How to teach a child to drink independently?
When is it time to learn to drink on your own? What will help our kids to learn this skill, and what is better to give up? How to teach a child to drink with a non-spill, jak "from a straw"? These are the most common questions from parents, bombarded with offers of various mugs, water bottles and bottles. Below, we suggest how to choose a drinking vessel that meets all the requirements and provides your child with optimal development of all the most important skills related to independent drinking.
In the proper development of each child, it is important to feel the moment when the need for independent drinking begins to form. You should then wean the child from drinking from a bottle and start learning how to drink from a cup independently. Using bottles and teats for too long may be detrimental to the formation of a correct bite.
Before we start teaching a child to drink alone ...
After breastfeeding your baby and using a teat bottle, it's time to learn how to drink independently. From the 6th month of life, we begin to gradually diversify the diet, previously composed of only milk, introducing drinks first, and then solid foods. This change goes hand in hand with the natural process of weaning off sucking, and the new, different way of eating food, requires exercising other facial muscles, and at the same time it is connected with the development of new skills in the toddler, including a way of breathing different from the current one.
Before a baby moves from a bottle to an adult cup, many parents are looking for accessories that will be a transitional form. Properly selected cups or water bottles can facilitate the gradual development of all the necessary habits and reflexes - as long as we know what to pay attention to when buying them and how to use them.
When to start learning how to drink independently?
Properly and timely learning to drink from a cup allows children to develop a number of useful skills. So let's start teaching your child to drink independently as soon as possible. Careful observation of the baby allows you to choose the right moment to move from the bottle to the cup. Start learning when you notice that your child has already mastered two important activities:
- can sit stably independently,
- fed with a teaspoon, they can eat various kinds of gruels and foods thicker than milk.
These are the basic skills necessary for your toddler to properly drink the water from a cup while maintaining the correct posture. Appropriate age and skills are also important because it is less likely that a child will choke on too much water.
How to teach a child to drink independently?
- Start learning as soon as possible,
- Familiarize yourself with the cups available on the market,
- Choose a mug adapted to the age and skills of the child,
- Give your child the opportunity to practice correct habits,
- Don't make your child do anything.
Learning to do this seems much easier today than it used to be. When you start your child drinking adventure, you can use products that will help him master this activity. However, they are not necessary - it may turn out that your child starts drinking immediately from an ordinary (open) cup and you will no longer need the answer to the question of how to teach your child to drink with a non-spill cup.
When to use special accessories?
There are many children's mugs for sale, including non-spillers and cups with a straw, which are intended to allow you to practice the activities of independent drinking. Unfortunately, some of them are just colorful gadgets that not only do not make it easier to learn to drink independently, but can also hinder optimal jaw and tongue development.
When choosing cups and other accessories to help your child learn to drink independently, it is important to consider age and skill development stage:
- non-spill cups - only for occasional use, at the beginning of learning how to drink independently,
- profiled cups,
- water bottles - for older children.
How to teach a child to drink with a non-spill?
Many parents consider non-spills to be useful in the initial stages of learning, but speech therapists believe that they can strengthen the habit of sucking and biting in children, making it difficult to drink fluids properly. Therefore, it is better not to use them too often. Before buying, be sure to check if the cup has a soft mouthpiece (it will make it easier to get used to bottle feeding), preferably with the possibility of replacement, because children at the age when they start drinking on their own already have teeth and bite individual parts of the cup.
In the case of the youngest babies, start with less complicated cups, with long and soft mouthpieces, and only then you can implement more advanced models, e.g. 360° cups, no mouthpiece or straw. With the help of such a cup, the child can drink from anywhere around the top of the cup - a special valve/seal activates the flow of liquid only when the mouth presses on its upper surface.
Non-drip non-drip uneven
Some manufacturers supply their articles with automatic valves that activate upon contact with the mouth. Thanks to such systems, the liquid flows out of the cup only when the child presses his lips around its edges, which prevents spilling and helps to keep it clean. Although such Non-spill cups are a very convenient solution for parentshowever, especially with prolonged use, they perpetuate some unnecessary habits in children.
Expert advises
Remember that such a cup is a temporary form, which is only to make it easier to get used to the bottle. A toddler should be able to learn to drink from an open container, and non-spills do not require you to keep them straight all the time and do not force yourself to prevent liquids from spilling. Also, the mechanism of drinking from some non-spills is more like sucking than actually using a cup.
Profiled cups
An interesting solution recommended by specialists are profiled cups, similar in appearance to those for adults, but appropriately adapted to the needs and abilities of small children. They have a sloping shape, which allows children to satisfy their natural curiosity and look inside the vessel without tilting it too much, which would result in spilling the contents.
The biggest advantage of profiled cups is the possibility of early implementation, thanks to them the habits necessary for proper and independent drinking. They also teach the correct method of breathing, i.e. inhaling air through the nose and exhaling through the mouth, a skill necessary for speech development. However, they require more patience and babysitting because, unlike sippy cups, they do not have a protective cap, which means that a careless child can spill the contents of the cup on himself.
Water bottles and cups with a straw
A very good solution, supplementing learning how to drink independently, are water bottles or cups with a straw or a tube. Parents often ask how to teach a child to drink "from a straw", but it is recommended to use them even when our child can drink independently. Clamping your lips around a tube or straw requires the active work of many muscles and promotes the proper development of the jaw.
It is worth teaching a child to drink "from a straw" - or rather through a straw - also because it is a very good exercise of tongue movements, in terms of the so-called verticalization, which prevents subsequent lisp. Therefore, cups with a straw or a tube are a good solution, while water bottles equipped with a closed tube will work, for example, on a walk - instead of a non-spill cup.
What to pay attention to when choosing a cup and water bottle for a child?
It's worth choosing a cup that is easy to disinfect and made of lightweight materials. When buying a product of a brand valued on the market, you no longer have to worry about the content of BPA and other harmful substances used in production, because it is regulated by the PN-EN-14350 standard, which manufacturers are obliged to comply with. However, avoid a ceramic and glass housing, such a structure may be too heavy for a child.
Sometimes it happens that despite the nice and colorful appearance, keeping the cup clean is unnecessarily difficult due to the complicated structure. Before making a purchase, check carefully if it is possible scalding with boiling water (if there is a dishwasher-safe mark on the product, it will also bear a boiling water bath) and whether the moving parts are easy to disassemble. pay attention to handles should be large enough and adapted to the structure of the toddler's hands - they can be covered with a rubber cover, which will reduce the likelihood of the cup slipping. Also useful is a scale that allows you to see how much your child is drinking. In addition, check that the cup is indeed a non-spill cup, i.e. that the drink will not leak when tilted.
In the case of a cup or water bottle with a straw, special attention should also be paid to washing and sterilizing them, even if we give the child only water in this way. The tube must be washed, scalded and replaced frequently.
Expert advises
A baby cup, especially made of plastic, should not be washed in the dishwasher. Care for hygiene should consist of thorough washing and boiling or pouring boiling water in order to destroy any germs. There are chemicals in the dishwasher circuit, which should be avoided as long as possible when preparing a small child's dishes for a meal. And if the mug has traces of scratches or discoloration, it is worth buying a new one.
How to start learning?
Learning to drink independently requires patience from parents, but seeing a child who has acquired a new skill that is so important for his development is a reward in itself. To achieve the best results, the entire learning process can be spread out over time. It is a good idea to start with thicker foods, e.g. purees or soups - this way the child will slowly wean himself from the bottle (or breastfeeding, when the bottle was not introduced) and it will be easier for him to get used to the new situation. NYou shouldn't be forced to do so if you don't feel like drinking - the first attempts can be short and frequent, several times a day.
If your baby is still negative about the cup, wait a bit and try again. Importantly, do not pour the child a drink by force, over time your child will get used to it and develop its own drinking rate. In addition, our experts recommend the early introduction of the habit of drinking only water, without the use of juices, sweeteners and any flavor-changing additives.
Proper and regular hydration during the day is extremely important for development, and some children who have not been accustomed to drinking water from early childhood drink only sugary juices, which puts them at risk of tooth decay and obesity.
Approach more important than accessories
All these products facilitate and support the process of learning to be independent, but they are not obligatory. You will certainly teach your child to drink on their own by using an adult mug right away, although a large proportion of parents indicate that the products we have described make the whole process easier. The most important thing, however, is the right approach, patience and the awareness that mastering each skill takes time.
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Senior specialist in the Department of Assessment and Cooperation Development, Institute of Mother and Child
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