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Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

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Original poster

Cup Training

11 replies

Irons · 21/02/2010 10:35

My DD is 8 months old and for the last 3 months I have been trying to introduce a beaker for her to drink her water from in that hope that by the time she is a year old she'll be drinking her milk from the cups as well. It has not been successful and she usually just playfully throws it about and won't drink from it, whereas I can give her her bottle and she'll happily lie on her cushion and drink away.

Firstly if anyone has any tips to help that would be great. I have tried about 3 different cups but she just doesn't get the idea of lifting it to drink and when I try to show her she just lets all the water come flowing back out of her mouth.

Secondly I'm considering buying a doidy cup. Has anyone used these and was it successful? I can just see the cup going flying and water everywhere!

Thanks

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luciemule · 21/02/2010 11:02

I would just leave it for a while if she's only 8 months and let her have the water in the bottle and then reintroduce the cup at a later stage. Our's had Tommy Tippee easy sip cups and yes the water just poured out but when they were very little, I just offered it to them myself and then when they'd had a few sips, took it away. To start with, they don't need to be holding it themselves and drinking loads - just a few sips here and there to quench thirst.

TottWriter · 21/02/2010 14:01

8 months seems rather early to be introducing a cup IMO. She might be able to physically hold it, but I doubt she's strong enough to have any real control over aiming it at her mouth.

My DS is 22m, and has had his cup since about a year - we only give him water or juice in it, as the seal is good enough that it doesn't leak everywhere. Milk he has in a tommee tippee cup which does admittedly leak a bit, but is easier to wash thoroughly. (We do not want a stinky milk cup!) he has his milk under supervision, though we try to get as much of his daily allowance to him in meals as we can. we kept him on a bottle for quite a while, as the Avent ones have more of a cup-like attachment which you can fit to them instead of a teat. Now that he only sporadically finishes it, we've moved onto the cup (less prep work and washing of fiddly bits afterwards!)

Still, either way, it wasn't until after a year that he really got the hang of holding a cup and getting it to his mouth.

pollyblue · 21/02/2010 22:34

I didn't have any success with cups before a year old and i think 8 months is a little young for tommee tippee beaker too. My dd twins have just turned a year and can now use a tommee tippee themselves (and occassionally still pour it over their heads just for the fun of it). Until now I've held the beaker for them and let them practice taking sips.

babyOcho · 21/02/2010 22:40

Doidy cups are good for water at mealtimes.

You only need to put a little water in and you can easily hold it for her to start with.

Original poster

Irons · 22/02/2010 08:47

Thank you everyone. I know 8 months is young but I read that you should start using it for water at mealtimes from around 6 months because of some speech development thing.

That's why I thought I'd see what other mothers are doing. My mom said I should wait till she's a year.

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winnybella · 22/02/2010 08:55

Keep on offering the cup, but you may to need to hold it for her.
DD has been drinking from the beaker cup from 7 months, we bypassed bottles. They get a hang of it, although it may be more difficult for a bottle-fed baby.
There's nothing wrong offering it early and no reason to wait.
I also let dd drink from a normal cup here and there, so she's getting slowly used to it.

blowninonabreeze · 22/02/2010 09:03

DD1 struggled with any type of beaker, I tried them all. The only one she could manage was the doidy. She had it from about 7 months at mealtimes and at first I had to help her.
Try letting her use it at bath time in the bath, she'll get the feel of how far to tip it etc without making a mess. By 9 months she could use it herself at mealtimes and rarely made a mess. (I only put smallish amounts in at a time though.

At 15 months I'd taken a tommee tippee with me on a plane so I could take the lid off and let her drink it from the open cup. She had a big tantrum, demanded I put the llid back on, and spontaneously drank from it.

DD2 had a tommee tippee from 4 months but has had an open cup at meal times from 11 months.

I'd try the doidy, start her off in the bath!

moaningminniewhingesagain · 22/02/2010 09:26

DS had tomee tippee beakers from 6/7 months, water at mealtimes and he drank very little for ages but now glugs away happily, I would just continue to offer it and have it around to practice with. (BF and didn't want to introduce a bottle for water)

If you only put water in it won't matter about spills. Practising in bath good idea - DS is 14mo and now pretty good with an open cup after being force fed by DD drinking bath water in one.

DS also managed drinks with straws very well, he has a drink of cows milk in open beaker at bedtime with a straw but we hold the cup as too messy and milk stinks when spilled.

Original poster

Irons · 22/02/2010 10:13

Thanks, maybe I'll just keep up with the water in a beaker at mealtimes. Bathtime is where I got the idea for the doidy cup because she picked up one of her building block cups that we had in the bath and drank from it!

She's very good at bringing the beaker up to her mouth but just can't get the idea that she has to lift it to get the water out.

Perhaps I'll see how she is with an open cup before I decide to buy a doidy cup.

Trial and error I guess

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whoneedssleepanyway · 22/02/2010 13:30

I have just weaned DD2 off the breast (she is 7.5 months) and we went straight to a Tommee Tippee hard spouted beaker as she refused the bottle. She is drinking all her milk from the beaker and water with meals. For her milk I sit her on my lap and help hold the cup as otherwise milk would go everywhere but she is doing really well and drinks about 5oz milk from the beaker 4 times a day. It was 3 tough days though as I had to get her off the breast but she got the hang.

I would just keep giving her one with her meals and she will get the hang of it eventually, there's no rush. DD1 had her milk in a bottle till she was 2 and then just decided one day she was a big girl and wanted it in a cup, she had been drinking water in a cup all that time. We have a Doidy cup but haven't really tried it, she hasn't got the co-ordination yet to manage that as the Tommee Tippe is frequently upturned and at least the water only drips out of that.

nubbins · 22/02/2010 14:19

my dd is now 2 and had a doidy cup from about 7 months. by the time she was a year and I stopped breastfeeding she was only using the doidy. Now she can drink from any cup or mug by herself without trouble. I didn't even bother to take any special cups for her when we went away for the weekend.

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