We started trying to give a little water to our LO about a month ago in a sippy cup. I'm not sure what brand of sippy cup they are. They are the ones that come several to a pack and are very cheap. They have a hard spout and no valve. Will would pick up the cup and get the spout in his mouth, but never could get more than a couple drops of water to come out. Even though these cups don't have a valve, the baby still has to suck pretty hard to get anything out because the holes in the spout are so small. Will can't seem to figure out that he needs to suck on the spout. He was pretty content just using the spout as a teether for a while, but now he seems to be losing interest in the cup.

I also have 2 of the Nuby transition sippy cups. Will has never shown any interest in these. They have a soft spout kind of like a bottle nipple. I don't know if these transition cups are even necessary for a breastfed baby. While I was working he'd take 3 bottles a day, but for the past 3 months he very rarely has a bottle. So, I don't think it will be an issue for him to "transition" from a bottle.

Can any of you recommend a cup that worked well for your little one? I'm clueless.... but I'm thinking that he probably would do better with something that the fluid will come out of without him sucking or at least not sucking very hard.

We use the Nuby ones with the soft top.
Jack really took to those and still uses them.

playtex are my favorite

Yep. Playtex were are first sippees. But it actually made no difference for us, because my son would and still will drink from anything.

This might not be helpful, but we've never used sippy cups. We went straight to regular cups, small ones and some with handles on the two sides. I'm not a big far of LO's carrying around drinks with them as they walk, run, etc., or drinking in the car, so I never saw a need for a sippy cup. I prefered that mine learned how to drink from a cup and then put the cup down. That way they don't have to re-learn later that real cups don't contain liquid when dumped upside down!
However, I realize, I'm in the minority on this, but it has worked well for us.

Our favorite sippy cup was by Nuk. The whole top is soft. We tried the nuby's and they always leaked. I think it is because Alec pushed his finger on the nipple, or turned the cup over and pushed down it! Now he will drink out of any sippy cup, but we still like the nuk the best. The only problem for us is that it only holds 6 oz and he sometimes drinks more than that.

I'm like LawMommy (but to a lesser degree). I have sippy cups, but rarely use them. I don't see much difference between some of today's sippy cups and bottles. The kids can get just as attached to them. We did/do, however, use cups with lids and straws. We've been using an open cup at mealtime at home for a little while, now. At 22 months, he does quite well.

LawMommy & FunnyMummy,
At what age did your LO start to drink from a regular cup?

It's hard to remember exactly when things happened, but I think it was around 8 or 9 months, with the small cup with handles on the two sides and then to very small juice glasses. Does that timing sound right to those of you closer to that stage at present? It's hard to know anything except what I'm in the middle of right now!

Yes, my LO was drinking out of regular cups & sippees by 10 mos, I think. But it really is amazing how quick we forget these things, isn't it? I mean, mine is only 3! Why can't I remember stuff like that?!

Let's see. My oldest was drinking out of sippy cups by about 10 months, and my youngest was drinking well from a sippy by about 8 months.

Now, I'm a bad one to ask about regular cups. My four year old is just now starting to use them at home. She's used regular cups with lids and straws at restaurants since she was about 18 months, but begged for them at home until just recently.

Amelia - 15 months - uses sippy cups at home still, but we don't bring them to restaurants. If we eat out, she uses a regular cup with lid and straw.

mom2alec (or anyone else that might know),
I bought one of the Gerber Nuk cups. Will is doing really good with it. He picks it up by the handles and gets the spout in his mouth by himself. I've just got to help him tip it up, or he swallows a bunch of air. Anyway, do you know if there is somewhere that I can purchase the spouts that go in the Nuk cup? I have a few of the Gerber Nuk bottles (that Will never would take) and I'd like to just replace the nipples with spouts, instead of buying all new cups. One of my friends said she looked everywhere (even eBay) for the spouts and never could find them. They don't have them at Wal-mart, Target, or K-mart. I also cecked online at BabiesRus and no luck there either.

I use the Gerber cups, and have the same trouble. I don't know if any of the companies even sell replacements for the nipples or soft tops on the sippy cups. I think it might be they want you to have to buy a whole new cup. Ronald has chewed on a couple of his sippy cup tops and now they leak. I have had to buy whole new cups b/c I couldn't find replacements. They are pretty cheap thankfully. If anyone else knows where you can find replacements it would be greatly appreciated.

I just called 1-800-4-gerber and asked if replacement spouts are sold and where. The rep I spoke to said that she doesn't think they are sold in any store. But, you can order them direct from Gerber. They are $1 each. There is a $5 min order and they also charge $5 S&H plus sales tax. Even at $10 for 5 spouts, it is still much cheaper than buying the cups. Those Nuk cups cost around $5 each, depending on where you get them. Maybe some of the other companies sell replacement spouts as well if you call them direct. The only spout I've seen that you can buy in a store or online is the Born Free brand. I saw it at babiesrus.com while I was looking or the Nuk spouts.

I have a sippy cup vent.
Jack's new thing is turning his cup upside down and banging the spout so the liquid comes out. I just mopped milk up from the floor AGAIN.
I'm not happy with this new habit.

SarahMay, good luck finding the parts!