Most parents often wonder about the best time to transit your kid from a sippy cup and start using the regular cups? This cup is very convenient and minimizes the possibility of children making a mess with their drinks. However, it is unhealthy for the children to use the sippy cups for far too long and can build habits that will be hard to break when transiting them to regular cups.Â
When to stop using a sippy cup?
Here are a few tips for ditching the sipping cup:
Use A Rimless Cup
A rimless cup can be a transitional tool when transitioning your child from the sucking cup. This will help the child understand the tipping motion, mouth placement motion, and rim form. It is wiser to put less liquid on the cup as it will mean less mess for you to clean from the surface.Â
Keep putting a low amount of liquid in the cup and refill it as much as your child needs more, do this while your child still learns to drink correctly from a regular cup. Elevate the quantity of liquid in the cup with time as your child develops their drinking skills from a cup. For a child to learn how to use a regular cup, they need to develop skills like:
- Right mouth placement.
- Being able to drink and swallow without spilling liquid from the mouth.
- Spatial development. This will help the child determine the quantity of liquid in the cup.
- Tipping of the cup using motor control.
- Cognitive development will assist the child in determining the exact length to tip their cup without pouring.
Start Training Early
Children start taking both solids and liquids at six months. At this point, your child should begin by using sipping cups while they get used to the idea of drinking liquids from a standard cup. When your child reaches the age of between 12 to 15 months, start phasing out the sipping cups and go straight to using the straight cup.
Use The Sippy Cups Limitedly
When weaning your child, use the sipping cups wisely and limitedly during the daycare. Please do not allow your child to use them as a pacifier or for your child to use them the entire day continuously. However, if filled with water, it is okay. A child using a sippy filled with juice, milk, or drinks containing sugar when it stays longer in the mouth will increase the child’s risk of developing tooth decay.Â
Children are more attracted to sippy if filled with suitable tasting liquids, and thus, you can reduce the child’s attraction to sippy by putting in plain drinks that are not sugary. You can start the transition by filling the cup with milk or juice during meal times only and filling it with water for the rest of the day.
For toddlers that have outgrown using a sippy cup and are still using it, you can set a firm date on when they will stop using it. Also, remind them often as the day approaches to be ready and prepared when it happens.
Elevate To The Sprout Cups As Soon As You Can
Sippy cups were traditionally created to help a child transition from breastfeeding to using normal cups in a short period. Long-term use of sippy cups can cause your child to have dental caries and even speech difficulties. They are known to change the tongue and teeth’s position if overused and can eventually lead to articulation problems. It is advisable to use it for just a month and then switch to straw cups for better dental health and speech development.
Encourage Your Child To Use A Regular Cup
Begin teaching your child to drink from a regular cup as early as 12 months. As soon as your child masters this, you will need to use the standard cups during meals and only use the straw cups when on the go. Encouraging your child to use a regular cup will help them avoid drawbacks such as OMD, Oral Myofunctional Disorder. This is a disorder associated with abnormal tongue and lip sucking behaviors, thrusting of the tongue when talking and eating, open lips posture problems, and tongue rest problem.
You can encourage your child to use a regular cup, making it a big deal whenever they drink out of a regular cup instead of a sipping cup.
Make Your Child Pick Out The Cup
Go with your toddler shopping and make them choose a regular cup of their liking. If the child is given to select his favorite regular cup, then he will most likely be more committed to using the cup.
Outsmart Your Child
Outsmart your toddler and trick them into using the regular cup. You can serve her favorite drinks only in a standard mug. And for the sippy cup, you can let the child use it for drinking water. The regular cup should be strictly reserved for the drinks they enjoy taking, which will make them have no choice but to use the standard cups when they want to take their favorite beverage.
Instead, your child can use alternatives such as a water bottle, straw, and a rimless cup, if they cannot stop using sipping cups completely. The sippy can lead to your child having illnesses such as changing in facial appearance, damaging teeth development, tooth decay, speech problems, being highly dependent on comfort food, a high need for orthodontia, and obesity.
