When do i introduce sippy cup

Prolonged use of the bottle may affect the positioning and development of adult teeth later. This can result in an overbite, crooked teeth, and the eventual need for orthodontics later in life. Consider the following to help you slowly get your baby familiarized with this strange new contraption: Let your baby look, touch, and hold.

Start by bringing out a sippy cup each day — empty, so as not to waste any of your precious liquid gold! Show your little one how to take a proper sip. Once he or she is familiarized with the look, feel, and mechanics of the sippy cup, start filling it with a small amount of your pumped breast milk and showing them how to take a sip.

Try guiding their hands onto the handles and helping them lift the spout to their mouth, and then letting a drop or two dribble onto their lips. Keep it slow and steady. Most babies will respond by immediately sealing their lips to swallow, which helps them learn to close their lips around the straw. After practicing like this several times, you can offer the straw trainer to your baby but do not squeeze.

Wait and see if they try to get the liquid out on their own by sucking. It may take several introductions, but once they understand how to consistently use the straw and no longer need the squeeze feature, you can transition to other straw cups to generalize the skill to all straws. Wait it out. Give your baby time to show interest and try on their own.

Chase the why. Is your baby just completely baffled about what to do with the cup or straw? Allow your answer to guide your support. For example, if your baby is independent, you may need to be hands-off, even if that means your baby spills water over and over again. Put only a small amount in the cup, bring a towel to the table, and remain calm.

Modify the recommendations above based on what you suspect might be contributing to the refusal. Hunger can be motivating. Make sure your baby has at least a bit of hunger motivation at the meal by separating out breast or bottle-feeds from table feeds by at least 60 minutes. Be the example. Model the behavior by drinking from the same cup at mealtimes and occasionally offering the cup to your baby by holding it out to them after you take a drink. Stay calm and confident that your baby will learn this with time.

Try water at some meals and breast milk or formula at other meals to see if one of the flavors is more enticing. If your baby is struggling, stick with one type of cup for several days or weeks at a time, rather than switching back and forth between straw and open cups. However, if you find your baby crying at the sight of the cup or immediately arching and pushing the cup away, take a break for a few days, then try again with a different type of cup. Change the environment. If a baby is actively refusing to try drinking with a straw cup or open cup at meals, try changing the environment.

Outside of a meal, prepare an open cup or straw cup with water. Pick up your baby and interact for a moment, capturing their attention, then casually walk over to the cup, pick it up, and start drinking. After a few sips, smile big at your baby and make a funny noise or silly face to further engage your baby. Do not offer the cup at first. If so, help them take a drink or hand them the cup and let them try it.

Often, babies are much more open to trying a cup outside of the normal mealtime environment. Get messy. Bring a few cups and a small pitcher of water or water bottle to the blanket and set them in front of your baby. Then, sit back and let your baby try.

As we mentioned above, often this low-pressure type of play will cause the most resistant babies to engage, and once they are happily playing, they are more likely to imitate you and try drinking from the cup. Once your baby likes the cup, they may want it all the time—but don't let them carry it around during the day, use it as a pacifier, or sleep with it. Constantly bathing their teeth in sugar from drinks even breast milk!

Supervise when your baby drinks from a cup while seated. If they walk or run with a cup and fall, it could lead to mouth injuries. The longer you wait to wean, the more attached your baby will get to the bottle or breast—and the harder it will be for them to give it up. After your baby's comfortable with the sippy cup about a month or so , you can begin the weaning process. If you move too quickly, they may view the cup as more of a punishment than simply a new way to drink.

Start by phasing out one midday feeding session, since babies usually eat the least at that meal and aren't as emotionally dependent upon it. Replace the feeding with a snack or a meal, including a beverage from a cup. Wait a week or two if your baby is struggling with the transition before eliminating another feeding. Continue phasing out one feeding per week until your child is off the bottle or breast completely. Ready to start weaning your child off the breast or bottle? Of course, you could introduce them to open-top cups right away, but you'd have to deal with plenty of frustrating messes.

You better believe they'll love chucking that full cup straight across the room! To lessen the stress, it's usually smarter—and cleaner—to choose a sippy cup designed for the transitional phase. The best sippy cups will be easy to clean and use, made without harmful chemicals, and able to withstand spills.

Keep reading for our top picks on the market today. The spoutless Munchkin Miracle Trainer Cup has a flat degree drinking edge that allows your child to sip from anywhere on the rim, successfully mimicking an actual cup and supporting mouth muscle development. When your baby is finished drinking, the lid automatically seals so you can bid adieu to spills! Definitely consider stocking up on these cups, which come in a four pack, for kids 9 months and older.

You can give them expressed breastmilk and water if older than 6 months or juice and whole milk if they're over 12 months. If you choose to offer juice, water it down to manage the amount of sugar you are giving baby. Change up the bedtime bottle routine. Some babies use bottles as security objects during their bedtime routine like drinking their bottle as you read to them in the glider in their room.

Modify the routine by giving them their straw cup, but make sure to add brushing their teeth to the routine too. Drinks like milk contain sugar, which can cause tooth decay.

You can brush their teeth to prevent that. Bring your baby's toothbrush and toothpaste fluoride-free, since fluoride is harmful to swallow in the room with you, and brush their teeth gently before you put them in the crib.