WHAT ARE THE BEST CUPS FOR YOUR CHILD?

Are you ready to start introducing your baby to drinking from a cup? Babies can start to take single sips to drink from an open cup at 6 months before progressing to taking multiple, consecutive sips at a time and can learn to drink from a straw between 6-9 months of age. 

You may be looking into buying a cup for your baby and notice there are A LOT of cup options out there –hard cups, soft cups, sippy cups, straw cups, open cups, weighted cups, cups with handles, non-spill cups, big cups, small cups… Whew! And that’s not even a comprehensive list.  However, many of these cups promote poor oral motor skills, so, let’s talk about what a sip of liquid should look like, then about the best and worst cups for your child. ​

Here are a couple of recommendations for open cups that promote healthy oral-motor skills: 

• The Tiny Cup by ezpz – 2-ounces; silicone cup that is designed to fit in your baby’s hands.
• Flexi Nosey Cup Combo-  1oz, 2oz and 7oz sizes; this set up cups has a scooped out opening for the nose that facilitates drinking without tilting the head or neck.
• Shot glass (e.g., small shot glass made of a glass material, hard red solo cup shot glass) –1.5-2-ounces; shot glasses are small and allow your baby to work on tipping the cup to take single sips or consecutive sip

It’s recommended you choose a cup that promotes a mature swallow pattern, just like we use. These include open cups and straw cups. It’s best if you can find a cup that is easy for your baby to hold (think, “tiny hands!”) so they can take small sips and slowly build up the skills needed to take sips. The swallow is initiated when the liquid is approaching the oral phase and the mouth is anticipating the liquid. So, we want to do everything we can to promote independence with drinking as soon as it’s developmentally appropriate. It might be messy at first, but worth it in the long run!

We also want to give you recommendations for straw cups that promote healthy oral-motor skills:

• Honey Bear Straw Cup by TalkTools – 5- or 7-ounces; has a short straw that comes in various diameters so you can control the flow of liquid
• Take & Toss Cup with Straw –10-ounces; replicates drinking out of a normal cup with a straw; there are handles that you can attach to the cup so your baby can hold the cup easily.
• Rubbermaid Juice Box Straw Cup – 8.5-ounces; this cup has a short, hard, and narrow straw which limits the amount of liquid that will move through the straw at one time.​

For some of the options above, your baby can squeeze each of these cups to help prime the liquid into the straw, which encourages and eases them into straw drinking. You might be asking, why the emphasis on short straws? Short straws will continue to promote a mature swallow pattern through facilitating the use of lips and other facial muscles when swallowing; not the tongue.

For the more advanced straw users:
These options of cups with straws are great for a child with a more mature swallow pattern, where they are able to utilize lip and jaw strength with more consistency and have moved away from the suckling pattern with the tongue. Some are faster flow, which also requires more control and strength.

• The Mini Cup and Straw Training System by ezpz – 4-ounces; designed by a speech language pathologist who is a feeding specialist; can also be used as an open cup. It is notable that the straw has a large diameter, which can be overwhelming for the child at first. You will also want to ensure your child does not rest their lower jaw on the cup for stability.
• Click Lock Weighted Straw Cup  – 7-ounces; has handles that makes the cup easy to hold; there is a flip top lid that covers the straw and locks to ensure there are no spills. 
• ThinkBaby Stainless Steel Straw Cup - 10oz; this cup has a short and narrow straw and requires a slightly stronger than normal suck, activating cheek muscles. Comes with handles for easy grabbing.