Sippy Cup - Englewood,CO

Nope, not too early. He can play around with it. He might not drink from it for a while, but you can keep helping him and showing him. Also get the straw kind. My 22 month old just drank from straws until just now. He's finally tipping a sippy on his own!

I don't have too much to add. We started with the Avent sippy's with the soft spout & they leak a lot! My friend says that her avent bottles leak too. We just got the nuby sippy and it seems to do better. They are both BPA free :)

My daughter and son both used sippies at 6 mos. Then went to strawed cups by 10 mos. I still gave bottles for formula and breast milk (so it would be drank completely and I knew the intake)but would occassionally put the formula in a sippy and they drank it. Once they turned a year old the bottles were gone and they made the transition with perfection! It is good practice. Remember though at 7 mos they don't need much water really as their kidneys are just developing and too much water isn't good for them. Put a small amount with a little juice in it if you want him to drink out of it, if you want let him play with it.

I did introduce a sippy cup to my little guy and he still thinks it's a toy. He figured out right away how to unscrew the lid. SO in my case it was a very bad idea.
~B.

We also introduce a straw at this age. We use the Avent Trainer Cup or the Nuby cups that are short and fat with handles. Two of ours really like/liked these. One just went straight to the Playtex with the hard nipple. It's really a matter of opinion, and each child is different.

My little sister was drinking out of a regular glass when she was seven months old. I think it should be fine. Good luck!!!

My daughter is 7 months old right now and drinks from a sippy cup during the day. We keep the bottles for nap and bedtime. I give her a small diluted amout of juice and water once a day but formula in the sippy cup the rest of the time. We have tried several kinds and she does the best with the NUBY brand with the handles on it. Hope that helps!

My son is almost 7 months and we introduced a sippy cup just before Christmas. He gets a few ounces of juice a day in it. I recommend the Nuby ones or any other ones with a soft top. Our first one had a hard top and it was too hard for him to drink so he would get frustrated. The soft tops are more like the bottle/breast that he is used to and he knew how to get the stuff out immediately. I don't think you would have too much trouble transitioning as long as you have a soft top cup. Good luck!

Just give them water in it to begin with because they will make a mess with it, but they won't learn to use one if you don't let them try. Seven months is a good time to start the transition. I suggest the cups with a softer spout to begin with, but a few months later you will want to start using a harder spout or they chew holes or push their fingers through them.

I have three kids and always breastfed all of them and then went right to a sippie cup. My daughter, who is now 18, started on a sippie cup when she was 6 mo. She made the adjustment well and I can remember giving her a bottle for about a week at night. That was before the invention of the sippie cups with valves in them. Both of my boys were able to make the adjustment to those with the valves very easily. The little babies just suck on the sippie cups with the valves like bottles. The only concern I can think of with the sippie cups is trying to find on with the protrusion small enough for the little baby's mouth. You just have to look around for a while. My youngest boy is 4 years old so I really don't know what is available at this time. Good luck to you and always be willing to try new things with the baby and you both will succeed!

I read in parents mag that 6 monthis is not too early so I went and got one too. My son is now 7 months and he uses it no problem. I got one that was very similar to a bottle, it has a silicone nipple like top, and two handles on the side. I wanted one with the nipple like top because I thought plastic spout on the cups would confuse him. He seems to like it fine. The handles threw him off for a while, but now he likes it.

That is a great idea! It may take him a few months to get a handle on it but this is a good time. Good luck!

Gosh we gave my daughter a sippy cup with handles around 5 months (playtex). We didn't think she would do much with it, but she loved it! It has a stopper thing in it so they don't get too much water and they do have to suck a bit.
She got the hang of it in a week or so and has been loving it every since. I don't think at 7 months it is bad to at least give the little guy one and see how it goes. Might take a few weeks, but he will catch on.

The first week we had it we did take the stopper thing out and just held it up to her mouth so she could see liquid comes out, but then put the stopper back in. From there it was up to her to figure out how to get it out.
She does get over aggressive at times and gets too much water in her mouth, but she had never seriously choked. She kinds spits the water out, coughs for a second and goes right back at it with a smile. In fact we think she makes a game of that.

One thing I will say is that we don't give her juice- water only. Too many parents think juice is good for kids, but it is full of sugar and empty calories. We don't intend to give her juice for some time and even when we do it will be highly watered down... but that is just our opinion.

Good luck and have fun.

I say go for it! I introduced the sippy to my little girl about 7motnhs. She is now 8 months and does quite well. For the first couple of weeks she mostly played with hit, but eventually she got the hang of it.

I think you absolutely need to introduce him to a sippy cup now. I would get a variety of different ones to try. The one I found that my son liked the best was from Born Free. It has a soft nipple,similar to bottle nipples, but it is a sippy cup. I would start with that one. It's expensive for a sippy cup but worth it.

Have fun.
Kim

I think it's definitely a good idea. Not too early at all. I started exposing my son to a sippy cup at 4 month when he started rice cereal. You can do a small amount of water or diluted juice (dilute 1/2 and 1/2 with water). He was off of breast and bottle by 12 month. (the AAP recommends being off the bottle by that time). Now that he's older he only uses straw cups and it works the best for him. Each kid is different, so you might have to try out a few cups before you find one that he enjoys. Good luck.

I got the nuby sippy cups that have a sippy spout but soft like a bottles nipple. Then I would fill it wil ice and put a little water in it. It worked great for my daughter and while she was teething helped get those gums nice and cool. good luck. she transitioned later to normal sippies just fine.

I don't think it is too early at all to introduce him to a sippy cup. The earlier the better. There are so many different types of sippy cups out there. When my daughter was little, I started with the ones that had the softer spout and handles. As she got older, I went with the harder plasic ones. I tried the ones with the straw and she didn't like those. She did really well with just a regular sippy cup. It may be a matter of trial and error for a little bit but your son will find one that he prefers. Good Luck!!

I love introducing my babies to sippies as early as possible. That way they can play with it and like it long before I try to wean them from me! I like the nuby sippy with the squishy top to begin with. They can suck and get a drink which is what they are used to already!

Hi H.,
We tried every cup out there. Some that have the straw detached inside the straw falls off. This can be frustrating to the baby because they are confused enough without nothing coming out because it has slipped. So, I like the ones with the straw that does not come apart. Another idea that someone wrote on here was to slip out the no spill plastic piece on the inside so that the baby has instant formula or milk. It gives them a better idea that something good is inside. We also, did baby sign language and the sign for sippy cup is to tip your hand up to your mouth like a cup and make a sipping noise. That was good because it was a hand game and make a new noise game and understand the cup too. She liked that! Good luck, K. K.

H. - Our daughter started to take a sippy cup at six months. Our boy didn't really start getting anything out of it until 8-9 months. He liked having it though. Our daughter was breastfed exclusively and our son was breastfed through a bottle. I think it took him a little longer to figure it out because it was different from his bottle. We used the Playtex with handles and at around a year went to the one with out handles. We did introduce our son with the Nuby, it comes out easy, but it leaks. The Playtex ones are so sturdy. I hope you find what works for you. I remember having the same questions.

Skip the sippy and just go with a cup. He's old enough. When you feed him solids, put a little bit of water or breastmilk/formula in a small cup (the best are the ones with handles, so he can start helping soon). Put the cup to his lips and tip it up. For now, it' going to be mostly on him rather than in him. I even would spoon the milk from the cup to my baby's mouth and then move the cup closer. Do just little bits at a time till he's used to it, then gradually give him more. He's going to want to hold the cup and wave it around - let him play with it when he's empty so he can figure it all out.
We did this with all 3 kids. The oldest was a bottle baby and the other 2 were exclusively breastfed (never took a bottle). They were all drinking well from a cup by a year. (In fact, it was nice when I wanted to go for a few hours that the younger ones would drink milk from a cup enough to hold them till I cae home).

It's true that they can't carry the cup around the way they can a sippy. But it's better for them to get in the habit of drinking at the table or highchair. Carrying around a beverage and sipping at it all day can add extra calories, reduce appetite for other foods, and contribute to cavities. It's also not a great habit to be in, and you don't want to have to wean him from it, besides from the breat or bottle.

I like the cheap, but BPA free Take and Toss ones. Something like 6 for $3 or $4. They will spill a bit when turned over, but don't take that strong a suck to get liquid out. Not great for going out and about, but we use them all the time at home.

It is totally not too early. I was giving my daughter a sippy cup without the spill proof thing on it at 5 months. Treat them older and they respond older.
Good luck with it all.