Water?

At what age can I/should I/do I need to start giving DD water in a
sippy cup? It seems to me that this would be a nice skill for her to
have before, oh, college, but I have no idea when it's appropriate to
start. Do you start liquids at the same time you start solids? How
much?

Thanks!
Amy

"Amy" wrote in message
oups.com...
At what age can I/should I/do I need to start giving DD water in a
sippy cup? It seems to me that this would be a nice skill for her to
have before, oh, college, but I have no idea when it's appropriate to
start. Do you start liquids at the same time you start solids? How
much?

I started sippy cups around 6 months. Before they start eating solids, it is
not good for the baby's metabolism to have water. It is too hard on the
kidneys. If it's just water, just fill it and let her "play" with it once
you start solids. I doubt that she will drink too much at one time.
--
Sue (mom to three girls)

"Amy" wrote in message
oups.com...
At what age can I/should I/do I need to start giving DD water in a
sippy cup? It seems to me that this would be a nice skill for her to
have before, oh, college, but I have no idea when it's appropriate to
start. Do you start liquids at the same time you start solids? How
much?

Not before 6 months and solids, even if the weather is hot. You don't want
to be giving large quantities then, but as Sue said, most babies probably
won't drink very much anyway. DD wasn't really interested before 12 months,
probably because her food was a very moist consistency and she had
breastmilk as a drink. She was about 14 months or so if I remember right,
before she held her own sippy cup, but she manages fine now and I don't
place limits on her water intake.


--
Amy
Mum to Carlos born sleeping 20/11/02,
& Ana born screaming 30/06/04
http://www.freewebs.com/carlos2002/
http://www.babiesonline.com/babies/a/ana%5Fj%5F2004/
My blog: http://spaces.msn.com/members/querer-hijo-querer-hija/

Amy,

I was told by my pediatrician that once they started solids on somewhat
of a regular basis, it was a good time to start letting them experiment
with a cup.

She encourages letting them have water whenever they're eating a solid
"meal." Which, for my 10 month old daughter, is about once a day...
and she's gotten the hang of it now.

But since Sue says different, maybe I should do a little research of my
own... )

In article .com,
"Amy" wrote:

At what age can I/should I/do I need to start giving DD water in a
sippy cup? It seems to me that this would be a nice skill for her to
have before, oh, college, but I have no idea when it's appropriate to
start. Do you start liquids at the same time you start solids? How
much?

There aren't any rules about it afaik. I started giving DS1 water as soon as
his meals moved to a respectable size, but I never used a sippy cup -- I used
a wide open plastic glass that was easy to hold. I offered water after DS1's
meal of solids. As with the food, I let DS1 work out his own intake.

--
Chookie -- Sydney, Australia
(Replace "foulspambegone" with "optushome" to reply)

"In Melbourne there is plenty of vigour and eagerness, but there is
nothing worth being eager or vigorous about."
Francis Adams, The Australians, 1893.

Amy wrote:
At what age can I/should I/do I need to start giving DD water in a
sippy cup? It seems to me that this would be a nice skill for her to
have before, oh, college, but I have no idea when it's appropriate to
start. Do you start liquids at the same time you start solids? How
much?

I gave mine sips from my glass from time to time when they started reaching
for it. That was around 4 or 5 months. I started giving them glasses of
their own during solids meals at 6mos. Hunter didn't actually eat any food
at his 'meals' until he was much older but I'd always offer him something,
along with a glass of water. I let them drink as much as they wanted (which
wasn't much). If I sat right with them the entire time they just used a
small plastic cup, no lid. If I was walking around or what have you I put
the lid on the cup. The lid had a small thin spout, with no valve so they
didn't actually have to suck. I think sippy cups with valves are hard to
use. Hunter wouldn't suck on one until he was about 18mos (but he never
took a bottle either) and Luke was about 12mos. The good thing about this
is that by 12-15mos they could handle a regular glass completely
independently as long as they didn't knock it over with an elbow or
something. I never put more then a couple ounces of water in it at a time.

With Luke I found to much sippy cup use ruined his latch a bit so we kept it
to daycare and the car.

--
Nikki
Hunter 4/99
Luke 4/01
Thing One and Thing Two :-) EDD 4/06

Amy wrote:
At what age can I/should I/do I need to start giving DD water in a
sippy cup? It seems to me that this would be a nice skill for her to
have before, oh, college, but I have no idea when it's appropriate to
start. Do you start liquids at the same time you start solids? How
much?

Thanks!
Amy

With DS#1 I gave sips once he started solids, but not a great deal of
water. Honestly, bmilk remained his main source of liquids till he was
close to 18mo and figured out the sippy cup. With DS#2, he's very keen
to drink from glasses and sippy cups, and I just need to get around to
getting him his own sippy cup to play with, since I know if I use one
of #1's, it would be a disaster.

Melania

writes:

: But since Sue says different, maybe I should do a little research of my
: own... )

I don't get it. How is your advice different from Sue's? I even went
back and reread it!

Larry

wrote in message
I don't get it. How is your advice different from Sue's? I even went
back and reread it!

Thank you. I have read my response and hers a couple of times now and I
couldn't find a difference. I didn't say anything because I thought I was
nuts (well I am, but ;o).
--
Sue (mom to three girls)

I've attempted sippy cups several times, but Micah's still not that
great at it esp. since it requires him lifting the cup up to get the
water out, and I haven't bothered to push it. Instead, I started using
the Munchkin Healthflow cup (look at
http://www.kidsurplus.com/emb49624.html) -- this is a GREAT cup; it
doesn't spill, you don't have to tilt it up since it's got a straw, and
as an added bonus, it makes a cool burping sound whenever you unlatch.
(Although my neighbor's cup doesn't do this...) The downside is
that it's covered with annoying Nickelodeon crap like Spongebob or
Dora. I don't know when most kids figure out straws; Micah could use
one at about 8 months.

Even with this cup, Micah still gets the vast majority of his liquids
from nursing.

Em
mama to Micah, 11/14/04