best STRAW cup for 6 month old

[Anonymous]

20:35 here
forgot -- we also used the Safe Sippy, which has a true sippy option and a straw option, except the straw is solely on the inside of the cup and the outside is a molded straw shape.

[Anonymous]

I think the straw vs. sippy thing really depends on your kid. We started our DD on a "regular" sippy around 6-7 months, and she never really got the hang of it - and really wouldn't drink anything from it (and we tried 5-6 different cups). Once we switched to a straw cup, she figured it out immediately and was drinking away... It worked well enough for us that when I started weaning from breastfeeding at around 11-12 months we went straight to giving her milk in the straw cup (no bottles at all), and she had no problems. I was actually worried for a while that she'd never learn to drink from a sippy/real cup, because she never wanted to tip up the cup to drink out of it (but now she's fine with that too).

Anyway, the straw cups we like the most are these:
http://www.diapers.com/product/productdetail.aspx?productid=18155 [at home]
http://www.diapers.com/product/productdetail.aspx?productid=21921 [for going out, great because they're insulated]

[Anonymous]

We used a Playtex brand cup that looks similar to the Munchkin brand, though I think we started with a regular straw and blocking the top with our finger. It didn't take DD long to catch on--she was doing well within 3-4 weeks of starting.

Our DD has special needs and we were advised by our ST and doctors to skip sippy cups and go straight to a straw. Straw sucking is good for the muscles in the mouth and general oral motor development. And, more generally, why add a step that you will eventually get rid of anyway?

[Anonymous]

my kids have all used the playtex brand straw cup. i've tried everything under the sun and it leaks the least and it's the one that i always go back to. i skipped the sippy cups all together as well, b/c all of my speech therapist friends said it was best for their oral muscle development.

just an fyi, i just recently discovered these sippy cup straw cleaner brushes on amazon and they are AMAZING. i highly recommend it! i had thrown away so many straws that grew mold or dried and crusted up milk inside of them. they work for foogo, munchkin, and playtex straws. i'm sure it would work for others as well. it's nice to know that the inside of the straws are clean.

[Anonymous]

I third (or fourth) the recommendation for the Playtex straw cup (I think it is called the Little Gripper straw trainer, I got mine at Babies R Us). I started giving it to my 6 month old right around 6 months and she started sucking the liquid on her own after 2 weeks or so.

[Anonymous]

Yeah - the straws can get really disgusting inside. We use the tiny/skinny brushes sold by Dr. Brown's (for cleaning their bottles) to clean the sippy straws, and they also work great.