Drinking from a Straw - West Harrison,NY

The best thing that worked for me and my friends daughter was buying the small juice boxes and using that small straw first. You have to just keep doing it until she learns. Eventually she will be able to use the bigger straws.

My daughter likes the crazy straws with chocolate milk (you can see it move in the straw better)!!! Just am idea! Ali

My 15m old twins were the same way....no interest in sippy cups or a straw. I know that we had to experiment with several sippy cups -the ones with the softer sippy part worked better that the hard ones especially if they actually had to 'suck' the liquid out. I also know that they did better with water than milk. They resisted the sippy cup and milk until just recently. We kept the sippys filled with water around the house and just offered it to them constantly. After a few weeks they got the hang of it and now actually look for their sippys and are even drinking milk at meal times from the hard spout sippy cups. Hang in there!!

Like Beata, I used boxed drinks, but I used milk instead of juice. It was a really great way to teach my son what was in the straw. He picked up it up really fast.

14 months is the perfect age to teach your daughter how to use a straw.

juice box. my son learned the same day. you'll have to squeeze a little up for her at first. then she'll figure out how to do it. use a juice box for a few days then try a straw cup when she's got it.

Give her the opportunity as often as possible. Juices that straws, they have the real small juices for little hands and straw with each one. They had cups in walmart with straws but I don't know if they still have them or carry them. I have seen it and decided to get something else because my sons were pass that age and point wanting something like that. Wasn't necessary they knew how to suck through straws. Anyways, give her the opportunities whenever. In the restaurants, try it but bring the sippy cup (don't let her see the sippy cup) just in case she can't drink it through the straw. Every child is different and some do it early and others do it later and she's not too young, but is she interested or ready is the question. Try it and keep giving her the opportunity and before you know she'll get it. Juice is all I can think of at this point.

The juice box is a good idea.
As the mother of a 5 y.o. that doesn't care much about food or drink, I can tell you that you'll probably be a her beck and call for a few years longer. If I don't stand next to my son, he forgets to drink and/or eat, since he never seems to be thirsty or hungry. The 2 words more used in this household are "Eat!" and "Drink!".

I found the same thing to be true for my son. I found that juice boxes that you can squeeze will give them the idea. Try the little juicebox first and supervise because they tend to play and make a big mess. From then you can move on to regular straws. The sippy cup with the straw is meant for older kids. If she doesn't catch on, don't worry, she is only 14 months.

Just keep offering it to her in addition to her other drinks. Let her try to drink from the straw from the top with the bottom in the cup. I remember watching each of my children the first however many times thinking, 'how on earth do I "teach" this' but all I did was keep putting the straw to their mouths. They would play with it a bit and then one day, like swimming, they just "got it". You can get those sippy cups with straws that are spill proof. Just give it to her and let her have her way with it! :)

I bet if you are drinking water or diluted juice in a cup with a straw she will want to be just like Mommy and drink from your cup with a straw.

I used box drinks. If you squeeze it gently the liquid will go into the straw. It will teach them how to suck from the straw. It worked within minutes for my kids.

I don't think she is too young to be drinking from a sippy cup with a straw. My 20 month old has been doing it for months. It's the only kind of sippy cup she ever wanted to drink from. They are specially made for toddlers so the the liquid doesn't come out too fast. You can probably find one for her age. I would take her to the store with you and have her pick the straw sippy she wants. Toddlers like to have choices, it makes them feel like they have some control.

Good Luck!

I recently posed this same question as my 14 month old wants to either have his bottle or a regular cup because he gets frustrated and can't seem to get the hang of the straw thing. We tried the regular sippys and took the flow regulator out, but that is MESSY!

I prefer the straw sippy to anything as my older one started with them because he was too lazy to hold his bottle and/or sippy on his own and this was a great solution. Come to find out, the sippy ones are better for them anyway!

We also try the mots for tots juice boxes and squeezing it to start it for him, but he only wants to chew the straw. He prefers to take the straw out and squeeze it out the hole into his mouth-also MESSY!

If you find a better method that works, let me know!!!!!

Not sure if anyone else said this yet, but how about a straw sippy? My daughter is 1 year and loved these. I got them b/c a speech therapist told me not to use the flat shaped ones. She had trouble at first, but now likes it.

I don't know if this is good parenting but to get my 1 yr old son to drink from a straw sippy cup I had him watch me do it. I would sip up the water and then gargle it and let it dribble out a bit so he could see it. He thought that was hilarious and quickly sucked the water through the straw, let it dribble all down his chin and laugh. A couple days of that, I knew he could physically do it and never let him see me "playing" with the water in my mouth again. I also stopped giving him attention when he dribbled and spit out the water and he very quickly transitioned to just drinking from the straw cup and not using it as a play thing.
Good luck!

Start drinking your drinks with straws and begin to give her straws just to play with. Eventually she will want to try. Thats how I started. Good luck.

Maybe some of these ideas will work but my son didn't get the straw cup until he was about 2. But he used a regular sippy cup sooner--sometime between 12-18 months. Once he got the straw idea he liked it better.