There are so many new skills for your baby to learn during their weaning adventure – and one of them is learning how to drink from a cup. I’ve written before about WHAT drinks are best for babies and toddlers, as well as the best cups and beakers for babies and toddlers.
In this blog, I wanted to provide my top tips for helping to support babies and toddlers to learn HOW to drink from an open and strawed cup. I’ve also included top tips on how to help encourage children to drink water too.
Drinking Skills
Feeding is quite a complex process, which involves coordinating sucking, swallowing, and breathing. Babies are born with a natural suckling reflex, but as they grow, they develop new skills that help them to eat competently. Guidance from the NHS, the British Society for Paediatric Dentistry and the British Dietetic Association recommends that open cups are introduced from around 6 months of age. This recommendation is for several reasons:
- Open cups encourage a sipping action, instead of sucking, which helps with the development of facial muscles required for talking as well as eating.
- Drinking from an open cup also prevents liquids from pooling around the upper front teeth.
- Holding and lifting an open cup can also help babies to develop their fine motor skills.
Many parents are worried about the mess that can come with introducing an open cup. Weaning is always bound to be a bit messy. There’s so much for babies to learn and it’s important that they’re given plenty of opportunity and practice to develop their new skills. They’re learning how to move their mouth to sip, chew and then swallow solid foods using their jaw, tongue and cheeks – all of which is great for their oral-sensory awareness. As with most things – all babies will develop at their own pace. Some will get to grips with drinking from a cup much quicker than others, and that’s absolutely fine. Let them experiment, and try to embrace the mess. For more tips on how to cope with the mess when weaning your baby, check out my blog.
Tips for helping babies use an open cup (with less mess!)
- Start with a small amount of liquid. This not only minimizes any mess if spilled, but also makes it lighter, and easier, for baby to lift. Just make sure there’s enough in there that they don’t have to tip it entirely to get any liquid!
- Help them out initially – hold the base of the cup and guide it to their mouth, whilst letting them hold on to the sides of the cup
- Opt for a small, shatterproof plastic cup – these are specifically designed for babies and will work best for them
- Start using one at home and when a change of clothes may be on the cards anyways! E.g. – at breakfast if they’re still in their PJs or in the evening before bath time.
- Finger foods can also help babies with their hand-eye coordination, which will help them when it comes to learning to lift the cup and bring it to their mouth
- Role model – let them watch YOU and learn how to do it
- Invest in a good bib / coverall apron – the total coveralls can be really helpful for these scenarios as they ARE going to get a bit wet as they get to grips with it! A splash mat may be helpful too, if needed in your space
- Praise them when they DO manage to take a sip, and gently encourage them. Try not to react when they DON’T manage it, or if they spill or drop the cup. This can either startle them, or encourage them to do it again, if they’re looking for a reaction
- Let them practice with an empty cup during playtime or role play using a cup with a doll / soft toy! Cups also make a great bath-time toy!
- Try not to stress about the mess – it’s only water, and they WILL get better with time!
Straw Cups
Straw cups can be a convenient option for taking out and about and they can help children to develop their jaw strength. I’d usually recommend giving baby plenty of opportunity to practise with the open cup before introducing the straw cup, but once they are familiar with this option, a straw cup can be convenient to introduce too.
Here are some tips for choosing a straw cup:
- Choose one that doesn’t have a valve (is free-flowing). Valves can alter the way a baby needs to use their tongue, lips and gums to suck the fluid. Ideally, a valve-free straw helps them to develop more mature sucking and drinking patterns .
- A weighted straw allows for more flexibility with how they drink and more likelihood for success when using. With a weighted straw they can tip the cup and still manage to get water from it. Weighted straws make it easier for baby to manage this independently.
- A short, firm straw means that baby has the straw at the front of their mouth when drinking. This promotes a more mature swallowing pattern and helps them use their lips for sucking instead of biting on a large straw.
Tips for teaching babies to learn to drink from a straw cup
For some children, it can take longer to learn to drink successfully from a straw. Below are some tips to try to help your little one master the skill.
- Role model. As with most things, babies learn from watching you or someone else drink from a straw. Exaggerate the motions of sucking from the straw yourself to encourage them to try
- Allow them plenty of practice! Some babies may take to it straight away and have no problem learning to use the straw. But others may have no interest and many parents find they chew on the straw without taking any liquid. This can be quite common and they may just need some more time, practice and encouragement to get to grips with it
- A method some feeding therapists suggest is to follow these steps:
● Take a straw yourself and put it into a cup of water, use your finger to cover the top end of the straw to allow some liquid to stay in the straw and then remove it.
● Offer the other end of the straw to your baby, waiting for them to open their mouth
● When they open their mouth, place the straw into their mouth and slowly remove your finger from the other end so some liquid drops onto their tongue
● You may need to practice this a few times for your baby to understand that they need to close their mouth over the straw
Tips for encouraging children to drink water
It’s all well and good knowing which cup to use and what drink to offer little ones, but something many parents struggle with is actually getting their kids to drink in the first place. I had this trouble with Ada (and Raffy a little now he’s older and has SOOO many more important things to do).
One of the best ways to get children interested in drinking water, is to introduce it early and give them plenty of opportunity and practice to get used to, and accept, the taste of water. If you’re wondering about how much water your baby needs, check out my blog.
However, with older babies and children, it can be a little more challenging to get them to drink water, especially if they are used to other flavoured liquids. Below are some of my tips to helping encourage little ones to stay hydrated if you’re finding it hard!
- Role model – as with eating, children learn by watching what we as adults do. Sometimes even you taking a sip from their cup can encourage them to drink as they want to copy us as adults
- Try different cups – sometimes just changing things up can encourage kids to show a little more interest. Try a variety of cups / colours to help spark their interest. You can also try having different cups in different rooms / parts of the house to try to maximise opportunities
- For older children, try offering them a small jug and allow them to pour their own water into their cup. Giving children some autonomy can often make a big difference to how willing they are to do something!
- Add fruit, lemon or herbs such as mint to your water! This not only adds a little colour and flavour, but it can add an element of fun as well. For older children – let them choose
- Use novelty straws! Similar to using colourful cups, sometimes adding a little fun in the way of a colourful or patterned straw can make it more interesting for little ones
- Make it regular – Have set times throughout the day when they always have water, so with meals, before bed, when they wake up etc, this can help them get into a routine of having water at those times and then sporadic water intake outside of them is a bonus!
Another way to help your little ones to stay hydrated is to include plenty of hydrating foods. If you’re really struggling to get your little one to drink water, there are many foods that can help to keep them hydrated too. In general, food counts towards around 20% of our fluid intake, whilst fluids make up the other 80%. Hydrating foods to include in your child’s meals are:
● Strawberries
● Yoghurt
● Tomatoes
● Cucumber
● Spinach
● Watermelon
● Celery
● Courgette
● Iceberg lettuce
Soups and smoothies are great options too. You can also add extra milk to their cereal, or make sauces (e.g. pasta sauce, curries) a little more liquid by adding extra water.
I really hope you find this helpful.
