When to Introduce My Son to a Sippie Cup

hey B.
go for it. if he can handle it then there is no probably i've got 3 kids and they all used the nuby cups and loved them as soon as the child is ready to hold it then you will be fine. my 5 year old still loves to drink from the nuby cups so i keep them around just for him.
good luck

I started introducing the sippie cup to my son around 6 months. Feeding times are a great time or just give him some juice in a sippie cup in between meals. I only gave my son formula in a bottle, all other fluids were given in a sippie cup. Nubby is a good brand especially for introducing the sippie cup. It has a soft mouth-piece similar to a nipple and is leak and spill proof. They are at Wal-Mart for around $1-$2.

Hope this helps...S.

I would start now with the sippy. Use it when it's added to a meal, not a meal in it's self. KWIM? At this age he shouldn't have any confusion. Trust me...once they *get* the bottle they don't just loose it, at least not after 2 months or so!

I have tried all kinds of sippy's through out the years. I LOVE the nuby one's from Walmart. Just the basic modle. It has a soft silicone spout, which is similar enough to a bottle nipple that they can get it. My kids never could use the sippy's with hard lids/spouts until they *got* the concept of it all.

Good luck! If he doesn't like it now, just try again every so often. It's one of those things that works out in time.

M.

Hey there! With all 4 of my kids, I have used sippies during mealtimes and had success. I highly recommend Nubie (Nuby?)sippy cups. The drinking spout is sort of like a silicone nipple so baby doesn't reject it and they are very spillproof! I do daycare too, so I keep them around and I found a great deal in the Avon Walmart. They have one of those gigantic bins full of them for the cheapest I have seen them. I think like 2 or 3 bucks a piece. Good luck!

We gave our kids sippy cups with water in them at mealtime right when we started first giving them 'meals' at the table -- around 4-5 months. We had to hold it at first but they soon got the hang of it. Also, we removed the plastic plug on the inside for the first week or so. That let the water just drizzle out so they learned "hey, if I suck on this, something comes out!". They never had any problems taking the sippy cup or got confused. It definately made it easy to ditch the bottles completely when they were 11-12 months old because by then they preferred the sippy cups.

We used Playtex brand sippy cup. They are the only ones I never had any problems with leaking. They make different sizes/shapes of the mouthpart now so it's easier for babies to use.

B.,

Don't worry, I was the same way with Kaylee. You never really know what to do with your first. They don't include manuals when they are born. We asked her doctor at her six month appointment. He said to introduce the sippy around 6 months. Put whatever you think they like in it. They probally won't get it very well until 6 or 7 months, but keep it available, so they can play with it and figure it out on their own. We like the Nuby plastic one's too for that age, but she liked the hard plastic ones once she was taken off the bottle around 12 months.
I would defintally not give juice in the bottle! Juice is not very good for them, and there is no reason they need to have it. Our doctor told us to limit juice, and the only reason to make sure she has it is if she was constipated or something and needed something to help soften up. He said as long as they are on formula, they are getting all of the nutrition they need and don't worry too much about everything else at this point.
I hope this helps.

B.,

I started giving my daughter a sippy cup around 6 or 7 months when she ate just to introduce it to her. That way by the time she was 9 months old she could use a sippy cup all by herself. She never was confused. She didn't drink to much with her meals, so she still had her bottle. It made taking away the bottle easier at 12 months.

Hi B..
It is safe to go ahead and introduce the sippy to your little guy. By six months he won't get confused switching him back and forth. My daughter is breastfed but I started at about 5-6 months giving her a sippy with her baby food. She actually loves using it.

I also use the Nuby sippy cups. They do work more like a bottle and are easier for the little ones to figure out. I got one with the handles on it and my daughter loves to hold on to it and try to drink from it by herself. Good luck and hope this helps

I don't think using the sippie cup at meals is going to confuse him. That seems the like the most logical step to take to introduce it to him. I'm no expert, but I am a mama. I would think that he would start associating meals with the sippie cup and there should be no problem. That is what we did with our son and he adjusted just fine. And around his first birthday he was done with the bottle. He just lost interest, lucky for me, some mothers have a battle to get rid of the bottle. :) Good luck. You know best, you are a mother.

At first my little boy couldnt get it. I was experiementing with all kinds. Well, my good friend had left a cheapo here by accident. The kind they say you can throw away if you want. So I tried it and they are flexible enough that it could be gently squeezed. From that, my son learned to suck out of sipper cup. From there I used the Nuks cause my ultimate goal of course was to get rid of the bottle and they have the soft tips.

B.,

When I breastfed my daughter well-minded friends told me that I would confuse Chelsey if I switched from breast to bottle. But if done correctly none of that will happen. :-) In my case it was a necessity. :-)) But when it is time for your little one to drink or if you notice that he is wanting one,then bring out the sippie cup. But since he is still young don't fill it up all the way. If it is too heavy, it may discourage him from using it.

When I started Chelsey with her's, I would pretend to drink from it. She then would want it because she thought it was something that Mommy liked. Needless to say I had to try several baby foods in my time. :-)) But so many new brands have come out since Chelsey used hers I couldn't tell you.

But I can tell you let your baby be a part of the selection. First find a brand that you like then let the little one pick out the color. Chelsey had one that she like the most and as long as I was able to watch over it, I would let her have it (It was a gift from a family member). But it seemed to be the color that she like the best. The one I bought seemed to be only used on car rides and when we were visiting. Otherwise, she didn't want it.

So first, find a brand that you like and takes care of your needs. Then let the baby have some fun too and pick the color or something (a character or design) that will actually help to make the conversion more pleasurable for both of you. :-)

Hi B.! My Xander is 6 months old as well, and we just went to his 6 month checkup/shots this Tuesday. Our pediatrician (who is absolutely wonderful, by the way) said that we should go ahead and introduce him to a sippie cup, as well as get him used to eating three meals a day. It's not really a problem with us, since he's already eating cereal in the mornings and veggie baby food in the evening. She just said to work in another fruit or veggie serving around lunchtime to get him used to eating regular meals. Hope this helps!! We're off to buy him a booster seat and a sippie cup today!

With my little one I started him on a cup when he could hold his bottle. The best that i have found is the ones with the soft topes to them you can find them at wal mart.

I see a lot of other people have already given you their input, but I thought I would add mine too.. We started Grant on a sippy cup when he was about four months...He is seven months now, we don't use it necessarily at meal times, but for water and juice between meals...We didn't use the ones where they resemble a bottle with a sippy nipple, he didn't like those as much...so we used the hard plastic ones....He is now seven months and knows how to use the cup and is now learning to hold it himself and he knows to lift it up to get the luquid out....I have always let Grant kinda dictate when he is ready for something....give it a try and he will tell you if he is ready....We use whatever is cheaper, Grant doesn't seem to care...so I would just say let your son take the lead and try and and let him decide if he is ready, but make sure he is in a good mood when you introduce it and be ready for him to make a mess :) Good luck:)

okay, here is what I did. I now have a 15 month old. I bought one of the sippy cups that have a nipple like lid. There are ones that you can buy that are called trainer sippy cups. where once your child has gotten down getting more out in one suck then you can move to the one with the sippy like nipple. I wouldn't get the ones that have plastic. What I did was water and juice in the sippy cup and I only gave him the bottle during feeding that just had formula only. After awhile I just gave him a bottle at night. If what I gave him wasn't enough and he wanted formula I put it in the sippy cup. The next thing I did was a week before his 1st bday I put warm vit. D milk in a sippy cup and gave that to him. He didn't care that is wasn't in a bottle. The next hard step for me was stop giving him the milk before bed. I took awhile for him to understand but now he's fine. Good luck patience is the key. Even when he cries I won't give him the bottle right awhile. I would try to get him to drink for the sippy cup. As far as confusing him. I dont think that should be an issue. Because you are going to be doing that alot the older he gets. It is all about repeatision. There are some people that say potty training your child with pull ups is confusing and I am sure there is more. You know your baby the best do what you think is right and you feel most comfortable. I hope letting you know what I did could help give you ideas.

My son Matthew was right around the same age when I introduced the sippie cup. I would sit him in his high chair at snack time (he was quite the chunker and ate two jars of baby food three times a day and snacks in between)with some cheerios or cheese squares or whatever the snack was, and I would give him a sippie cup too with some juice in it.
This was also when I introduced the spoon to him (he was already being spoon fed but I wanted him to have some practice). He played with the spoon more than anything at first, drank from the cup well though, and eventually he kept trying harder and harder to get food on the spoon by himself.
By his first birthday he had lost interest in bottles which was great, and as messy as he was his dexterity with a spoon was very impressive!
As far as types of cups, they make some now with silicone nipple ends that are quite a bit like bottles, they didn't have those that I ever noticed when I had Matthew. Playtex cups (and I would get the fatter ones that have handles on both sides, Little Suzy's Zoo makes some good ones as well) have always been great for him when he was that little but different strokes for different folks! The no spill ones always have some kind of plastic piece that blocks fluids from coming out and some are much harder to clean than others. I would do a little experimenting with a few kinds to see what works best for him.
Enjoy it and take pictures, it's so much fun to watch them try new things!

ummmm, really thats all up to u and when u feel comfortable. if he is usin a sippy now w/out a problem, let him... no big deal. and i never had a problem w/my kids takin a bottle at nap or bedtime while they were usin a sippy at breakfast, lunch and supper. this is all the natural part of one day bottle breakin ur son. the faster they learn, the easier it will b when the time comes. i have a friend who has twins that r only 8 months old, and they take a bottle at sleepie times and sippies at feedin times. only i dont like her sippy cups. i use to buy the cups that have a plastic insert under the cap. has a arrow pointing to the drink spout (and believe me, ull know if u got the arrow backwards), i never had a problem w/them leakin. the ones my friend has is hard plastic, no good. they pop off all the time which leaves the kids soaked.
but like i said in the beginning, its all up to u and what is natural w/ur son and u. i had all my children eatin cereal w/in a couple of weeks off a spoon at birth. i introduced everything early, even babyfood. just make sure, what u choose that u stand bhind ur and ur husbands decisions. and b consistant.
hope all this helps.

take care,
kat-geneva

With both of my kids I started giving them their juice only in a sippie cup, but let them have their milk in a bottle for about another month. Then we gave their bottles away to "another baby who needed them". That semed to work out pretty well. Where you're just starting to give them a sippie cup I'd recommend buying the small cups that have handles on the sides. i'm not sure what brand but I know they sell them at Wal-mart.