Sippy Cup Help!

A.,

I think letting her play with it is helping her learn how to use it!! I also would take the stopper out of the cup and help the baby drink from it. The first time I did that, the look on the baby's face was like "hey, I didn't know there was anything in there"!!

A better choice may be a Nuby cup, they have a soft tip, like a nipple. Also, my daughter never really wanted a cup, she preferred the cups with straws, and still does. She actually does much better with a straw and is now starting to use sippy cups. She is 1 1/2 years old.

I have two opinions... 1) Don't stress. She'll get it when she's ready. 2) I like the Nuby brand from WalMart. IT has a stopper in it that you can change slow or fast flow once she understands to suck from it. To start though, I would take the stopper out all together so she understands that something is supposed to come out of there...
Good luck. It'll be fine :)

Take the valve out so she knows that she can get something out of it. If she starts chewing on it, take the cup away and give her a teether or something else to chew on. Also, try giving it to her with meal times when she is eating solids and is getting thirsty. She will figure it out and it wouldn't be long before you are trying to figure out how to get the darn thing away from her!

A., I would just let her play w/ it and she will eventually figure it out. I really think she is too young to know what to do w/ it. Give her time.

Advise on another topic: My sister-n-law used to let her kids play w/ toothbrushes when they were babies and that got them ready to use it when they were old enough to brush their teeth. Worked like a charm. Wish she had told me about that when our son was a baby, cause it's so hard getting him to brush his teeth now! :{

mornin, A.! what i did was used a straw to teach my baby girl how to suck out of these things. you know, put your finger over the end but when you place it in her mouth, don't take your finger off the staw... make her suck it out. then when i moved on to cups... i didn't put the " no spill thing in it, so the fluid would slosh out to touch her tounge and she would know there's goodies in there! then i tried the intact sippy... good luck, hope this helps a bit

My two daughters also chewed and played with them at about that same age. I just let them and figured they would eventually figure it out. By 12 months both girls were drinking out of sippy cups.
I think at this age - she's just not quite ready yet, she'll get it in a couple of months. If you continue to let her play and chew on it, suddenly she will suck on it and as soon as she realizes that something comes out - she's got it!

Hi A.,
My son did not ever use the sippy cups. He did not like drinking out of them. You might want to try the cups with straws on them instead of the sippy cup lids. Your daughter might chew on the straw as well. My son took to the straws and just drinking out of a regular cup. He liked drinking out of regular cups because he was like the adults. Good luck with your little girl. She will start drinking out of the cups when she is ready. It might also be better to wait until she is not teething so she won't want to chew on the cups. Good luck.

Have you tried the sippy cups that don't have a stopper and let the liquid flow freely. These are good if you're able to help your daughter and for her to figure out liquid comes out of cups. Then she should be able to do regular sippy cups with the stoppers.

I've done this with all my children when they were 4 1/2 months old: Take the valve out and make an extra little slit in it and put the valve back in the sippie cup. It makes it much easier for them to draw the liquids out and then when they get the hang of it after a few days, put a regular valve back in and voila!

I started my two kids on a sippy right around 6 ths. They didn't get the hang of it for a while. At first they just played with it like a toy, mainly chewing on it, playing with the spout, etc...which was fine. I nursed my oldest two for a year and used the sippy for water and then eventually milk. I would recommend not to get too stressed out about it. It is something new and a child 7 1/2 mths is only going to chew on things as this is her way of "figuring" things out. Don't give up, but no need to pressure her. She will get it figured out in her own time. Just let her play with it and she will get the hang of it. Good Luck!

From my experience with my 2 kids I would say wait 2 months and try again, shes just not quite ready yet. I would say she doesnt quite understand... sucking on a bottle is different than a sippy and she still needs to hone some of her motor skills... and teething doesnt help. I had the same problem with my son.

She may be a bit young to get the hang of the sippy cup, and you want to make sure she is still getting all the nutrition she needs and if that means that she needs to get it from a bottle, then maybe you could try the sippy cup in a few months when she is a bit older.

Here is a list of sippy cups and bottles that are BPA-free
http://safemama.com/2007/11/22/bpa-free-bottle-and-sippy-...

Try taking the stopper out of the cup, so when she (or you) tips it up, she realizes that something yummy is coming out of it. Be careful 1)she will likely spill a little, 2)don't put too much in it because it will come out faster than she is used to, and she may choke. Once she realizes what it is supposed to do, she'll get the hang of it better. I have 3 kids, and it took all of them several days to get used to the cup, so hang in there.

Try using a Nuby sippy cup that has a rubber spout that is the same texture of a bottle nipple but a different shape. I used it in place of a bottle for one of my son's feedings and he figured it out pretty quickly. He still prefers the bottle, but the sippy cup works well for meal times.

my son was the hardest of my three kids to teach to use a sippy cup. I finally had to start getting liquid in a regular straw and letting him suck it out that way while I lifted my finger off the other end of the straw. Then he was able to figure out how to drink out of a straw. Once he got the straw down he was fine on the sippy cups. Good luck!

Is she chewing on her bottles? I went with the Nuby's when they came out b/c they most resembled a bottle...no problems taking it but we did go through our fair share of chewed tops...My recommendation is that to give her the Nuby at dinner and when she starts chewing on it give her a firm no and take it away from her...train her that chewing on it results in losing priveledge. But be prepared that you may go through a bunch of these at any rate...the disposible take and tosses are also good and you don't have to deal with stoppers (ugh...hated those). Of course, if you don't want to deal with the cost of them, just move her to a big girl cup..maybe one with 2 handles and keep the rag nearby for the clean up (LOL).

BTW- for the teething, you might want to try giving her some frozen waffles (built in spit pockets) or a bagel to chew on...just watch for breaking of pieces...Another trick I learned was to wet wash clothes, roll them up, and freeze them in a ziplock...great and easy to pull from fridge and a no mess clean up. ;) Good luck.

when I started introducing the cup at mealtimes I used the cups that leak and not the dripless ones that they have to suck on to get the liquid out. After they figured out those cups as they did learn that if they sucked on the easy cups they would get more liquid out then they automatically knew how to use the dripless cups. As far as chewing on it, I think all cups get chewed on at some point but if she just doesn't know how to use it then try the ones that drip and see how she does with it at the high chair during mealtime as you don't want that type of cup dripping all over the house.

I noticed several people are suggesting it's too early. It's not too early. I gave all 3 of my kids a sippy cup at meal time at 4 months old and they were all 3 off the bottle at a year and was very easy to wean them from the bottle because they were already adjusted to having the sippy cup at least 3 times a day and were using the dripless cups very well before they were 6 months old. If you introduce juice to your baby---never put it in a bottle. That is definately a cup drink and a lot of babies start drinking juice by 6-9 months.

My children's doctor suggested that I just get the regular cups with lids, and not the sippy part in them. I know you can get them at the $ store. I just put a little bit of liquid in them, water down juice, or water until they got use to drinking out of them. After she gets the hang of it you can switch to a spill proof cup. But chewing on them...well that is normal...or should I say all kids do it. Because she is your only child I would suggest picking a sippy cup you like and only getting that brand. Trust me! It is really hard when they are like 15 months old and you have a cup, a lid from a different brand and a sippy part from another.
Good luck and enjoy your little gift!!

I would put the sippy cup away. There is no reason they need on at 7 1/2 months. Try again at 9 months and see what happens. Or you could always just allow her to chew on them. Eventually she will learn to drink and not chew.

Sounds like she's not really ready for a cup yet and the hard plastic probably feels good on her gums with the teeting. I'd put them away and try again in a month or two.

Best of luck!

I agree with Tina, it sounds as if she is not ready yet. Is she sitting up on her own yet? If not, I'd wait. Give her a few months, there is no reason to make her grow up so fast. She is still a baby, let her be one. By the time she's 10 months old she'll be ready to try again. By then she'll understand a little more what to do. Good luck and God Bless.

For now, just be patient. Keep offering her the sippy cup often throughout the day. Right now, with her teething pain chewing on it feels best. She'll most likely get to a point where she wants to see what else she can do with the cup and suck on it. Once she "gets it" that there's something inside it for her to drink, she'll probably quit the chewing altogether!

She's really too young for a cup. I would put them up until she's about 10 months old and try it again. Developmentally she'll be more ready.

I thought they were supposed to be on the bottle until 12 months. My suggestion would be to put the sippy away and try it again at 12 months. Have you talked to your pediatrician about it? Good luck!

7 1/2 months is still pretty young. Certainly, it's not too young to introduce the sippy cup, but it's too young to stress out about it if it's not working. Take a break for a couple of weeks and try it again. Some of that stuff they just get it when they get it. It's not like she's going to go to kindergarten with her bottle.

Just my opinion, of course, but she is too young for a sippy cup. Stick with the bottles for awhile yet.
:o)