Teaching toddler to use open cup - total nightmare

[fedupandsotired]

My 18 month old has used a basic Tommee Tippee sippy cup since starting weaning, which he’s got on very well with. Today I started using an open Babycup to try to transition him onto open cups and it’s been a nightmare. He has tipped the cup over, soaking his highchair tray in water. He then tipped it over himself and his food and it’s gone all over the floor. I think he did manage to drink some but nowhere near as much as he would with the sippy. Is he at the age where he needs to be moving to an open cup or can I just stick to the sippy for now? I’m really stressed at the moment and having a load of extra mess to clear up is making it worse!

Let him play with cups in the bath, it's not the end of the world of he drinks a bit of bath water, it takes quite a lot of dexterity to bend you wrists just enough to drink but not spill it over yourself. Just like potty training or learning to walk there are very few teenagers that haven't learnt these skills naturally even if they haven't been'taught'.

Instead of a sippy cup buy the munchkin 360 cup, same wrist and mouth action as a cup but completely non-spill. 12 year old DD and I both use them in our bedrooms at night as the cats like to drink out of a normal cup or clean their paws in them so it works brilliantly.

Open cups are better for their oral development yes, and a weighted straw cup with no valve (such as the Tum Tum tots) one is second best. Munchkin 360 and sippy cups with the hard spout are not ideal. Can you tell I researched this extensively before weaning

In reality, my DD drinks most often from the weighted straw cup but when I can’t find that we go for the tommee tippee basic sippy cup like you mentioned, we’ve also got a 360 and about five hundred different versions of an open cup but it’s those two that actually get used. We have so many partly because I was trying to find one shed agree to drink milk out of, but she refused them all (for milk, drinks water out of them all just fine) and still has her milk from a bottle at 14 months. Amazing how quickly good intentions go out of the window!

If you DO want to keep trying with open cups the doidy cup is a good one, and cognikids do one with like a rubber frame that is easy to grip. Still get spills though so I only ever give a tiny bit of water at a time in them.

Thanks for the replies - it sounds like I’m putting too much pressure on both myself and DS! We will stick to the Tommee Tippee cups for now as the main thing is that he’s drinking and enjoying his water. Perhaps I’ll revisit the open cups in six months time.

Or a year!

Have you see doidy cups? They are very good but I would definitely leave it for another year. No rush.

Have you ever met an adult who can't drink from a cup, OP?

DD is 2.5 and I still don't give her free access to open cups because it's a recipe for spillages. She has water bottles instead. Means it doesn't matter when they get knocked over!

We use these Foxberry 300ml Children's Small... https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08VRQBKC2?ref=ppxpoppmobappshare

I actually saw them recommended on here and they are brilliant. They don't spill at all, even when flung around. And no fiddly parts to wash!

At DD's 10 month check the HV informed me that by 12 months she should be drinking cows milk solely from an open cup..oh how I laughed! I don't know anyone with a baby similar age who has mastered that to the extent that they can get all their liquid intake this way. DD also prefers the basic sippy cup but uses the trainer ones more often now. She still has her milk from a bottle too! So you are not alone. They'll get there.

Could you give an open cup while your little one in the highchair/ in warm weather when outside so they start learning but at other times stick to the sippy cup? Xx

@SylvanasWindrunner

Have you ever met an adult who can't drink from a cup, OP?

DD is 2.5 and I still don't give her free access to open cups because it's a recipe for spillages. She has water bottles instead. Means it doesn't matter when they get knocked over!

This

Somewhere between 2.5 and 3 years my DD finally learnt to drink from an open cup without spilling it all over herself at meal times.

However we still use water bottles and sippy cups because she often tries to drink upside down or on the run.