How-To Video (drink)

Ask yourself: why use a sippy cup when you can use a shot glass?


My main gripe against sippy cups is that I would actually have to go out and buy one and put it in one of my already-overpopulated cupboards. Also, I want my kids to know that if they are thirsty they should go get a drink, not carry one around with them all day. That's just my preference, though. There are other more scientific reasons to consider not using them.

Sippy cups:

• require a child having to relearn to drink from a regular cup at some point, possibly after forming a comfort attachment to the sippy cup. Doesn't sound fun to me.
• can affect speech and mouth development, and oral hygiene
• are hard to keep clean, and contain plastics (which are now known to leach toxins)
• teach breastfed babies a different way of sucking that can cause pain to the mother while nursing

Here is a good article by a pediatrician

Water - in a shot glass

Although we've had pretty good success with our previous method of water-drinking (see here), we decided to try having Buttercup drink out of a shot glass. As strange as it is to think about my baby girl drinking out of a shot glass (especially one that has a piña colada recipe on it), it seemed like a good idea so I tried it. It was so much easier for Buttercup that I think we'll stick with this method for the time being. Her little lips seemed to seal around the shot glass easier than with the plastic cup we'd been using. And her hands could wrap around it, too.

Try it, you'll like it!

Water

Ok, so not much of an experiment; I'm pretty sure water isn't going to kill my baby. I'm not even convinced it's necessary, but some BLS mamas do it. I'm sure Buttercup is still drinking a lot, because she's still nursing the same as before.

I do give Buttercup water when I feel like she might have a bunch of food hanging out in her mouth or throat. Also, it's summer so sometimes I give it to her when she's hot. She never drinks more than an ounce at most, and I give it to her out of a regular small cup (the old school tupperware cups from the 70's). I figured, "why teach her to drink of out one kind of cup and then have to re-teach with another kind when when she gets older?" It also helps that my baby is a genius who doesn't need help with such menial tasks as drinking water. Naturally!

I started practicing drinking out of a cup with Buttercup after a bath. I figured, "Hey, she's naked and already wet!" I was surprised how little went down her front the first few times. She does have a tendency to try to lap it up like a little puppy, though.