Sippy Cup Concerns

Tommee Tippee has a line of drinking cups that, I assume, you're supposed to progress into at different ages. For 12 mth old, they have straw cups and at 2 yr old, they basically have cups thy have a tiny hole on the rim. Do you recommend this progression? If so, do you recommend straw cups for milk to then? (didn't know if that creates for gas for a 14mth old).

From what I’ve read it looks like Tommee Tippee has a great line of products. However, I doubt the need so many “stages”. I’d prefer to look at it as choices to see what works best for your child.

Sippy cups were first introduced in the 1980s and since then they have become increasing popular. We have owned a wide variety of these through out 15 years of parenting. Some are extremely difficult to suck and most leak a little.

While I’m not worried about gas, we use the straw cups exclusively for water. We are not confident that the straw/valve area is clean after washing. Retained milk (even in small quantities) has the possibility of spoiling.

Sippy cup use concerns me for two reasons
1.) The soft nipple types are basically bottles for toddlers
2.) Many parents allow constant use and for some that means a constant flow of sugary drinks.

Children should be off of bottles at 12 months. Bottle use can lead to dental cavities and is associated with an increased risk of ear infections. The transition from bottles to sippy cups should be accompanied by an decrease in milk intake. The average 12 month needs about half the amount whole milk that a 9 month old needs in breast milk or formula. Soft nipple sippy cups seem to be bottles by another name.

My other concern with sippy cups is they facilitate constant access to sugary drinks. Children do not need a 24 hour a day access to apple juice. Sippy cups should be filled with water or milk. There is an increasing body of evidence linking excess juice intake to childhood obesity. Juice is not all bad. We offer our children juice with breakfast (2 to 6 ounces a day). We also offer our 12 to 18 months old milk in sippy cups. After 18 months, children should be served milk or juice in a open cup at meal times. Beyond 24 months sippy cups should be exclusively reserved for water.