Doesn't want to drink from a proper cup

[FrannyandZooey]

Ds is 3 and wants to drink from a spouty cup with a lid all the time. This is probably my fault, as through being out loads, convenience, etc he has mostly used this sort. Would you be bothered by this and what if anything would you do about it?

He can drink from a normal cup but has always taken a big load of water into his mouth and then sort of gulps it down slowly bit by bit if you see what I mean. We are having big shouty crossness at the moment if the spouty cup does not come out instead.

My ds was exactly the same.

Take your ds to the shops and let him choose his own open cups, ironically the ones my ds chose were 4 different coloured beekers from boots, even though I offered him all manner of winny-the-pooh/noddy/peter rabbit alternatives. Then when your ds has chosen his cups tell him that the cup fairy will be coming that night to take away the lidded cups, get him to put them on the table for her to collect, say bye-bye to them, then when he's in bed remove the cups and replace them with a treat of your choosing, sweets/car/other treat. If he cries the next day for his lidded cups tell him that the cup fairy took them but that he's got his nice new cups now. Worked a treat with my ds. If you want to make the transition smoother, you could buy a packet of coloured straws to go into the open cups, and let him choose a colour whenever he has a drink. hth

LOL @ the cup fairy

The thing is, I would still like to keep the lidded cup for when we are out and about. It is very convenient to put in my bag, and at a friend's house I don't have to worry about constant spills (he does spill a lot, through inexperience I think, and possibly that is partly why he does not want the ordinary cup).

Also he has a lidded cup for his night time drink so he can wake up and have a slurp without (in theory) waking me up.

I bought him a 'special' cup for his birthday, and he likes it, but he still wants water in the spouty cup.

DP says just forget about it and he will grow out of it, which sounds sensible, but I am being paranoid it will affect his speech or something. Did I read something like that or am I being mad?

dd1 was like this, again like you I didn't want the mess!

She has a straw at mealtimes and still has a cup with a lid when out and about (at at bedtime like you).

When she went to playgroup at 2.6yrs, she had to practice drinking out of a cup!! Ha, the shame when the keyworker told me to get her to practice over the weekend.

She can do it now though, don't worry about it.

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Could you get him a drinks bottle with a sports top that he could have when he's out and about? That would mean you could get rid of all of the spouted cups so could be consistent about not using them.

Sports top and straws are good ideas. Is it actually going to do him harm to carry on having the spout or is it just a "you are too big for that now" sort of thing. Because if the latter, I don't care so much.

latter I would say

I think straws are best as it gets the liquid past their teeth but mine have vvvvvv watered down juice and no crap so I am not that concerned tbh

Honestly, dd1 couldn't drink out of a normal cup in September and used to stick her tongue in and lap like a cat!!!

And now she slurps like the best of them (with the accompanying mess grrrr).

I'd say the latter too, Franny - but my dd was late giving up spouted cups as well. It was only when she started nursery at 3 that she really got to grips with open cups, they weren't allowed to take a drink with them but could help themselves from the water cooler. Once she started to get more practice at it, it came very quickly - although I had to get rid of all the spouted ones first because she would far rather have used those.

Ah he only gets water in the spouty cup so perhaps no problem.

I think maybe I am slightly concerned because I looked after a little girl who used to struggle with a proper cup, and take a big mouthful them swallow in stages like ds is doing, and she also had quite a strong lisp. I always wondered if it was connected.

dd2 now refuses to drink with a spouty cup as she sees dd1with a straw or one with no lid

peer pressure starting early

20 month old walking with a cup is a sight to behold, I have to follow with the mop

I wouldn't worry about it. I think eating proper food makes more difference than how they eat.

I think DS1 was on a spouted cup for most stuff (no juice, some milk, some herbal tea, lots of water) until he was 3+. We did buy some very cool Canadian plastic cups that have built-in straws, which probably helped.

Now, in bed, he has a normal flip-top water bottle, that we refill as needed. We use the same when out and about.

How they drink, not eat.