Breastfeeding comes naturally to both the parent and the baby. Clearly, that isn’t the case for bottle-feeding, especially for the first-time parent who has no clue about bottles, sippy cups, or even straws. It requires effort and patience from both the parent and the baby who keeps crying at the sight of a bottle or cup.
So what is a sippy cup anyway? A sippy cup is a small cup with a lid and a spout that avoids spilling the liquid inside. They are strong and made in a way that they don’t break during the “process of drinking”.
There isn’t a fixed age when babies transition from feeding to cups and straws, but it should happen after the child turns 1. You have to be careful about it though because bottle feeding is not good for teeth and the baby can get attached to it. Experts say that while weaning your child, that is shifting from breastfeeding to any other kind of feeding make sure you aren’t introducing new changes to the baby. Changes like relocation, or a new family member, or some kind of change in daily routine can make the baby fussy and make weaning very difficult.
Sippy cups must be chosen correctly as the spout of it is going to affect the gums and still forming teeth of the baby. This is why many debates about sippy cups and straws. Sippy cups affect teeth and also slow down muscle development. While some argue that straw cups are the best as they promote oral muscle development.
Straw cups are the prerequisite to a normal cup. Straw cups are found to help with tongue placement. It is somewhere so surprising that these cups and other so many tiny things have such a large impact on a baby’s growth and development. Straw cups come with soft and flexible straws that are easy to suck on for a baby. An added benefit that comes with straw cups is that it helps with teething.
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So from transitioning from breastfeeding to sippy cups to straw cups, finally comes normal cups. This is the final stage and you must be very excited to reach here after all those mixes of cranky and joyful days. This transition usually happens around the age of 2. Some parents who prefer not to introduce the sippy cup or straw cup for their baby, directly shift to normal cups at the age of 1. Normal cups help the baby better exercise their oral muscles and
As a first-time parent or just a confused one, taking the right decision could be difficult because ultimately you want the best for your baby. There are so many varieties in the market and also so much debate around this topic. While making this choice parents need to also choose something which is chemical-free and easy to handle.
To wrap it all on a good note, here are a few tips to help you with this feeding transition for your baby:
- Don’t wait around it too much. Introduce bottles and cups as early as possible.
- Let your baby familiarize yourself with it. Introduce bottles and cups during meal times and see how your baby reacts to them. It is also very normal for the baby to play with the cups.
- Try different liquids while weaning your baby. See what the baby prefers and how much they consume.
- Lastly, don’t let the baby sleep with sippy cups and bottles. This can become a bad habit and something you will have a hard time getting rid of.