Sippy Cup recommendations?

[Proudmummy2014]

Hi there,

My DD is 5 months and I'm just preparing for everything that I will need when I start weaning her. This is all new to me, so if anyone could please advice me on the following it would be appreciated :-)

1. what are the best sippy cups to use

2. when would I actually use the sippy cup? Would it be for water or for all milk feeds too?

Thank you :-)

Mine was.

Dd had a bad tummy bug at about 14mo and lots a bit of weight and started waking in the night so we did about a months worth of midnight bottles til she got back to full strength again.

My DS refused bottles (was bf) or anything that even vaguely resembled one. He drank from that TT cup or an open cup (held by me or with a straw) from 5 months old - milk, water, whatever. At 2yo he still has bedtime milk in a TT cup so he doesn't spill it when he's tired, but has had an open cup for everything else for many many months now.

DS was a complete sod for refusing to drink from any kind of sippy cup and so I have literally one of each until he finally settled on the nuby soft spout ones with a valve. He drinks from a cup at 2.8 which was a mission like no other- involving getting Avent cups from America ?? with a special lip on it which they don't sell in the uk. I had visions of him sucking on a sippy cup on his 18th Birthday so was getting a bit obsessive!

I have that cup but DS will not have anything to do with a sippy spout, though he will drink from an open cup if you hold it for him so don't be surprised if baby isn't keen!

Enjoy weaning, it's such fun! Sainsburys do brilliant bibs with arms which cover most of the baby, they're about £3 (as opposed to the JoJo equivalents which are £10 and not as soft) but no doubt there will be some messy meals

If you are planning on making food for your DC then the silicone Annabel Karmel cube trays are brilliant and really easy to get the frozen cubes out of, unlike many others. Sainsburys again, about £5 iirc

Have fun!

The ikea painting aprons are great and mothercare do a set of almost towelling plastic backed ones that protect clothes too.

As someone's mentioned Annabel Karmel I'll mention baby led weaning. It's honestly easy and as relaxed as a huge thing like food can be for a small baby. No pureeing, no special food, just bits of family meals. Look into it, you'd be surprised what a 6 month old can do.

With the AK silicon tube trays- are these better than the standard silicon trays you can get in Sainsburys?

Also with BLW- how do you know if they are getting enough to eat? Can they chew and swallow our adult food or would you have to mash it for them still?

You start with something like roasted sweet potato or well steamed sticks of carrot or florets of broccoli. Anything they get to their mouth is a huge success. After a bit they start swallowing it (you might not believe it but you see it on the nappy). My DD took my banana off me and start chowing down on it. The most we've ever done is fork mash food. By 7 months DD was eating baked beans (reduced salt) and mini conchigli pasta with a ragu sauce).

In terms of volume, they need very very little food as they are able to be sustained by milk for a long time. Also, think about fruit and veg purée - it's the kind of food you might eat on a diet, it's not going to help them grow at the crazy rate they need to. Extra peach purée will not help a baby sleep longer!

I know it sounds terrifying but they honesty can eat real food. Even in the old days of weaning at 3-4 months purees we're only advised until 6 months, and then you were supposed to love into lumps. Now we start at 6 months you can go straight onto lumps

This site is often recommended. I believe it was founded by an MNer.

www.babyledweaning.com/the-blog/

That's really interesting and I never thought about it. I've always been under the impression that I would need to start on baby rice and purées. Ill definitely look in to this website- thanks very much.

If I did want to freeze some purées though would it matter the size of the icecube tray sections?

This is all so daunting. Am I right in thinking she will still need her 4/5 milk feeds a day alongside food. If so how long do these milk feeds continue for and would I continue to give the same amount or reduce it as she would be having some food?!

Lots of babies (mine included) aren't keen on baby rice- it's incredibly bland. Mine have always liked instant porridge (check there's no salt/sugar added). I did purees for a couple of weeks then moved straight onto finger food and fork mash at 6 months. You'll be surprised at what they'll eat once the get going- my 8 month old is obsessed with cut up figs. She gets hyper exited when she sees one (although we limit them to avoid horrendous nappies)!

Yup. Maintain milk and try to transition to three meals a day by about 9 months. You just drop one feed at a time. For a couple of months you feel like you're doing nothing but feeding one way or the other.

Forgot your other question ...

Be baby led with volume of milk (and food), but be mindful that they don't necessarily get the nutrition from food that we do so milk is very important.

No need for baby rice or purees. At 6 months smooth food can be weetabix or ready brek.

Be prepared for mess and. Buy some oilcloth or use an old shower curtain on the floor.

I must admit I'm not a blw purist. I have always done one meal of pure finger food and one of loaded spoons, but we eat out a lot and is don't want to deal with the mess in cafés.

There's no weaning police. Read the guidelines on no nos (sugar, salt, honey, whole nuts), watch out for allergies if you've got a history in the family, and enjoy eating as a family!

We didn't purée anything, and DS didn't get any teeth until he was eight months. He just gummed his way through everything; roast veg and cucumber went well, also steamed carrot sticks and Babybels.

Baby pasta shapes cooked on cheese sauce were also a favourite.

I started giving my dd a tt sippy cup at about 4 months for the first few goes put a bit of breast milk in and just let her play with it and if she got it in her mouth great.
Then we did blw, which takes all the thinking out of weaning, I just used to give her some veg or bits of what ever we ate the night before. And a sippy cup of water.

With regards to the milk feeds each child will be different in the speed they drop them by 1 my dd was down to a morning and night feed which I changed from bf to a sippy cup of cows milk over the next month or so.
At about 1 I started taking the lid off her sippy cup at meal times to get her used to drinking from a cup, I started her with a glass/China beaker not long after, but that's just because I hate the taste of water out of plastic so can't imagine her liking it (ha, I know I'm ridiculous)
You really have to just start and then see what happens, I wouldn't worry about it too much buy a plastic plate and bowl and a few spoons and forks and go with the flow. my dd liked the oxo ones but not untill about 10 months when she started feeding her self with cutlery.
You don't need to spend a fortune on stuff. I remember really worrying about weaning people make it out to be so hard and stressful but it needn't be just trust your self and baby.
Reading about blw really took the pressure off for me.
Good luck it's really fun.