It's a wonderful option forbabies new to the sippy cupscene. Maya has more than 15 years of experience in digital media and communications and specializes in writing about family, food, and lifestyles. 
Are Your Kid's Single-Use Items Sustainable? Once they are 6 months old, it's absolutely fine to give your baby water straight from the tap. Liquid can get trapped in the nooks and crannies of a sippy cup and valve, leading to bacteria and mold. Childrens Therapy TEAM. The capacity is relatively small, but that helps your child feel like this is their 'special' cup, and you'll probably find in the early days that you only want to put a small amount of water in the cup anyway. Children can begin phasing out bottles between 12 months and 24 months old. One easy way to tell what type of plastic a product is made of is by checking the recycling code (the number inside the recycling symbol, usually on the bottom of an item). These break-proof & spill-proof cups are usually designed with a snap-on lock lid to prevent your baby from making a mess. For a multi-purpose option, we recommend the ezpz Mini Cup + Straw Training System. What to do if your baby won't use a sippy cup, https://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/baby/feeding-nutrition/Pages/Discontinuing-the-Bottle.aspx, https://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/baby/teething-tooth-care/Pages/How-to-Prevent-Tooth-Decay-in-Your-Baby.aspx, https://www.mouthhealthy.org/en/babies-and-kids/training-cups, https://www.ucsfbenioffchildrens.org/education/faq-baby-bottle-weaning, https://kidshealth.org/Nemours/en/parents/no-bottles.html, https://www.healthychildren.org/English/healthy-living/nutrition/Pages/Food-Additives.aspx, https://www.fda.gov/food/food-additives-petitions/bisphenol-bpa-use-food-contact-application, https://health.clevelandclinic.org/say-goodbye-to-bottles-and-sippy-cups/, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7071457/, All pregnancy, parenting, and birth videos >, Sample baby schedules for 11- and 12-month-olds, the most helpful and trustworthy pregnancy and parenting information. Some babies will drink water from a sippy cup, but not breast milk or formula. (Continue to hold them as you do when they're bottle-feeding.). Try other drinks. https://health.clevelandclinic.org/say-goodbye-to-bottles-and-sippy-cups/ [Accessed March 2022], Thoene M, et al. When your baby is ready, simply take the top off, and youve got a perfectly sized open cup for their little hands. The weighted base makes it harder to tip over, and the food-grade silicone is both soft on tender gums and safe for dishwashers and microwaves. Take it one step at a time: Try cutting one bottle one week, then another the following week, and so on. 
Some sippy cups are available with handles, giving babies an easier and more secure hold. Training Cups and Your Toddler's Teeth. However, using sippy cups for an extended period of time can lead to developmental problems, like tooth decay or speech problems. Plus, it's dishwasher-safe with no tricky parts to clean. Straw sippy cups often come with multiple pieces, like a valve, straw, or even weighted piece. Capacity: 10 ounces | Material: Silicone | Age recommendation: 6 months and up | Dishwasher safe: Top rack. Start off with one that has a soft, pliable spout. Giving them small amounts of water with their meals in the early stages of weaning will help them get used to drinking from a cup, making it easier for them to move to one full-time as they get older and drop milk feeds. Sippy cups are useful when transitioning to an open cup thanks to the similar sucking motion babies use with a bottle. Bisphenol A (BPA): Use in Food Contact Application. It's handleless and open design which is good for not constantly buying new cups as they grow.". How to Prevent Tooth Decay in Your Baby. A straw sippy cup with this capacity can help parents and caregivers measure how much liquid the child has in a given day. We think the OXO Tot Transitions Straw Cup with Removable Handles (view at Amazon) is the most versatile, affordable cup for the job. ", Proving that sometimes the simplest design is the best, these shrunken versions of an adult cup are great for teaching babies to sip slowly. The reason for that was twofold: firstly it has handles, which he favours even now as a 2 year old. Pros: Teaches correct sipping technique, small size for small handsCons: Will need refilling frequently, messy at the start, Available from: Jojo Maman Bebe, Amazon and Baby Cup, Type: Weighted straw cup | Capacity: 200ml | Spout: Soft straw | Handles: Yes | Valve: Yes | Spill-free: Yes. https://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/baby/teething-tooth-care/Pages/How-to-Prevent-Tooth-Decay-in-Your-Baby.aspx [Accessed March 2022], American Dental Association. It will be messy in the early days as water pours out of the spout easily, but as it only holds up to 190ml the damage that can be done is minimal. Gold Cup / beaker, MadeForMums Awards 2021, Silver Cup/beaker, MadeForMums Awards 2021, Bronze Cup / beaker, MadeForMums Awards 2021, Bronze Weaning and feeding product, MadeForMums Awards 2021, 10 of the best suction bowls and plates for weaning, The best weaning and feeding products for babies. For example, if your little one is using a sippy cup to transition to an open cup, you can try a small cup for less mess. To prevent tooth decay, experts recommend you transition from bottles to a sippy cup when your child is 1, and then quickly transition to a straw cup or open cup before your child's second birthday. Thank you, {{form.email}}, for signing up. But spill-proof sippy cups can be as damaging to baby teeth as bottles, so try to only use them when your baby is first starting to use cups. Juices, squash, fizzy drinks, smoothies, flavoured waters and so on are not recommended by the NHS. Looking for comfort? The cup has removable glow-in-the-dark handle, designed to make it easy to spot at night (although you shouldn't leave anything in the cot with a child under 1, even a bottle). Straw cups can be really useful to have alongside more traditional open cups, and the smart design of this weighted cup is great for teaching younger babies how to use them. ", Pros: Convertible design, spill-proof with the valve inCons: Even without the valve, a hard-spout sippy cup is not the best for teeth/development, Type: Open cup | Capacity: 50ml | Spout: No| Handles: No | Valve: No | Spill-free: No | Awards: Silver Cup/beaker, MadeForMums Awards 2021, They may look like shot glasses, but these tiny little open cups are actually designed for the youngest members of the household, and our home tester Nikki confirmed they are "really good for small hands. These are brilliant for ease of use and they're popular with parents, but the lid is essentially a valve: your child will learn to sip but it's still not quite the same as an open cup. On the downside, it's one of the hardest to keep clean: the cup comes with a tiny brush to poke up and down the straw to get into all the little parts, and the lid has lots of crevices to get into. It's good to be aware of the concerns around plastic products, but don't beat yourself up if you're unable to avoid using them non-plastic products are more expensive and harder to find. For a modern take, the silicone Avanchy Le Petite Silicone Mini Cup (view at Maisonette) is really attractive and can be a great at-home option for little kids (especially those who want to look like big kids). While it doesn't have handles, the small size, curved shape, and silicone material make it easy for young kids to grasp. Babies have all kinds of reasons for rejecting sippy cups. Then offer a different solution: Milk from a sippy or a snack if they're hungry or thirsty; a cuddle with you or a lovey if they need comforting; or a fun game to distract them if they're bored. If you cant rinse, allow the cup and its pieces to soak in soapy, hot water before cleaning them with a straw brush. We really like the stainless steel one as slightly more sustainable option. Luckily Motorpoint is there to take the strain out of buying a car. Pottery Barn Grow With Me Stainless Steel Sippy Cup, Here Are the Best Water Bottles for Kids to Keep Them Hydrated, Best Silicone: Stopping the Bottle. You'd be forgiven for thinking Baby Boosa's modern, minimalist baby and toddler accessories might be a case of style over substance, but this cup doesn't just look good, it really delivers when it comes to practicality too. If you do want to try your child on a spouted cup, the convertible elements of this MAM cup make it a really good contender. 
Exposing plastic to heat is one way that chemicals can leak into food. Home tester Laura said, "We tried SO many different cups and the best one for us for water is the free flow Tommee Tippee cup. This classic, affordable design is not just a hit with parents but with childcare professionals too: this is the cup my son drinks from at nursery, and it's become one of our go-tos at home too. 
Are straw sippy cups better for my toddler's teeth? Bisphenol S in Food Causes Hormonal and Obesogenic Effects Comparable to or Worse than Bisphenol A: A Literature Review. With built-in handles and a choice of fun animal designs, it gets top marks from us for design, but the weighted straw style is a bit more difficult to keep clean and you'll need the narrow brush to get into all the nooks and crannies. Home tester Elle added, "We started with a Doidy cup and absolutely loved it[my daughter] learnt to drink from it within a week or so at 6 months old.". 
Another alternative to plastic is glass. Look for a cup thats easy to handle,easy to clean, and, if youre on the go, doesnt spill or leak. If you'd like to use a valve at the start, perhaps look for one that can be removed later, turning a sippy cup into a free-flow one to extend its life span. Sippy cups can be a great way to help your baby transition from nursing or bottle-feeding to a regular cup. Valve vs Free-flow Free-flow means the liquid flows out of the cup or spout without needing to be sucked, and this is preferable. 2011. 
An open or free-flow cup is recommended. You can get models with or without handles, as well as different types of spouts. We take it out if he ever uses the cup during the day. Removable handles give tots the option to learn how to hold the cup in two different ways. Introducing asippy cup to your babyis an important milestone in their development. 2022 Dotdash Media, Inc. All rights reserved. The spout is hard, which won't encourage sucking in the same way as a soft spout or bottle teat. The curved shape makes it easy for little hands to grip, and the soft silicone straw has a no-spill valve that opens only when a child sips from it. 
The following week, offer it during a second meal, and so on until your baby is only drinking from a sippy during meals. 
This is because soft rubber teats and spouts encourage children to suck for longer periods of time, which means milk or other liquids can stay in contact with their teeth for a long time, potentially causing tooth decay. Type: Free flow | Capacity: 190ml | Spout: Hard, flip-up spout | Handles: Yes | Valve: No | Spill-free: With spout flipped down. These dont seal shut, so they may not work well for travel. Theres a wide variety ofcups for babies and toddlersout there, including cups with spouts, cups with straws, and cups that are simply open. 
The Best Straw Sippy Cups for Easy Drinking. The design itself is eye-catching, and this is an open cup so it represents the best design for oral health and your child' development. The cups are dishwasher safe and will survive any fall. Capacity: 12 ounces | Material: Stainless steel and silicone sleeve | Age recommendation: 12 months and up | Dishwasher safe: Yes. Skip Hop Toddler Sippy Cup, Best Plastic: Although experts generally advise against cups with soft spouts or at least using them for as little time as possible there is a time and place for everything. Start with small amounts of liquid. Show your baby how it's done. Babies can start using them as early as 6 months, and sippy cups can make it easier to phase out bottles eventually. The cup is spillproof and features an easy-to-use attached flip top, so it's perfect for on the go. We've updated our Privacy Policy, which will go in to effect on September 1, 2022. 
Avoid using plastics with recycling codes 3 (phthalates), 6 (styrene), and 7 (bisphenols), unless the plastics are labeled as "biobased" or "greenware.". The weighted straw allows little ones to sip from any angle, and the 8-ounce size is good for older babies who may want more to drink. 10 of the best open cups, straw cups and sippy cups for babies and toddlers. The weighed design means that the end of the straw stays in the water whatever position they're holding the cup in, so your child can drink from any angle. Bamboo is a sustainable choice, but it does require a little more care. Once your child is a year old, you can give them juice or cow's milk in the sippy, though it's best to only let them drink juice or milk during meals and snack time. The best sippy cups for your child's teeth are ones that a child sips from, rather than sucks from.
Are Your Kid's Single-Use Items Sustainable? Once they are 6 months old, it's absolutely fine to give your baby water straight from the tap. Liquid can get trapped in the nooks and crannies of a sippy cup and valve, leading to bacteria and mold. Childrens Therapy TEAM. The capacity is relatively small, but that helps your child feel like this is their 'special' cup, and you'll probably find in the early days that you only want to put a small amount of water in the cup anyway. Children can begin phasing out bottles between 12 months and 24 months old. One easy way to tell what type of plastic a product is made of is by checking the recycling code (the number inside the recycling symbol, usually on the bottom of an item). These break-proof & spill-proof cups are usually designed with a snap-on lock lid to prevent your baby from making a mess. For a multi-purpose option, we recommend the ezpz Mini Cup + Straw Training System. What to do if your baby won't use a sippy cup, https://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/baby/feeding-nutrition/Pages/Discontinuing-the-Bottle.aspx, https://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/baby/teething-tooth-care/Pages/How-to-Prevent-Tooth-Decay-in-Your-Baby.aspx, https://www.mouthhealthy.org/en/babies-and-kids/training-cups, https://www.ucsfbenioffchildrens.org/education/faq-baby-bottle-weaning, https://kidshealth.org/Nemours/en/parents/no-bottles.html, https://www.healthychildren.org/English/healthy-living/nutrition/Pages/Food-Additives.aspx, https://www.fda.gov/food/food-additives-petitions/bisphenol-bpa-use-food-contact-application, https://health.clevelandclinic.org/say-goodbye-to-bottles-and-sippy-cups/, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7071457/, All pregnancy, parenting, and birth videos >, Sample baby schedules for 11- and 12-month-olds, the most helpful and trustworthy pregnancy and parenting information. Some babies will drink water from a sippy cup, but not breast milk or formula. (Continue to hold them as you do when they're bottle-feeding.). Try other drinks. https://health.clevelandclinic.org/say-goodbye-to-bottles-and-sippy-cups/ [Accessed March 2022], Thoene M, et al. When your baby is ready, simply take the top off, and youve got a perfectly sized open cup for their little hands. The weighted base makes it harder to tip over, and the food-grade silicone is both soft on tender gums and safe for dishwashers and microwaves. Take it one step at a time: Try cutting one bottle one week, then another the following week, and so on. Some sippy cups are available with handles, giving babies an easier and more secure hold. Training Cups and Your Toddler's Teeth. However, using sippy cups for an extended period of time can lead to developmental problems, like tooth decay or speech problems. Plus, it's dishwasher-safe with no tricky parts to clean. Straw sippy cups often come with multiple pieces, like a valve, straw, or even weighted piece. Capacity: 10 ounces | Material: Silicone | Age recommendation: 6 months and up | Dishwasher safe: Top rack. Start off with one that has a soft, pliable spout. Giving them small amounts of water with their meals in the early stages of weaning will help them get used to drinking from a cup, making it easier for them to move to one full-time as they get older and drop milk feeds. Sippy cups are useful when transitioning to an open cup thanks to the similar sucking motion babies use with a bottle. Bisphenol A (BPA): Use in Food Contact Application. It's handleless and open design which is good for not constantly buying new cups as they grow.". How to Prevent Tooth Decay in Your Baby. A straw sippy cup with this capacity can help parents and caregivers measure how much liquid the child has in a given day. We think the OXO Tot Transitions Straw Cup with Removable Handles (view at Amazon) is the most versatile, affordable cup for the job. ", Proving that sometimes the simplest design is the best, these shrunken versions of an adult cup are great for teaching babies to sip slowly. The reason for that was twofold: firstly it has handles, which he favours even now as a 2 year old. Pros: Teaches correct sipping technique, small size for small handsCons: Will need refilling frequently, messy at the start, Available from: Jojo Maman Bebe, Amazon and Baby Cup, Type: Weighted straw cup | Capacity: 200ml | Spout: Soft straw | Handles: Yes | Valve: Yes | Spill-free: Yes. https://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/baby/teething-tooth-care/Pages/How-to-Prevent-Tooth-Decay-in-Your-Baby.aspx [Accessed March 2022], American Dental Association. It will be messy in the early days as water pours out of the spout easily, but as it only holds up to 190ml the damage that can be done is minimal. Gold Cup / beaker, MadeForMums Awards 2021, Silver Cup/beaker, MadeForMums Awards 2021, Bronze Cup / beaker, MadeForMums Awards 2021, Bronze Weaning and feeding product, MadeForMums Awards 2021, 10 of the best suction bowls and plates for weaning, The best weaning and feeding products for babies. For example, if your little one is using a sippy cup to transition to an open cup, you can try a small cup for less mess. To prevent tooth decay, experts recommend you transition from bottles to a sippy cup when your child is 1, and then quickly transition to a straw cup or open cup before your child's second birthday. Thank you, {{form.email}}, for signing up. But spill-proof sippy cups can be as damaging to baby teeth as bottles, so try to only use them when your baby is first starting to use cups. Juices, squash, fizzy drinks, smoothies, flavoured waters and so on are not recommended by the NHS. Looking for comfort? The cup has removable glow-in-the-dark handle, designed to make it easy to spot at night (although you shouldn't leave anything in the cot with a child under 1, even a bottle). Straw cups can be really useful to have alongside more traditional open cups, and the smart design of this weighted cup is great for teaching younger babies how to use them. ", Pros: Convertible design, spill-proof with the valve inCons: Even without the valve, a hard-spout sippy cup is not the best for teeth/development, Type: Open cup | Capacity: 50ml | Spout: No| Handles: No | Valve: No | Spill-free: No | Awards: Silver Cup/beaker, MadeForMums Awards 2021, They may look like shot glasses, but these tiny little open cups are actually designed for the youngest members of the household, and our home tester Nikki confirmed they are "really good for small hands. These are brilliant for ease of use and they're popular with parents, but the lid is essentially a valve: your child will learn to sip but it's still not quite the same as an open cup. On the downside, it's one of the hardest to keep clean: the cup comes with a tiny brush to poke up and down the straw to get into all the little parts, and the lid has lots of crevices to get into. It's good to be aware of the concerns around plastic products, but don't beat yourself up if you're unable to avoid using them non-plastic products are more expensive and harder to find. For a modern take, the silicone Avanchy Le Petite Silicone Mini Cup (view at Maisonette) is really attractive and can be a great at-home option for little kids (especially those who want to look like big kids). While it doesn't have handles, the small size, curved shape, and silicone material make it easy for young kids to grasp. Babies have all kinds of reasons for rejecting sippy cups. Then offer a different solution: Milk from a sippy or a snack if they're hungry or thirsty; a cuddle with you or a lovey if they need comforting; or a fun game to distract them if they're bored. If you cant rinse, allow the cup and its pieces to soak in soapy, hot water before cleaning them with a straw brush. We really like the stainless steel one as slightly more sustainable option. Luckily Motorpoint is there to take the strain out of buying a car. Pottery Barn Grow With Me Stainless Steel Sippy Cup, Here Are the Best Water Bottles for Kids to Keep Them Hydrated, Best Silicone: Stopping the Bottle. You'd be forgiven for thinking Baby Boosa's modern, minimalist baby and toddler accessories might be a case of style over substance, but this cup doesn't just look good, it really delivers when it comes to practicality too. If you do want to try your child on a spouted cup, the convertible elements of this MAM cup make it a really good contender. Exposing plastic to heat is one way that chemicals can leak into food. Home tester Laura said, "We tried SO many different cups and the best one for us for water is the free flow Tommee Tippee cup. This classic, affordable design is not just a hit with parents but with childcare professionals too: this is the cup my son drinks from at nursery, and it's become one of our go-tos at home too. Are straw sippy cups better for my toddler's teeth? Bisphenol S in Food Causes Hormonal and Obesogenic Effects Comparable to or Worse than Bisphenol A: A Literature Review. With built-in handles and a choice of fun animal designs, it gets top marks from us for design, but the weighted straw style is a bit more difficult to keep clean and you'll need the narrow brush to get into all the nooks and crannies. Home tester Elle added, "We started with a Doidy cup and absolutely loved it[my daughter] learnt to drink from it within a week or so at 6 months old.". Another alternative to plastic is glass. Look for a cup thats easy to handle,easy to clean, and, if youre on the go, doesnt spill or leak. If you'd like to use a valve at the start, perhaps look for one that can be removed later, turning a sippy cup into a free-flow one to extend its life span. Sippy cups can be a great way to help your baby transition from nursing or bottle-feeding to a regular cup. Valve vs Free-flow Free-flow means the liquid flows out of the cup or spout without needing to be sucked, and this is preferable. 2011. An open or free-flow cup is recommended. You can get models with or without handles, as well as different types of spouts. We take it out if he ever uses the cup during the day. Removable handles give tots the option to learn how to hold the cup in two different ways. Introducing asippy cup to your babyis an important milestone in their development. 2022 Dotdash Media, Inc. All rights reserved. The spout is hard, which won't encourage sucking in the same way as a soft spout or bottle teat. The curved shape makes it easy for little hands to grip, and the soft silicone straw has a no-spill valve that opens only when a child sips from it. The following week, offer it during a second meal, and so on until your baby is only drinking from a sippy during meals. This is because soft rubber teats and spouts encourage children to suck for longer periods of time, which means milk or other liquids can stay in contact with their teeth for a long time, potentially causing tooth decay. Type: Free flow | Capacity: 190ml | Spout: Hard, flip-up spout | Handles: Yes | Valve: No | Spill-free: With spout flipped down. These dont seal shut, so they may not work well for travel. Theres a wide variety ofcups for babies and toddlersout there, including cups with spouts, cups with straws, and cups that are simply open. Avoid using plastics with recycling codes 3 (phthalates), 6 (styrene), and 7 (bisphenols), unless the plastics are labeled as "biobased" or "greenware.". The weighted straw allows little ones to sip from any angle, and the 8-ounce size is good for older babies who may want more to drink. 10 of the best open cups, straw cups and sippy cups for babies and toddlers. The weighed design means that the end of the straw stays in the water whatever position they're holding the cup in, so your child can drink from any angle. Bamboo is a sustainable choice, but it does require a little more care. Once your child is a year old, you can give them juice or cow's milk in the sippy, though it's best to only let them drink juice or milk during meals and snack time. The best sippy cups for your child's teeth are ones that a child sips from, rather than sucks from.