Non Spill Cups & Dental Problems

[Bears]

Are these cups as 'bad' as bottle teats? I know we are supposed to wean babies off teats but was surprised when my HV advised I weaned my 11mth old off non-drip spouts & encourage him to sip from an ordinary cup rather than suck.

Obviously, I don't want my son getting buck teeth but I'm wondering if my HV advice is a bit over the top (perhaps old fashioned?) - especially as I only allow supervised drinking at intervals throughout the day (in other words, I don't let him wander around with the cup on his own so he won't get 'attached' to it like some do with a bottle). Does anyone still use a 'normal' cup? Is there an easier way to teach how to use it?

We tried spout on its own a few times but ended up with drink everywhere except in his mouth, leaving me thinking - do we really have to go through weeks/months of this just to get him to sip? I'll try anything before undressing & sitting him in the bath every time he wants a drink!

I'd appreciate any feedback. Thanks in advance.

Our excellent dentist has said that the whole cup/teeth thing has been blown out of proportion. So long as the child isn't comfort sucking (unlikely with anyway up cups) or having undiluted juice/pop from the cups they should be fine. Dentist said he thought thumb-sucking was much more likely to cause buck-teeth as parents are unable to control it. DS1 (3y) still has his night drink in a cup with spout and DS2 (17m) has occasional drinks from a normal cup but he won't sit and drink, he has sips throughout the day so it's not practical to have a cup without a lid lying around.
It seems that so long as kids aren't having lots of sugary food and drink, the chances of rotten baby teeth are slim, and cups aren't in their mouths long enough to cause buck teeth (which has a genetic component anyway)

Not sure that it quite answers your question, but have you tried the Doidy cup (from Bickiepegs )? It's like a normal lidless (and spoutless obviously) cup with 2 handles but angled so that they don't have to tip their heads backwards to drink from it? We went straight from bottles and (spillable) spouts to this as DS could never get the hang of the non-spill type.

Haven't heard about dental problems (unless they take sweet drinks too often or go to sleep with them) but I recently read something else about these non-spill cups, saying that they can affect speech development as children don't readily make certain movements/positions with their mouths, and favour others instead, as they are sucking instead of sipping. Not sure how true it is, but I guess there is some sort of research behind it...worth a try maybe to check out a pop-top bottle or something similar, or the one GillW suggests?

There's also a previous Mumsnet discussion that touches on this here .

Was leafing through a Practical Parenting magazine recently and an article about beakers caught my eye. DD is nearly 11 months old and I would like her to change over to a beaker for her breakfast and bedtime milk. Apparently the Tommee Tippee Easiflow beakers are the only cups to be endorsed by the British Dental Health Foundation. I think you can get them in most stores and they come in about three slightly different styles including one that turns from red to yellow (I think) for hot drinks.
I bought the first stage of this type of beaker a few months ago (from Sainsburys) and it was the only beaker I could get dd to take water from. I have three others in the cupboard which were all useless, she couldn't get the hang of them and ended up with water everywhere but in her mouth. DD also has tongue tie and I think perhaps why she had problems with the other standard beakers, but she took to the Tommee Tippee one really well. I am going to buy a couple more as she is approaching one year and I would like to get her off teats and put away the sterilizer (and formula milk hopefully!).

Is the easiflow blue and yellow? I looked at them but a friend put me off because she reckons they need to bite down to get the water out. When I tried her DD's I couldn't get anything!

we have a pink tommy tippee one - dd spent ages getting VERY frustrated with cup, even though I kept demonstrating to her "look, bite" on the spout (which looks like a green nipple) - kept chucking it across the kitchen. now relieved to say she's got the hang of it and loves it

(she's 23 mths, that may have something to do with it)

That's great stuff, ScummyMummy, thanx! Btw how do you do that link thingy???

Thanks all for advice. Not going to worry about his cup for now. My son doesn't have sweet drinks yet anyway. Ironically, he sucks his thumb a lot! All along, I've been telling myself that he'll give it up when he feels ready, even if not for a long time. I needed my thumb to get to sleep (so I thought) for years - I mean years & then 1 day thought 'I can't carry on doing this' & weaned myself off it and my teeth are OK. It's so easy to worry about the slightest thing - especially when we hear different things in the news every week. None of the 'experts' can make their minds up. 1 week, something is good for you and/or kids, the next week it's bad again!

Just wondering if anyone out there can tell me exactly why bottles and teats are meant to be so bad for toddlers? My DS (19 months) drinks out of glasses, mugs, bottles, through straws...anything really. BUT he still wants his milk (morning and evening, total of 400 ml) out of his avent bottle and teat. He must spend a total of 15 minutes a day sucking from his bottle and I can't see why this is a problem -- except that all my books say it is. Any advice out there?

Thanks, Lorien

Lorien - I think it is because a teat is in constant contact with the teeth when being sucked. This means that the liquid - usually milk is washing over the teeth and can cause dental problems. Juice is worse as it is acidic. I guess giving water in a bottle would be OK. I suppose also a bottle doesn't encourage an older child to sit up and drink properly. They can also be unhygienic.

I've been trying to get dd, 10m, onto beakers rather than teats with very little success. Tried when she was 7m and it went Ok to begin with but then she suddently went off them and screamed blue murder whenever the spout went in her mouth. I was using the Avent non-spill thingies, BTW.
Decided maybe she was a bit young, so left it for a while. Tried again this week and again it went OK for 1st few attempts then she refused to drink, which is not usual for her at all. She'll usually take a bottle all in one go and polish it all off. Shall I just persevere with it? She's taking her milk very stop-and-start with the spouts and it's becoming a bit of a performance. She will take her water drink form the spout, which is interesting...Any advice out there?

In the Heinz Baby Basics range they do something called a '3 steps trainer cup'. Part of it is a clear lid that sits within the cup that has two tiny slots cut out of it, so that the child sips like they would from a normal cup with no lid or spout, but you don't get liquid going everywhere.
There should be a picture of it here: www.heinzbaby.com/heinzbabystore/

Have you tried using an ordinary cup/beaker? Babies can often sip out of an open cup quite easily, they just sort of slurp the liquid in! Only downside is that the baby can't hold the cup herself but that skill develops quite quickly as a toddler.

Just a quick comment here; being in the teeth business I am highly qualified to comment. However as mum of 23 month old things are less clear cut!!
THe only drinks safe to give in bed, regardless of method are milk and water. The non-spill cups are not v good for teeth, but few things are except open cups. Just a word of encouragement my DS loved drinking from an open cup like us from about a year, of course it has to be supervised and the risk of mess etc. made it stressful anyway.

He is almost two and still has milk in avent bottle (2-3 ounces) at night. Still bites toothbrush and still uses soother for bed. So, we're not a fine dental example at all but no sign of bottle caries and only a small open bite (which reverses if you take the dummy/thumb away in time)

Sorry forgot this bit. A word of warning, even dilute juices should not be sipped on all day from a non-spill/teat. If you have a sipper go for water. As it's the frequency of sugar attack that causes decay, better to have it all in one go than sip all day long. Of course it'a all very well in theory, I think it's useful to know and have a go. I think that the introduction of nonspill varieties are making us a little too comfortable and likely to introduce open cups later. Whereas if you have a spillable you should get them onto open cups anyway.

The anyway up cups came in when my son was born 7yrs ago and they were awful at letting the fluid through, and taking the top off was impossible, the best cup I found was one in USA if you know of anyone going to the states ask them to get "Fun Grips" from "Gerger" they are available at any drugstore and the top screws off and they don't have to suck too hard on them, my D has been using it from 5months and loves them. They come in 6 or 10oz, and are just brill!!

We use a Doidy cup for all of DD's juice/water drinks. We have used it right from weaning at 4 months and she is now 10 months. We think this is great! It is a normal cup with no lid/spout, but with a tilted rim to make drinking easier to manage. She still needs a bit of help to stop her getting wet but she is getting there. BUT, with a little help golding it at the bottom, whilst she holds the handles, she rarely spills a thing.

We have tried various beakers (mainly for use at nursery) but can't find one that we are very happy with. The Anyway Up cup always leaks and the Avent Magic Cups get so dirty easy.

DD still has milk from a bottle but we are going to try changing over in the next few weeks.