I think simply using the straw consistentlybuilt strength in the mouth. So don’t give up if it is a mess for awhile, they will get stronger. Kary Rappaport, a Solid Starts feeding specialist, teaches her daughter Lucy, 7 months, how to drink from a straw with the pipette method. Straw trainer method

ARK’s Bear Bottle is recommended for individuals who tend to aspirate or have difficulties generating and maintaining suction. As your baby gets older and more experienced with an open cup, they will begin to hold it independently and drink on their own. Many of Judy’s private feeding therapy clients are able to independently drink from an open cup by 10 months of age, but every baby is different. In this step, you will begin to teach your child that if you squeeze, the liquid will come out. To do this, pair your language with your actions. For example, “Squeeze the bear’s tummy.”&“Look, here comes the milk!”. Your child has already learned that the straw can go in their mouth and they can swallow. With the Honey Bear Cup, the idea is that when they see the milk coming up the straw, they will put their mouth to it. Other than the straw cap that goes with the 360 Miracle Cup that I mention above and the Lalo cup, I also like these two weighted straw cups for tots. They are easy for little ones—babies and younger toddlers included—to figure out how to use, and as long as you’re diligent about cleaning the underside of the tops and replacing the straws regularly, they should last a while. If they’re using a 360 cup, try to switch to an open or straw cup for the majority of their cup drinking.

3 pack 8oz straw bear cup with improved safety lid design honeybear baby cup straw honey bear

Quentin, 8 months, reaches for his cup. Giving your baby the chance to reach for the cup before you bring it to their mouth will speed the learning process for independent cup drinking. Baby putting food in cup/splashing

It looks like a little container that is commonly used to store honey. However, this adapted cup has helped many children who have struggled in their initial exposure and experience with straw drinking. It does this by creating a safe and no-fuss method to intake fluid. A: Around 6 months, when your baby starts food ( Baby-led Weaning or Traditional Weaning/spoon feeding).It’s been quite the journey to get him to this point. We started using a straw when Noah was 6 months old. It was slightly successful initially but then Noah started pushing the straws away and was not interested so I gave up for awhile. (Sometimes it’s best to give our kids a break so that learning newhabitsremain fun instead of becomingfrustrating; which ultimatelyhave the reverse effect from what we want.) There is also a great Nuk sippy cup option for a trainer and transition cup with a similar design that I like, too. Wait it out. If your baby is 6-8 months old and not interested in cup drinking, but otherwise interested in food and not upset by the cup, simply bring the cup to each meal and show your baby how it’s done. Give your baby time to show interest and try on their own. TIP: You can start serving water with meals at 6 months of age, or whenever baby starts solids in consultation with your pediatrician. You can also use this cup to serve breast milk or formula as you transition to whole milk. Before we get to teaching specific cups and how to progress to more advanced skills, we wanted to answer some important questions.

Make it a habit explicitly, so they learn to drink on their own. When out and about, both of you take five sips of water every hour. Do it as a team, make it fun (count out loud, make up a song, etc.) A: Toddlers and kids need more fluid than you think! Below are averages recommendations of total fluid per day. Read more specifics about your child’s needs – and how to calculate them if you’d like – here.We recommend straw cups and traditional side sipping cups! Which leads us to our fourth most common question! Before choosing a straw cup, we recommend first teaching your baby the skills of using a straw by itself, which we’ll outline below. Once your baby has the basic idea of the straw itself, you can choose any straw cup you prefer, knowing your baby can use it. The top options include stainless steel, glass, silicone, and BPA-free plastic, as they hold up and don’t have concerns about releasing potentially harmful particles into the liquids within the cups (like some other plastics may do). 2. Decide if you want a straw, spout, or regular open cup.

Step 2: Sit down, smile at your baby to catch their attention, and then bring the cup to your mouth to take a small sip. (You can use the same cup if you are comfortable with that or two cups, one for you and one for baby. Just make sure you are drinking out of the same looking cup.) ARK's Bear Bottle is a fun and friendly way to make drinking easier for beginners and/or children with oral motor difficulties. The Honey Bear Bottle Kit is an excellent way to transition babies straight from bottles to straw drinking, as straws promote better oral and tongue positioning. Avoid using sippy-type cups altogether! When choosing an open cup, we recommend using a small cup that’s easy for baby hands to hold. Since you’ll be dealing with many, many spills, look for a cup that holds no more than 1-3 ounces. A small cup also makes it less likely that your baby will flood themselves with liquid. There are many cups on the market that fit this description, but a shot glass or small glass yogurt cup will do just fine, too!Teaching cup drinking is an important skill to learn for when baby is eventually weaned from the breast or bottle.