Teaching your baby to drink from a straw can be beneficial for several reasons. Firstly, many speech therapists recommend a straw cup over a sippy cup, for example, as the straw cup provides a little more oral motor practice.
Drinking from a straw is something that the child will be able to benefit from for the rest of their life.
Our best tips for teaching children to drink from a straw cup
Drinking from a straw requires a certain technique. A technique that some children pick up right away while others need a little time. There's nothing wrong with that.
Then you can practice and use some tricks that I share here. You can start practicing a little bit from about 6 months, but it is often not until around 8 months that babies are able to drink effectively from a straw.
- The straw dip – dip the straw in water, hold one end and drop a little liquid into the baby's mouth to create understanding that liquid is coming out of the straw.
- Squeeze the mug - if you squeeze the mug, liquid also comes out of the straw, which also contributes to understanding.
- Attract to suck - put something tasty on the straw, some yogurt or mashed berries. Something that the baby likes and wants to put in their mouth.
- Show yourself – drink from a straw yourself in front of the baby and exaggerate the movement to show how it works.
- Use short and soft straws – start with a shorter, soft straw (t.ex. silicone) which is easier to suck out than a long, narrow, hard one.
- Patience and playfulness – Let your baby explore and play with the straw, and try it several times without pressure.
Smooth serving of smoothies
A straw cup is also great for serving smoothies in - to avoid the mess.
