When do you stop giving a sippy/straw cup?

Jewels · Mar 7, 2007

I am just wondering what age the average child stops getting a sippy/straw cup? Or when do you plan on not giving one anymore? I only ask because I worry about him getting enough milk once I take away the cup.

This is mainly what we use, we have two one for milk and one for juice

We have these but very rarely use them

We have these, but use them mostly for water, he prefers the first straw cup I showed.

We have stopped, for the most part, using a sippy cup like these and have mostly been put away.

Another addiction I have is sippy cups. We never used bottles, so I guess this was just the next thing?! The last time I counted I had about 9 sippy cups, 5 straw cups and two cups with the big kid sippers. Plus I have a handful of disposable sippy/straw cups for when we go on holidays (I hate washing sippy cups in bathroom sinks, so we use and toss)

AdventureMom · Mar 7, 2007

I voted "2" b/c we really never used one much. We preferred helping him to drink out of a cup most of the time... Not sure why, but it's just the way we did it! I guess since he never had a bottle, I wasn't accustomed to cleaning little tiny parts of things and decided it was easier to just help him with a cup...?

Jeanum · Mar 7, 2007

My non-answer would be I don't know, it depends on the child.

My oldest, for whom I exclusively pumped for a year, refused any and all types of sippy cups and transitioned from a bottle to an open cup around 15 to 18 months old. My BF younger DD, on the other hand, hasn't met a straw or sippy cup she doesn't like, lol, and isn't keen on using a regular cup yet.

Mom2nj · Mar 7, 2007

I have a sippy cup addiction too

I would estimate that I have about 30 cups. I got rid of the ones with the straws, because they kept overflowing on me. I just took the disposible ones to my Parents house. But still have over 30 if not a few more between Gerber and Playtex cups. My 4 yr old gets a "big kid" cup with lunch and dinner. The sippy cup is for conveinence (sp), so they can have their drink, when ever and where ever. I don't give a sippy cup to the 5 yr old in my care any longer, I think she gets one at home though. So I guess start giving up when they hit 4 then no cup by 5, maybe one with a straw to put on the bedside table for nighttime drinks.

Jewels · Mar 7, 2007

Mom2nj said:
I have a sippy cup addiction too I would estimate that I have about 30 cups. I got rid of the ones with the straws, because they kept overflowing on me. I just took the disposible ones to my Parents house. But still have over 30 if not a few more between Gerber and Playtex cups. My 4 yr old gets a "big kid" cup with lunch and dinner. The sippy cup is for conveinence (sp), so they can have their drink, when ever and where ever. I don't give a sippy cup to the 5 yr old in my care any longer, I think she gets one at home though. So I guess start giving up when they hit 4 then no cup by 5, maybe one with a straw to put on the bedside table for nighttime drinks.

I am glad I am not the only obessed sippy cup collector here

A new boy I started watching today came with a new sippy cup and I got the itch to buy yet another one! Before Christmas I had gone through them and got rid of a bunch because they had gotten gross, I figure cups aren't that expensive I can get a new one once they start to get yucky!

I have some Playtex straw cups and don't care for them because the milk creeps out of them and makes a mess. I like the ones by NUBY (1st picture) because they have a stopper in the straw so the milk doesn't creep up and out.

nisi · Mar 7, 2007

I vote option #5: when they're old enough to clean up the mess themselves.

I still give my 6yo a sippy cup sometimes. It depends on where she is, what she's doing, and how likely she is to spill. Same with my 2yo.

btw - any sippy will "overflow" or have the liquid "creep out" under the right circumstances. I'll spare you the physics lesson since I'm probably the only one who cares how it happens. I'll just say PV=nRT

LuvBug · Mar 7, 2007

Well it depends.
When we are sitting down to eat he gets an open mouth cup and a straw(because he has this straw obsession, but he can drink without one as well). But any other time he gets a cup with a lid because he still spills them. I prefer to cut down on the messes and the tears by continuing to use one. He doesnt stain the carpet and Im not having to fix him a new glass every time it gets tipped. Shoot I still knock my water glass over all the time! Good thing it doesnt stain.
We have playtex pic #2 that we use for travelling, and then a BUNCH of take'n'toss in Thomas and CARS that he uses at home. They have a straw but even when you knock it over it hardly spills, a little dripping.

scatterbunny · Mar 7, 2007

Yep, I can't vote on a specific age, either. As far as giving a sippy ALL the time, we stopped that at 2, maybe early 3. She still got a sippy cup sometimes (like Nisi said, depending on where she is, what she's doing, the likelihood of a spill) until 4.5 or so. I haven't given her one in about a year. I had the plastic cups with the snap-on sippy lid, I just threw away the lids and kept the cups.

I do love sippy cups, though! We were in the baby aisle the other day and Hayley was begging for a cute Dora straw sippy, I almost caved!

Morganthe · Mar 7, 2007

I have no clue what the 'average child' does, but we pretty much abandoned sippy cups last year around the 2 yrs 8 months period. I just got tired of dealing with the valves, cleaning, parts lying around, and just the annoyance of putting one together. We used simple styles like the #4 (purple cup) photo. It wasn't any big deal. No battles at all. DD was thrilled to have cups just like her parents

Then again, she started refusing bottles from dh when she was 4 months old and stopped sucking her thumb then too. She's an eager beaver for the next stage when she's made up her own mind.

DD still has one for next to her bed for night time sips -- it's an Avent with the soft rubber spout & helps when she's just reaching for it in the awkward position from her bed.

But other than that, she uses child sized cups (remember those?), regular cups with straws when out at restaurants, or a small Evian-type water bottle that we refill from the fridge for the car. I feel really sad when I go out looking for new mugs/cups. Either they're all tumbler style, or I have to do an Ebay search for 'classic kids mugs'. I've found some cute ones that way, but it's pretty difficult. Manufacturers & parents have abandoned cups in favor of keeping our kids tied to sippy cups.

Sure she spills occasionally, but that's why she only drinks sitting down at a table other than water. Even when she used sippy cups, 'the rules' were that she had to stay seated when drinking. It's just become an automatic habit now.

TBH, it makes me a little nauseated to see a young child (2-5 years old) with a HUGE 12 or 16 oz sippy cup filled with juice running around everywhere with it constantly slurping as if it's a bottle. Not sure why it affects me possibly just due to the sheer amount of sugar and liquid being consumed without any thought perhaps. Sadly, I've seen this situation quite often.

scatterbunny · Mar 7, 2007

Morganthe said:
TBH, it makes me a little nauseated to see a young child (2-5 years old) with a HUGE 12 or 16 oz sippy cup filled with juice running around everywhere with it constantly slurping as if it's a bottle. Not sure why it affects me possibly just due to the sheer amount of sugar and liquid being consumed without any thought perhaps. Sadly, I've seen this situation quite often.

I totally agree. And then parents wonder why a kid won't eat, not realizing they're full on liquid!

I had to buy a couple of the larger sippies to get the straw, but I never filled them more than half-full. Even 6-8 ounces is a lot for a kid to drink at one time.

We have a few child-size glasses that dd loves to use, my grandma had them around for me when I was a little girl and now Hayley gets them. They hold 3-4 ounces (Nana calls them jelly glasses) and are just perfect for small kids.

skaterbabs · Mar 7, 2007

I made the boys drink from sippy or straw type cups for years - in the car. I think CJ was in Kindergarten or 1st grade when he could reliably drink from a water bottle without wearing half of it when in the car.

We moved Joyjoy back into sippy cups a few weeks ago because she decided her hands belonged IN her drink, and then she'd flick whatever she was drinking at me. Not such a big deal with water (merely annoying) but when she started doing it with chocolate rice milk, it became a problem.

She's back in sippies for a while, I think. She's always used sippies or straws in the car, and will for a few more years.

arly1983 · Mar 7, 2007

scatterbunny said:
I totally agree. And then parents wonder why a kid won't eat, not realizing they're full on liquid!

I had to buy a couple of the larger sippies to get the straw, but I never filled them more than half-full. Even 6-8 ounces is a lot for a kid to drink at one time.

We have a few child-size glasses that dd loves to use, my grandma had them around for me when I was a little girl and now Hayley gets them. They hold 3-4 ounces (Nana calls them jelly glasses) and are just perfect for small kids.

My Jackson loves his "big cups". He runs around with a huge cup of ice water. (I am hooked on ice water and now he is too). I probably have about 30 cups myself. Luckily with the daycare, I actually use some of them. Jackson would only ever use a straw cup. The only bad thing is he chews on the straws and i have to replace them pretty often.

scatterbunny · Mar 7, 2007

With water, I don't see a problem. It's when it's always milk and juice and worse (soda or Kool-Aid) that I see a big problem.

arly1983 · Mar 7, 2007

scatterbunny said:
With water, I don't see a problem. It's when it's always milk and juice and worse (soda or Kool-Aid) that I see a big problem.

I know exactly what you mean. I have one little girl who walks in the door with a big cup of milk and the min. her parents walk through the door they give her the cup back.

chaoticoctopus · Mar 7, 2007

nisi said:
I vote option #5: when they're old enough to clean up the mess themselves.

I still give my 6yo a sippy cup sometimes. It depends on where she is, what she's doing, and how likely she is to spill. Same with my 2yo.

btw - any sippy will "overflow" or have the liquid "creep out" under the right circumstances. I'll spare you the physics lesson since I'm probably the only one who cares how it happens. I'll just say PV=nRT

This. Most of my kids probably stopped using them by age 4 or so, but I have a rather spill-prone 5 y/o who is still using sippies. I buy those cheap take & toss ones nowadays. My almost-3 y/o is still using the playtex sippies. They do get to use open cups, but with six kids I'd really rather limit spills (we have 3+ a day just with the older kids!) than worry about whether they "ought" to be using sippies still at their ages. When they can clean up the spills, and demonstrate enough care to avoid them in the first place, they get an open cup.

Hey nisi-- who you callin' a PERVERT?!?

LuvBug · Mar 7, 2007

We do the sit down thing too, but I do it because Im worried he will trip and hurt himself! We have this kind that we take with us

but at home he has these(in different prints) that are spill proof but not technically a sippy cup

and these(also in different prints) for when we are eating

DS is a drinkaholic, but considering his drinks are water or extremely watered down cranberry/orange/lemonade/tea then I dont have a problem with it lol!(and I try to buy brands that are straight juice, so even I water them down like that for myself).

Pawy · Mar 7, 2007

We stopped giving our DS a sippy cup around 3 yrs but we continued to use one for the car or friends houses becuase we know that driving and drinking can be tricky business

Or as they say dont drink and drive..!!

MySillyKids · Mar 7, 2007

LuvBug03 said:
We do the sit down thing too, but I do it because Im worried he will trip and hurt himself! We have this kind that we take with us

but at home he has these(in different prints) that are spill proof but not technically a sippy cup

and these(also in different prints) for when we are eating

We use the second and third here. My thing with straw cups are, WE use them, so why take HIM off of it. Yes he does know how to drink out of a normal cup, but its SOOO much easier to just put a lid on the straw cup!

Be went from a bottle to the straw cup.

DS#2 is still on bottles.

Lara · Mar 7, 2007

DD will be 3 at the end of april and still uses a sippy 98% of the time. At dinner I'll give her a little cup with some water in it, and by the end of dinner she is always wearing most of it.

She is the kid that walks around with a drink all day

. But in my defense, we live in the desert. I have a fear of her getting dehydrated. Mostly she has just water, but I do put carrot juice in it sometimes (like once a day). Oh and she doesn't have great big cups... just little nubys.

Michi · Mar 7, 2007

My 7 & 9 yr old STILL use sippys at night!
They fill their own up with fresh water every night, and tuck it under their pillow in case they want a drink.

At the table, my 2 yr old uses a sippy, but everyone else has 'big' cups. If the kids have drinks in the living room - they HAVE to have it in a spill-proof sippy no matter HOW old they are!

When do you stop giving a sippy/straw cup?

At what age will you stop giving a sippy or straw cup?

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