# how to teach drinking from regular cup



## MommyTrina (Feb 25, 2005)

Hi, I'm fairly new to the toddler board. Can anyone provide me some tips with how to get little darling to learn how drink from a regular cup? I've tried only at home where I can easily get to the towels and extra clothes, but feel like she's never going to pick it up. My daughter is 2 yrs. and 10 mos. She doesn't have a sibling to copy. Thanks!!


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## birdie22 (Apr 1, 2005)

DS picked it up quickly by drinking minute amounts of water from those tiny dixie cups (







: not very NFL, I'm afraid). I think any lightweight non-breakable cup would work, and just put a quarter inch of water in it. That way, if (when) they spill, it's no big deal.

Gradually move on to larger quantities of water to build up some practice before moving on to any more "colorful" liquids.


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## MissSJ (Oct 23, 2005)

Both my boys didn't use sippy cups, we just went straight to a real cup. To start you can use a small juice cup or even a shot glass with just small amounts of liquid. It is nice to have a small pitcher (think creamer size) at the table so you can easily give more and as your dc gets older she can begin to pour her own drink (great hand/eye coordination activity). Also you can provide dc with a small towel/rag/sponge to wipe up anything that spills on the table. I can see how it may be difficult at first when a child is used to a sippy or other type of cup with a lid. Using a cup definately takes more patience with our active little ones. Trust me, we still have spills from time to time!









Oops - forgot to add: Even though your dc doesn't have a sibling to copy she can (and I'm sure does) copy you. Maybe try sitting down with her with your own glass of water and model holding the cup with two hands, tilting the glass, taking small drinks and setting the cup gently on the table.

SJ


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## Emmeline II (Feb 16, 2006)

I couldn't get ds to do this until he turned three. Dd (11mo) has been drinking from one for a couple of months, but she dribbles when she takes a big sip, and when she is done she just pours it on the floor







.


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## alegna (Jan 14, 2003)

Just keep offering. We never did sippy cups that much so dd mastered an open cup by 8 or 9 months.

-Angela


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## stanswife (Jul 30, 2006)

DS went straight to a regular cup and seems to like best a shot glass. We also found a tiny camping espresso cup that is just his size. It has a handle and he loves it. That one came from REI. Starting out he'd try to drink from the opposite side, but quickly learned how to manage tiny swigs of water. Try just giving drops and go from there.


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## AngieB (Oct 25, 2003)

Hmmm... I don't think I've ever thought about teaching my toddlers to drink from a cup. I just gave them cups and they figured it out. I never gave them very much in the cup and was always ready for a spill. I think just watching you will be enough.


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## rmzbm (Jul 8, 2005)

I think it's best of the child has never had a sippy. DD went right to an open cup. I waited until she was a yr. old & she did fine. What I suggest is putting only water in the cup and only enough for a sip or two at a time & keep filling it. More work, but way cleaner!


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## ryleigh'smama (Aug 10, 2005)

Just let your dc practice. We started giving dd a small coffee cup when she was about 10-11 months with just a little bit of water. She would spill a lot at first, but now she is a pro.


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## MamaKalena (Jun 17, 2005)

Are you talking about teaching her to drink out of a cup OR hold one without spilling? Two very different things!

DS drank out of our glass when he first started drinking water, so he mastered that early on. But after we started giving him his own cup I remember times when he'd be sitting there drinking and then very intentionally and carefully dump all the water out. I think he understood just fine how to hold a cup and drink from it but he enjoyed watching it spill out for the cause and effect I guess! Hopefully your daughter will skip that stage.









We did get DS a nifty enamel espresso cup from REI that was great when his hands where small, but now he can use just about any glass.


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## WhaleinGaloshes (Oct 9, 2006)

My DD started with the smallest glasses from this catalog:

http://store.forsmallhands.com/cgi-b...003.070000&l=2

They are shot-glass size and tempered to make them break-resistant.

I started having her drink water from a glass that I held for her very young, so she picked up drinking from the glass herself pretty quickly and never really used a sippy much. My advice would be hold the glass for her if she is new to open-top drinking, and then put it down for her and let her experiment.

I would also suggest filling the glass up pretty full so she doesn't have to tip it back much. For us, small cups filled up at least half worked better than having only a little water in a bigger cup.


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## beckyand3littlemonsters (Sep 16, 2006)

Just keep offering she will soon get the hang of it, my dd caitlin often uses a normal cup, with just a little juice/water, she does more often than not spill but it is all part of learning


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## deditus (Feb 22, 2006)

We practice outside or in the bathtub


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## cmp03 (Sep 22, 2006)

I give my daughter shot glasses with water in it. It small enough for her to easily hold and then she also does not have a lot of water to dump on herself.

Out in public we just use cups with straws.


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## Golden (Mar 15, 2002)

My son is 2 years 8 months and mastered a cup about 2 months ago. I bought a couple of plastic shot glasses from crate and barrel. We started with one sip of water, like a mouthful. Then two, etc. I think tiny cups is the trick. For a week or so before I bought the shot glasses, I used a cup from his pretend kitchen dish set. About the same size as a shot glass.


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## spughy (Jun 28, 2005)

We just keep giving DD plastic cups with a small amount of water in them and insist that she drinks them in the kitchen. She can drink just fine from them (although she does dribble occasionally) - it's the dumping out after drinking has lost its charm that's the issue.

So, um, yeah... sorry no help here







We're still in the "there will be wetness" phase.


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