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Being a mom, drinking from a straw is an important development milestone for babies. It helps to build oral motor skills and coordination. For many of you, it could be frustrating to make your little one use straw. Here we share some of the easiest steps for teaching babies to drink from a straw. With the right techniques and patience you can help your child to master this skill. Let’s get into the blog to know these steps.

How Do You Choose The Right Straw Cup?

Select the appropriate cup to teach your baby to drink from a straw. Always look for a straw cup specifically designed for babies and toddlers. These cups should have the following features need to look for:

Soft & Silicone Straw

Don’t go for hard plastic or metal straws that can be uncomfortable and dangerous for the baby’s mouth. Choose a cup with soft, silicone straw. Flexible material will be gentle on little ones’ gums as they learn to get stuck on straws. 

BPA-Free

You must consider a cup made from BPA-free plastic or other non-toxic materials. Keep an eye that your baby isn’t ingesting harmful chemicals. 

Easy to Hold

The cup should have a wide base and handles or grips to make it easy for little ones to hold. This will give your baby more control and stability to learn to drink. 

Spill-Proof

Always consider spill-proof or anti-leak design which will help minimize mess during this learning phase. 

Demonstration To Use The Straw

Once you have selected the right cup, it’s time to show your baby a technique for use. Start by filling the cup with a small amount of liquid such as water or diluted fruit juice. Hold the cup up to your baby’s mouth and gently touch the tip of the straw to their lips. It will help them to understand that the straw is there for them to stick on. Take a small tip from the straw yourself. It demonstrates the action you want your baby to mimic. When you sip, make eye contact with your baby and give an exaggerated Mmm! to show them how enjoyable it is.

Guide the straw to your baby’s lips and let them stick on it. You need to press the straw against their lips to start sucking gently. Once they get the hang of it, they will begin to draw the liquid up the straw on their own. 

As a beginner, It’s essential to start with a small amount of liquid. Babies may get frustrated if they can’t successfully draw enough liquid on the first try. With time and repetition, your baby will get used to using the straw cup. 

Age Considerations

When learning to drink from straw, the appropriate age can vary from baby to baby. Here are some general guidelines regarding to this:

9 Months Old

Most babies are ready to learn straw drinking at around 9 months. This is when they start developing the necessary oral motor skills and coordination. Every baby is different,some may pick it up earlier or later. 9 months is a good target age to start introducing the straw cup.

2 Years Old

Mostly toddlers of 2 years old will easily figure out how to drink from a straw. Their oral muscles and coordination continue to improve. Straw drinking is a simple task.  If you see your child is struggling with this technique by the age of 2, don’t worry. Some kids need a little more time and practice. Start introducing the straw cup early and make it a regular part of the child’s feeding routine. You can make your kids pro within no time with patience and consistency,. 

Be Cautious

While teaching your baby to drink from a straw cup is an important skill, it’s essential to do it safely. Keep the following things in consideration while learning new techniques. 

Coughing and Choking

Babies may try to suck the straw too quickly which can cause them to cough or even choke. It could happen when they draw the liquid up the straw too fast.

Thicker Liquids

When your baby fully masters the straw drinking technique starting with thicker and creamier liquids is best. These liquids flow up the straw more slowly, reducing the risk of choking. Gradually transition to thinner liquids like water or juice. Every parent needs to teach their child development through different learning activities, like drinking from a straw or helping to support a child with anxiety.

Final thoughts

These are the few facts that we have shared to master this technique. Following these simple steps such as choosing the right straw cup and demonstrating the proper technique can help your little one master this new skill. Every baby will pick up at their own pace. Make it a fun and positive experience for your kid to not get frustrated if progress seems slow. Give a try to these techniques as your babies will be on their way to sippy cups. 

Childhood is supposed to be a time for fun, not worry. But an alarming number of our kids are feeling anxious. The Young Minds Matter survey conducted by researchers in America found one in 14 Aussie kids has an anxiety disorder. There are lots of common causes of anxiety in kids and lots of different reasons why children will worry, and that will also differ by their age. So, for example, separation anxiety is a normal developmental stage that happens for all babies at around six months of age, and that’s normal. 

What are the Causes of Worry for  Little Children?

For little kids, common worries loud noises, the dark, being separated from mum and dad, strangers, animals like dogs, monsters, and that kind of thing. And then, as kids get older, their worries change. They might start worrying more about fitting in with friends and being accepted at school and amongst their peers. Performing at school, performing at sports, music, or whatever they do in their spare time.

How Do I Know When To Worry About My Child’s Level of Worry?

When it’s getting in the way of normal activities, for example, if I get a bee sting on my hand, I might feel a bit nervous the next time I see a bee, and that’s a completely normal common reaction that we’d all have. But if my worries get to the extent where, say, I don’t want to go to the park to play with my friends anymore because there might be a bee there, or I’m too nervous to leave the house in case there’s a bee outside. That’s when we start to think, okay, I need to enlist some extra help here. 

Parenting Prospectus Has Three Main Tips To Help You Manage Your Child’s Anxiety

Tip One: Talk About It: 

Talking about what anxiety is, what that might be like for your child, and working out what their triggers are so it might be working out where in their body they feel anxiety: a sore tummy today or a racing heart. Or, if you notice your child’s looking anxious, talk about what thoughts they might be having and what’s making you hide today, and then talk that through. 

The goal is not to get rid of anxiety; that’s unrealistic; all children will anxious. It’s to help your child understand that they can tolerate and manage the distress associated with anxiety so that anxiety itself doesn’t become a scary thing.

Tip Two: Model Healthy Behavior

So if you’re feeling stressed, say, “Look, mum’s feeling a bit stressed at the moment,” and talk about how you’re getting through that, so “I’m going to take a few big deep breaths. I’m going to think about the problem and possible solutions, and then I’m going to feel better once the worry passes.”. Try to know how to help build confidence for Sensitive Children.

Tip Three: Validate Their Feelings

So, for example, your child might feel worried about a math test. You might say, “Of course, you’re feeling worried; math tests are a bit scary, aren’t they?” and then you help them to confront that fear and say okay, you can take a few deep breaths, you can tense and relax your muscles, you can practice some maths at home so you feel prepared for tomorrow, and then you help them to confront their fear so that they know that they can deal with this anxiety and that it’s going to okay. 

If you still have concerns, If a parent is worried about their child’s levels of anxiety and thinks they getting to a point where they’re getting in the way of their child living out their everyday life, there lots of places to seek help. The first port of call could their GP, and they can help you get in touch with community services or private services like clinical psychologists who can help your child talk through their worries with things like cognitive behavior therapy.

By Dr. Shani Verschleiser, Founder of MagenU

Summer break is a wonderful time for children to rest, recharge, have fun and experience new things they don’t have time for during the school year. It’s also a time of slightly reduced supervision for many kids. Whether they’re at summer camp, playing far from their parents’ reach at the park or off on a playdate with a friend, parents may not always have as firm of a grasp on their children’s exact location or activity status.  These potential new experiences are a great chance to review safety rules and apply some new ones.  

This sort of increased independence is vitally important to a child’s growth but must come with proper preparation and clearly established guidelines from parents, as kids may exposed to new potential offenders within new conditions that parents may not have taught their kids how to navigate yet. Even if your children spend the summer surrounded by peers and adults that you trust, it’s important to remember that the vast majority of child abuse cases come from someone that the child knows and trusts, rather than a nefarious stranger.

Kids Summer Break Tips for Parents

Parents must be delicately-but-directly have important conversations with their children about what red flags they need to be on the lookout for and when to come to their parents with uncomfortable information. It may seem like too difficult a conversation to have, especially with younger children, but the most effective way to handle child abuse is to prevent it. This means digging deeper than a general conversation with your kids about their comfort and personal space; they’ll safest if you work to truly educate them on their safety.

1. Know Your Child’s “Body Safety Rules”

Children learn new things about socialization and interactions with others every day. So, they may not completely clear on what constitutes normal, friendly, harmless touching and what is nefarious touching that crosses the line. Work with your child to define what kind of touch is appropriate and what kind of touch goes too far and violates their “Body Safety Rules.” This way, there will no mistaking what is and is not acceptable.

2. Explain that “Tricky People” Might Try to Violate Your “Body Safety Rules” & More

Teach your child that a clear way to discern whether someone they’re interacting with is “tricky” is if they attempt to get your child to break a safety rule including their “Body Safety Rules”  No adult who violates their “Body Safety Rules” does so by accident.

3. Assure Children They’ll Never Get in Trouble for Coming to You with Information

An adult who is behaving inappropriately with your child might tell them that they can never tell their parents about what they’re doing, because they may both get in trouble. If this is a person your child knows and trusts, they may feel guilty about getting them in trouble and certainly don’t want to get themselves in trouble too. This is a common tactic to keep kids from ever coming forward with information about their abuse.

Parents must make it explicitly clear to their children that they will never get in trouble for coming to them with information that may upsetting or uncomfortable. If a child worries that their information could cause problems for themselves or a loved one, they’ll likely try to keep it to themselves.

4. Teach your children how to confidently but carefully exit uncomfortable or dangerous situations

Removing oneself from a tricky or uncomfortable situation is a difficult task for many children. They seldom see these instances coming and are often paralyzed by fear or confusion when they arise. Although it is very difficult, parents must speak with their children about these situations and work with them to develop a plan on how to confidently navigate their way out of them, should they ever come up.

Gently but directly take them through scenarios they may find themselves in and practice what they need to say and do to safely exit these situations.  Most importantly let your child know that if they can’t get away it is not their fault and you will always love them and believe them no matter what.  

5. Children should trust their gut: if they feel uncomfortable, there’s a reason for it

Even if a child is uncomfortable during an interaction with an adult, especially one they know and trust, they may feel compelled to endure the situation, in an attempt to polite. Parents need to make it abundantly clear to their children that they need to trust their gut in situations like this: if they feel uncomfortable, there is likely a good reason for it and they should carefully exit the situation as quickly as they can and inform the nearest trusted adult. They should never put themselves at risk by staying in a potentially dangerous situation out of deference to an adult’s feelings.

6. Trusted adults won’t ask kids to keep secrets

If an adult asks a child to keep something they’ve told them or done with them a complete secret, never to be revealed to anyone, it could very well be something nefarious that the child’s needs to know about right away. Parents need to make a clear delineation between “secrets” and “surprises.” A surprise is often something fun that will be revealed sometime shortly, but a secret that is never meant to be spoken about could tied to something much more sinister.

 7. Always stay with a “buddy”

The “buddy system” is a concept that’s been around forever, because it works. When kids, especially older ones, are out and about in the summertime, they should always stick with a trusted buddy. If at any point they are separated from their buddy or they end up on their own, it’s time for them to find or contact a parent or the nearest trusted adult.

8. Don’t go anywhere without informing your parent or guardian

As kids get older, they may want to pack their summer days with all sorts of different activities that may take them to various nearby locations. Parents need to make it clear to their children that they should never leave one location in favor of another without asking permission or informing them or the trusted adult in charge. Even as your child grows older and exerts more independence, you should always aware of where they are when they’re out of the house.

9. Understanding when a trusted adult can no longer trusted

Because a majority of child abuse cases come from known and trusted figures in a child’s life, it’s important that your kids understand when they should discard their trust in someone. A truly trustworthy adult will always respect and believe a child’s feelings and experiences when they come to them with distressing information.

If a seemingly-trustworthy adult does not grant this respect to your children or actively behaves in ways that make them uncomfortable or violate their Body Safety Rules, your child should internally flag the person as no longer trustworthy and inform their parents.

10. Safest kind of stranger is a grown woman with children

In the hopefully-unlikely event your child is without a parent or guardian and needs adult assistance amid a precarious situation, they should know that the best kind of stranger to approach for help is a woman who is with children. These strangers are their best bet in finding someone who will understanding of their issues and can help handle them.