so dd1 has started drinking...

[silverfrog]

which is a truly marvellous thing. She will drink most things out of a carton or a pouch (you know, like the ella's kitchen smoothies).

Ideally I'd like to be able to water down her juice (both from an expense and a dental health/diet point of view) but cannot find a refillable container that looks enough like a carton. Dd1 has drunk from a range of cartons now, so it's not a particular size/colour/taste. It's also not as simple as using a straw as she won't use a straw with a cup/bottle.

I've just spoken to fledglings, who are a bit baffled but are working on it - anyone have any ideas? We've got the sippy bottles from lakeland. She did initially use it, but now refuses (grrr - can see this being a repeat of when she gave up drinking, I will be opening my cup/bottle/drinking vessel shop shortly)

In Starbucks, and also sometimes I've seen them in Sainsbury's , they do this thing which is juice and water. It is actually quite nice and my ASD boy drinks it down. Any way you could open up the carton secretly, refill it with that juice, then sellotape it down and give it to her as normal with a straw? Probably a bit too much but that juice is practically the only way I can get water into my DS. Good luck and good news re your DD!

I had thought about juice and water, but the only ones I've seen also have suger/sweeteners in them. Will have a look in sainsbury's.

We are somewhat limited by her diet (GF/CF, and very sensitive to a lot of fruits eg orange) so that limis what she can have.

Ideally I'd also like to solve the squeezing too hard issue - life is too short to be continually mopping the floor!

It is mango juice the one I am thinking of - I know the problem with squeezing too hard only too well - I am usually frantically trying to shove straw in his mouth before he spills! The things we go through that people don't understand!

Ooh, will def look out for mango juice/water, thanks.

To think, only 2 weeks ago, I was desperate for her to drink anything. Now I want her to drink it nicely - there's always another small step to take

Do wish she would learn to leave the straw in the carton though... sigh. Every 10 seconds I replace the straw, turn around, and dd1 is saying "more drink, leave straw in" etc

The trouble with frantic shoving of straw into mouth at this end is that it makes dd squeze all the harder... She does also insist on carrying the carton sideways so a constant dribble falls out. Oh well, she's well hydrated at least

Would a hydration unit work the sort runners use? They are expensive and ive only seen large capacity ones, but there might be a small version available. They are meant to be reusable and have a tube with a drinking valve at the end.

my ds can only use a carton or pouch to drink out of too, usually cos i can squeeze it up to the top and once he gets a taste he will suck, obviously you cant do this with just a straw in a cup so some one suggested "pat saunders straws" which have a valve in the bottom to keep the liquid at the top but ds didnt like them as it was a very hard straw.
we are now using a "sip-tip cup" which is fabulous, and under a tenner, it has a lid to stop spills and you bring the liquid up to the top of the straw by pressing on the lid, great as we use it at nursery and you dont want someone elses lips round your childs straw
it comes with 10 reusable straws but you can take the valve out the end and use any kind of straw with it, i find KFC straws particularly good.

heres some links

www.benefitsnowshop.co.uk/shop/detail.asp?bid=&item=7867

www.euromedical.c o.uk/search_results.asp?section=264

if you buy them from homecraft rolyan they also sell spare valves, useful for having in you bag when you are out and about.

www.homecraft-rolyan.com/app.aspx?cmd=search_content

My dd can only drink from a carton too - I have looked long and hard for suitable alternatives but not found anything. I'm sure when I lived in France you could buy mineral water in a carton which would be great. One thing we do have is the juice box holder - here: www.thebabycatalogue.com/prodinfo.asp?number=J0038
It's great and definatively stops all the juice squirting everywhere.

ooh, thaks Jenkeywoo, I knew I'd seen those somewhere, and couldn't think where! They should at least help with the squirting everywhere...