We had our 6 month well visit last week. And while I feel like Olivia is a Giant Godzilla Baybee, she clearly is not. Like, people probably think we don't feed her in an attempt to force her into some sort of sick babyrexia so that she will be skinny.
13 lb. 5 oz (5th percentile) and 25 inches (20th percentile).
The pediatrician declared her to be perfect! In every way! And OMFG is she strong, whoa holy crap she is about crawl! And, hey, by the way, have you considered starting her on a sippy cup?
Whaaaa?
What the pediatrician said:
Well, now that she can sit assisted, you could give her some formula or water in a sippy cup and let her get the hang of it. Don't get the ones with the flow restriction so that she can get some liquid without sucking. Just let her give it a try.
What I heard:
Well, why don't you just give her your keys and let her try driving the car? Not on the road or anything, just maybe in the parking lot or something. Just so she can get the hang of it.
I mean, HOLY FREAKING HELL! She is a wittle baybee. And now I'm supposed to give her a cup? Then I come to find out that other, better mothers started their kids out on sippy cups at FOUR months and so now I'm just getting ready to call the 800 number to order Hooked on Phonics because I have clearly (clearly!) started a delay of epic proportions.
She can't use a cup yet and she will never REEEEAAAD! Woe!
Dear Internet,
When did you start your preshus(es) on the sippy?
And which do you recommend to start?
Much Love,
Jennepper.
32 comments:
We "started" at 6-9 months(ish), but our daughter, Katie, did not really get the hang of drinking from the sippy cup until she was more than a year old! We really liked the NUBY sippy cups when Katie was an itty-bit because she did not have to work very hard for the liquids to come out of the soft nipple! Good luck and make sure to ask for free shipping when you place your "Hooked on Phonics" order! :)
My daughter started on one with water only around 8 or 9 months. I am quite sure she never received any hydration from it until closer to one and generally just spilled it on her cute little self.
I recommend the ones where they suck through a straw around nine months. My babe did much better with that kind and then ANYTIME we went to a restaurant or anywhere, you could stick a straw in anything and have a cup she could use.
She was never on the growth charts, and quite tiny like your babe. She is now three and still on the smallish side... but don't listen to any of those obnoxious, "she is SO TINY" comments. I am having triplet boys and dreading those little baby comments once again.
:)
...like this one.
http://www.amazon.com/Handle-8oz-Flip-Straw-Colors/dp/B0019MJZDG/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=baby-products&qid=1251479926&sr=8-4
We started our kids on sippy cups around 6 months when they were eating more solids... primarily to get used to the new flow and cup. It was limited and it was usually just sips of water. Our kids then transitioned eventually to the sippy exclusively with formula in it by 10 months old. It really helps to not have a battle over giving up the bottle. But it's your child and you can do what you want. There is really no rule for it. I do recommend giving it a try though with just some water.
I started my son around 5 months. Any cup that isn't "no spill" will work. I liked the ones with the handles because it makes it easier for little ones to hold on to. (A word of caution: The sippys that are soft like nipples are good to learn on, but once baby has teeth she will put a hole it in and it will leak all over.) Good luck!
I started offering Alice a sippy cup around 6mos, but it wasn't until 10-11mos that she actually started using it for more than just flinging water everywhere. I liked the Nuby one with the silicon top--most similar to a bottle, and the munchkin one with a straw that flips up or down--my tip is to put some water or formula in the top of the straw so she knows why the hell she should suck it. (that doesn't sound right, but now I'm laughing and think it might be funny....in an inappropriate way) In any case, approach this as a fun experiment for the next few months, but don't get too focused on any nutrition coming from it. And she is sooo cute!!
We started the boys on sippy cups at 6 months of age.They are 10 months old and still prone to choke a bit,if they drink too fast.Although toddler cups with straw is a big hit:)
I bought flow restricted ones because I didn't want yuck all over cuz they LOVE to throw the sippy cup or dump it over in general make a mess as all babies are wont to do even though it makes their mommies want to sell them to the gypsies.
I think my little one was about six to eight months... that was a LONG time ago though... she's 12 now! Ugh, I'm OLD!
my daughter refused to even hold a bottle until recently (she is 12 months old), so sippys have been an epic FAIL. Been trying them on and off since six months or so. I mean, unless you count me sitting there holding them at an angle for her so she can drink from them like a bottle (the Nuby) or if I remove the valve (all the other brands) as super awesome success.
Hell, my kid couldn't even grab things untl 4 months. He would have just stared at a sippy from afar wondering what the eff it's for.
I don't think I gave my son a sippy until he was closer to 9 or 10 months?? If I remember correctly. It all blurs together at some point. Certainly it was well after 6 months, though.
I bought the Avent ones they sell at my grocery store. I didn't psychoanalyze. They are just fine.
Personally? I don't think you need to be in a hurry to start the sippy. There's no need. I try to let my son take the lead on when he's ready for stuff, not to push it. It's working for us just fine.
DANG! Move out the way! Miss O is coming down the fast lane. I can't believe he told you to try a sippy cup already. That seems like EONS away!
*Like all the tips the moms-of-kids-older-than-mine gave though.
There are two kinds of sippy cups out there (not including the cups with built in straws). Some have a soft mouthpiece, and they're for younger ages. It's like a bottle, and they do have valves (which are removable) to restrict the flow. For older kids (toddlers) they have hard mouthpieces and removable valves, so they can learn to drink without sucking and without getting angry because they're all wet. I used playtex cups, but any are fine - buy a couple and see what she likes. The aim is to get her off the bottle by the time she's a year old. I assume some kids take longer than others, and that's why the early start is encouraged.
When my girl went into the 2 year old class at daycare, they started giving them regular cups. She took it one time, turned it too far, spilled juice all over herself, and then refused to drink from a cup for about 2 months. So, practice is necessary.
BornFree. You can change the spouts instead of buying 9 billion cups (like I've done anyway).
Ava started late - around 11 months. She was oral averse and it just wasn't worth the battle to fight it. We've always kept valves in sippys. I'm just not into cleaning up puddles of liquid which was a major source of entertainment when she figured out how much fun it was to dump things out.
She's 28 months now and we still use lots of sippy/straw cups. She can drink from a regular one just fine - however the dumping things out is still a lot of fun (for her - not me). I'm thinking we'll give them up, oh - probably when her peers are ridiculing her over them.
8 or 9 months...I think.
Bad mom can't remember. Just like I don't remember when she rolled over for the first time. Bad mom. They make these things called baby books, but you have to actually put stuff in them so you remember.
Ditto what KP wrote -- we probably offered around 6 months, but it wasn't until 10 or 11 mos that he drank much from it. He only has had water in the sippy thus far, though we may try a milk sippy for daycare this week. Oh, and we also like the Nuby. Unlike KP, though, we have never had luck with a straw cup. Maybe we should try putting some milk on the tip.
Ugh, now I feel way behind. My son just turned 6 months (but he was 7 weeks early so he's more like 4.5) and we just got the go ahead for rice cereal, and now there are sippy cups and real food an ACK!
Whew, so I'm no help but thanks for sharing the freak out!
Wow! Lexi is 20 weeks today and she still has a hard time holding on to things...let alone a sippy cup! I'd say let Miss Livi tell you when she's ready. You'll know.
We started the cup when we started solids, at six months. However, I skipped the sippy cup and went straight to the straw. It took her an entire month to learn how to drink from it, but now she's an expert. At first, I would kind of tilt it up for her so that she realized there was stuff in there. Then one day- slurp! She went from not even close to college level straw drinking in one day.
I got some of those fancy no-spill straw cups, but my husband tried one and said it was almost impossible for him to get anything out of. So I just bought those really cheap, brightly colored plastic cups with the straws- you know, the ones that you are supposed to not worry about if they get lost or thrown away. They don't have a leak guard, so she can dump the water out through the straw hole if she's left alone with it long enough. (It's a slow process though.)
waaaaaah??? I didn't get the sippy cup memo either.
None of my five kids started before 7 months. They are all fine and no one is driving.
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Angelina...
It's been a long time (6 years) since I've had a baby, so when a friend of mine had her son on a sippy cup at 7 months old, I was like "woah, wtf?! He JUST started on solids!" Apparently it's normal to start your kids earlier on sippy cups. I had NO idea! I didn't start my kids on cups until after their first birthday. I figured I'd let them get the hang of holding the bottle by themselves before I introduced a cup. Little did I know....
I would say if she likes the cup, then why not? Can't hurt, right? I would hold off on the car keys though. But that's just me ;o)
*HUGS*
I think I started somewhere between 7-8 months with watered down juice in the sippy cup. Once E tasted JUICE--back off! She wanted to get the hang of that thing real quick.
I remember her crawling to get to that sippy cup. Seriously, juice is baby crack.
Ah yes, "sippy season" is on you. Just like spring time, pretty flowers, baby birds chirping w/their mommies, baybees dumping water/formula all over the floor to only their own glee. Not Mommies glee one bit.
Truthfully we started playing w/the cups about 5 months. I thought my daughter was "challenged" b/c she kept putting the bottom of the cup in her mouth..."oh yes you are mommies like rocket scientist aren't you?"
I loved starting w/the take n toss cups because they are easy to suck on, you can always try the straw cups but my kids are chewers so they would have destroyed them w/in seconds. It didn't take that much longer w/the sippy lids. I would just give her some formula during meal time so it's a flavor she recognizes and don't be afraid to shake a little on to her lips to "get it". My favorite are the sippys from Playtex. You can get the valves if they start to leak really easy.
If you want more details on the cup situation email me, I have tried a million different cups, happy to tell you which is crap and what's worth your money.
I'm so glad I read this on Monday morning. I so needed a laugh.
We gave Oscar his first cup last week, at a little over six months. It's a Nuby, which I like because it has a soft spout for when he stabs himself in the eye with it.
Oh my gosh, our pediatrician suggested this at the 4-month check up and I thought he was banana sandwich. Now we're almost at 6 months and I still can't bring myself to do it.
I don't think there's any rush to push the cup. I know, it's easy to worry there is something wrong because one's 7-month old is not sipping tea with her pinkie stuck out! I, too, worried that my son wasn't getting the cup thing at 6-7 months. But once he hit about 10 months he got it. I think maybe he wasn't that thirsty before! Now he's 11.5 months he doesn't guzzle out of the thing, but he does drink when he gets thirsty. Don't worry, she will get it when she's ready. And when she gets thirsty from crawling around!
I have to admit I was a cup-pusher. But my doctor said I wasn't supposed to use a sippy cup at all! She said he needed to learn to drink from a regular cup. Tried that at 6 months and that lasted about 5 minutes. It did take my son awhile to figure out how to use the no spill sippy cup lid, so there were a few months where I was wiping up a lot of formula since I was using the cups that are not spill-proof. But Now he's a little sippy cup sucking fiend. And he also knows how to drink from a regular cup. He is 16 months old now and although he has known how to use the regular cup for months, he still gleefully dumps it out when it is (rarely) offered.
I did start our daughter trying a sippy cup at 6 months and it was great! By 7 months she was off bottles, so it was great not to have that struggle some parents seem to have with getting their babies to give up bottles. Good luck!
My seven month old twins just "started" on sippy cups. As in, they just started to hold them and dump water all over the front of their adorable outfits. And then throw them on the floor.
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