Age to Start Giving a Cup??

As soon as they start reaching for it, try giving them little sips. A 5 month old can do it well. Some can even feed themselves with a spoon by then. If they like it and you're right there then go for it in small trys.

All children are different. They all develop at different rates. You'll never know until you try it.

I have read that about 12 months is a good age. I think it even says that in What to Expect: The Toddler Years. I think it's playtex that makes a sippy with a lid that's harder than a nipple and softer than a regular hard plastic sippy. My son wouldn't take the hard plastic until about 14-15 months. I started him on the soft sippy at 11 months. That was almost too young, but he got the knack of it eventually. Six months definately seems to young, but if everyone insists, that softer sippy would probably be doable if your child will take it. Good luck.

Our daughter started a sippy at 6 mo., and she is nearly three, and she is still happy with it. Which I am thankful for, then I am not freaked out about where she drinks, who bumps her or whatever. We didn't give her a regular cup on purpose until long after she was two, and there has not been any delay in development.
I think drinking from a cup is a pretty natural response, so unless you notice any delays, I would not worry. Really a cup can be a pain, if they sart to refuse the sippy, but still need help, or they start drinking bath water; or intentional messes at meal times.
My mother in law is a nutrinist, and she says the main reason to start on a cup is that once you start babies on more solid foods, they should be getting more fluids, especially during the summer months they need plain water, or if you live in a cold place during the winter that doesn't have good moisture levels, drinking milk or juice may not be enough fluids.
Hope this helps

I have 3 childern and the oldest was the hardest to get off a bottle. My girls were born 16 months apart and the oldest had the problem of sis got one so i need one. I started a cup for my younger daughter at that age and tried with my oldest. My little guy is a different story. Of course I was a mommy that let my little guy go to bed with a bottle of water cause that seemed to sooth him. At 6 months i bought one of the new baby estein 2 handle cups that u can get at walmart and he took right to it. He ended up switching right to a cup instead of a bottle by the age of 8 months. Formula in a cup is not fun lol Anyways the cups are wonderful and i suggest using them. He is now 17 months old and i just started giving him a little regular cup when he sits down for dinner. Of course it just has a swallow or noooooo red stuff, but he doesn't quite get the hang of it. Along with a spoon i still offer it knowing he is goin to make a mess. Also it helps if they sit with u for dinner. Babies like to watch and do. If they see u eating with a fork.... they just might try. Good Luck....

I have an almost 23 month old and she just started using a real cup. I breastfed my daughter until she was 9 months old, but she would of course have a bottle while I was at work. I weaned her from the bottle at 7 months and went to a sippy cup and she did very well with it right from the start. She recently started using a real cup b/c she went to daycare for the first time a month ago and they use real cups in the room she is in. I was not really aware of this until a few days ago, when I witnessed her picking up a real cup and drinking from it very well.

I think people try to tell us not to use sippy cups or bottles b/c it can contribute to tooth decay, but I think sippy cups are fine, but I would start thinking of weaning him in a few months or so.

Hope this helps!! Good luck! :)

I think it's great to start a regular cup or a sippy cup about this age. I know he still seems so young, but it's really just to get him familiar with it as he gets older, not for nurishment. Just put a couple sips of water in a plastic cup or sippy cup during cereal time. It'll be a new sensation for him and should make transition to a cup easier whenever you are done breastfeeding. I stopped breastfeeding my son at about 10mo and it was so nice that he went directly to a cup and I never had to deal with bottles!!!!! Also, if you do use a sippy cup, take out the little plastic spill proof part so he can feel the real action of tipping a cup and having it come out.

I think we were a bit older (maybe a month or so) when we did a sippy cup with our daugther. Our Dr's biggest thing was that she was off the bottle by the time she was a year, and I think it was about 10 months when she was off. The only kind of cups we could use were the Nubby ones (not the sport bottle kind, but the ones with the larger nipples and handles), but he said he didn't care what kind it was as long as she was off of it. We had to take some of our cups to daycare and they just washed them daily along with their cups until she started drinking out of a 'regular' sippy cup.

I didn't start giving my son a cup until about a year ago. I did it at meal times but got cups that were still his size. I started between 2 and 3 years. I got some theme cups like John Deer and Noah's Ark from the Dollar store and he really seemed to like them. I only filled them a 1/4 of the way so if he spilled on himself of the floor it wasn't a big deal and he didnt freak out about it. I still give my son, who is 4 years, sippy cups if he is laying in my bed watching TV or in the living room. If he has a cup without a sippy lid it stays on the kitchen table and he has to go in and get a drink when he wants it. he liked the "big boy" cup. Good luck!

I think it really depends on the kid. I nurse/ed all three of mine. My oldest wasn't ready for a cup until about 9months, my second was over a year (14months maybe?) and my 7month old drinks from a cup occasionally (with lots of help)

You be the judge, you can try it if it doesn't work let it go for now.

I started my kids with a cup before 6 months. The minute they started drinking anything besides formula is when I started. I never used sippy cups with my second baby. Good luck.

I started giving my son a sippy cup every so often at 6 months. He didn't really start getting the hang of it until around 10 months though. At first it is more to just get them used to holding it. I would give him a little water in a sippy cup once a day for awhile.

Hope it all works out for you.

i was on wic for awhile with my daughter and they wanted her to use a cup as well. but in my opinion he will tell you when he is ready for a cup. my daughter uses a sippy cup, but when we are drinking water from a "big" cup we will let her share with us that way she know what to do and learns how to swallow from the cup. she is 12 mo old and still uses a sippy cup most of the time. at dinner we give her a "big" cup with just a little drink in it so she can learn how to do it on her own. be prepared for a mess, but the timing of the "switch" is all up to you and the baby

I started giving my son a cup everyday when he was 5 months old, and he didn't actually start drinking out of it until he was 11 months old! So, I say try it, if he doesnt want it he will let you know and eventually when he is good and ready he will drink from it! And really, it is entirely up to you when he starts and not your breast-feeding counselor, your daycare provider or anyone else! You know your baby better than anyone and you get to decide when it is right for you and him. And speaking as a mother of a gorgeous 15 month old, there is nothing wrong with letting him stay a baby for as long as you can get away with it! I miss holding my son at his last feeding of the night before bed; now I barely get a 10 second cuddle out of him before he is running off to do his thing! So, just enjoy this baby-time with him; it doesn't last nearly long enough!

I nursed my kids until they were about 6 months old and started giving them sippy cups as soon as they could sit in the high chair by themself. Each kid was a little different, but they were all drinking okay from a sippy cup before 6 months old. We didn't really introduce regular cups until they were over a year old.

J.,
We started giving our babies sippy cups when they were about that age with water. I didn't do the cups because they always choked as the water sploshed up against their face. But my husband and I continually offered sippy cups with water and water bottles with straws for them to suck. Both of my kids are great water drinkers and the only "juice" they have ever drank is gatorade. If your child is okay with the cup then go for it, but the sippy cup is a great place to start.
I remember one of my friends who was a speech pathologist saw my 9 month old baby(this was a few years ago) sucking out of my water bottle and she couldn't believe that she had already mastered that. I didn't know it was any big deal because she had been doing that since at least 6 months.
Now my children are 4 and 2 and both of them drink from a cup just fine, but I still offer the 2 year sippy cups in her high chair so I don't have to clean up big messes when she decides to dump everything :)
Hope this helps.

I was told to start a cup then as well. In fact, my son had a cup and was also holding a spoon then. I started my son on baby cereal at a few weeks old and shortly after I went to baby food because he did not like the cereal. My mom told me with my first to let him have a spoon so he starts to understand and get the feel for it. The same with the cup.

I gave both my children sippy cups around 6 months and would also offer a regular cup, too. But that's not always convenient because you do all the work. Anyway, it didn't seem to have any effect on breastfeeding - I continued to breastfeed until my baby was 13-months. I think some of the women at breastfeeding support groups are a little extreme in what is "acceptable." However, I only offered water and juice in the sippy/regular cups.