almost 3-still prefers sippy cup

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Registered: 03-27-2003
almost 3-still prefers sippy cup
11
Tue, 01-20-2004 - 1:45pm
I am trying to get my DD (soon to be 3) weaned from sippy cups (playtex) to a regular cup. She does pretty well if I pour it in a small 5 oz dixie cup and hold it for her, but she won't hold it herself-even if there's only a small amount in it-any advice? I feel I should have done this a long time ago, but the convenience and no spill is such an easy way to go TIA Ann

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Avatar for my3girls2001
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Tue, 01-20-2004 - 1:57pm
well maybe try only giving it to her one time a day, tell her that at lunch is when you can have the cup, I would at dinner giver her a real cup.. I still catch myself when I am running out the door with the kids giving them tippy cups for the car. I do, do it but don't let them take them in anywhere, It's ok, slow and gradual should do it for you, GL

~Kim~


mom of 3 girls!


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Registered: 04-06-2003
Tue, 01-20-2004 - 1:58pm
have you tried the character cups with the screw on lids, plastic figure on top, and straw? My dd loves hers!

Desiree

mommy to Natalie (4) and Hannah (9 months)

 

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-13-2003
Tue, 01-20-2004 - 2:40pm
You said exactly what I was going to say. Those cups are great. Plus they still provide some spill protection.

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-20-2004
Tue, 01-20-2004 - 10:28pm
Hi, don't stress out about it. Three is not too old for a sippy cup! They get so big so quick and she'll stop using it when she's ready. Just keep offering her the dixie cups or tell her she can only have a drink at the table if she's thirsty. But, really, don't worry about it because they just grow up so fast (I have a 6, 4 and 2 year old) and already I am wishing at times that the kids were not so big. If my older kids are not feeling well, I put them on the couch and give them a sippy cup. (Only my 2 year old uses it on a regular basis now, but he too is trying regular cups at the table.) I guess my advice is to know she'll be done using it eventually and not to get bothered by it. A good way to get her to stop is maybe to buy some bendy colorful straws and tell her she can use those. My kids like them. ALso, if you're going out somewhere, just don't bring a sippy cup with you and if she's thirsty enough, she'll drink something some other way. I remember bringing sippy cups with me everywhere and it just got to be a hassle! So, don't fret, she's not hurting herself, it doesn't make her a baby, and she'll be done with it soon enough! Take care! Stephanie
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Registered: 03-27-2003
Wed, 01-21-2004 - 11:14am
Thank you everyone for your responses!
iVillage Member
Registered: 06-01-2003
Thu, 01-22-2004 - 10:04am
Sometimes when I read these posts, I feel like a bad or at least, abnormal mother. I am actually thrilled that my DD (5 yrs old) is getting older and more independent. I can't wait until I have two kids in school, coming home with all of these ideas and theories and stuff like that. As much as I love my little one (3 months), I have to admit, I'm more suited to preK and up...the baby phase is one I am happy for my children to grow out of. I hear other moms talking about crying when their babies become toddlers, crying as they put away the crib, carseat, and so on...I just can't relate. BUT...talk to me in 12-15 years when my girls go to college and I'm sure I'll be a bawling mess ;-)

On the topic of sippy cups. I agree, three isn't that old to be drinking from one. (I know one woman who has three DC ages 7, 6, and 2 and ALL THREE drink only out of sippy cups at home to protect their carpet/furniture - I personally feel THAT is excessive, but to each their own...I just make sure my DD doesn't take drinks into the living room or bedrooms). Right before her third birthday is when we taught DD to use a straw and/or a "regular" cup. She took to it right away, but believe me, if she hadn't, I would have had no problem giving her the sippy cup at least for a little while. The main reason we did it was because they used regular cups at the preschool she was starting the next spring, and we wanted her to be prepared.

Does your DD have older children to "model" herself on, who drink from regular cups? Maybe this will help. I agree that she will do it when she is ready. But I'd keep offering her "regular" cups. Maybe the dixie cup is actually harder for her to keep control of because it doesn't feel quite the same as a sippy cup (a different weight). I would try to find a regular unbreakable cup that is roughly the same size and weight as a sippy cup and see how that goes. If she can hold a sippy cup then she could definitely hold the same cup without a lid on it.

Good luck!

Gretchen

Avatar for my3girls2001
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Thu, 01-22-2004 - 10:49am
I would have agreed with you before but I can say as my last dd now 3 is getting older it does sometimes bother me but that is because I KNOW that she is the last one,, I KNOW that she IS the baby! There will be no more after her,, my oldest is 12 and then my 5 yr old and the baby 3! It is nice to have them grow, and be more indepentant and be so smart but then ya sometimes look back and think Ohhh remember when she did this or that,, and you wonder where the time has gone,, I bet you feel it once when your baby now is older and there are no-more,,

~Kim~


mom of 3 girls!


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Registered: 03-27-2003
Thu, 01-22-2004 - 3:56pm

I didn't know I was supposed to stop. Alex, almost 4, likes to drink on the couch. When I do give him a regular cup, I end up cleaning it up because he gets busy and starts to play, forgetting about it. So he does a mixture of both, and I never thought anything about it. He's fine at preschool with a regular cup.


I don't take one with me. He can drink from a can or bottle, or with a straw. So I wouldn't worry about it. I'll keep using them until he says, "Mom, I'm to old".


So I wouldn't worry about it. Now, if he starts grade school, then I'll need to think about it. I bet I get another 6 months out of the sippy cup.


Debbie

------------------------------------


~ ~ Follow your passion!:&n

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Registered: 07-30-2003
Thu, 01-22-2004 - 4:49pm
They have those sippy cups with a spout shapped like a rim of a cup. I have never tried them, but they look neat. I have always used the cheap sippy cups that are not spillproof at the table. It gives kids a good idea about the "real" flow of fluids that would be like in a cup. or just pop the spill proof feature out and let it be freeflowing at the table. This a good age to start teaching a child no drinks out of the kitchen. I am starting with my two year old doing this. I give her the free flowing sippys that stay on the table and she comes back and forth for drinks, but she still has her sippy of water she likes to keep with her. I really don't think it will be an issue much longer. It's not something I ever really needed to focus on, they just outgrow naturally and you don't even realize it. Another good transition are sports bottles. It's "socially acceptable" for kids to have sports bottles all ages! ;)

HTH!

Angie

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-06-2004
Thu, 01-22-2004 - 6:59pm


Ok, I must be the odd ball here but o well. To me 3 is too old to not know how to drink out of a regular cup. Sippy cups are a known cause for speech delays in children. Don't get me wrong, I use them but I think it is important for a child to learn to drink from a real cup. My 18 month old occasionally has a sippy cup still, when I am in my lazy moods. My 2 and 4 year old don't have them anymore. Why, because they don't need them, they know how to drink out of a regular cup. When we go in the car on trips etc then we get the sport bottles for them. We have a rule at our house no food or drink except in the kitchen so I don't have the problem of spilling everywhere. I agree it is each person’s choice when to stop things and I know I get anal about some things. My kids are off the bottle at a year. To me if they are eating solids and drinking from cups there is no reason to have a bottle but I know that is not a standard of what people do or how they feel. I do feel it is a problem that needs to be address if the child doesn’t know HOW to drink from a real cup at three.

Anyway, my feelings.

Laura from Utah and mom to:

Deven 11

Amber 10

Bryen 9

Jered 8

Mikel 6

Ceaira 4

Taran 2

Talyn 1.5

Zane 0.5

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