Sippee Cups

This post will deal with the appropriate and inappropriate uses of sippee cups (those cups with lids that don't spill when tipped).

NOT a Developmental Milestone
One of my favorite quotes about sippee cups comes from an early intervention specialist with TEIS.  It is, "Sippee cups are not a developmental milestone."  What does she mean by that?  Most American parents and child care providers do consider sippee cups the next step after bottles.  They are convenient and help children transition to a regular cup or do they?  What did people do before sippee cups were invented?

What Do Speech Therapists Say?
Again, convenience has dictated a trend that is not necessarily in the child's best interests.  If you talk to speech therapists especially those that have children as clients they will tell you that sippee cups are keeping them in business.  Turns out that overuse of sippee cups keeps the mouth from developing properly and causes speech issues in children.  Drinking from a normal cup develops muscles in the mouth that drinking from a sippee cup does not.  Therefore, my friend, the early intervention specialist, is right.  Sippee cups are not a developmental milestone and can be skipped altogether without any consequence to the children.

The Truth about Real Cups
At this point I can hear the parents and child care providers crying foul.  It has become common practice for parents and caregivers to start introducing a sippee cup several months before the transition away from a bottle.  Then the sippee cup is used until the child is ready for a real cup.  For parents and child care providers alike the sippee cup is a means to keep spills at a minimum at mealtimes and snacks.  Therefore, the thought of doing away with the sippee cup altogether does not paint pleasant pictures of mealtimes and snacks for those caring for children.  However, children are capable of handling regular cups at a much younger age than most parents and child care providers would believe possible.  It is all in what you expect, try, and train.  As Americans we sometimes gravely underestimate what children are capable of doing.  Children as young as 12 months can be trained to use a regular cup with assistance and many 18 month old children can handle a small regular cup independently.  However, this does not happen magically.  Parents and caregivers must work with the children to train them to use these cups and be prepared to clean up some spills.  Having children's speech develop properly is worth a little spilled milk.

The Dangers of Roaming and Drinking
Let me digress a moment and address the common practice of letting toddlers walk around most of the day with juice or other liquid in a sippee cup.  Not only is that a bad idea because of the speech issues, but it is also bad for their teeth to be constantly sucking on liquid other than water.  Many experts are now beginning to warn parents and caregivers about relying too heavily on juice even 100% juice and are suggesting it may be one of the causes of the obesity epidemic.  Children should be given liquid when they are thirsty.  To let them have liquid constantly is to have them use it for comfort instead of thirst.  That is the same as comfort food with the same implications.

The Best Way to Use Sippee Cups
What then is the proper use of sippee cups?  In a child care setting I can understand using sippee cups as a transition from bottles to a regular cup as long as it is short-lived.  I do that at my child care.  We wean off the bottle around 12 months and give them milk in a sippee cup for meals.  I do this because we are transitioning from formula or breastmilk to regular milk, and I like to graduate changes over time.  However, one word of caution about the type of sippee cup you use.  A sippee cup with a hard top is better than one with a soft top, which is too much like a bottle.  A soft-topped sippee cup should only be used when introducing a child to a sippee cup while they are still taking a bottle.  When the weaning process begins in earnest, a sippee cup with a hard top should be used instead.  Sometimes, not always, a child who refuses to use a hard top on a sippee cup is showing the first signs of sensory perception disorder.  If the refusal to use a hard top coincides with other developmental delays, it might be time to call in the early intervention specialists.  At my child care we wait until 18 months to start the transition to a regular cup, but we try to find opportunities to expose children 12-18 months to a regular cup with supervision.  I have a wide bottomed cup that I use when a child first starts the process because it does not tip easily.  Then after a month or so, I use a small regular cup that fits in the child's hand easily.  It doesn't take long for the children to adjust and become pros at using a regular cup.

Outside of a child care setting the appropriate use for sippee cups is only when absolutely necessary.  If I have stay-at-home moms reading this post, my advice to you is only use sippee cups when you have to provide drinks in a car or other situation where you are away from home.  Otherwise, leave the sippee cups alone.  You can work with your child more consistently than many other settings and can therefore go straight from a bottle to a regular cup.  The benefits of this action far outweigh any inconvenience this causes.

I hope you have enjoyed this post.  Goodbye and God bless!! Check out Natalie's children's books at:  https://www.amazon.com/author/nataliewade7457