Advice and General information about bottles, sippy cups and big cups

[BottleToCupHelp]

Hi there,

My twins are 16 months and we only just now got them off the bottle. It was not intentional to keep them on it this long. We actually meant to transition then to a sippy cup at 12 months but it’s been one thing after another and we’ve been more worried about making sure they have winter clothing and a big coat so we waited till christmas to get them both sippy cups. Family was lovely and bought them some really nice ones!

This got me really thinking though. When did you make the switch with your littles? What advice do you have about sippy cups and open cups? I know keeping them on the bottle was bad for their teeth but then I was reading that sippy cups can cause similar issues and even delay their speech! Their speech seems fine at the moment. They’ve been learning words and phrases like crazy and we were lucky because they didn’t really take to the paci. So they have that much in their favour.

I’m also curious about tips and info about making the big switch to open cups which we hope to do by the age of two which doesn’t seem like a very long time. 😅 Is this a realistic goal or are we rushing things? They took to the sippy cups with ease and appear to have the motor skills to hold an open cup and drink from it but always choke so perhaps the sippy cup is okay for now?

Should we try straw cups first or just go straight to open cups?

Open cups take a lot of patience, ideally you want them using them as soon as possible, they're better for teeth, better for wind, easier to clean. BUT they will get spilt, a lot! It's up to you if you think it's worth it.
Straw cups take some getting used to because you have to hold them level to get the drink out. This is unlike any other cup type, but it is the most leak proof and I found they drink more with straws.

You could try both, or an open cup with a straw so they can see how it works, then try picking up the cup to finish off the dregs.

I used 360 cups with mine. They’re great as similar to open cups as in you can drink from any part, but they don’t leak.

mine easily transferred to a ‘normal’ cup after this. Just make sure your normal cups are be the small. She’s 2.5yrs now and has her water with meals out of a large shot glass!! Sounds funny but it’s the perfect size for little hands and mouth 😊

We used doidy cups with ours when they were sat at the table - so already set up for food spills etc.

Two of mine were using sippy cups before 12 months because they wouldn’t take a bottle, and I was fed up of BFing.
To start with I’d just put some water in it and put it on the table/high chair as they will play with it to begin with.
Then just get rid of the bottles and don’t have them available, make sippy cups all you have. At the end of the day they are eating and drinking, and don’t need a bottle/milk.

I'm not sure of the best approach. What worked for us was to have a mix . Eldest DD was introduced sippy cup at 12 months but kept the bottle for bedtimes and mornings until 3 when we also ditched the sippy cup for messy open cups and straw cups.

4 year old DD had the same but still uses a sippy cup when in bed as she likes a drink by her table

2 year old is still using bottle at bed in morning and before her nap and using sippy cup for other drinks in the day.

It hasn't affected them at all despite been later than advice. I would say go at a pace you feel comfortable with

Jut to throw a different (and probably unusual) alternative, we had open - doidy - cups from 6 months. No bottles, no sippy cups. Actually, we bought sippy cups for air travel. As having a whole cup of orange juice thrown over you accidently then sitting in sticky clothes for the next 10 hours wasn't great!

I introduced an open cup to my son at 5 1/2 months. There was initially lots of spills, but he took to it instantly. He's now 17 months and uses it totally independantly, with rare spills.

First gave him a sippy cup at 8 months. He was frustrated by them at first because the flow was so slow (even free flowing ones). He only uses them for playing and being out and about (more practical), but prefers the open cup.

DD still gets a bottle before bed at 2.5. I really don't see what harm it can do as it's only a few minutes of sucking and she has her teeth brushed afterwards. She also still BFs which is presumably the same action 🤷‍♀️

Otherwise she has an open cup at the table and a variety of straw/360/sports cups around the house and out and about. We introduced the open cup at 6 months but it took her a while to get the hand of the straws.

My top tip would be tempered espresso glasses to introduce an open cup at 6 months. Just the right size and looks incredibly cute.

I introduced my son at 6 months to an open cup… with shot glasses. Perfect size 😂

now he’s good with an open cup but does like a straw cup.
360 cups are good too, just ensure you clean the top bit and the seal properly.

Sorry for taking so long to get back to you all! I just looked into the doidy cups and those look amazing! I’m definitely investing. They would be perfect for her developmental stage at this point. 😄 Thank you for sharing all of your stories they were very helpful. I wish I had time to reply to you all but I don’t sadly. But every single comment helped me come to a decision.