Sippy Cup vs Straw Cup: When to Use Each
I sell cups, so I'll start with the part that's awkward for us: the spouted sippy cup, which is the default first cup almost everywhere, is the one dentists and speech therapists are least keen on.
It isn't dangerous and it isn't a scandal. It just has the least going for it, and it's sold hardest because it spills least.
What is the difference between a sippy cup and a straw cup?
The mouth movement, which matters most and which the packaging never mentions. With a spouted sippy cup, she sucks on a spout held between her tongue and the roof of her mouth. That's close to the movement she already uses on a breast or a teat. It's easy to introduce for that reason, and for the same reason it doesn't move her on. The spout is a step sideways. A straw needs a different action: lips sealed around a narrow tube, tongue back and down, cheeks doing the work. An open cup needs something different again, a controlled sip with the tip of the tongue kept low. Both of those are steps towards mature drinking and swallowing.
| Cup | From | Develops | Downside |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open cup | 6 months, held by you | Lip control, jaw stability | Spills, until it doesn't |
| Straw cup | 6-9 months | Tongue lift and retraction, mature swallow | Harder to clean |
| Spouted sippy | As a short bridge | Little. Closest to a bottle | Prolongs an immature swallow |
| Bottle | — | — | Phase out from around 12 months |
Why do dentists prefer straw and open cups?
Two reasons, and the first is about time.
A sippy cup with a valve is made to be carried around, so it gets sipped from for hours instead of drunk at a meal. If it holds anything other than water, her teeth sit in sugar for hours, and that's what causes early decay. The problem is the all-afternoon sipping the cup makes easy.
The second is about position. The spout sits where a dummy sits, and long use of anything held there affects the developing bite and, some speech therapists argue, tongue posture. The evidence on speech is thinner than the confident claims you'll read online, and I'd rather understate it.
The practical upshot is uncontroversial: keep water in whatever cup travels, keep milk and anything sweet to mealtimes in an open or straw cup, and don't use a spouted cup as the long-term default.
Around the same stage
So when should you use each cup
Start an open cup at six months, alongside solids. It doesn't replace anything yet. Just start it.
Offer a tiny open cup with a little water at every meal from six months, holding it for her, and she learns the skill from the start. She'll spill nearly all of it for weeks. That's normal.
Add a straw cup from around nine months, when most babies can manage the suck. It's the best travelling cup you'll own. If you want a spouted sippy cup for the pram or the car, use it for water only, to stop spills, and plan to be off it well before two.
Most guidance suggests being off bottles between twelve and eighteen months and using an open cup for most drinks by around two.
Mentioned above
How to teach an open cup or a straw
Both take a fortnight of mess and neither needs a technique beyond patience.
For an open cup, use a small, heavy-based cup with about a centimetre of water. Hold it and tip it gently to her lip at every meal, and let her put her hands on it. Expect most of it down her front for a month. With mine it was six weeks.
For a straw, here's a trick that works on almost every baby: dip a short, flexible straw in water, put a finger over the top to trap a little, then let it go into her mouth. Two or three goes and the connection is usually made. A soft-tipped straw cup you can squeeze gently does the same thing.
What to skip: teaching either while she's thirsty and cross, and switching cup types every fortnight because one isn't working yet. Pick one, keep it at meals, and give it two weeks before you judge it.
Sources
- American Academy of Pediatrics, HealthyChildren.org, Discontinuing the bottle and choosing a cup
- NHS: Baby's first solid foods
- HealthHub: Ministry of Health Singapore
This guide is general information, written to help you understand a topic and ask better questions. It is not medical advice and does not replace your own doctor, midwife or paediatrician. Anything that worries you about your baby belongs with them.
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