Why are there loads of baby cups? And which one "should" my DD use?

[haloflo]

She is nearly 10 mo. She drinks water well from a tommee tippee free flow 4 month cup. Do I need to move her on to older cups? She has a nuby 9 month one with a sort of straw which her GP's bought. What is the point of this? Should she be using it? She is breastfed and never had a bottle so im sure she will be able to work out how to use this cup.

When would I expect her to drink from an open top cup without major spills?

Thank you in advance!

There are loads of baby cups to confuse poor parents!

My two boys have both preferred the free flow ones. DS2 is 13 months and he uses the same one as your DD for water and a bigger tommee tippee 9month one for cows milk. The 9 month one has no handles so more like a beaker, the only advantage AFAIK is that it holds more liquid.

DD preferred the anyway up cup, she wouldn't use any other.

Can't think when they started using proper cups. DS2 can dring from a glass if I hold it but he drenches himself if he tries to do it alone.

I bought pretty much all of them

bog standard TT flip cup best www.amazon.co.uk/Tommee-Tippee-First-Cup-Lime/dp/B002C1ATD8/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1327234011&sr=8-2

and that's the one they have at play groups and CCs and nurseries so they'll be using it lots anyway

they work well without the lid too

Wanted to add you can get an angled cup, I think it is a doidy cup, to assist with the transition from lidded to unlidded. I never used one just offer a very small ammount of liquied in an open cup every so often and see how they go.

Also DS2 can drink easily from a straw, DD took ages to be able to do this. She was about 2 IIRC. It can be useful to get them used to it for emergency drinks IMO.

Bog standard flip spout cup as above and, if you feel adventurous, a cow cup for milk. No other cup is needed and by God I bought the lot wih dd1. Total waste of time, effort and money.

DRINK and LIQUID

Gwendoline right about basic one- the rest are just fodder to sit on your shelves and remind you of time and money put into finding one.

I had a doidy, found it unneccesary. There are a lot of transition products on the market for babies that turn a 2 step process into a 5 step one (blending machines, pull ups, follow on milk, doidys...) but IMO they're generally not needed at all, babies pick stuff up pretty quickly, skip straight to a beaker/cup!

No lie, I threw out about 21 different types of cup and beaker recently. And the ironic thing is, dd1 was really good with an open cup from very young. Wtf was I doing? . It's all marketing and unnecessary.

one handle cups are a bit tricky as their little wrists take a while to get strong enough to hold it straight, but any no handle or 2 handle cup isn't beyond their abilities. Don't get drawn in by funny transition lids etc

I agree entirely with all the above - you don't need all these others. TT 4 month cup still used most of the time by my 2 year old who can also drink from an open top cup but is a bit messy and we both prefer him to use the lidded one usually. However, having said that, we do use some of the other cups (like others, I got sucked in and bought every type of beaker etc going) and find some of them useful for certain situations. E.g. for milk at home DS uses a cow cup with a valve as I get really anal about milk being spilled on the carpet and this stops that happening. Similarly, one of the tommee tippee ones with a straw and a lid is handy for out and about as it is much less likely to cause spillages in my bag than the 4 month cup or some of the others we have (from experience...). But basically, unless you think you need another one for specific circumstances like that, don't bother buying them.

I also spent a fortune on cups and bought just about every one on the market. Turns out that the TT one that the HV gave me free was the best and when DS progressed on to open cups we used the ikea six for a pound ones. I would just stick with the TT free flow one for ages now.

I was on a never ending quest to find a perfect non-spill, easy to clean, cup for car journeys and discovered that such a thing doesn't exist.

"I was on a never ending quest to find a perfect non-spill, easy to clean, cup for car journeys and discovered that such a thing doesn't exist."

O shaped running bottles, DS learnt how to push up and down the top and the O shape is easy for little hands

Think it's all marketing. I think most kids can drink from anything if they just try for a while. I would buy one non-spill one (for mummy's convenience) and just cups to practice real drinking from.

I too bought every kind of cup trying to get DS to drink milk from a cup rather than a bottle. It never worked, he had the bog standard TT one for water and carried on with the bottle for milk for aaaaages! He still has a TT one by his bed for water during the night - he's 4.4.

Looks like i'll stick with the TT one. I can't believe they market so many and make us first time mums worry we need them all!

I have loads and found the one with the straw is best as DD (15 mths) cannot hold the spout against the floor and spill all the liquid out then rub it into the carpet/dog/me/herself. The TT one she could just tip upside down and shake hard.... The nuby anyway up cups work if I keep an eye on her and she prefers cups without handles although covets my tea cup and like to have a cup of tea when she can. I don't mind as its decaf. She really loves it. Possibly because I mainlined it while bfing and my milk probably was tea flavoured! . I totally understand your confusion. People saying to get them used to a cup, I got the impression that it meant a proper adult cup!!