When to Stop a Sippy Cup.

Wow.

Two things:
1. He is 4 and shouldn't be in the bed with you on a regular basis. It is important to begin to foster independence in him.

2. I thought the purpose of the sippy cup is to transition to a regular cup. It is time to make the transition.

Please begin to teach him how to deal with life's disappointments. We all have to cry sometimes. The trick is learning to deal with our feelings. Teach him, how to deal with the disappointment, sorry and fustration. If you think you can't deal with him crying at 4, how are you going to deal with his inability to express or handle disappointment as a 14 year old? He isn't going to stay 4. Please put in the hard work now so that both of you will be better equipped for life ahead and his adulthood.

If he is developmentally ready during the day he will probably be okay at night. There are no rules for when to leave the sippy altogether. What does he need or use it for? My 3 1/2 year old has one in his room at night, but it has a different top--a rim like a cup so he is not wrapping his lips like a regular sippy. He wakes up thirsty at night and it allows him to get himself a drink of water and then go back to sleep. This summer I will be switching him to having a half-glass of water on his dresser at night. As an adult, I sometimes wake up and need a glass of water at night, so if a child is thirsty he or she should be able to drink as well.

I know you did not say anything about wanting to move him out of your room, but part of my bedtime routine with my older boy is snuggling with him on his bed for a few minutes before leaving him, and I definitely have fallen asleep in there with him a few times. If he is using the sippy as a kind of bottle/pacifier, you probably do want to consider easing it away. You can start about by talking during the day about how he is a big boy and will need to get up and have a sip of water at night if he is thirsty, etc. Good luck with that one. It might be bumpy...

I would start by saying 4 year olds do not use sippy cups, that is a baby thing. Leading up to his 4th birthday. Then just store or give them away. Out of sight out of mind. It will be hard for a few days. But it will not be as tramtic as you think.

Then I would try getting him into his own bed. I know how hard it to get some sleep with a little one in your bed. Breaking him will not be easy. But in the long run it's better for all of you. If you have to get up several times in the middle of the night to put him back in his bed, you just have to do it. This will last no longer than a week. Good luck, and just remember consistance is the key

You can go cold turkey alway's my choice when wanting to give or take away something but have a back up plan buy him big cups the ones with spiderman or batman whatever he likes and just start putting his drinks in the cups no need to mention that it's not a sippy cup but if he cries just tell him mommy gave the sippy cups away to a smaller child.If he needs something for water at nite a sprots bottle will be fine or a straw cup with a lid.If you can't stand seeing him cry go to the other room after explaning to him that it's time for a big cup don't like the mess don't fill them to high.Good Luck

Several of my friends are dentists and they all told me that sippy cups are worse than thumbsucking or bottles when it comes to their teeth development (it's hard plastic that doesn't 'give' like the others). I was told to stop the sippy cups by 18 months - 2 years at the latest. It wasn't that hard. My kids were using regular cups at meals and snacktimes by 12-13 months old. The first few times there were spills but since they only get water at meals it's not a big deal. They use a sports bottle for water during the day to have near them when playing or in the car.

As for taking it away - just do it. Of course he'll cry. You've let him hang on to it far too long and he's grown attached to it. The longer you wait, the harder it'll be. It's better for him in the long run - you know that. He doesn't. He's the kid. You're the parent. He'll cry for a few nights and get over it. And he'll probably get over it faster than you think as long as you don't give in. Chances are, he'll be asleep by the time you come to bed.

As for not being able to stand to see him cry.... my kids are older now and I'll tell you that you better get over that. None of us like to see our kids cry but sometimes we need to make decision that is in their best interest that they do not like and they WILL cry. And they WILL say "I hate you" a few times. And you better NOT cave in when they do because when you do, you just reinforce that in your family, the kid is in charge and not the parent. Stand firm so your child will respect you - kids are looking for boundaries (even if they do cry when they run into them!).

I have a 5, 3 and 6mos. I do know that in prek here it is not recommended to have a sippy cup. SO my first I started changing him over to a reg cup when he was prob 3.5 and the 2nd when he was 2. My kids are prety easy going, I was just like look you can drink out of a cup with no lid, it is cool... My only reason for *wanting the sippy* was for the lid!!!! I agree you have to have your limits and your rules bc if you don't now then when are they going to sprout up!

:) sippy cups are hard to part with. i finally tossed my lil boys when he turned 6. we have 1 still, but it it used when he is not feeling well and he can lay down and drink his warm tea, etc. But i did remove the rubber stopper, so the liquid comes out fast. By 4.5 -5 yrs, he really only used the cup in the morning and right before bed, he liked to have his choc. milk, while laying down on the couch watching T.V. If your fine with the cup yet, let him keep it. But when you are wanting it gone, talk to him before hand, let him know you will be putting them away, cuz he's a big boy now. Mark the date on a calendar, and count down with him, so he can be prepared. be ready to replace it with something else, or a big reward for giving them up.
Now trying to get him to sleep by himself will be the real challenge :) but don't worry bout rushing that one either. my lil boy is 6, he still sleeps with me. Good Luck :)

I have to agree with Mitzi and Kimberly. I think he's been using the sippy cup and you as a bottle/pacifier. I think that transition is always harder for the parents than for the kids. As a mom you never want to see your child go through any difficulties but like they said, would you like to have a teenager or even adult completely dependent on you? I think maybe you should start with slowly getting him off the sippy cup and then work on having him falling asleep on his own bed. It just gets harder as they get older since they will develop stronger feelings towards the cup and they will fight you physically. I have 3 kids and between ages 2 to 3 we took away the sippy cup. We only use cups with lids on trips or by their bed for night time in the case they get thirsty but they aren't allowed to go to sleep with them in bed. On the other side, my kids started sleeping in a twin bed at 18 months. We worked on falling asleep on their own without us around 4 months! We didn't let them cry it out or anything. We would put them to bed when they were half asleep and if they started crying I would to talk to them softly while moving their crib gently to make a "rocking" sensation. If they would wake up 10 minutes again, we would come in again and do the crib rocking until they fell asleep. We only had to do this a couple of nights and I guess they knew that if something happened we would always come back. Once they were older, none of them ever has had problems falling asleep on their own. Maybe you should try that if you have more kids. For now, we used a technique with our kids when we moved and they were a little bit scared of the new house. We placed 2 different night lights with timers. One was bright and was on from 7 to 7:45. That was our reading/quiet time light. Then it would go off and the other lamp would be on for 15 minutes as the "warning." All the kids would then get in bed and knew that it was almost time to sleep and we used a very dim night light for the first weeks until they weren't afraid anymore.
I think you need to help your child to become an independent individual that knows that even without his favorite toy, cup or sleeping without you, you will always be there. Right now it's cute to sleep with your child and spend every single minute together but when that child is 10 and refuses to leave your bed, well... You don't want to him to stop his development, right? None of these things are age appropriate so this is a good time to help him grow in a new way :)

We stopped sippies a couple months after my son turned 3. He's never been allowed to have a cup at night - he pees too much as it is!! lol But as long as it's just water, it's not a big deal that your son still uses one at night.