Drinking from a cup and when to give normal water

[Tillysmummy]

Two questions ladies, first is when should I start training my dd to drink from a cup. She is 6.5 months and can hold it fine and put it in her mouth but gets confused with the sucking / tipping thing ! Also when can I stop giving her cool boiled water and give her normal water ?

One more question. She is 28 weeks which is technically 7 months isn't it ? But as there are 52 weeks in a year and calendar months are often more than 4 weeks is 28 weeks 6.5 months ? Can someone help with this I am also trying to work it out ?

[bamboozleslover]

my doctor advised me to use filtered water with my ds when i told him he had trouble bringing up wind. not sure what filtered water has to do with this, but if doctor advised it, it must be ok.

[vnmum]

hi, i too use the doidy cup and ds seems to have got the hang of drinking from it whereas he couldnt do a spouted cup (hes 7m and has been using doidy for 1 months). i still have to hold it for him though. i was told that you couldnt give mineral water aswell, also ive heard that you shouldnt give filtered water either. does anyone know anything about this as i want to use water from a britta filter for ds.

[bamboozleslover]

tried googling the wizzer cup jodee mentioned but couldn't find anything. anyone else know about this cup?

[bamboozleslover]

i give norma water straight away too. btw whats the cllb?

[codswallop]

I give them normal water straight away.

[runragged]

Somerfield and boots sell the Heinz baby cups. Redwood, Apparently you can use bottled water but you need to check for the sodium content. Evian is definately okay, and at 6.5 months they are less "precious" than at birth. In fact if you are going on a cruise I would lean towards mineral water as it wont be mains water and they might add something to keep it fresh. I don't know, just supposing.

[OldieMum]

Can someone tell me where to get the Heinz cups? I've seen them recommended on other Mumsnet threads.

[Redwood]

Hi,

I'm also quite new to the site and am glad someone else asked about the ds and dd....

i'm really intetrested in this chat as I'm about to go on holiday with my 6 1/2 month old and am debating whether to boil water for her milk. The first week is on a cruise and the second is in Majorca, I will need to take a travel kettle if I do, whats the view on using bottled water for drinking and making up milk?

Also I stopped sterilising at 4months and just took the teats and bottles straight from the dishwasher, I would like to just wash by hand as normal on holiday but I'm not sure.

Advice and expereriences would be welcome

[Claireandrich]

Have you tried a doidy cup. It is a plastic cup with a tilted rim, no spout and makes drinking from a cup much easier. DD has always used one from 4 months as she hates spouts. It also removes the sucking issue. DD is now 12 months and can use it really well on her own, but needs a bit of help to place to back on the table though. Otherwise we have lots of wet patches!

[milch]

mcneill - try gradually diluting the milk more and more, or try something totally different like very dilute juice. the first non-milk drink that my ds accepted was camomile tea.

[cathncait]

Hi Mcneill and Welcome. I gave my dd a water cup at about 5 months (it had a teat on it which I later changed to a soft spout).She didn't really start drinking from it for quite a while. Even now she doesn't drink heaps but has plenty of breastmilk anyway (she's 8 months now). I just let her play with it and hold it often also offering it after meals/sleeps/car rides/anytime really. Eventually she started drinking it. Hope that helps

[JayTree]

mcneill - welcome to mumsnet. dd is darling daughter, ds for son, dh is husband, dp partner etc. Hope that helps to make sense of it all!!

[mcneill]

maybe im stupid, but whats the meaning of "dd"?
im new to all this!

[mcneill]

thank god ive found somewhere to buy the doidy cup! and they are not even expensive. thanks for the address!

also, my 6 month old will only drink milk, refuses water. any tips?

[charliesmum]

thanks GillW ive orderd one maybe it will be easer for her to handle than the more conventional beaker type ?? i found that Anywayup cup ,she hates it and it leaks .May be im just destined to sterilise bottles when im 40?

[GillW]

charliesmum - you can get the doidy cups from here

[SofiaAmes]

We started letting our son experiment with a plastic (non-breakable) cup from a very early age so that he would get comfortable with it. I only ever put water in it so there were no dire consquences to the spillages and gave it to him at times when I had the time to change his clothes afterwards. Dinner was a good time since he needed to be changed for bed afterwards anyway. He still makes a bit of a mess with it, but then again my husband still can't pour himself a drink without spilling it.

[charliesmum]

my daughter has never quite mannaged to get the hang of the drinking cup and i've never come accross one that said it was spill proof and actualy was shes 11 months now I give her the cup and like most of you have said already they just get thrown or tiped upside down and the contence shook out . I have'nt seen the any way up cup befor or the doidy? where can i get hold of them , bering in mind that we live in lincolnshire england.

[aloha]

Yes, I like the Doidy because it is a real sipping action, not a sucking one. Though I'd never dare let my son (8months) drink from one by himself - there would be water everywhere...! I too only give water & I've tried ordinary organic milk to see if he'd like the taste, and he does!

[Enid]

aloha - arent those Doidy cups good? I would definitely recommend them for babies that are desperate to drink by themselves.

Evian is supposed to be a good bottled water for babies as it is particularly low in sodium.

[SofiaAmes]

I have always given my son tap water both in England and the usa (and italy and jamaica). The water is chlorinated in these countries and perfectly safe for a baby. However, bottled water is not chlorinated and if it has sat on a shelf for some time can have quite high levels of bacteria. Also, some bottled waters can have too much sodium for a small baby. In my house in la I have tap water that is purified at the tap which is the ideal situation because it has had the benefit of being chlorinated (no bacteria), but my child and I don't have to actually drink the chlorine. Of course in countries where the water supply is not regularly chlorinated the bottled water is safer than the tap water.
Although my son (18 mo.) can quite easily drink from a cup, I give him a beaker (lidded cup) at meal and snack times to save on the mess. I can't imagine how the short amount of time the spout is actually in his mouth could actually cause any tooth damage. Then again, I rarely give him anything but milk or water.
three angels, I may live in england, but I am american and like you have had a lot of getting used to with all the different terms. I get very confused talking babies with my best friend who is english living in the usa!

[aloha]

I gave tap water from six months and use either an Avent soft spout or a Doidy cup (a cup without a spout but with a strange angled top so the child can see the contents of cup even when it's tipped) . He gets very excited by this one!

[threeangels]

sorry I meant the only mumsnetter from the USA.

[threeangels]

I give my child and have always given him special water by the gallon meant for babies especially. Have never boiled drinking water water myself just always given purified water. I always use a purifier on my faucet or Ill get the water I mentioned. I started the cup at different ages with my 3. I think it was mostly at a year when I stopped the bottles. Probally earlier is even better. I just read bayleafs message and living in the usa they dont really talk about boiling water to drink or sterilizing bottles and nipples much anymore these days. Cleaning with hot soapy water is recommended. Never had any problems with my other two doing this. Just curious am I the only mumsnetter using this website. I say this because so many of my words I use are different. Its very interesting learning other words being used for things. Like the word beaker I guess is cup.

[Alibubbles]

I found this about anyway up cups,
Drinking cup debate

Mandy Haberman, mum and award-winning inventor of the Anyway Up Cup, has hit back at media reports that suggest non-spill valved drinking cups can cause damage to children?s teeth, bedwetting, dehydration and speech and language difficulties. Mandy points out that neither of the only two surveys conducted into these claims, published in 1999 and 2001, specified non-spill valved cups as the direct cause. Both studies referred generally to all drinking cups and bottles and in her opinion, only proved that a link exists between prolonged usage of sweetened drinks and dental caries. Mandy says: "To my knowledge, there is no independent scientific research or evidence to support the view that merely sucking from a valved feeding cup will cause health problems. I welcome research into this area. My primary interest is in the health and safety of mothers and their children. I invite the British Dental Health Foundation to clarify its position on this subject and, in particular, make it clear that it is the prolonged sucking of sugary drinks that is the issue and not valved feeding cups per se."