the cup

I started buying sippy cups when Eddie was about 8 months old. I have purchased four. First it was Phillips Avent's trainer cup, then Born Free's version. Then at the advice of an experienced mom, I tried the Take-In-Toss cups from Target and Munchkin's brand sippy cup which is a simple 3 piece version compared to Born Free's complex system that includes seven components. The problem with all these sippy cups is that they are all "no-spill" style which means the child has to vigorously suck to get any liquid out. I try to drink from them and it practically gives me a headache to suck so hard. Eddie bites on the spouts of the cups a lot and they have proven to be good teethers and nice distraction devices during long car rides. But when I look at the level of the water after he has had it for several minutes I see that he has not consumed a drop. The Take-In-Toss cup is a tad different and more like the old-school style of sippy cup: a simple lid with a spout. But because there are no handles, it is a tad too cumbersome for my 12 month old. The Munchkin one is a cheap version of the new no-spill style cups with only three parts to it - the spout, the handles and the actual cup. It is not a good travel cup as it doesn't have a lid and the spout often does not securely fit into the top, making it liable to leak. He seems to like the spout on the Avent one the best, and it is also the smallest, making it the easiest to handle. So for now it is our sippy cup of choice, even if only as a teether.

Ever since Eddie started eating solid foods I have been giving him sips of water during his meals via a hand-me-down silver baby cup, actually my silver baby cup from years ago. Something that was used for me only on special occassions has become part of Eddie's every meal routine. Well, last week he started to do more than grab and play with the cup and spill the water everywhere - he started to confidently drink from it on his own. Today I gave him his water in a glass demitasse cup and he gingerly drank from that too. So maybe he has circumvented the whole sippy cup/trainer cup phase. He will go straight from breast to cup to SIGG.