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Ceasing the Sippy Cup
Tips for Making the Transition By Renee Roberson
It isn't hard to find articles or advice on how to wean babies from a bottle to a sippy cup, but look for suggestions on when to encourage a toddler to abandon the sippy cup in favor of a regular cup without a lid, and you stumble into a gray area as far as your child's development is concerned.
Sippy cups are convenient. They allow children to drink beverages in cars and while out in public without worrying about spills. Rugs and carpets are protected for the most part by the handy valve that keeps fluid in the cups even while it is positioned upside down or topsy-turvy.
In today's hectic lifestyle and on-the-go fashion of eating and drinking, it's no wonder that sippy cups are being used for longer amounts of time. The design of sippy cups is even evolving, with recent addition of cups with attached straws and a sleeker design that looks more like Mom and Dad's travel mug than a child's cup.
"Sippy cups were created to help children transition from a bottle to drinking from a regular cup, but they're too often used for convenience because they reduce spills," says Philip H. Hunke, president of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry. "When kids sip sugared beverages for extended periods, they are exposed to a higher risk of decay."
When Marilyn Thomas' daughter was4 years old and in preschool, her teacher noticed something was off with the child's speech pattern. Thomas, from Chicago, Ill., took her to be assessed and her daughter received a "tongue thrust" diagnosis and immediately began speech therapy.