Best Straw Cups for Babies - And Which Cups to Avoid
With so many baby cups on the market, it can be overwhelming and confusing to figure out which ones are best for your baby. Today, I’m sharing my four favorite straw cups for babies who are learning to drink from a straw for the first time, plus a few I’d avoid—at least until they’re toddlers.
You can start offering a straw cup as early as 6-9 months — yes, really!
There’s no “right” or “wrong” time to start practicing with a straw cup. But as a speech-language pathologist who specializes in infant & toddler feeding, I often recommend starting to practice with an open cup and straw cup as soon as your baby is ready to start solids. Benefits of starting to use a straw cup at 6-9 months include:
Drinking from a straw helps babies develop more advanced oral motor skills. Straw cups teach babies to keep their tongue inside their mouth while drinking and swallowing—just like we do as adults. On the other hand, babies thrust their tongue forward while drinking from sippy cups, breastfeeding, and bottle feeding.
Straw cups promote normal dental alignment. Prolonged use of bottles or sippy cups puts pressure on the dental ridge and increases risk of misaligned teeth. Since the tongue rests further back in the mouth with straw drinking, this risk is avoided.
Independent cup drinking may happen faster with a straw cup. Since straw cups have lids and only a narrow opening, many babies become independent with straw cup drinking faster than with open cups, which spill more easily. There’s no need to rush towards independence, but many babies love being able to do it themselves!
Some straw cups are better than others…
…at least when it comes to learning for the first time. Many baby and toddler straws are marketed as “no spill” or “leak-proof” which typically means the straw has a valve blocking liquid from flowing until the valve is pinched. Think of a CamelBak water bottle, where you “bite” down with your lips and/or tongue to start the flow of liquid.
For babies just learning to use a straw, this can cause some problems.
1) It teaches your baby to bite the straw instead of sucking, which might lead to the straw becoming a teething toy rather than a drinking tool.
2) Your baby is already learning a new skill that has multiple steps: using a straw requires closing your lips around the straw, inhaling slowly through your mouth, stopping in time so you can manage the liquid in your mouth, and safely swallowing. Making your baby learn the extra steps of lightly biting down on the straw and then holding that bite with consistent pressure while they suck—yikes! For a 6-12 month old baby, this is asking a lot of their immature oral motor system.
Straw cups with valves can be introduced later, once your baby has learned the basics of using a straw.
If you are looking for a low-spill straw cup, my favorites are the Zak straw cup and the Dr. Brown’s training cup with weighted straw.
These are my favorite straw cups for babies who are learning how to drink from a straw for the first time:
Legendairy Milk silicone honey bear straw cup — a squeezable straw cup for babies who are struggling to learn to suck. Squeeze the cup and the liquid comes out through the straw!
Need more help teaching your baby to use a cup and drink safely? I can help! I offer in-home feeding therapy for little ones age 0-5 in the Vancouver, WA area. Explore my services and reach out to schedule an appointment!
