![]() ![]() Think about if you had to drink out of a bucket of water – it’s hard to do and pretty near impossible not to spill water all over your face and body! It’s pretty much the same thing for babies when they’re given larger cups! It’s also much easier to be able to access just a small amount of water in the cup at at time when it’s a tiny cup (less tilting needed). Keep cup size small for your baby to wrap their hands around and actually be able to lift and maneuver it to their mouth with ease! I’ve seen baby cups that are pretty much the size on an adult cup or even ones that are made for toddlers that are still hard for baby to manage.If possible, go for one that has a soft rim made of silicone so that plastic is avoided and you have a flexible, soft and durable material to work with.The reason for this is because harder rims like those found in stainless steel or glass cups can be hard on baby’s teeth! Sometimes babies can go in for a drink to quickly and can bop their teeth on the hard rim, causing damage (and pain!).Generally there are two main things to look for when looking for an appropriate open cup for your baby: Also if and when using a sippy, you’ll want to go for a soft spout sippy over a hard spout, as the hard one really prevents the tongue from elevating even more. Always remember that every baby is different and so is every family, so if using a sippy cup occasionally when travelling or on the go, make sure to vary the cup options so they get open cup exposure at most meals and snacks. Just skip the sippy right from the start and head right to an open cup at meal and snack times!īelieve it or not, babies at 6 months of age have the basic oral motor skills to learn how to drink from an open cup, and with help from you and lots of practice, they will be able to control the cup and water spills really well by 1 year of age! In addition, practice with an open cup early on makes transitioning off a milk feedings in a bottle and onto a cup later so much easier! It’s recommended to start transitioning off a bottle at 11-12 months, and it’s not always the easiest transition when your baby isn’t familiar with open cup drinking at all. That’s why feeding experts of all kinds (dietitians, speech language pathologists, occupational therapists) now recommend introducing water via an open cup beginning at 6 months of age. If you think about a more mature swallow pattern for drinking, the tongue is actually elevated so that it touches the front and top (roof) of the mouth in order to create a wave-like motion to bring the liquid down for a swallow. And because your baby already knows how to do this, keeping them in a place where they can only use this skill for months and months actually prevents the progression of oral motor skills and can increase the risk of developing delays in speech, difficulty managing textures and even breathing issues. Their tongue is placed down and towards the front of their mouth and they suckle to extract the liquid from the spout. The reason for no (or very limited use) of a sippy cup is because the skills of using a sippy cup are actually the same ones they would use when drinking from a bottle. You can learn more about the course here. In my Baby Led Feeding online course, we talk about actually skipping the sippy cup altogether and heading straight for an open cup when introducing water at mealtimes in order to promote these good oral motor skills. It’s also a time when they are learning the skill of eating, moving food around in their mouth, drinking from different cups, and babbling and priming themselves for talking…and for this, they need to develop flexible and strong lips, jaw, tongue, cheek muscles and swallow mechanisms…aka oral motor skills! This water is in addition to breastmilk or regular bottle feedings and is usually introduced via a cup at meal/snack times. ![]() When your baby begins solid food, they will begin to need just a little extra water (1-2 oz./day at 6 months) in their diet for preventing constipation and washing down the food at mealtimes. Seems counterintuitive right? Let’s learn about the reasons why. Did you know that the first type of cup that should be introduced to baby is an open cup? Not a sippy cup. ![]()
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