Sippy cups- are they unavoidable?? (want to stop using bottles)

[Basil]

DS is 1 year old.

We've wanted to avoid sippy cups for a variety of reasons. We've worked at getting him to drink water from a cup- DS does really well- can lift the cup and drink independently- However, when he's done he'll often drop the whole thing if we don't intercept it- also, once he's drunk enough he likes to dunk food/fingers/whatever is available. For water at home this isn't much of an issue- we've also figured out he'll drink water out of a water bottle with less mess. (He's still nursing so he doesn't get milk at home.)

My issue is daycare and expressed breast milk (I've stopped pumping but I still have a large freezer supply). He's still getting bottles at daycare (or in the unusual event that he's home with DH for an extended period). I'd like to end the bottles soon. Given that there's significant spillage issues with a plain cup it seems unrealistic to have him drink milk from a cup (at least at daycare). However, I don't like the idea of sippy cups for a variety of reasons. I also tried one today with water in it- I found it really hard to drink from- DS also had a hard time getting much out of it (it was kind of cute- he had his head thrown back and the cup completley upside down)- I wound up just giving him a plain cup.

Thoughts?- Are they inevitable in the daycare setting? Is there an alternative?
Also- how much milk is/was your child drinking at daycare at this age (for those who continued to nurse)? (Should I just try to reduce the milk intake at daycare in the first place?)

[Windy]

We taught R straight from a cup (and the process was exactly as you described), and give D opportunities as well. Her circumstances are different so she does get a sippy. I got a Safe Sippy 2 just last week and so far D loves it and so does DH (he asked me to buy more... spend money? sure ), it has the attachments to be a straw bottle (how we use it) or a sippy. R even wants to use it. I'm not sure if that's a copy baby thing or if she really digs it. We have a Thermos Foogo stainless steel sippy for her milk (we had the straw version with R on the go also - oh that one might work for you also. we got some good use out of it before I found a Sigg water bottle and she switched to that.) but it's not our favorite. I like the Safe Sippy a bit better so far.

HTH.

[Irish-Eyes]

I would think they are inevitable for sanity's sake until child is over 2 yrs old.

[runningmomofmany]

How about the old style sippy that doesn't have a valve? I have seen them in packs of "disposable" of 3 or 4 pretty cheap. You could use those for day care and a regular cup at home. I don't think they necessarily are inevitible, but if I wdre the daycare provider I would really appreciate a sippy cup, or at least proficiency with a real cup before dropping bottles.

[MomOfAnOnly]

My exclusively BF niece uses the soft straw cups from Nuby I think. She's been using then since she was about 5 1/2 months old. But she will also drink out of a regular straw too.

[SweetTinkerbelle]

You could also do a sports type bottle. No nipple and not completely leak proof, but my dd likes them. We got a few at Target for a dollar each.

[byknski]

I keep wanting to try one of these EIO Glass kids cups. Not a sippy, but less spillage than a regular cup. It's also nice because you can use them with any 8 ounce glass jar.

[Amy&Carlos]

How about the old style sippy that doesn't have a valve? I have seen them in packs of "disposable" of 3 or 4 pretty cheap. You could use those for day care and a regular cup at home. I don't think they necessarily are inevitible, but if I wdre the daycare provider I would really appreciate a sippy cup, or at least proficiency with a real cup before dropping bottles.

We used the Take & Toss ones. I tried a traditional valve sippy once with my son and he hated it. We ended up with a big assortment of the disposable ones - the small ones (4 oz?) and the bigger ones (7 oz?), some with the sippy tops and we got a lot of straw top ones, too. Used the straw tops at home and the sippy tops on the go. Eventually when he graduated to reliably drinking out of the cup and putting it down carefully, we just used the same cups without any tops. They're very sturdy but you do have to buy new ones every now and then because the spouts can get a little gross eventually if you don't fully clean out the little grooves inside.

[dana_renay]

I'm going to second (or 3rd) the straw cup recommendation. I started offering my baby the Playtex Sip and Grip at about 6 months. The straw is very soft, and if you give it a squeeze the liquid comes up the straw. I only had to squeeze twice before she caught on. Being able to drink out of a straw is a useful skill, too, in my opinion.

[Aelith]

My exclusively BF niece uses the soft straw cups from Nuby I think. She's been using then since she was about 5 1/2 months old. But she will also drink out of a regular straw too.

This - DD drinks from a straw.

[Windy]

I keep wanting to try one of these EIO Glass kids cups. Not a sippy, but less spillage than a regular cup. It's also nice because you can use them with any 8 ounce glass jar.

I like those for an older kid - I think I should get some for when D is a bit older (dude... she's gonna be one in less than 4 months!)

[Basil]

Thanks everyone! I'll keep experimenting. So far he hasn't figured out the straw all that well (except one time when I gave him some of a milkshake), but I'll keep trying and give the disposable sippys a try. Anyone know if the Safe sippy is easier to drink through?

[Windy]

The safe sippy drinks pretty easily, very much like a regular straw (mind you i'm an adult, lol), but there's a strange backflow when you stop sucking that is not present in normal straw operation. As a sippy I'm not sure. I'd keep trying the straw since it's a valuable skill, but the disposable sippy cups are decent too. We have some from Green Sprouts, no valve in the top so lots of flow, not ideal for us right now, but we'll hold on to them for travel cups as D ages.

[Dreya]

I'd just say forego cups altogether. Use bottles for another couple of months. Both my kids did open cups from 18 months onward just fine.

As pp have said, straw sippies are also really good because straws don't do anything to their teeth. There are also closed water bottles like this you could use if you find one small enough.