The introduction of baby cup is an essential stage as the cup requires your baby to drink. This allows them to build the muscles around their mouth and face, which can be useful for chewing, biting, and talking.
This blog will help you in deciding on the ideal cup for your infant.
The current guidelines suggest that children older than 1-year-old should drink from cups for all beverages including milk.
When you introduce your baby to a cup around 6 months, you will give the baby plenty of time to master the ability to drink and hold a cup, which could make the transition simpler.
When your baby is at the beginning of his or her first year, you could also decide to start them on a non-sugar flow beaker.
This is a good method to develop your child’s confidence to drink. But it’s recommended to drink a cup during meals so that your child gets the experience of drinking from cups.
Read More: Breast-feeding – Selecting the right Breast Pump
How do I introduce my baby to the cup?
It is best to start introducing a cup as your baby begins eating solid food, at around six months. It might be messy initially, however, try offering your child a small amount of water or milk with their meals.
As with everything else it is, the more experience they get having a drink from the cup the better they’ll get.
Read More: How can you deal with diaper rashes in babies?
When you are looking for a Best Slow Flow Sippy cup for your infant at the store or on the internet, many options that can make picking the best one difficult.
Baby cups are great to introduce drinking from a cup since they are easy to hold and provide a tiny amount of liquid.
Before we take a closer look at what cups are appropriate to use, take a test and check out what you know about the right cups:
Why aren’t bottle bottles recommended for children who are older than one?
When kids use the bottle, it’s necessary for them to squeeze the contents, which then bathes their teeth in liquid. In time, this may cause damage to the tooth structure called enamel.
Dental caries can trigger tooth pain discomfort, pain, and distress and are associated with sleep disturbance and eating habits in children.
The use of a bottle for extended periods raises the possibility of
- Speech delay
- The difficulty in managing the texture of lumpy food items
- Picky and fussy eating
- Iron deficiency
- Overweight and overweight
Tips to consider when selecting the best baby cup
Verify that it’s free-flowing which means that the milk or water will spill out or trickle out when the beaker or cup flips upside-down.
It is important for your child to drink rather than suck.
Check to see if it has an opening Sometimes, beakers have valves inside the lid, making them non-spill and requiring your child to drain the liquid.
If you own a beaker that has a valve inside the lid, ensure that you take it out before handing it to your child to ensure that it is free-flowing.
Be sure that your beakers have a spout that is hard to push out and if the spout is not hard, it’s going to require your child to suck as with the bottle teat.
What are the latest membrane baby cups that are available?
In recent times the membrane cups, such as the Munchkin baby cup, have been appearing available.
They’re not spill-proof however when children drink from them, they are free flow.
Like free flow beakers, it is advised to avoid the usage of these baby cups and give children the chance of drinking from an open-top cup as often as is possible.
Do I need to sterilize my baby’s cup?
After your baby is six months old food equipment like spoons, cups, bowls, and beakers are able to be cleaned with warm soapy water.
Do not forget the baby’s bottle and the bottle attachments have to be sterilized all the time they’re being used.
Tips to help your child to drink from the cup
- Consider using a cup for an early toy in the life of your baby so that they can become familiar with it and learn to hold it.
- Keep in mind that babies love to model so be a role with cups.
- Make sure your baby is surrounded by positive and happy hugs whenever they use the cup
- Do not fret if your child spills water or makes an accident. It’s all part of their learning.
- Take your time, and remember that this is a brand-new skill that your baby is learning, so it will require time.
- Be sure to be with your baby while they are eating or drinking, and ensure they’re always sitting upright.
If you’re a young practitioner, you can take advantage of the Bin the Bottle training.
There will be plenty of useful information to help parents as their child is moving from the bottle to the cup.
A note about drinks
Breastmilk stage 1 formula milk, and Water are the main beverages suggested for babies in the first year of their lives. At 6 months old.
You may start offering fresh tap water that has been drawn in a cup during times of eating.
You can also provide small quantities of baby formula milk or breastmilk in baby cups.
There’s no need to give your baby juices or fruit drinks you can find in stores.
They’re loaded with sugar that can harm the development of teeth in your child and may make them less likely to drink water.
