Back when you were still carrying your baby in the womb, how many times did you hear the advice not to buy too many baby clothes as they will be outgrown easily? It turned out to be true—your baby is quickly growing, week by week and month by month. As much as your child is growing physically, progress in motor, cognitive, and even social skills are also happening. As parents, you need to be sensitive to these changes as your baby’s needs at every stage are different.
In this article, we will focus on your child’s oral-motor progress. We will ensure that you provide the right sippy cup according to your child’s development, month by month. Let’s begin!
What Is The Best Sippy Cup For Babies’ Development?
Looking at a sippy cup, you might ask what significant effects the small cup has on your child’s development. The truth is, it plays a big role in supporting the oral-motor development of your baby, and it also affects your child’s speech progress. With that, you need to give your baby specific sippy cups fit for their age.
Baby In The Womb And Newborn Stages
Inside your womb, once the fetus develops lips and hands, it begins to develop its oral-motor capabilities by sucking on its small fingers. The fetus also learns to swallow the fluid in the amniotic sac getting ready for feeding once it comes out.
In the newborn stage, this ability of the baby to suckle and swallow is a survival skill as this allows them to breastfeed. In both stages, the baby can move the tongue in and out—just the right movements to suckle when breastfeeding.
Best Sippy Cup For 6-Month Old Breastfed Baby: Soft Silicone Spout Sippy Cups
From the newborn stage to six months, babies are only given breast milk or formula. Doctors do not advise giving them water just yet as milk already has the liquid they are required to have at this stage.
Save your excitement for water and other liquid drinks when your child hits six months! At this stage, the best sippy cup for a baby is the one with nipple-type lids to mimic liquid coming out of the nipples. Your cup’s nipples should also be made of soft silicone for the baby’s sensitive gums.
Nine to Twelve Months: Hard Spout Sippy Cups
There are plenty of developments happening to your child, and you are surely mesmerized by how everything’s changing so quickly. Now that they are nine to twelve months old, their cute little teeth are coming out! In addition, the tongue does not only move in, out, up, and down, but your baby can now chew too!
As much as you try to make every mealtime exciting, make the drinking part comfortable for you and your child too by using sippy cups with hard spouts. The hard spouts will keep you from changing battered rubber nipples because of the biting while your child can still comfortably drink.
Toddlers One To Three Years Old: Straw And No-Spout Sippy Cups
Time flies! Your child can now independently eat and drink. From being careful about introducing sippy cups that mimic the nipples, your child can now handle sippy cups with bigger holes, almost like a regular cup. At this stage, you have two choices for sippy cups: those with straws or no-spout cups.
Straw sippy cup: This type of cup is designed to have a flippable lid, so when your child opens the cup cover, the straw will pop up, and when the cup is closed, the straw will bend to avoid spilling. It is also made of baby-gum-friendly silicone.
No-sippy spout cups: This design looks like a regular cup only that there is still a lid that has holes for the liquid to flow through, while still being spill-proof. Indeed, your child may have grown exponentially, but their motor abilities are not yet fully developed. Therefore, spills are still highly probable. 
Benefits Of Picking The Perfect Sippy Cup
As you can see, there are certain oral-motor developments as your child grows from the womb, during the newborn stage, and as they continue to grow month by month. Using the right baby sippy cup that fits their current tongue, mouth, and motor capabilities helps. Here are the other benefits of providing the right cup for your child.
It helps in training the tongue to be in the right position at the right time.
You must have noticed the development of the baby’s tongue and mouth movement capabilities as they grow. A baby begins with the ability to move their tongue in and out, perfect for suckling on their mother’s breast. Then, the up and down mechanism and the ability to chew follows.
When you use cups with nipple spouts for a younger baby, you give a drinking tool that feels the same as what they are used to suckling to make the adjustment easier. Using a straw cup and no spouts for toddlers allows them to graduate from suckling, getting them ready for the big kids’ open cup.
It helps their speech development too!
The sippy spouted cup is small, but its effect on your child’s development goes as far as affecting speech because it has direct contact with the tongue and the mouth. If, for example, you give the hard spout sippy cup too early, it might be too hard for the soft gums of a six-month-old baby. On the other hand, when you continue to let your baby use the plastic sippy cup with soft spout leads until your toddler is months and years old, the tongue remains under the rubber nipples, causing slower development. This can cause hindered speech development, and worse, even some speech defects.
It will keep you from changing from one sippy cup to another.
You want nothing but the best for your child, so when you see them uncomfortable in using their silicone sippy cups,it will haunt you even as you lay in bed waiting to fall asleep. Skip this worry and the waste of money and energy by knowing the different sippy cups and the best time to use them. Make sure to remember these:
- Do not use silicone spouts for kids nine months and older as they will surely chew on the nipples leading to them being destroyed and needing replacement.
- Do not give straw and spoutless sippy cups for those younger than a year old, as sipping and tilting a plastic cup to drink may be too difficult for them.
A happy baby!
Finally, the greatest benefit in giving all the right and good stuff for your baby is seeing them happy! Adjusting from breastfeeding your baby is difficult, so it is truly priceless to see your child enjoying drinking from a cup.
Nothing beats the huge grin as your child sips on the juice you filled the straw or spoutless cup with. Your child can finish the juice in no time because it is easy to sip, and the holes for the liquid are large enough for them.
There will definitely be a bit of a mess now and then. Yet, the pictures of your baby with food smudged on their clothes will be part of the memories imprinted in your heart.
More Tips For Fun And Engaging Sippy Cup Moments
After checking all the technical details about sippy cups and their relation to your child’s development, it is important to search for the best sippy cup for a breastfed baby that is both fun and engaging for you and your child. Make the experience one for the books by following these suggestions!
Check the label for any harmful chemicals.
No matter how minor they are, sickness and allergic reactions bring stress and anxiety to any parent. Keep yourself from worry and your baby from any rash or allergic reaction by ensuring that the sippy cups you will buy are free from harmful chemicals like formaldehyde, mercury, bisphenol A, phthalates, flame retardants, fluoride, and lead.
When picking a sippy cup, it also helps to read customer reviews and feedback. Keep an eye on allergic reactions or the brand not declaring the full chemical makeup of the product—they may be intentionally concealing harmful chemical content.
Keep an eye on your child while they drink.
Remember that you are introducing your child to something new and foreign when giving them a sippy cup. The adjustment will be especially harder when your baby is transitioning from breastfeeding to sippy cups. While your baby is excited to explore and use the new sippy cup, keep an eye on them to see whether they are comfortable using it and carefully guide them on how to hold and use it properly.
You can try giving an empty sippy cup first to see how your child will use it or as the first stage of your training.
Pick lovely and appealing designs.
Here is another exciting part! Do you love shopping for your baby and picking adorable designs? You can also apply this meticulous habit when buying sippy cups. Here are some ideas to help you!
- Baby animal designs
- Bright colors
- Cartoon characters
- Classic Disney characters
- Superhero characters
- Color-changing sippy cups
- Cups with 3D designs
- Glittery cups
Anything that will attract your baby’s attention is a must-have! The more sippy cups you have, the more exciting it is for you and your baby. You can use a different design every mealtime!
Give tasty, healthy, and lukewarm drinks.
While you ensure that your child is getting the best sippy cup, make sure that the drinks you are giving them are healthy too. There are many fruit juices you can choose from, and of course, nothing beats the hydration brought by water. You can have two separate sippy cups for juice and water, so your child will be conditioned and they’ll know what they are getting.
It would also be best to fill the cups with lukewarm liquid to ensure that your baby will not be overwhelmed with drinks that are too cold or hot. Remember, they’re new to this drinking thing so take it slow!
Get The Best Sippy Cup For Your Baby Here At Ashtonbee!
As you change from one sippy cup to another, you will realize how fast time flies and how fast your child is growing. While you get sentimental, you’ll be patting yourself on the back too, because you know you were there to ensure that your baby gets only the best throughout their growth.
Here at Ashtonbee, we have the same goal here of providing you with the best cups for babies and different products your baby will need every step of the way. So count us in when it comes to the trainer cups, transition cups, and sippy cups, as we have these in stock! Feel free to check them out or browse through more of our baby products. We’ll be happy and honored to be a part of your parenting journey.
