Baby / 17 August, 2020 / My Baba

How To Teach Your Baby To Drink From An Open Cup

Why is it important for my baby to learn how to sip from a cup?

Jemma Hook aka The Mummy Dentist recommends introducing an open cup from around six months of age, so baby can learn how to ‘sip’. This is because the prolonged use of a dummy or a bottle can have a dramatic effect on the position of your baby’s teeth.

When shopping for your baby’s first cup, choose an open cup as opposed to a spouted or sealed cup. Spouts are thought to impede natural tongue movement, while seals encourage baby to suck and not sip.

‘Sipping’ also supports early speech patterns by promoting oro-facial muscle and jaw development, and it also reduces the risk of decay by preventing liquids from pooling around the upper front teeth.

We asked the experts at Babycup for some advice on how to get started.

1. Choose a cup that’s the right size for the user

Little cups are for little people, because let’s face it, you wouldn’t want to drink from a bucket!.

A mini open cup is easy for little hands
The liquid can funnel into a little mouth
The cup isn’t too heavy when filled

2. Start with just a tiny amount of liquid

Spills are part of the learning process! Small cups and small amounts of liquid = only small spills! Yay!

Just a drop to begin with
10ml or less, or less than half a fl oz, is fine
Practising empty is great too!

3. Hold the cup with your little one

If your little one doesn’t want to hold the cup at first, don’t worry, just hold it for them. Learning a new skill might take practise, but it’s so worthwhile.

If your little one takes the cup, place your hand at the side or underneath
If their hand goes inside, you can hold the cup at the top to encourage them to hold lower down
Gently guide the cup to their mouth with them
Tip only slightly and let them get used to the feeling of the cup on their bottom lip

4. The hand hover

If they’re keen to try, that’s great! You’ll find your little ones enjoy their independence, and it’s true that sometimes the only barrier to them learning is us not letting them – Eek!

Hover a hand nearby whilst they start to hold and direct the cup themselves
Be on hand for guidance
Resist the urge to take over
Be there; help gently if needed

5. Praise and encourage your little one

It’s all about the Feel Good Factor. Encouragement is wonderful and essential, and perseverance is key for both of you!

Be at their level, make eye contact, use their name, and tell them how proud you are of their effort
Praise their attempts
Acknowledge the challenges

6. Walk the walk

Tiny humans are born to learn. Their mimicry is magical.

Grab a drink, take a seat and sip together
Model the behaviour you want to teach – parents, siblings and carers can all make an impact

7. Extra tips, tricks and beautiful bits!

Some little ones go for it straight away, some do best with more time and encouragement. There’s no right or wrong in how long it takes your baby to master the art of sipping from a cup.

Practise at bath time – they’re naked, and surrounded by water!
At first mealtime tries, wait until after they’ve eaten and are less distracted
When you start to hold and tip the cup to their bottom lip, rest it there for a second or two to encourage lip closure around the rim of the cup

Cup-feeding

As well as for first sips and for weaning, Babycup First Cups are great for earlier on too as they are also suitable for cup-feeding infants. They’re also great to have on hand to help through any times of feeding challenges or whilst establishing breastfeeding.

Babycup First Cups are useful for a number of different scenarios such as tongue-tie, cleft, latch issues, bottle refusal or for feeding expressed milk. Please discuss with your midwife or health visitor and ask them to demonstrate the technique for cup-feeding.

For more info, follow Babycup on Instagram!

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