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Parenting

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Original poster

How to stop ds sprinkling his beaker all over the floor

23 replies

mrsflux · 28/05/2010 08:34

Ds is 14mo and now only has beakers durig the day. We use the tommee tippee free flow floppy spout ones.
He loves nothing better than to tip it up and sprinkle/ pour the contents all over everything and anything!

How do I stop this?

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bamboobutton · 28/05/2010 08:40

don't think you can stop it, ds is 2.4yo and spills whole cups of drink on the floor!!

how about this

here

says it's leak proof.

EasilyConfusedIndith · 28/05/2010 08:49

Wait a couple of years Sorry, they all do it!

Original poster

mrsflux · 28/05/2010 14:11

What are the stages from moving from a bottle to just drinking out of a cup like a grown up?

Might try the active sipper thingy- ds is the definition of active!

Just wish we'd thought carefully about the cream carpet we bought just before we started ttc ds! Silly decision.

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EasilyConfusedIndith · 28/05/2010 14:30

Depends on the child and how brave you are I think! Neither of mine had bottles so can't comment on moving on from them but Ds is 3 and has been drinking from a normal cup for ages now but still quite likes a sippy cup with his bedtime milk so he can snuggle without spilling and of course you do get more accidental tipping over of drinks etc with a cup. Dd is 17 months, can drink from a normal cup with help but it is easier to give her a sippy cup so she can have access to a drink when she wants it. One of her little friends the same age has never had a sippy cup and just has a normal one.

Ben281 · 28/05/2010 20:42

Yeah I would say let him spill, there are problems with repressing kids too much at early ages, they dont understand why you are doing it and end up only learning to do what is neccessary to not be disciplined.

Bert2e · 28/05/2010 20:50

Say no in a firm voice and take it away?

Mine both drank from open cups at that age so I'm no expert!

Ben281 · 28/05/2010 21:32

I don't think imposing disciplines like that is a good idea for a 14mth old baby because they will simply learn to copy and become aggressive themselves. Let him have his fun I say, its not doing anyone any harm.

Original poster

mrsflux · 29/05/2010 08:04

Saying no just eggs him on at the mo.
We do take it away quietly but you can't keep it away from him like other banned objects- my phone. He does need to drink ESP when it's hot so not sure I'm happy with that.
Might become a beaker addict again

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Glitterandglue · 30/05/2010 15:36

Actions do speak louder than words. I assume you're/someone is around to see whenever he starts to tip it? Every time he starts to I would just take it off him [with saying NO firmly] and then keep it for about a minute. Doesn't need to be that long. Then you can give it back. Theory is he should learn that all that happens when he tips it is someone takes it away from him.

Having said this - at 14m I don't know if he is old enough to learn that, so...it's just a suggestion. And he will no doubt try tipping it again [what feels like several billion] more times to see what you do - just remain consistent, don't get frustrated [or don't show him if you do] and hopefully when there is no new response, that game will become boring.

Original poster

mrsflux · 30/05/2010 18:45

glitter - yep doing that as much as can but it is always that second you turn round or blink or something and he's merrily soaking something! I'm persevering but think he's still too young to understand consequences. Oh well it's all a phase...

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ExplodingBananas · 30/05/2010 19:13

I say no and flip the spout shut. My DS can open it himself but it takes a minute and this is sometimes enough to distract him away from his water sprinkling fun!

Danthe4th · 30/05/2010 19:17

I never used to allow mine to walk about drinking and got them used to putting the cups on the kitchen table from quite a young age otherwise we would be slipping everywhere as we don't have carpet downstairs. They soon got used to it and they don't need to constantly sip from a cup.

Ben281 · 31/05/2010 11:48

Why would you want to stop the child from having fun? That sounds like a heavy-handed authoritarian dictatorship. If you teach your child through discpline then they wont learn the real reason why, they'll only learn to be afraid of the discpline. Why teach kids fear?

leftangle · 31/05/2010 21:36

My dd 13mo takes a mouthful of water and then spits it down her front. Once she's started she'll keep doing it until I take the cup away. Not keen to leave her too it as I have to keep changing her. Just hoping she'll realise it's a bad idea when it
gets colder again. So no solutions here but sympathy.

CrispyTheCrisp · 31/05/2010 21:38

I used the Avent valve operated cups so no spill. You can then take the valve out to make it free flow once the sprinkling stops

CrispyTheCrisp · 31/05/2010 21:40

this one. I liked it because there was no 'bite down' needed to open the valve

teaandcakeplease · 31/05/2010 21:42

I use those same beakers at weaning stage, both of mine did grow out of it. Until they did, it was only water, so it didn't matter desperately where it went

If it was milk it was at the table with a splash mat underneath.

They truly both grew out of it soon enough. If it got really out of hand, I'd remove the beaker for a while and give it back again when I thought they'd be thirsty again.

Anyway there is far better advice than mine on here but you're not alone mrsflux.

Original poster

mrsflux · 31/05/2010 21:45

That aventt one isn't leak proof- ds can make it leak!
it's not bad but not perfect.
Don't really like it but not sure why

OP posts:

IMoveTheStars · 31/05/2010 21:45

cup with a straw for a while. open straw, but it goes down to the bottom of the beaker so upside-down is non-spill.

www.lakeland.co.uk/fun-flip-top-bottles/F/keyword/straw/product/50762_50763

they also sell them in waitrose.

2rebecca · 01/06/2010 08:01

If he deliberately spills it he only gets water. Mine had nonspill cups that you had to actively sup at that age. Suspect if normal cup and pouring it over floor I'd have taken it away.
I've got better things to do than clean floors all day. Chucking drinks over the floor isn't acceptable behaviour. At 14mo he is old enough to understand "no".

helmethead · 01/06/2010 12:46

Its only water - my son does it and is the same age, DD never did. Water dries, a pain you have to change their clothes but thats about it. Saying NO is a very bad idea, distract at this age. Often they do it when they are bored - solve the boredom not the water.

ExplodingBananas · 01/06/2010 16:40

Danthe4th - my DS is doing this in his high chair not 'wandering about'

pookamoo · 03/06/2010 12:19

A friend of mine solved this by actively encouraging her DD to tip water when it was allowed. So plenty of bath time fun and splashing in a paddling pool or bucket of water in the garden in the nice weather, and a gentle "no" and removing the cup when it wasn't appropriate. The idea is to teach them that sometimes it is ok, and sometimes it is not - and to give them an outlet for the water pouring!

I have been meaning to try something similar with DD and a ball for her "chucking everything about" phase she seems to be going through

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