When (if at all) to introduce the sippy cup?

Kaia

I'll be changing my work schedule next week, so I'll be away from Dylan for 9-10 hours two days a week. I'm a little worried about him developing a bottle preference since he'll probably be getting at least 4 bottles those days. I'm wondering if I should introduce a sippy or straw cup. Would that help or worsen the nipple confusion? Or should I continue to give breastmilk in bottles and introduce the sippy for other liquids?

Amneris

I would start working on a cup, sippy or otherwise, as soon as possible. From what I have been told, for older nursing babies, it is better to wean them from bottles to cups for the feedings when you have to be away. Cups don't cause nipple confusion in older babies either as far as I know.

cosmicfly

Honestly, I think it depends on your baby. Mine have all really needed to suck, they had bottles of breastmilk when I was working (and when Max was a baby, I was gone 9-10 hours a day 5 days a week), and none of them (so far) have had trouble transitioning. In fact, they all preferred the breast. I introduced sippy cups with water when they started on solids. We never really did juice- Max drinks juice now, but he's 7.

marielle448

don't know when YOU should be here's our story.

Ian didn't want anything to do with a sippy. We finally figured out it was because his little sumo wrestler body that had him sitting up only around 6-7 months old didn't feel secure leaning his head back unassisted.

So arund 8-9 months old we tried a playtex straw cup. Good as gold. He loved it and when his little brother was ready for a cup that's what we did. At home I do give them little teeny jelly jars as their water cups but only when we're sitting for a meal or they may use it in the kitchen.

I've since been reading up that as far as other liquids besides water it may be better to use a straw cup because the liquids go straight back and also something to do with teeth/mouth formation.

Kaia

We use breastflow bottles now, which have the double nipple that supposedly helps with nipple confusion for breastfed babies. The problem is that I could have sworn I had read they were BPA free, but it turns out they're not. We have BPA free Medela bottles, but Dylan doesn't like those. I think he likes that he can control the flow with the Breasflow nipples.

Since he likes to control the flow, should I just teach him to use a straw and skip the spout sippy altogether?

cympreni

I think I started around 6 months. They really didn't catch on until a few months later. Kade wanted nothing to do with them, but I would offer them anyways. I would just give them a cup of water, encourage a few sips, if they drank it great, if not no biggie.

Tell you the truth, I wish I hadn't really even bothered with sippy cups or at least limited their use. With both boys I had a terrible time transitioning them from sippy cups to regular ones. They were just so used to being able to tilt their heads all the way back to drink and as toddlers were stuck in their ways. I came to realize that the self-discipline learned from using sippy cups is extremely limited. I think if I were to do it again, if I used a sippy cup at all, I would immediately start transitioning away from it as soon as they mastered it.

subbrock

cympreni wrote: »

I think I started around 6 months. They really didn't catch on until a few months later. Kade wanted nothing to do with them, but I would offer them anyways. I would just give them a cup of water, encourage a few sips, if they drank it great, if not no biggie.

same here. majerle learned how to drink from a straw at around the same time (6 months), but to this day she doesnt have a straw sippy cup. now she's almost at the point where she can drink from a regular cup. after a few sips she gets too excited and ends up dumping everything on herself. which i always think is funny. but she doesnt.

M2LRToo

Starting around 6 months, I always had a sippy of water at the high chair during meal times, sometime woudl offer one otherwise. He didn't always drink from it, but it was there so he could get used to it. It actually took him longer to ween from a sippy than it did from the bottle, LOL.

My daughter took to the sippy immediately, even better than the bottle. She was around 8 or 9 months, and started to give up the bottle on her own around 11 months.

sunday

My friend is a speech pathologist and she always tells parents to use the straw cups because research shows that the sippy cups can contribute to lisps.

mad scientist

I guess I just personally don't really see the advantage of a sippy cup over a bottle for babies/young toddlers. Lots of kids seem to suck them like a bottle, grow attached to them, need a sippy before bed etc....

My son skipped the sippy cup, but used a bottle for longer than the "recommended" 1 year. I day-weaned him to a bottle when I went back to work when he was a year because he had no interest whatsoever in a sippy cup and had a strong need to suck. He used the bottle for milk until about 18 months and then we got rid of it cold turkey. Starting at about 14 months or so he started using a regular cup at home for water. We have a few sippies and straw cups that we use for outings. He uses them for water or diluted juice but not for milk (he gave up milk along with the bottle).

webjockey

I totally acknowledge that sippy cups are hardly needed. I mean, how long have they been around? not even 20 years or so? For me, it's a function of parental laziness. I never got around to purchasing the higher flow nipples. He was getting more adept and more interested in throwing things, and with glass bottles, it was too much of a hazard. Also, he was drinking more, so I needed to refill over and over and over again.

When I want to put the effort in, I give him a cup, which I still have to hold and help him with, but otherwise it's Sippah time. :laughing7:

I also don't have a high sucking needs baby. He never liked the pacifier, and if he needed to suck, I was his go-to source.

Again, I can't be bothered with these time schedules. Eventually they get the hint on using a cup, or will be shamed into it by the time they reach high school.

Kaia

mad scientist wrote: »

I guess I just personally don't really see the advantage of a sippy cup over a bottle for babies/young toddlers. Lots of kids seem to suck them like a bottle, grow attached to them, need a sippy before bed etc....

It's not that I see a need for it, but I've seen it suggested that the sippy is better for avoiding nipple confusion. I guess maybe because it's so different from the breast, whereas the bottle is similarly shaped but has an easier/faster flow? I haven't seen any actual studies though, so it may just be speculation with no proof behind it. I plan on letting him try the regular cup when I start giving him other liquids, but I wouldn't ask MIL to deal with that while he's still learning.

marielle448

oops didn't realize you were looking to use the sippy for expressed milk (doh!). When we started using cups it was only for water.

webjockey

I was under the impression that the nipple confusion was for itty bitty babies who were still learning how to do the sucking, and that when they're a bit older, it's not as much of an issue.

If you do go with the sippy route, I suggest looking at the thinkbaby bottles. They have a very soft silicon spout that's similar to the nipple.

http://www.thinkbabybottles.com/

Kaia

Yeah, that's what I'm not sure about.. whether to switch from bottles to sippies, or to use the bottle for breastmilk and sippy or regular cup for other liquids. Trying to figure out what will be less confusing to a little baby brain is making my brain hurt.

Kaia

webjockey wrote: »

I was under the impression that the nipple confusion was for itty bitty babies who were still learning how to do the sucking, and that when they're a bit older, it's not as much of an issue.

You may be right. The reason I'm concerned is my co-worker's daughter stopped nursing around 7-8 months, and from that point on would only take bottles. She ended up having to exclusively pump until her baby turned a year (that was her breastfeeding goal), which I'm just not willing to do. But I don't know what other factors may have contributed to her daughter's refusal of the breast. I'm pretty sure she gave her daughter bottles when they were out and about, which probably didn't help. Dylan only gets bottled from dad and grandma, never from me, so we may be ok no matter what I do. I'm just trying to be proactive, and as usual I'm thinking too hard about things. :oops:

Amneris

I think by his age, nursing is well-established and like webbie said, nipple confusion is not really an issue you have to worry about. Nipple confusion is more likely in the first 2-3 months. My boy never liked to take a bottle and had a strong preference for the breast, so we started getting him used to cups instead starting around 6-7 months, and he uses them much more easily than bottles. Now that he's teething, he seems to find biting the spout to be comforting, too. When I start school, I hope to have him use cups for expressed breast milk when I am not around. I have heard the sippy/straw/regular cup debate and I probably would prefer not to use a sippy, but it seems easier for his caregivers, and I'm with webbie - I've yet to see an 18 year old with one, lol! I do also let him drink out of my cups/glasses to get used to it.

webjockey

Bailey422 wrote: »

webjockey wrote: »

I was under the impression that the nipple confusion was for itty bitty babies who were still learning how to do the sucking, and that when they're a bit older, it's not as much of an issue.

You may be right. The reason I'm concerned is my co-worker's daughter stopped nursing around 7-8 months, and from that point on would only take bottles. She ended up having to exclusively pump until her baby turned a year (that was her breastfeeding goal), which I'm just not willing to do. But I don't know what other factors may have contributed to her daughter's refusal of the breast. I'm pretty sure she gave her daughter bottles when they were out and about, which probably didn't help. Dylan only gets bottled from dad and grandma, never from me, so we may be ok no matter what I do. I'm just trying to be proactive, and as usual I'm thinking too hard about things. :oops:

That's why I stuck with slow flow nipples for expressed breastmilk until it was time to wean. I figured that if he got used to getting breastmilk faster then he would prefer the bottle to getting milk directly from the source.

mad scientist

Bailey422 wrote: »

mad scientist wrote: »

I guess I just personally don't really see the advantage of a sippy cup over a bottle for babies/young toddlers. Lots of kids seem to suck them like a bottle, grow attached to them, need a sippy before bed etc....

It's not that I see a need for it, but I've seen it suggested that the sippy is better for avoiding nipple confusion. I guess maybe because it's so different from the breast, whereas the bottle is similarly shaped but has an easier/faster flow? I haven't seen any actual studies though, so it may just be speculation with no proof behind it. I plan on letting him try the regular cup when I start giving him other liquids, but I wouldn't ask MIL to deal with that while he's still learning.

My experience is that kids that are too young, tend to use the sippy cup like they would a bottle anyways (suck it, lie back with it, derive comfort from it) in which case its really not more than a different looking bottle. If your baby is comfortable with the bottle, and comfortable nursing, I think you can keep doing what you are doing. So long as you are keeping your supply up then he'll enjoy nursing when you are together.

My long work days (after DS was one) led to weaning because I wasn't pumping and couldn't keep up my supply. So he lost interest.

If a nursing strike does come along, recognize it for what it is (ie. he's not weaning and its just temporary) and you'll work through it.

M2LRToo

webjockey wrote: »

I was under the impression that the nipple confusion was for itty bitty babies who were still learning how to do the sucking, and that when they're a bit older, it's not as much of an issue.

This is what I remember as well, that nipple confusion was more likely to occur in newborns, mostly under 6 weeks...hence the reason they tell you to wait until 6 weeks (or until good breastfeeding habits are establilshed) before introductin a bottle or even a paci. If you wait TOO long, the baby will refuse a bottle.
Like WJ, I also used slow flow nipples until I weaned my kids (around 11 months for both).

subbrock

i dont know if its nipple confusion or not, but majerle to this day cant drink out of a bottle. for some odd reason, my parents like to try to give her a bottle of juice or water every once in a while. but she cant figure out how to suck it efficiently and tosses it aside.

shellibean

We started giving him a sippy cup filled wth formula interchangebly (sp?) with a bottl earoudn 6 months. Like, every couple of bottles, we would thrown in a sippy cup. He could then use both. Then we just stopped using the bottle and he drank from a cup full time for formula.