When does my child need to start drinking water?
Unless indicated otherwise by your pediatrician, in the early months of infancy, your child is generally able to access sufficient hydration through the breastmilk or formula that they are getting throughout the day.
With that said, whenever you are beginning to introduce solids to your infant, this is a very appropriate time to start offering small amounts of water, breastmilk and/or formula through an open cup and straw.
Remember, just like with offering solid foods to your 6 or 7-month old, cup and straw drinking before ONE is just for FUN and for FUNction!
Both cup and straw drinking require time and practice to develop the oral motor skills to seal the lips, suck and draw the liquid out with graded force (not too slow or too fast), move the liquid back and complete a coordinated swallow.
Although some children may catch on quick, do not expect your child to figure out how to drink water from an open cup or straw right away.
When you first introduce cup-drinking with your little one, it is not uncommon to see the following initially:
A good deal of spillage
Lapping the liquid instead of sipping
Tipping the cup and taking in too much too fast
Biting on the edge of the cup to stabilize
This is to be expected when first learning to drink from an open cup. You can help guide your child with learning the skills and pacing by:
Providing a visual demonstration
Using a tiny cup (e.g. ezpz tiny cup or disposable medicine cup)
Placing no more than 5-15mL (0.5oz) of liquid in the cup to start
Allowing baby to grasp the cup and bring to their own mouth
You can help by placing your hands around theirs or guiding from the bottom of the cup
When you first introduce drinking through a straw, it is not uncommon to see:
Biting or chomping on the straw
Sealing the lips around the tip, yet unable to suck liquid up though the straw
Sipping liquid partially, then the seal is lost or liquid falls back down
Difficulty managing liquid and swallowing once the liquid enters the mouth
Tips for helping your child learn to drink from a straw:
Place a straw into a container with liquid and place your finger over the top, collecting a small amount of fluid in the opposite end of the straw. Present the straw parallel to the floor and touch the end to baby's lips. Keep it level and release your finger. Be sure to keep the straw level or angle downward only slightly and offer a very small amount of water to start, as to not overwhelm your child with too much too fast
Offer thicker liquids (e.g. smoothie) if baby takes in too much too fast
Offer thinner liquids (e.g. water or breastmilk) if baby is having difficulty with strength to pull the liquid up against gravity
What about sippy cups? What should I use for on-the-go?
From an oral motor development and transition perspective, there is really no need to use a sippy cup and it is recommended to avoid using one if possible. Because standard sippy cups have a spout, they encourage forward tongue posture or "tongue thrust" which can negatively impact dentition, facial growth and speech later on.
As an alternative, I like to encourage my families to begin offering small amounts of water, breastmilk or formula from an open cup and straw to start developing these skills from an early age (5-6 months or as soon as readiness signs present) (**see Introduction to Solids post for readiness signs).
The benefit, of course, of sippy cups is avoiding having your infant/toddler spilling all over the place. With that said, there are some great products on the market that support oral motor development while considering mess and spills.
For on-the-go fluid containers, I like the following options:
Ezpz open cup with removable lid and straw
Thermos funtainer kids straw bottle
Jarlson kids straw bottle
Olababy training cup with straw
Elk and Friends toddler cups with straw
Again, this is a skill just like any other motor skill that takes time and practice to develop, so beginning early in brief little bursts relieves the pressure and stress of needing the skill to be mastered quickly.