Independent cup drinking and juice drinking

[lovemybub]

Hi. My 10 month old DD has been drinking out of cups at meal times (with our assistance) since she was about 6 months old. She always got really excited when she saw us drinking and wanted to do the same thing. We introduced a cup with a spout on it at the time, but she didn't really have the idea of hanging on to it herself, or the idea that she had to tip it up to drink, so we have always held the cup up to her mouth for her to drink from. She doesn't tend to drink a lot this way (and I suspect she rather likes the feeling of the water trickling back down her chin), and even though she still has three feeds during the day, I am concerned that she needs to be having more than this to drink.

Now that she is 10 months she has the idea of holding the cup herself (often upside down, and waving it around the room!) but doesn't really have the idea of tipping it up so that the liquid goes to her mouth. Even when we tip it up for her, she expects it to just pour into her mouth, like with the open cup, but most spout cups have some sort of valve that is activated by a sucking motion so that the cup can be upside down without leaking everywhere. She soon loses interest in anything other than waving the cup around in the air.

I am also a bit confused about the whole watered down juice thing. Does juice need to be watered down, and if so, why? I don't really understand why it's okay for a baby to have 100% apple puree, but not 100% apple juice. Also, what sort of ratio should it be? 50/50 juice and water?

So I guess what I want to know is how do we get DD to get the idea of drinking out of a cup herself, and how do we get her to actually have enough of a drink to make it worthwhile?

Thanks.

[cwsmum]

You could try taking the valve out of the cup, that worked for DS, then once they get the idea of how to drink/suck put the valve back in. Either that or buy one of the really cheap cups from the supermarket, they have ones with a spout or a straw for about $1.50.

No idea how much juice should be watered down...I guess you would need to coz it's more concentrated than pureed fruit :confused: I gave DS the baby poppers, they are already watered down, a few times but he drank water most of the time. I did find that after he tasted juice he wasn't really interested in water and I struggled to get him to drink it again, so DD will not be tasting juice for a long time yet. I think it says on the baby poppers what % of it is juice and water, maybe you could look there.

Your DD is doing well if she's trying to drink from a cup :yes: my DD is almost 10mths and all she wants to do is chew on her cup :laughing:

[the pero clinic]

Dear Lovemybub,

There are many different cups available on the market for bubs and toddlers. Bubs tend to prefer open cups or spout cups without valves, while parents love the anti-spill, anti-drip varieties.

If your daughter is unable or unsure how to drink from a valved cup, it is not surprising that she is resorting to playing with it. While your bub is in her highchair (or somewhere else where it is ok to have some mess) offer her an open cup or spout cup without a valve. You can either pull the valve out of a cup you already have, or otherwise, simply buy a cheap spout cup without a valve. If she is out of practice with cups that flow, simply sit with her the first few times to remind her how it all works.

The fruit juice question is quite a controversial topic. Fruit juice is a very concentrated form of the fruit – more than fruit purees. Babies and toddlers do not need juice – even if it is diluted. Water and milk / formula / breastmilk are the best drinks for bubs. It is a very good idea not to get into the juice trap from an early age. Offer plain water. That way, bubs won’t expect drinks to taste sweet and get into the habit of rejecting water. Even if you start with the juice being very diluted, it won’t take long before it will need to be more and more concentrated for it to be accepted.

the pero clinic