Bottle vs. sippy cup

[@llli*kbcross]

So DS (10 months) finally learned how to use a sippy cup! We practiced with water until he figured out what he was supposed to do with it.

Now that he's figured it out, is there an advantage to giving him milk via sippy rather than bottle? (I work full time.) Or is it better to keep them separate, i.e. bottle for milk and sippy for anything else?

Thanks!

[@llli*lllmeg]

hmm. I have no idea, it woudl be interesting what folks say-

I don't hink there is anything wrong with using a sippy, as it is a common suggestion when a baby 4 months or older won't take a bottle, but whether there is a benefit I do not know...

I suspect a sippy cup would possibly mean more waste, so that would be a drawback to having precious expressed milk in a sippy, but that would vary from baby to baby...

[@llli*amysmom]

I know that my girls doctor wanted to make sure that we had switched from a bottle to a sippy by one year. I think he was citing mouth development issues.

[@llli*phi]

My son transitioned to a sippy cup sometime around 8-9 months (just up and quit bottles on his own accord). There wasn't any more waste or mess with sippy cups than there was with bottles for us. Unless you have leaky sippy cups, I don't think that much milk would get wasted. My son started using a regular cup shortly after a year (which was a lot messier, but we started with just water).

I don't see any reason to continue using bottles if they are not necessary, but I don't think there is any harm in it either. Ultimately, I doubt it makes much difference. I was happy to get rid of the bottles, personally.

[@llli*aprilsmagic]

We still use bottles, and my baby is 17 months. The only concern our cleft team has suggested is that some babies develop bottle rot on their teeth.

However, I have moved little ones entirely off bottles while I'm at work and they get any milk via sippy and then we nurse at home.

This guy still needs some comfort via sucking, so be gets a bottle sometimes. Otherwise, I'd rather not be using bottles. More hassle to wash.

[@llli*kbcross]

Thanks all for your input! It doesn't sound like it matters a whole lot either way, and that we can do whatever works for us.

I am curious though, why is a sippy cup better for mouth development? It seems like the same mouth action either way?

[@llli*cincymom]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17003942 Here is a study about sippy vs bottle (Conclusion: Use of the bottle, even among breastfed children interferes negatively with oral facial development.) I don't really know how to read medical research so I'm not sure if this is the best info... but here's a blog from a mom/dr too: http://noahsdad.com/cup/

So does anyone have a good straw cup they would reccommend? I'll be searching for one today...

[@llli*inkedstar]

I think it depends on the sippy cup...I'd just consider how difficult some of them are to clean (lots of pieces, nooks where nastyness can develop, etc).

Our DS became ill when he was 7 months so during recovery we worked with occupational therapy. The OT wanted to evaluate how he did with a bottle but DS never really did well with it (he tended to chew on bottles), she suggested we try different sippy cups (straw, soft spout, etc) but also encouraged us to try regular soft/plastic cups. Sippy cups vary in the sucking mechanisms required to drink and as babies develop they can adapt to the different cups.

I think transitioning them to sippy cups may be better earlier since some tots can become very attached to their bottles and may be difficult to wean from them later on (some of my friends experienced this but with regular milk in the bottle).

[@llli*amysmom]

I was told at one point that BF babies do better with straw sippy cups. So that's what I got!