Over time, only mother's milk becomes insufficient for the baby, and the need for other drinks appears.
And many parents initially face the problem of how to teach their child to drink fruit drinks, compotes, juices and other healthy liquids through a straw.
Nowadays, choosing the optimal type of sippy cup is not difficult, but teaching your baby to drink from it will require strength and patience.
When can training begin?
Often, adults think that drinking through a straw is simple, and teaching this to a child will not be difficult.
But for a baby who does not have the ability to make informed decisions, such a task will not be possible.
Up to six months, the child will be more accustomed to drawing liquids from a bottle with a nipple, because this is almost the same as sucking on his mother’s breast.
At the age of 6-8 months, you can begin to introduce the baby to the straw.
Thus, the risk of future malocclusion is minimized. Parents should be prepared for the fact that the child will initially drop the sippy cup or juice box. At this age, children grab almost everything they see - they are interested in touching and tasting, but they often lack the dexterity of their little fingers to hold this or that object.
Like any other learning, the skill of drinking through a straw should be mastered in a playful way - this way it will be easier for the child to learn something new and will be happy to repeat the “lesson” over and over again.
Before purchasing a sippy cup and starting to educate your child, you need to familiarize yourself with the existing types. There are only four of them:
- A sippy cup with a straw is a glass with a lid with a straw inserted into the hole.
- Sippy cup - such a container can be safely shaken, dropped, thrown - liquid will not spill out of it thanks to a special valve.
- Thermal sippy cup is designed specifically for walks and trips. This is a kind of thermos for children.
- Educational sippy cup – has an attachment that allows you to use it as a bottle with a nipple or as a classic sippy cup.
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Age of transition to straw
On the Internet you can find not a single article stating that the best time to start teaching a child to drink from a straw is 6 months. Such information is, to say the least, illogical, because a six-month-old child most often does not yet sit independently. You can offer him a straw, and there is a good chance that he will learn to suck from it, but the mother or another adult will have to hold the vessel from which the child will drink. In addition, he will need to sit the baby down, which is still difficult for him. In this case, getting to know a new way of drinking does not make life easier for the mother, while the baby can hold a bottle with a nipple on his own.
A healthy baby with reasonable parents can sit for a long time without support from about 8 months of age. From now on, you can try drinking through a straw. If parents do not pursue the goal of teaching their child this skill, there is nothing wrong with the baby drinking from a bottle for up to a year. Using nipples for feeding, even up to one and a half years, does not in any way affect the bite, the improper formation of which parents are so afraid of.
How to train a sitting child
Attention! Placing a six-month-old baby in pillows, thereby exposing the fragile spine to a vertical load, is a big mistake for inexperienced parents. The longer the baby stays in a horizontal position, crawling on the floor and bed, the healthier his back will be in adulthood. Therefore, introduction to a straw before 8 months is not advisable.
If an eight-month-old baby refuses to drink through a straw after several attempts, you should not force him. In this case, it is wiser to postpone this issue for a while. Perhaps at the age of 9 months he will be more willing to learn this way of drinking. Nine-month-old babies, unlike eight-month-old babies, can put together a sequence of two actions. That is why at this age it is easier for them to understand how the tube works. Previously, they used one bottle, but now they can consciously combine a vessel and a straw.
If a baby has managed to master this type of sucking before the age of one year, he can be trusted with a hard, wrinkle-free container from which he can drink. But a cardboard box of juice or yogurt is unlikely - it will certainly be crushed, crumpled, and its contents will end up on clothes, furniture and the floor. A baby who is already one year old can be trusted with containers made of non-solid materials. Of course, he will have to be warned several times that there is no need to squeeze the box, which he will soon successfully cope with.
Interesting. For most kids, an empty juice box quickly turns into a toy for developing fine motor skills: children take the straw out of the box every now and then, and then diligently try to insert it back, aiming for the small hole in the lid. These classes can last 10-15 minutes, which every mother will be incredibly happy about.
Learning to drink from a straw
It often happens that the child begins to resist, pushing away the sippy cup or juice box.
You shouldn’t worry about this - it’s better to be patient and start introducing your baby to a new subject gradually.
It’s no wonder that drink packaging in bright colors is made for small children – it attracts attention. Therefore, you should buy a colorful sippy cup; it will interest the baby, and he will reach out to touch it and taste it.
It is also necessary to take into account the period of teething. At this time, it would be better to abandon the habit of drinking through a straw, because it is stressful for the child - whims and bad mood can easily ruin even the most correct approach to the matter.
It is worth considering the age of the baby. At six months it is still difficult to explain to him what and how to do, so you need to be prepared for the fact that the training will drag on for 2-3 months.
Some children pick it up on the fly, while others have difficulty understanding what their parents require of them. Of course, after a year it becomes easier to explain anything, but you still shouldn’t delay learning to drink through a straw.
How to teach a child to drink from a mug on his own?
So, the necessary container has been purchased, now it is necessary to solve the question of how to teach a child to drink from a cup on his own. This process is not very fast, and misfires are possible, so you should be patient and perform a series of sequential steps.
First of all, you need to hide the bottle so that the baby forgets about it. When he feels thirsty, present him with a cup and let him know that this is now the only way to drink.
If a child absolutely does not want to drink from a cup, you can cheat a little. An unloved drink is poured into a bottle, and delicious juice is poured into a mug. Most likely, the baby will prefer to sip the cup.
Preparation directly for drinking liquid from a mug consists of several steps:
- Juice or clean water is poured into the container if it is hot outside.
- The child wears a bib or apron made of waterproof material.
- First, you should show your child how you drink from a mug yourself, bringing it to your lips.
- You can introduce your baby to a cup, but you should not turn it into just another toy. It is important that the baby understands that the mug is for drinking.
After the preparatory stage comes the first lesson. It is necessary for the baby to understand how to handle the cup:
- The child is shown a mug, then the mother tells him that it contains a very tasty drink.
- The cup is brought to the lips and slightly raised so that the child can take a small sip.
- Be sure to praise your child for a positive result.
- If a child wants to take the mug in his hands, do not refuse this request. On the contrary, parents show how to hold the dishes correctly.
- If the child is against the lesson, you should not insist. After some time, the exercise is repeated.
It will be easier to teach your baby to drink from a mug if you offer it each time, rather than returning to the bottle. As a last resort, you can drink from a spoon.
Display of unopened packaging
At the very beginning, it is necessary to convince the child that the new subject is interesting, otherwise the child’s period of rejection may drag on for a long time.
Having purchased a sippy cup with a straw at a pharmacy or store, you need to review it with your child.
The rustling of the packaging may seem interesting to the baby - you should not deprive him of the pleasure of touching it.
Interest flares up just at this stage and it is very important not to miss the moment, giving the little researcher the opportunity to satisfy his curiosity. If you forbid a child to examine a packed, empty object, then he will then begin to do this with a filled sippy cup, as a result of which he will simply wet himself. It’s worth doing the same with a box of juice - let the baby examine it from all sides, look at the pictures.
You should also voice your actions. The emotional coloring of mom or dad's voice will help the child correctly perceive the dating process. It is worth remembering about facial expressions, which play the same role in the process of communicating with a child. If the baby sees that the parents are interested in this bright, incomprehensible thing, that they encourage the curiosity of the child himself, he will also definitely want to touch the sippy cup.
If a child categorically refuses to get acquainted with a new subject, there is no need to force him to do it. The best option would be to postpone learning about the sippy cup for a couple of weeks, and then try offering it to your baby again.
Exploration by a child
There is no need to rush in the process of learning something new.
It is important to give the child enough time to become familiar with this or that thing.
If you rush to take the sippy cup away from him, this can lead to irritability, and the “lesson” will not be useful.
It is also worth understanding that all children are different - with some it is enough to show them a couple of times, and the skill will be mastered, but with others you will have to repeat it over and over again.
Each baby has his own speed of processing information - sometimes he will need several days to “digest” the experience gained (even after repeated repetitions), and after that he will be able to surprise his mother by unexpectedly showing independence and starting drinking through a straw, as if already knew how to do this before.
Opening the package and inserting the straw
Any simple action can become a discovery or magic for the baby, so it is important to unpack the sippy cup as if something very unusual and interesting is hidden under the wrapper.
You can even let the child try to remove the sippy cup from an already opened package, if necessary, unobtrusively helping him in this matter.
Having coped with this task, the baby will be happy and will probably want to continue his research, which began so successfully.
He will be interested in opening the lid and looking inside, and here his parents will have to help. Most sippy cups have a thread on which the lids are screwed on - a task the baby is not yet able to cope with. You need to open the container and let the child study it thoroughly. During the process, parents should give comments about what kind of sippy cup is beautiful, interesting, what is drawn on it, etc.
It is also necessary to have a dialogue with the child, perhaps even asking if he likes this or that element. Of course, he won’t be able to give a full answer yet, but he will definitely let you know about his attitude in a way that is accessible to him. Most children will enjoy playing this kind of explorer game, which means that the first stage of getting to know the sippy cup will be easy.
After the child satisfies his curiosity, interest in the new thing may wane. Here the parents have to reheat it. You won’t have to do anything complicated; all you need to do is demonstratively insert the straw into the sippy cup and comment on your actions. In the process of learning a new property of a glass or bottle (depending on what the parents choose), it is necessary to carefully insert the tube into the child’s mouth. This way he will understand that this element can be held in his mouth.
After familiarizing yourself with the empty container, you should move on to the next step. You need to pour a little juice, compote or any other liquid that the child likes into the sippy cup. You should not fill a whole glass at once; it may be heavy for the baby.
A child should only be taught to drink through a straw while sitting, otherwise the child may choke. The best option would be to sit him at the feeding table.
Own example
In most cases, it is difficult for children to understand how to use a new thing, so parents often have to show everything by example.
Mom or dad can playfully give water to the baby’s favorite bear, explaining their actions in words.
A personal example will also be effective - you can show your child how parents do it, and then he will want to repeat the process on his own.
Raising a child must be done from birth, so that later there is no question of how to re-educate a spoiled child. But if the baby is still spoiled, you need to fight it.
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Advice from Dr. Komarovsky
How to teach a child to drink from a straw? Komarovsky argues that any child’s failure, inability or difficulty in learning is due to the fact that parents choose the wrong tactics. For example, if parents want to teach their baby to drink from a sippy cup, then it is better to introduce him to this utensil as early as possible. As early as six months, children can independently hold a sippy cup and take small sips.
There is no need to scold your child for spilling liquid. If a child encounters your dissatisfaction and anger, he will generally refuse a sippy cup or juice with a straw. He will have a strong protest. It is advisable to praise the baby and encourage him, because the effectiveness of the process of mastering new skills depends only on the attention of the parents and their understanding. Therefore, the natural question is how to teach a child to drink from a straw without tears and hysterics.
