Even if your baby didn’t mind giving the bottle the boot, he may not be ready to let go of his sippy cup. Alas, like all good things — and the time-saving, mess-sparing sippy cup was one of them — this phase, too, must come to an end.
Besides, now that your little one is more coordinated than he used to be, he’s ready to move on and master the open cup. The catch: You have to be ready to let the milk fall where it may.
Why should my child stop using a sippy cup?
Some experts believe that prolonged use may interfere with proper speech development. But perhaps the more important reason to give up the sippy cup — including the sports-type bottles and cups with built-in straws — is that kids often tote their trusty sippy around with them and suck on liquids all day long.
This wouldn’t be a concern if kids just sipped water, but when baby teeth are constantly bathed in sugar (from cow's milk or juice, for example), it can lead to a mouthful of cavities. (Keep in mind that babies under the age of 1 shouldn’t drink juice at all; tots between the ages of 1 and 3 should drink no more than 4 oz. a day of 100 percent fresh juice.)
When should my child stop using a sippy cup?
There’s no absolute “best time” for a child to give up the sippy cup, but most tots are usually able to sip from an open cup by the age of 2. Plus, the older your child gets, the more defiant he might be about giving up his sippy.
In fact, some experts advise against getting into the sippy-cup habit in the first place, and instead recommend introducing the open cup around 9 months, letting your baby take some tentative sips from it (while you keep a firm grip, of course).
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How do you transition to a regular cup from a sippy cup?
If sippy cups have become a firm fixture in your home (or your day care or nursery school requires them to cut down on spillage), don’t worry that your child has missed a milestone. Here’s how to make the transition to a big-kid cup.
- Make a big deal out of drinking from a regular cup. “See? This is how Mommy drinks. Now you try it.” Toddlers want to do what their parents are doing, so if you point out that you’re drinking from an open cup, chances are your tot will soon follow suit.
- Take your toddler shopping to pick out his own big kid cup. If he has control over which cup he chooses, he’ll be more inclined to take the matter (or cup) into his own hands.
- Have your tot toss out the “baby cups” himself. This symbolic gesture might help him understand that he’s a big boy now who deserves big boy cups.
- Allow for some leeway. If your day care or preschool requires sippy cups in the classroom, explain to your toddler that there are “school” cups and “home” cups, and at home, he drinks from the big-kid cups.
- Only serve his favorite drink in an open cup. If your toddler is reluctant to give up the sippy cup, go ahead and let him use it for water. But reserve the open cup for his milk. When he really, really wants that drink, he’ll start using the open cup.
How to limit messes when transitioning from a sippy cup
To minimize the mess when starting a tot on an open cup, stay in the kitchen, fill the cup with water rather than milk, and put a towel under the high chair. Or, put him in an empty bathtub or outside in an empty wading pool and let him experiment. (Always supervise any kind of water play; a small child can drown in as little as an inch or two of water.)
If all else fails, try not to stress — after all, your little one won’t! Part of learning to drink from an open cup is learning how to clean up the spills. And believe it or not, toddlers actually enjoy cleaning up (there’s a reason why mops and brooms are popular toddler toys).
So don’t cry over spilled milk. Hand your little housekeeper a dish towel and let him at it!
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