At less than a year old, babies aren’t really ready for independence in the way that we perceive it. After all, there’s not much that a month-old baby can do alone. Nevertheless, simply engaging with your baby, giving him choices, and making him feel like he’s involved in your decision-making will help to cultivate a stronger sense of self and independence. This will be important as he continues to grow and has to start preschool. Helping your baby drink independently is one of the first steps that you can take in this direction. While this transition may come effortlessly to some babies, most require a little bit of help and that’s where a training cup or sippy cup comes into play. Just make sure that you choose a high-quality sippy cup from a trusted seller.
When to Start Using Sippy Cups
Typically, parents are advised to begin this transition from the time their baby is about 6 months old, but it’s not a hard and fast rule. Parenting can be fairly intuitive and you’ll know when the time is right based on your baby’s cues – sitting up unassisted, improved head and neck control, and improved ability to maneuver objects that invariably end up in her mouth! It would also be a good idea to introduce a sippy cup if you have already begun the process of weaning your baby from breastmilk or formula with some solid foods.
How the Right Sippy Cup Will Help
The most obvious benefit of sippy cups today is that parents don’t have to worry about messy spills and constant cleanup duty. This also helps babies because they’re still developing their fine motor skills and can have a tough time getting an open cup to their mouths without spilling liquid over themselves and the place. This allows your baby to develop more confidence and will also reduce possible resistance to moving away from bottle feeding.
The primary purpose of a sippy cup is to serve as a training cup and it allows babies to practice and get used to the motions of independent drinking from a regular open cup. This will make it easier for your baby to transition fully to drinking from open cups by the age of 2 years or earlier.
Additionally, since sippy cups allow for independent drinking, they also promote hydration at an early age. You just need to make sure that you don’t use the sippy cup to introduce your baby to juices and other beverages as this practice is associated with dental problems and excess weight gain.
What to Look for or Avoid in Sippy Cups
The spill-prevention feature is the biggest draw for most parents, but you should avoid cups with spill-preventing valves as they force babies to sip rather than suck, so they won’t help your baby develop independent drinking skills at all. Instead, cups with weighted bottoms and flattened straws work just as well to limit backflow and spills.
Choose from sippy cups with soft spouts rather than hard ones because some experts believe that the hard spouts can interfere with tongue movement, adversely affecting speech development.
Handles and textured surfaces are useful as they make it easier for babies to grip, but you should make sure that cleaning is easy. The best option would be a sippy cup that is completely dishwasher safe.
Check the product information to find out if the sippy cup is free of toxic chemicals such as phthalates and bisphenols, as they are often used in plastic food storage products. Their use has been linked with a higher incidence of endocrinal and developmental disorders.
Ultimately, a sippy cup should help your baby learn to drink independently, so it should be appealing to your baby. Once you narrow down your options, allow your baby to make the final choice.
Remember that sippy cups are only meant to be used temporarily, as recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and you should begin limiting their use by the time your baby is 18 months old, stopping them completely by age 2.
