby cup for our son. I don't know if they have them everywhere but they're really great. They have a soft, silicone spout instead of a hard plastic one. So they're a little bit easier to transition to from a bottle. They even have stage 2 ones now with a straw. And he only ever drank water. We gave him room-temp previously boiled water and that's what he likes best. I didn't want to get in the trap of having him drink only something sweet. Now he doesn't even like sweet juices at all, although he likes some orange or grapefruit juice every once in a while.

Answer 2

I have spent more money than you know on all brands and types. The ONLY one that consistently did not leak is the Gerber sippy that looks like a barbell. They may not be as cute or fashionable but you'll appreciate not having juice in the bottom of your purse/diaper bag. But...for teaching your little one to use a cup, try one with a straw since they don't have the whole tip-the-cup-to-drink thing down at first. Nuby's are great (from Wal-mart) and cheap at around $2 each. Speech pathologists say they are better for oral motor development than the regular sippys are.
We transitioned from bottle to cup by separating their contents--she could have her night time bottle of milk/formula but any juice or water went into the cup.

Answer 3

My son uses the Nuby 2-Handle Cup, I tried a few others before that and he didn’t want anything to do with the sippy cup, but once I gave him this one he loved it, and now at nearly 10 months old he only has 1 bottle of formula and the other 4 formula feedings are from a sippy cup. So lol it wasn't that it was my fav or the one i prefered, it was the one he prefered, lol. Hope this helps, :D.

Answer 4

I know that it is easier to do a sippy cup because of the mess, but it is better use open mouth cups. Babies tend to use a "suckle" pattern with the sippy cups, and tend to bite down on the spout because they don't have enough jaw stability yet. This can negatively impact the development of higher level oral motor skills needed for eating and speech development.
It is typically recommended that you begin weaning baby off from a bottle and onto the cup completely at 12-17 months of age, for better oral motor skill development. A cup and straw is also an alternative, but drinking out of an open mouth cup is a skill that should develop before that.

Answer 5

We gave my son a sippy cup on the day he turned 6 months old. He had never even had a bottle before (he was exclusively breastfed and continued to do so until he was 14 months old), and I think that's one of the reasons he did surprisingly well with the cup. We found a really nice one from Gerber with two handles on each side for him. After a month or so, he graduated to a Gerber straw cup, and was using an open cup on his own by his first birthday. We obviously still used sippy cups after he turned one; an open cup carried by a new walker can make big messes! But when we did use one, we just used the straw cups.
I would start out on one made for his age (they say on them whether they're for 6 months+, 9 months+, etc). The ones from Gerber and Playtex worked well with us. Just take it slowly, and let him decide when he wants to use it. My nephew wouldn't even take a sip from one until he was a year old; all kids are different. Good luck!

Answer 6

I started my son at six months with the soft spout no spill sippy cups. He learned to suck from it quite fast. He couldn't hold it up himself but I thought it was better to drink juice out of a cup and not a bottle at meal times. So it didn't really matter if he could hold it. He learned to reach for it when he wanted a drink and help me hold it. Then at seven months he learned to hold it himself and drink from a hard spout sippy cup. They say to use 50/50 baby juice and water mix. But I only use enough juice to give it a little flavor so that he gets more water. And he has never turned it down. Hope this helps.

Answer 7

I gave my son a Playtex brand non spill sippy cup. He was around 7 months when we first used it. He would never take a bottle, so I just put apple juice in the cup. He was breastfed until he was 14 months old and then we also put milk in the cup.

Answer 8

I introduced a sippy to my son when he turned 1, he never had a bottle or anything, just breast milk straight from the tap til then. He still breastfeeds, and will just carry the sippy around the house with him and drink from it throughout the day, unless he is nursing.
We bought a Sigg cup, it is a non-toxic aluminum sports style cup.
http://www.onlinefitness.com/product.cfm?pr=1171&ref=f

We only use water in the cup. Since he still nurses he has no need for cows milk, and juice (even 100%) is just sugary junk.

Answer 9

try the nubby sippy cup or the non-drip from Gerber (thats what i got ). My son is 6 months and got his first sippy cup today . He don't know what to do with it yet so he just bangs it on every thing LOL. Make sure to get one with handles and a soft spout

Answer 10

I used the Avent bottles, so I just got the sippy cup attachment for it. I gave it to my son around 5 mths with just water in it. It's more for practice then to actually get anything to drink.
Shortly after that I introduced him to a straw cup and that's what he still uses at 15 mths.