This one is for you Serene!!

You know it is another insomniac night I am having when I start making Sippy Cups a leitmotif in a blog post.

In the begining...

The Sippy cup functions also as a teething toy. But we figured when Sophie was thirsty enough she'd put it into her mouth and drink!


Around the same time she could feed herself with a spoon, she could also drink through a straw. We had an "ambidextrous" policy because I didn't want her to favour any hand before 10 months old, so we encouraged her to use both hands equally. NOTE: this photo rather deceptively shows a very clean table because this is the very first mouthful of a bowl of food. You need a high mess tolerance (and household help) for this phase.


When Sophie started lifting relatively smooth and heavy toys with both hands to her mouth (to chew on) I knew we could give her cups.



We let her play with child-sized cutlery and cups which she could use if she felt like it, or just drink from her straw if she didn't feel like it. Keeping it fun is important.


When she was confidently drinking, we bought her "big girl" glasses and reminded her to "use both hands". We broke both glasses whilst doing the washing up. Oh the irony!



The fact that Sophie drinks reliably (i.e. without needing a shirt change!) from a cup makes packing on outings much easier because then we don't have to pack too much stuff, and can just stop at a supermarket and buy mineral water bottles when we are out.


We're also really proud that she can drink by herself in restaurants, so that we can focus on the food!!

Hope that helped, if not, just enjoy the photos.