No more sippy cups?? - so then what?

mysweetpeasWil&Wes wrote: At Wil's speech evaluation last week, the speech therapist told me to stop allowing him to use a sippy. And I also read this in my current issue of Parenting magazine. They said that sippies were really only a tool to transition kids from bottle to cup, but that parents these days are letting their kids use them for far too long. I never really knew this. I thought that sippies were just for the "no spill" reason. Wil has been drinking from a regular cup since his first birthday, but I still buy him new sippies all the time....So my question is, what in the heck do you give them in the car then???????? Or what about when he wants to take his cup up to bed. We always give him a little milk or water before bedtime and you all know the drill, 2.5 year olds want to do it themselves!!! We have stairs to his bedroom. Not that I care so much about our carpet, but ykwim! This makes me angry a bit, because I admit, I really LIKE sippy cups!

Anyone, anyone???

PrairieMom replied: I have one of those cups with the flip up straw in the lid for car trips. Ben has been done with sippys since he was about 2 1/2 years

My3LilMonkeys replied: We generally don't give anything in the car, but when we do we use cups with lids & straws - we got a couple of cute Dora ones at Target for about $2 each. You could probably use the same for bedtime too.

A&A'smommy replied: OH wow I didn't know that... alyssa uses a regular cup about half of the time but I sometimes a sippy is NECCESSARY when she wants to watch a movie in my room I really don't want milk all over my bed, and in the car she wants a drink when we go on long trips so I don't know.. I didn't think it affected her speach though..

mummy2girls replied: well i would say for car rides...sippy or straw cups. aroudn the house like at the tabel eand such normal cup. as long as its not all day kinda a thing it should be ok...

Brias3 replied: I completely agree with you! When the kids want something to drink upstairs or in the car, I still give ALL of them a lidded cup. Not necessarily a sippy for the older two (a straw cup is what I mean), but Mason, at 3 years, still loves the sippy in the car and all. He certainly knows how to drink out of an open cup and does so at meals.

Our Lil' Family replied: Did they tell you why it was bad?

ETA: Munchkin makes cups where the lid is shaped almost like a regular cup...maybe try that one?
Munchkin Cups

sunrosejenn replied:
I've been wondering the same thing. But in my case I HATE the sippy cup. I just have NO clue what to use in the car that Eliana won't spill?

lisar replied:
These are the ones that Raygen uses in the car also.

mysweetpeasWil&Wes replied:
I suppose some kids have them in their mouth all day and don't learn to "use their words", sorta the same with a binky. Plus, the whole sucking effect can do damage on the teeth after two years, that's what I'm assuming. My appt with the speech therapist was VERY long and I was given a ton of information, so I forget a lot of what she said. Wil doesn't have this problem though. He drinks his sippy in about two minutes time and then puts it down. So like Shelley said, as long as it's not all the time, I guess I shouldn't worry too much.

I didn't even think of the cups with a lid and straw. I will have to go out and get some, thanks!

CantWait replied: For the above reasons I could see, but if he doesn't have it in his mouth all the time, then I don't see a problem with it.
Anthony's playschool still uses sippy cups. And kids there, are up to age 5.

~Roo'sMama~ replied:
Yeah I agree. I always get told at Andrew's WIC appointments not to let him use a sippy too, but I give them to him anyways. He knows how to use a regular cup with no lid, but he's a not even two year old boy for heaven's sake, and he's MESSY! He does pretty good at not spilling on himself if he stands still and drinks and doesn't try to walk off with it, but he loves to dump it on the floor to make a puddle, and down the heat vents.

Boo&BugsMom replied: We transitioned Tanner to a big boy cup around 2.5 years. We started with mealtimes. We only put a very little in at a time until we could trust him more and he got use to it. Spills will happen though regardless. When we travel he usually gets a sports sipper now (the kind where you pull the top). At restaurants he usually gets a cup with a straw or regular cup. He's 4 now. We never allowed a cup on bed so we didn't have that issue. He gets a drink from his little drinking cup kept in the bathroom, but has never been given one in bed.

Personally, from an educational standpoint, I think it's a milestone and important for kids to learn how to drink for regular cups around this age because most kids are capable, but I don't think you need to worry about using the sippy during certain times if you don't see it becoming a problem with his speech or anything. I personally don't see a problem with using one while traveling or in restaurants. What else are you suppose to use during those times? Certianly not a regular cup in the car....yikes! Tanner is 4 and I can't even trust him with a standard water bottle with a twist cap in the car as much as he drops things. We'd have messes coming out of our ears if he didn't have something with a lid, straw, cap, or whatever.

OH...we also have some of those cups with the straws. They are really nice for transitions! I recommend them as well.

3_call_me_mama replied: we use regular cups from age 1 up. Sippys until about 2 outside. We don't drink in the cars or anywhere other than the kitchen. IF we have a drink in the car for a long trip we use water bottles.

MyBlueEyedBabies replied: 90% of the time we use regular cups but the rest I am not about to give up the sippys. Occasionally they will bring water bottles in teh car with them but more than once I have had water puddles on the floor from when they got dropped.

The ones made by Munchkin have a much wider brim like a regular cup so they wouldn't be in their mouths like a regular sippy

Jamison'smama replied: We use these...same Idea as the munchkin I think. Also taking out the valves on regular sippies makes it a little easier to spill but takes away the sucking need.

mysweetpeasWil&Wes replied:
Thanks! I never thought of taking the valve out of the sippy, but I think maybe it's the part where you stick in your mouth that they are concerned with. So I like what you posted, because they actually have to tilt it back to drink, right? I bought one made by Gerber yesterday that had a flexible rubber straw in it. Wil likes it so far! I think I may just try Wesley on them too since he won't take a bottle.

CantWait replied:
Anthony went straight from breast to straw cup. He loved them, but didn't care for bottles AT ALL and wasn't fussy with sippy's either.