Your little one needs to learn some habits as he grows up, one of those is drinking from a glass. So, in order to help him learn that, a sippy cup is first introduced to the child. It’s a plastic glass shaped bottle with a spout and lid. It lets him/her learn to drink. It also improves hand to mouth coordination of the child.
Here we have some vital information for you to be aware of when you are about to introduce your little one with a sippy cup.
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Things You Should Know When Introducing Sippy Cup
When to introduce sippy cups?
It’s always a variable number. So, it will be better to say that let your child switch to sippy cup whenever you feel that he/she is ready. Generally, babies start enjoying using sippy cups at the age of six months, but some may not like it even after one year of birth.
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How to introduce sippy cup to your baby?
Trust me, it’s going to be a little difficult to get your child into liking sippy cups as they are unfamiliar with it and it needs extra efforts. It also depends on how you introduce your child to sippy cup. You must first use a sippy cup with a soft spout, shaped like a nipple. Help your baby to learn how to use sippy cup. Once, he/she is clear with the mechanism it’s fun for them.
What should be done if the baby doesn’t like sippy cup?
Well, it’s possible your baby may not coordinate with your idea of sippy cup. So in case the baby doesn’t like it, here are some tactics that can help you sail through this issue.
- You can switch between bottle and sippy cup. So, if your child is accustomed to bottle, you can give half of the milk in the bottle and when it is over, you can switch to the sippy cup which can contain the other half of it. Fake it to be a bottle, your baby will soon be habituated to drink from sippy cup.
- You can also place a nipple into the child’s mouth as as he/she starts sucking the nipple just replace it with the sippy cup.
- You can also follow reverse order. Why not teach the child to drink without the lid and later on put the lid back.
- A straw can be more impressive for your baby than a sippy spout. So, just use a straw. I’m sure your baby will love drinking milk of a sippy cup through a straw than a spout.
- You can also become the role model for your child. So, just get yourself a clean sippy and show your child how to drink from it. Maybe she will see you drinking and want to try on. Just make sure you don’t share the sippy with your baby. Always give a clean sippy cup to the baby.
- One can also modify the sippy spout. Some cups have valves which lead to putting extra strength in sucking the milk from the sippy cup. It’s possible that your baby is putting efforts but is not able to drink anything from the cup due to the valve, so just remove the valve from the spout so that the milk or liquid can easily pass.
Some Do’s
- You must make sure to begin working on the transition of the child to drinking from real cups as soon as possible.
- You must keep your baby’s teeth clean. Once they are two years old, you can also start using toothbrush and toothpaste to maintain oral hygiene.
- In order to avoid the growth of bacteria and mold in the cup, you must make sure that the cup is completely dry after cleaning.
- As soon as the teeth start appearing, you need to see the dentist. In any case if the teeth do not appear in a year of birth, you need to be concerned, and take the baby to the dentist immediately.
- The child should drink sugary drinks and beverages such as fruit juices through a straw. This will reduce the exposure of the teeth to sugar, thus preventing tooth decay.
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Don’ts
- You should refrain your baby from taking the sippy cup to bed or else it can cause sugar pool in the mouth or some mess on the bed,which can lead to tooth decay.
- You must not give your little one the freedom to suck a sippy cup all day. Sippy cup should be used only when it’s either meal time or snack time.
- Cups that have mold should be avoided. It is possible that after proper cleaning and drying, your kids sippy cup has developed molds. In this case, you should buy a new sippy cup and throw the old one away.
- It’s possible that your child will love to play with his/her sippy cup. But, I’m sure you don’t want any mess or tooth decay. So, you better don’t let him use it as a toy or carry the sippy cup around.
- In most of the cases, sippy cups become a substitute for the milk bottle or nipple, and it will ask for some extra efforts so as to wean the baby from it. So, you should not use Sippy cup for weaning or else, the child will have to be weaned from sippy cup as well.
- Sippy cups should not be used for long. As soon as the child is old enough to to handle the regular cups, you must stop the use of sippy cups. Generally, as the child completes two years of his life, he/she should switch to normal cups.
Conclusion
So, are you ready to let your child get to learning something to do from his own? Just be safe while using it. The Do’s and Don’ts must be followed so as to keep your child away from any inconvenience. Happy Parenting!
Reference
https://www.babycenter.com/0_sippy-cup-dos-and-donts_1439508.bc
https://www.newkidscenter.com/Sippy-Cup.html
