Sippy Cups - Spencer, IN

My doc said to offer something different than what they get from a bottle, i.e. water or diluted juice. Now, Kaitlin has never really taken to a sippy cup (she's 15 mos. now), and my doc is very OK with because it could become a form of pacifier or can affect tooth positioning. She'll carry a cup around just to shake the liquids around (water) - she likes to hear the sloshing around in the cup. She also will drink sips from a regular glass if we hold it for her. Good luck!

We just always start with juice. It is nice and sweet and something new. My girls always seemed to really like it. Sometimes if they were having trouble learning how to drink, I would put water without the valve.
Hope this helps!

I have a 7 month old little guy and I just started trying the sippy cup with him. I just use water.
Good luck!

I have 3 children and have given them sippy cups after 4 mths old. I have put water or breast milk in them. It gives them something to chew on, gets them use to holding it by them selves and my current 6 mth old really likes it. None of my children took a bottle. If i needed to leave the house they would take a sippy cup. Good luck and I'm sure your 6 mth old will like the new toy.

Put water in the cup. Try to offer water as a 'first choice' beverage, so he doesn't get into the habit of thinking all liquids have to be flavored. My son drinks only water, he gets his nutrition from whole foods. Good luck!!

My doctor always said start them with a reagular drinking glass and recommended a heavy juice glass (not a sippy) at 6 mos. When teaching them to drink from a "regular" glass it is something that you do in a diaper only or at bath time! :) I have a friend that has a two year old son and the little boy likes the Gerber cups with the soft nuby "spouts" on them. I always tried to get my kids to drink water from their cups in the beginning - less messy than juice and much cheaper than formula! :) Enjoy - this is a fun time!!

I would personally give him plain water. There is nothing better on this planet to make sure he is properly hydrated and if you start him on juice he may never transition back to plain water. He may just want juice because of the sweetness. Good luck and God bless!

I'd say either formula or water. Unless your doctor said juice was okay they don't really need it now and if you never give him "milk" in it he may reject milk in it later. I've heard of lots of kids who got used to only having juice in it and their milk from a bottle that they had a hard time when it came time to drop the bottle. Train him with what he'll normally need it for. Obviously you'll probably still need to give him his bottle until he masters the cup - my niece was on sippy cups only by 9 months - but she was very weird and would sit down and drink the whole thing, the way most kids do with a bottle. They have some great soft-spout options - I like the Gerber ones. Hope this helps.

Hey C.,

I put water in first. With my first I started with baby juice and now that she is three she barely drinks water. All she wants is juice. Too much sugar not good. My second is 1 and has had nothing but water. Hope this helps.

Hi -

You've gotten a lot of advice already, but I wanted to mention to take care in the choice of sippy cup you give your little one. You may have heard of BPA in the news. It concerned me so I got bottles for my expressed breast milk and sippy cups at www.bpafreekids.com. The price is higher than what you'd find at Walmart, but now I have peace of mind.

i only did formula/milk in a sippy. or else he will expect juice in a sippy and formula in a bottle and when you hand him a sippy of milk at 12 months he will refuse it. because the sippy is not sweet like juice.

I started all of my babies on cups when I started spoon feeding them. I used water, diluted baby juice, and formula in the cup. However, when I first started I didn't use sippy cups, just a regular cup. I didn't use sippy cups until they got the hang of drinking out of a regular cup and became mobile with their drinks. Then at two they want a regular cup again and that is when the messes happen :) Be sure not to let your baby drink too much juice, and if you can get her to enjoy water that is perfect. My now 2 y.o only drinks water out of a water bottle or disposable cup when we go out to eat (we call it pop so she will drink it) Best of Luck

We started sippy cups at about 6 months. I put only milk in the bottle and everything in the sippy. We started with baby juice or regular juice, no sugar added, half watered down in the sippy. I took the valve out until they got the hang of sucking on the spout. They were willing to work at it, because they liked the juice. Then when they get the hang of it, you can put whatever in it and use it at meals and on the go instead of a bottle. My girls were all breastfed, but did bottles at the babysitters. We completely weaned from bottles by 9-12 months with all of them, because they preferred the sippy cup. It was "the big girl's cup." Good luck and have fun. It's so rewarding to watch them become little people!

use what ever you think he will be most receptive to I suggest water only because at first its messy and then after they get the hang of it his favortie things to drink

my daughter was breastfed & would never take a bottle for water, so at around 6 months we started giving her a very small sippy cup with handles & a softer nipple & she did great with it! i thought it was pretty humorous to see a 6 month old holding a sippy cup, but it worked.

With my son, I would put either formula or water in it (once he liked water) and eventually put juice in it but wanted him to drink things I knew he liked. I also took the valve out of the cup to make it easier for him to get the liquid out of it. I helped him to hold the cup so it didn't spill but he does great with it now and has been off of the bottle since about 11 months old.

Good luck!

What we did was first just gave it to our daughter empty. Mainly so that she got comfortable with it and learned to hold it well. Then we put water in it, then eventually moved to milk once she understood how it worked. Your second may catch on faster with an older sibling there to watch.

Good luck!

I did water (would probably done formula had she not been breast fed). She's a year now and we still don't do juice. I give whole fruits, but not juice -- too much sugar.

We started our little girl on sippy cups when she was about six months. We just put water in the cup. It's more for practice right now, and we didn't count on it for any nutritional value. She still drank her formula from a bottle. Then, when she was a year old, we started putting whole milk in the sippy. She's fifteen months now, and our transition from bottle to sippy was relatively painless, since she had so much practice already. Also, we NEVER put anything in a bottle except formula or milk. If she did get watered down juice (only occasionally), it was in a sippy. I really think that made a difference when weaning off the bottle too. Good luck!

They say you should put juice in it because then that helps them to want to get the 'sweet' stuff out. Because if you put the milk, it's not really 'exciting' since he can get that through the bottle. So, try the juice, watered down of course. Then that would encourage him to try to drink out of the cup more.

Hi C.! I would recommend using a soft tip sippy cup. Nuby makes them, and it was a no brainer transition for my daughter. I got them at Wal-Mart. I would put anything in it that he likes to drink, and I'll be he does just fine!

C.,
I would have to say, first, do what is comfortable for you. Introducing the sippy cup is a good idea at the age of 6 months but you know your child best. Perhaps do a bottle in the morning, sippy cup at lunch and supper, and then a bottle at bed time, if that is his schedule. As for what to put in it, formula is a very good idea to be put in the sippy cup. I always found that to help my children get used to drinking something with lunch and supper once they began to drink milk about age one. Mix it in the bottle first if that makes you more comfortable as to the mixture of the water vs formula. As for juice, I think that would be okay, too. It would be a good idea to do 1/2 water 1/2 juice. I believe, though, not to do too much juice as the formula is still the bigger part of their diet as they are learning to eat different kinds of foods whether it be blended by you or baby food from the store. I hope I've given some helpful info. My oldest is 9, middle is 4, and youngest is 2. Take care!!

Put anything in the sippy cup that you would put in the bottle. I'm with your doc. We started the cups as soon as my boys could hold their own bottles. We've never had any trouble breaking from the bottle or paci's. Good luck! All the best to you, troubledmama

My daughter drank formula, juice and water from a sippy at 5 months. I suggest water above all! With formula be sure the formula is mixed well, sometimes its hard to see it thru the colored cup. Juice last unless it is mixed with 3/4 water. I also gave my daughter a regular cup every now and then and she caught on fast.
Best to you! Have fun!
A.

C. - I am going through transition now (my youngest daughter just turned one). We introduced her to a sippy cup with water only. We continued to just give her water in the sippy cup (formula in the bottle)for practice until she turned one. We now give her water and/or whole milk in the sippy cup. She caught on pretty quick. We don't allow either of our daughters to have juice (unless it is a "special occassion" ... b-day party, 1st day of school, etc.) b/c of all the sugar in the juice. They just have milk or water and they don't seem to mind or miss out on the juice. If you're going to do juice, I'd water it down. Good luck, I'm sure your boy will do just fine!

At the age of 6 months, I'd only do water (a little bit, they don't need a lot of water). I'd leave the bottle specifically for formula, and not put formula in any other container. Once he is old enough to have diluted juice (another few months at least), then you can put a bit of juice in the sippy cup with the water.

So, bottle = formula only and sippy = water, diluted juice or milk (when old enough).

I would just put water in it because he's probably not going to drink it anyway. Formula would be a waste and a 6 mo old does not need sugary juice. 6 mo seems pretty young to me to start a sippy cup but he can at least practice holding it or chewing on it. I don't think my twins actually started drinking from sippy cups regularly until they were 16 mo old. Hope that helps!

You can do either formula or juice. It will not hurt him to have formula in a sippy cup. I would see how he does with the formula and if he does good then go ahead and try juice. If he does o.k. with both then it would be a good time to start breaking him of the bottle. If he doesn't seem to do well and doesn't like the idea of the sippy cup yet then by all means continue to bottle feed him. Doctors usually recommend of course kids be bottle broke no later than a year old so you still have plenty of time to work on it.
D.

I am 31 and have been married for almost 12 yrs. My husband and I have 3 boys ages 10,7, and 4.