How to Teach Baby to Drink from a Cup

There are different ways to teach babies to drink from a cup. Our licensed pediatric professionals explain how to teach this skill with different cup styles—and offer guidance on how to handle common challenges.

What are the best cups for babies to learn cup drinking? 

There are an endless number of cups for babies, but we recommend you use two styles: an open cup and a straw cup. Why? They teach different skills, including sealing the lips, sucking while sealing the lips (using straws), tilting to drink (from open cups), and preventing spills. See What’s the best cup for baby? for our recommendations and reviews of our favorites. 

How to teach baby to drink from an open cup

Your goal: let baby be actively engaged with the cup, not sitting back while you pour liquid into their open mouth. 

After baby has reached for the cup, help them guide it to their mouth and help stabilize it on their lower lip. Tilt it just enough to bring the liquid to their mouth. You might see baby lick, spill, or even cough and sputter a bit. This is normal. As baby learns, there will be many mistakes before they get it right.

If baby is very set on holding the cup alone, set it down and let them try to pick it up and bring it to the mouth. Just be ready to wipe up when baby inevitably tilts the cup back too far and pours water all over themselves. When this happens, just say, “Oops! Slower next time.”

How to teach baby to drink from a straw

When introducing cups with straws, babies often “get it” immediately because they are used to sucking from the breast or bottle. As a result, some families like to introduce cups with straws, then move on to open cups, although there is no research to suggest there are benefits to starting with one style over the other. We encourage you to offer both styles as soon as soon as baby is ready to start solids. 

If baby does not immediately catch on to the straw, or if you’re introducing the straw to a baby who is 8 months of age or older, you may need to teach them to close their lips and suck. There are two different methods to teach babies to drink from a straw: the pipette method and the straw trainer method, and we recommend you start with the pipette method.

Pipette method

This approach usually helps babies understand how a straw works: straws contain liquid and they need to close their lips around it to drink. 

Practice these steps a few times or as long as baby is interested. Usually, within a few tries, baby will figure out how to use the straw. If baby pushes the straw away, or just wants to grab and play with the straw, tell them you’ll try again later and put the straw away.

Straw trainer method

For babies who are struggling with the pipette method, there are special cups to teach straw drinking, including the Mr. Juice Bear Cup, the Honey Bear Straw Cup, The First Years Squeeze and Sip Straw Cup, and the Take & Toss Straw Cup. These cups have a very short shelf life (baby outgrows it as soon as they learn to drink from it) but they can be quite effective, especially for babies who are struggling with the pipette method. 

After practicing like this a few times, try again but do not squeeze. Wait and see if baby tries to get the liquid out of the straw by sucking. It may take several attempts, but with practice they will begin to understand how to use the straw and no longer need the squeeze feature. When this happens, transition to other straw cups to generalize the skill to all straws.

When will my child be able to use their cup independently?

Around 2 or 3 years of age, but even then, expect the occasional spill. The American Academy of Pediatrics classifies independent cup drinking with minimal spillage as an 18- to 24-month skill. However, we encourage you to be realistic and expect occasional small spills even through 3 years old. There will be fewer spills as a child's graded fine motor control and focus improve. That said, many children can independently use a spill-proof straw cup much earlier than this, closer to 12 to 18 months old if they started practicing at 6 months.

★ Tip: Try to coach a toddler to sit or be still while drinking, especially from straw cups. This helps minimize spills and avoid accidental falls while using a straw, which can hurt a child’s palate.

How to Navigate Common Challenges with Cup Drinking

When to seek help

Signs that you may need help include: 

It is normal for babies to need lots of time and practice to drink from a cup or straw, but if you’ve not seen any progress despite regularly practicing for a few months, or if it seems something is just off, talk to your pediatrician. You may need support from a pediatric occupational therapist or speech language pathologist who has a specialty in feeding, eating, and swallowing.

Looking for guidance on introducing solids to your baby? Download the Solid Starts App.