Going from Sippy Cup to Regular Cup- Some Questions

[taffers]

I suppose at some point I need to make DD use cups on a regular basis since she's almost 3, but I have some questions:

(1) When I give her water in a regular cup, she *always* spills. Most of the time it is because she purposely tips it over, or she decides to pour water into different cups and inevitably into her bowl of mac n cheese or whatever she's eating...wtf? Do your kids do this? Can you stop them?

(2) For this reason, I have given up giving her milk in a regular cup so she only gets it in sippies or straw cups. Did you give milk in sippies longer than you did water?

(3) When you did completely switch to regular cups, did you save them for DC#2 or throw them all away and buy new ones when needed? I threw away all our Dr. Browns bottles and bought new bottles for DS because I thought it was gross, and being a preemie, I didn't want any chance of bacteria, etc. But we have SO many sippy/straw cups- I'm wondering if most people just replace them all or save them.

Thanks!

[laura]

I don't know the answer to those questions , but I wanted to say, I'm not planning to switch to an open cup on a regular basis for a LONG time. I will work with her to be able to functionally use one, but for general use at home, I see us using straw cups for a long time. It's just easier for the cup to have a cover, IMO. We will probably switch to an open cup at meals first but still use straw cups around the house. Not sure when I might do that, but it's not on my immediate radar.

If I had subsequent kids, I would save any 'nicer' sippies/cups (we wash all the parts in the dishwasher, anyway), but we use the take and toss straw cups most of the time, so I would toss those and replace in the future.

[semily24]

(1) DS1 (3 in July) doesn't spill from cups on purpose, but he does dip food into the cup which grosses me out. I try not to give too much of a reaction, and I just tell him that's not what the cup is for.

(2) Yes, I think we will definitely give milk in sippies for longer.

(3) I'd save the nicer ones. My youngest is just switching to sippies full time (hooray for no more bottles!!) and he shares the ones DS1 has been using. I just throw them out when they get leaky or gross.

[Katie1]

DD (6) still uses a sippy cup if she is drinking in the living room. She could be trusted to have water in a regular cup but she always forgets and leaves the cup out where her younger brothers can grab it and spill it so I do make her use a sippy cup if they're around, especially for milk. If it's water I will usually give her a water bottle or something else with a lid. If she is drinking in the kitchen (like at meal time) it is a regular cup, even for milk.

DS (3) switches between regular and sippy cups at mealtimes depending on if I'm in the mood for dealing with a mess. He does not drink milk so that's not an issue, but he will dip food or his hands into his cup. For walking around the house it's sippy cups only.

I have held on to the sippies and only toss them if they're really gross. Some of them are borderline and I really want to buy all new ones but can't justify the expense right now. I have found that a stiff paintbrush works well for cleaning all the gross stuff out of the nooks and crannies in the lids.

[jesseybell]

My kids (5 and 3) still drink from sippies except for at the table (heck, DH and I drink from straw cups when not at the table). Occasionally I still give them sippies at the table if I want a no-spill meal. Daycare stops sippies at 15 months so they do get practice early on, but to me it is just practice.

Early on the kids used the take and toss sippies and those got thrown out as they eventually bit through the mouthpiece. I threw out all DDs sippies when DS needed bigger ones and have been using the same ones for a couple of years.

[off2skl]

We kept cups that didn't look worse for wear. I can't remember when DS transitioned to an open cup (I was just thinking about that as I didn't not it in his baby book). I'm thinking he was around 2 since they use open cups in the Early Preschool Class. We havne't had many spilling issues, but he is now doing the food dunking

[boilermaker]

Both my kids use open cups for milk at meal times and spill proof water bottles the rest of the day. I do keep the straw take and toss around but don't use them often. I got rid of all the other sippy cups when DD1 was diagnosed with enamel deficiency and sippy cups let milk pool around the teeth.

For DD2 (I don't remember what I did for DD1, too long ago), if she plays with the milk or spills it on purpose, it gets taken away immediately and she is given her water bottle. I don't really say much about it except "we don't play with our drinks". If she accidentally spills (which after months of regular use only happens every so often), I just clean it up and replace the contents.

I also keep cups by our water cooler and let the kids get fresh water whenever. I did go through about 2 weeks where I had to block it from DD2 but now she's fine with it.

[taffers]

I have found that a stiff paintbrush works well for cleaning all the gross stuff out of the nooks and crannies in the lids.

Great idea!

Daycare stops sippies at 15 months so they do get practice early on, but to me it is just practice.

DD only drinks from cups at school too- they only allow you to put a straw cup (no sippies) in their lunch to use only at lunch, but the rest of the day they have to use cups. At home, I hardly EVER have her use a regular cup!

I forgot to add...we don't use the take and toss sippy cups so it would only be "real" ones that I'd be saving if I decide to.

Also, I did purchase this training cup for her. It's ok. At first she couldn't figure it out, and I don't see how it really teaches you to use a real cup since you have to suck at the edges rather than sip like you do with a regular cup.

[Chimichanga]

ODD (5) has been using regular cups for quite some time - maybe since she was about 2.5? She seemed to have good motor skills and could handle it.

YDD (2) is still using sippies for both water and milk. However, we are giving her open cups if she's sitting at the table. She drinks fine out of them but she's very careless. I mean, she's 2 - it's totally expected We give her such a small amount of liquid that even if she does spill, it's not a lot. She does like to play and dump water/milk into things, but she's getting better about that. We just keep reminding her to not play, don't dip her cup in the dog's water - you know, the important stuff.

[PookiePrincess]

We never really had the spilling water on purpose issue. If we did, I think I'd take away the option of the open cup when she did. Everytime it gets spilled on purpose or because she's playing, tell her how sad it is that she can't use the cup correctly and give her a sippy cup instead.

DD started with an open cup when she moved daycare rooms at 23 months old. They didn't do any sippies in that room. We started with the small bathroom cups as that's what they used at daycare. She's 4 now and uses an open cup when at the table and a straw sippy or other closed cup when out and about or around the house. At some point all of her sippy cups will go away, I just haven't decided when. Her other cups are Contigo cups that have a button to push to open the spout to be able to drink out of, and they are pretty spill proof. We'll probably keep those for a while as they aren't as sippy-cup like.

I have handed down some of DD's straw cups to DS. They aren't very old though and were bought last year. I had saved some of her other sippies from when she was a toddler and never really used them for DS. He skipped the standard sippy cup and went straight to a straw cup.