When Are You Supposed to Introduce Sippy Cups, If at All?

I'm testing the waters with my 8mo old right now.
Formula goes in bottles. Water (after meals and snacks) in a soft spout sippy (I have the Nuby Sports Sippers).

She'll drink out of them fine. Doens't get the concept of how to tip it back to drink out of it, but she'll get there.

With my DS, I just switched him cold from formula in bottles to milk in sippys at 12mos. He had no issues with it.

PS: the Playtex sippys are WONDERFUL and spillproof...but the short hard spout probably isn't the easiest transition for babies. Great for toddlers!

1. When does one introduce the sippy cup?- I started introducing it at 6 months, and he was on the cup exclusively by 10 months.
2. Is it better than a bottle?- Orally, yes; but, of course, only for a certain amount of time. A sippy cup for too long can be just as harmful as a bottle for too long. Or a pacifier...
3. When do you go to a cup/ straw?- When they learn to drink from a straw. That can range for some kids. Some kids can drink from a straw at 13 months, and some not until they're 2. My son turned 18 months at the end of February, and that's when I was finally able to teach him to drink from a straw. I'm pretty sure I could've gotten him to drink from a straw sooner though, if I'd done before what I ended up doing to teach him. Once I finally figured out what would get him to learn, he literally did it after the first try.
4. Do you continue offering bottles?- At your baby's age, yes. Once you move exclusively to cups, why would you go back to a bottle?
5. At some point, I guess the bottles stop. How do you do that?- I just didn't offer it anymore, and he didn't mind. As long as he was getting milk and/or water from something, he didn't really care.
6. Are some cups better than others?- Yes. Some are actually rated by and approved by some American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry or something like that. The brand that I've found to be the best, and I absolutely LOVE, is Tommee Tippee.
7. Are there any that are spill/ leak proof?- Yep, Tommee Tippee. They have a website that you can go to and see their different products.

Edited to add: I forgot to mention that my son was largely breastfed as well. He was breastfed exclusively until around 5 months old. I went back to work when he was 4 months old, and then even w/ pumping, my supply started really decreasing. So, at 5 months, I still pumped what I could and then supplemented with Enfamil Premium Lipil. This went fine up until he was 7 months and his dad and I had to go to Jamaica. I knew that would be the end of breastfeeding altogether. Although I could've pumped the whole time I was away, it's just not the same as actually having the baby there, and just like I thought, my supply dropped down to almost nothing :-( So, he was on Enfamil from 7 months until about 11 months when I started mixing it w/ whole milk and preparing him for the 1 yr old transition. I say all this to say that because he was breastfed exclusively for the first 4 months, it was HELL trying to find a bottle he would take. I tried almost every brand, and the only one he ended up taking was the Breast Flow bottles. So, I was very pleased and surprised when he took the sippy cup so easily.

We starting introducing a sippy type cup around 10 months and then got rid of the bottle at 1 year (almost on the dot!) I don't see the point until then, but that is just me. He is still a little guy and the bottle will still give him the nipple/sucking thing that 'they' claim he 'needs.' We just cut it off cold turkey so there wasn't any lingering.

One day, around 10 months of so, he just 'got' the idea of a straw so that helped him. We gave him a normal sippy cup and he didn't really like those because they didn't give him enough fluid fast enough. We tried various different ones and it wasn't until we found the Nuby ones with the straws that he just LOVES!

Finally- I would say there are no 100% spill proof cups because the ones that are better with suction and holding it all in seem to pull the fluids up overtime and that can cause some spillage. BUT overall I like the Nuby ones that you can get from wal-mart.

I started introducing a sippy cup around a year, when she could hold it and when we were introducing whole milk. We just use the Playtex ones with the hard spout, but you may find that a straw or flexible spout works well for you. If your child's bottle company makes sippy cups, that may be a smoother transition. My kid seems to like simple. She didn't like the fancy Avent bottles I bought, either.

Ours are pretty leak-proof. Most brands have some sort of valve in them (which I initially took out to help her realize that it was for drinking). Whatever brand you end up with, buy one brand. That way you have interchangeable parts.

DD still had a bottle til she was 16 mo or so and then I changed jobs and started working at home. She used a sippy and nursed after that til she was weaned.

One day I realized she knew how to use a straw (accident) and so now sometimes she does use a straw, but our issue is more that the lids of cups in restaurants come off easily vs the straw. I put her drinks in sippy cups if we are out and I don't want to change her clothes. At home, we have small kiddie cups that she practices drinking from without lids. She's pretty good, but a lot of the time sippy cups are still the way we go. Lidless cups are only used in our kitchen or outside. Not in the car or livingroom.

I started offering my girls the sippy around 6mos old with their solid feedings. I put water in it w/o the plug. This way they don't associate just formula with it and w/o the plug so they could learn hos to drink from it. Around 10mos I replaced one daytime feeding of formula with it in a sippy. Then every week or so replace another one. Then when my girls were a week from turning one I ran out of formula so I thru out the bottles and went straight to sippy's with milk. Straws will come probably around 15-18mos. The cups I liked best were the ones that you can wash or throw away. They come in the spill proof/sippy style and the ones with straws.

I breastfed my kids rarely got bottles around 8 months they started using a sippy cup for water. Just keep in mind that a sippy cup is meant to help transition from bottle to regular cup and should not be used for years. By 18 months my kids drank from cups only having a sippy cup to take in the car.

I breast fed my girls so they never had bottles. Then around 10 months or so I start giving them a sippy with a little cows milk. Not a lot or a meal replacement just something for them to drink to start getting used to sippy cups and the taste of cows milk. Then by the time they were 1 (like between 12 to 14 months) I would completely wean them and have them drinking whole milk from a sippy with all their meals. I like the playtex ones. They are the ones that have the little removable piece inside the lid. It really makes them spill proof and they are easy to clean. I never used the ones with the straw. I just stuck with those until they are ready to start using cups. So my oldest is 4 and she always uses a regular cup now. My 2 year old will drink out of a cup at the table but if she's having a snack while watching tv or something I still give her a sippy. I think once they are a year they don't need bottles anymore so I would say you got a good 6 months before you need to start the sippy cups.

We introduced sippy cups at 6 months and took bottles away at 1 year. We liked to offer sippy cups during meal/snack times from 6 months on. Whatever you want to do is fine. We had no trouble taking away bottles at their 1st birthday and they were good at using sippy cups by then (it took mine a little while to catch on!) We just stopped giving them bottles. They never even asked for them again ... Most are leak proof and spill proof... they are all probably all about the same, but we liked using the Playtex Insulator ones.

i suggest that you get him a bottle with a straw inside to teach him how to sip.. babies depend on their sucking reflex.. if he is eating already and chews on food more likely he is ready to sip... do not switch to sippy cup right away.. sippy cups are just for juices and water do not give him a sippy cup when he is about to sleep.. bottles for formula... sippy cup for juices and water...

My daughter went from brest to bottle for a short time and then to a regular cup. The bottle we stoped cold turkey. All the bottles and nipples went into the trash...good riddens. I have a " we eat and drink at the table rule" , I refuse to clean up dribbles and crumbs all over the house. There was a spill here and there but she got it pretty quick. Good luck.

We didn't introduce the sippy cup until my little one was a year old. We really had no problem transitioning. My pediatrician recommended doing by then. She said that if you wait until later, kids are more attached to the bottles and you have a harder time making the transition.

I think you should start now. We introduced cups at 6 months with just water in it. It takes a while for them to figure it out, but I offered it to my kids randomly throughout the day and at every feeding. Both my kids were off the bottle before a year and it was so nice! I think the older they get the more they realize the bottle can be used as comfort. My daughter had no problem once she realized that the milk held her formula and didn't care one bit about losing the bottle! She was on a cup solely by probably 7-8 months. My son was on a bit more resistant but he got rid of the bottle by about 9-10 months.

The Nuby cups with the soft nipple-like lids are the most like bottles. They do leak though if the nipple is pressed against something so I only used those while they were supervised. The Playtex ones are the ones that we used with my first and are still going strong with my second. They hold up well and don't leak unless the stopper comes out, which is rare.

I probably wouldn't go to a straw yet. Both my kids learned how to do a straw right around 12 months, although I've heard of other kids doing it earlier. But, while just introducing the cup idea, I would stick to one kind until they have it down.

Every child is different. Trust me - I have 3 kids & 10 neices & nephews. With all those kids my SIL & I have figured out the following:
They are ALL different but 6 months old is a little to soon. BUT it turns out that giving him/her the sippy cup EMPTY so he/she gets used to seeing it & holding it now is a great idea. Both our Peds advised to start giving him some milk in the sippy around 9 months. NOT to replase the bottle but a little here & there to get him/her used to it. Around 10 - 11 months replace 1 bottle w/ the sippy (little by little if need be!) That way by the time he/she hits 1 year old (or a little older if that's what your baby wants!) He will have had at least 6 months of having seen, held & tasted the sippy cup & it won't be a shock or a fight & trust me it'll be easier for you as well! We've done the same w/ everything that we had to introduce or change in our kids' lives from sippys to potty training! My 4 year old gave up her bottle for a sippy @ 11 months & the sippy for a "straw sippy" around 24 months. My youngest is 18 months now & he gave up all but 1 bottle per day for the sippy & @ about 15 months started using the "straw sippy". I didn't read the other responses but I hope I gave you some ideas! Good luck & congrats on your 1st baby!! They are so precious & time flies too fast for me!!

For my son, we started the sippy cup at 6 months. He didn't quite get the hang of it until closer to 8/9 months, but I feel that he got comfortable with it and it was good for him to learn. We started giving it to him gradually, more and more until he was 1yr. I took the bottles away the day after he turned 1. He didn't even miss them! Didn't even notice they were gone actually! I was SO relieved. I think introducing the sippy cup early on helped with that, but it might have been that I was just lucky. We just gave him the sippy with his formula or water throughout the day, and bottles before bedtime and naps. Then we gradually replaced the naptime bottles with the sippy. And last but not least, replaced the bedtime bottle with the sippy (that one's usually the hardest for babies to give up).

They have different stages of sippy cups. It'll say right on the package whether it's for 6 months+, 12 months+ and so on. They are all pretty much spill proof. I don't like the ones that have the straw as much. They usually leak and confuse my son sometimes. He's used to tilting the cup up, so he didn't get that you have to keep the ones with a straw down.

This might sound weird, but we had a little orange plastic shot glass that we used to teach him to drink from a cup. He started using it at around 17 months. It was nice because he didn't drench himself, or choke on too big of a gulp, so it worked well for us. Then we gave him his own little cups and was able to use them well within two months. We still use sippy cups to avoid spills when we go out and for around the house (he's 2 years old now).

When you take away the bottle depends on your child. They recommend taking the bottle away at one year old, so that's what I tried and it worked wonderfully! But some parents decide to let their child keep the bottle until their two years old.

I hope this helped you :)

It's not too soon to ask. The sooner you can introduce a cup, the sooner he will be successful with it, and the easier weaning from a bottle will be. Ideally, they say you should be off the bottle at the same time you switch to milk, but this in unrealistic for most people.

However, if you can get him over to a cup and gradually drop out the bottles, it will be so much easier. Just begin by putting one feeding a day in a cup, and if he doesn't drink it, then that feeding is done. He will adjust.

I can't help with suggestions from weaning from a bottle, because my youngest never had one, and it took me too long to wean my oldest from one...so I'm not great in that area!