Straw or sippy
How do I teach my baby to drink from a straw cup? I had a nuby cup with a weighted straw which we give regularly but she just chews it. During meals we help her drink from an open cup which she loves although doesn’t do this unassisted.
1. Should she be holding the cup unassisted and drinking from it? (she is 8.5 months)
2. How can I teach her to suck from a straw? Or should I be using a different type of cup?
TIA for any help or suggestions xx
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i had no idea where to start with this and went straight in with sip cups but we’ve stuck to the nuby sipeez grip and sip which seemed the closest transition from a bottle and this has gone down really well! my little boy is almost 9 months and can use this pretty much independently 😇
amazing! Thankyou so much. I will have a look at this one. Did you just show him initially and find he started picking it up to drink independently without prompting? Just have it within reach for meals or offer it regularly throughout the day? x
it took a few occasions of us modelling how to use it, then i think just because it’s not too far off a bottle he got the idea fairly quick, i have to hold it up now and again to make sure he’s actually getting the water but he’s insistent on being independent (and throwing it on the floor, cause that’s fun) 😅 we started off offering it a few times throughout meal times and he will actually now reach for it himself in those intervals to help wash down his food 🥰
Hey, to suck from a straw I taught my baby by putting a bit of yoghurt or fruit puree on the end of it and my baby just naturally went for it ! Maybe give this a try ! Xx
We use open cup (as in a normal glass) that we hold and mealtimes and then have a munchkin 360 when out and about. It took about a month of us helping and holiding it too, now he just about is starting to use it by himself (although still ocasionally gets confused and tries to drink from the wrong end 😅)
On advice from a few speech and language therapists (they work with swallowing and eating muscle function, not only speech) that it’s better to use free flow cups and sippy cups rather than straw or leak free cups as straw sucking and squeezing/biting are separate skills from drinking. We have the Doidy cup for an open cup and the Tommee Tippee sippy cup for (slightly) less mess. There are definitely spills because they aren’t leak-free, but they’re working great for my son.
ahh this is really useful to know actually! Thankyou xx
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