Away with the sippy cups!

When I introduced my son to sippy cups at the age of seven months, I expected to be done with them after a few months. I read all those helpful parenting books (still do) saying that a one-year-old is perfectly capable of drinking out of a real cup.

When he was one year old he could drink out of a cup, but I’d rather not have him, because of spilling – or throwing the cup on the floor regardless of its contents. In our quest for uninterrupted sleep I provided him with a cup placed in his bed, so he could help himself to a drink of water during the night.

I thought, okay, at least he’s not drinking from a bottle, I’ll put the sippy cups away when he’s eighteen months old. Since then I’ve talked it through with him now and then, he’d say that he’s a big boy now, and doesn’t need a sippy cup at night, I’d put him to bed, he’d cry for his cup. (Same thing with the pacifier, but that’s another story.)

This morning, my husband put our breakfast things into the dishwasher and said, how much he hated taking apart those cups. And I thought, why don’t we dispense with them altogether? I told everybody, my husband’s glad, my son will be having a glass of water in his room (he never drinks in the night anyway), and there will be less stuff in the kitchen which is always good.

So bye sippy-cups. I liked you very much when my son was a baby, even ‘though you were dripping, but now it’s time to part.