Sippy Cups for a 7 Month Old?

Yes - start with the sippy now. Don't let him get hooked on the bottle, and if he seems to be just playing with it, that's a good sign he needs to move on to the sippy. My kids preferred the sippys with the soft tops - Gerber brand, which can be found at Target and I think Wal Mart, too. It may take a bit to get used to it, but keep trying and pretty soon he will adjust.

Keep in mind, the sippy cups can be as damaging to his teeth as a bottle, so don't let him go to sleep with anything but water in it. The sooner you can get him on to a regular cup, the better! Good luck!

I first introduced my son to a sippy cup at around your son's age. We liked the First Years disposable cups, actually. That's pretty much all we use. For babies, they come in a 4 oz. size that has ridges on the cup to make it easier to grip. They're inexpensive, so if they don't work for you there's nothing lost. We also tried the Avent cups, which worked ok but were a pain with all the parts. That's what I like about the First Years - no little parts! Or, lots of moms recommend the Nuby sippy cups for babies because the spout is so soft, like a bottle nipple.

And as for the introduction, I'd just give him the cup with some water and let him explore. Don't give up if he doesn't take to it right away. Good luck!

I gave my daughter a sippy cup at 5 months old. She pretty much played with it for about a month, and started to drink from it by 6 months. The only thing you have to watch for at that young age is they will drink a little too fast sometimes and choke on it, but if you keep an eye on him, he will be fine. Then you are halfway thru the battle of getting him off the bottle or the breast. I used the Avent trainer cups, they have a harder spout. Good luck!!

First sippy cup has to be the soft spout Nuby!!!

Hi T.-

I started my daughter on sippy cups at around 5 months old as she was BF'ing only (refused bottles at around 4 months). This helped my husband if I needed to be gone. I don't think 7 months is to early to start and by the time he reaches a year, he'll be a pro and the bottle can be done with. I have friends who's kids have taken ages to take to the sippy cup because they started them at a year. You'll be surprise how quickly he'll take to it. As far as brands, we used many different ones and Nuby is good but we also used the standard old school types without the valve (until she was a year) and she was great with both.

Good luck!
D.

Hi T.,
I started my son on "sippy cups" at 6 months and now at almost 13 months he drinks from basically any variety of sippy cups, sports bottles as well as straws. I started him on the Nuby sippy with the silicone sippy "nipple" - it is basically like the bottle since it is silicone and soft - the only difference is the nipple area is at the side and not the center. It was a great transistion for me from bottle to regular sippy. Good Luck!

Hi
I started working with my son on a sippy at about 7/8 months to give water after solid feedings. He was also BF until 13 months. I used the Playtex sippy cups with no issues. They never even leak (unless I put the lid on wrong). I didn't realize it but I followed the steps they have on the website. My son used the ones with handles, then the small insulator cups, and now he is on the big insulator cups. Here is the link...so you can see photos!

http://www.playtexproductsinc.com/infant/CupsByStage.asp

PS It can take awhile for them to get used to it. One day my son just did it...after weeks of just playing with the mouth piece!!

Hi T.- I BF all 4 of my kids exclusively for 6 months and then started food in addition to BF to 13 monthes. I started sippy cups with food at meal times at 6 monthes with water in them, any brand seemed to work but I did hold the cup for them and waited to use the plug until they figured it out (about 2 -4 weeks) Good Luck and have fun
B.

T.,
I breastfed my daughter for a year. She started drinking out of a sippy cup at 6 mos. I bought her the Playtex brand with two handles to help her grip it better. I takes some time to get the coordination down, but she got pretty good at it and wanted her breastmilk in there rather than in a bottle when she was babysat.

Good luck.
A.

I nursed my sons and think I maybe took too long before introducing the sippy, particularly with my first son. He took a LONG time before he was holding the cup himself to drink independently. So I think now is a great time to start with a sippy! I'd just do water in it and let him play with it and get the idea of drinking from it first. Which KIND of sippy I don't think matters a whole lot, as it varies child to child and can also vary as the child gets older, so I'd just get a variety of sippy cups. Some pros and cons to some of them...
The first years with a cap is great because it has a flip cap, doesn't leak a bit so safe with milk and juice in it when out, but it's possible downside is that the liquid comes out pretty slow compared to other sippies.
Playtex is great with no leaks whatsoever, but the cup can never be emptied by the baby drinking it, there's always a little left in the bottom that's stuck there because of how the spout works...not a big deal really though.
The Take and Toss ones are great because they are very cheap and work well, but the tops do tend to come off when thrown, so we now use them for just water or outside.
The nubys are nice with the soft top because similar to a bottle, but they also leak like a bottle when the top is compressed, so a baby that pokes at the top could empty it on themselves...depends on what baby is using it for that to happen. :)
The hard spout nubys I like a lot, no leaks, similar spout to Playtex, so the last little bit doesn't come out when the baby drinks it, but even less than playtex that is stuck in there. I like them a lot and they are only $1 at Walgreens and I'm sure other places too.
The Gerbers are nice and easy to hold, spout is similar to playtex or the hard top nuby so the last little bit is stuck inside. They don't leak a bit, they make ones with 2 handles which is nice in the beginning.
This is probably way more than you wanted to know, but hey, I'd just get a variety of different kinds and start him with water in them. :)

Since every child is different, it's hard to say if your son is too young. My opinion, however, would be that only he can tell you. One way to ease him into it is to give him an empty sippy to hold and explore. This way he will not be totally opposed to the idea of a cup vs. a bottle. I purchased a few different cups for my son (I didn't want him to get stuck on one and then lose it!!!) but they all had spill guards of some kind that prevented them from leaking when turned upside down. Whenever I sat him in his highchair or exersaucer I would put the sippy filled with water with him. And since EVERYTHING goes in his mouth, he eventually started to try to drink from it. In the begining I had to help him hold it up to his mouth, but once he realized there was something in it, he tried to drink from it himself. If you don't want to give him water, breast milk or formula work well in the sippy as well!

I tried the Gerber and Nuby ones. We like the Nuby ones best - the bite valve is easy to use and easy to clean, and they don't spill (so you can actually put EBM in it if you want and don't have to worry about losing any). At 7 months you can probably start teaching your son how to drink from a regular cup too (while sitting at his highchair). We found that using a very small cup - like an egg cup - works really well for that. (Our rule is that when he's sitting our son uses a regular cup, but if he's walking around or at daycare he gets a sippy).

T.-
I think that it really depends on the kiddo. Mine is 10 1/2 months and still just chews on it. I think Nuby has the best cups. They have one with a silicone lip for them to suck, chew, or sip through and double handles.
Missy