How to Teach Baby to Drink from a Cup

A 7 month old baby holding an open cup — Ripley, 9 months, explores her open 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.

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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.

Step 1: Pour a small amount of breast milk, formula, or water (1 to 2 fl oz or 30 to 60 ml at most) in a cup. Bring the cup to the table at mealtime.
Step 2: Catch baby’s attention, bring the cup to your mouth, and take a small sip. (You can sip from baby’s cup or use your own, ideally one that looks similar to baby’s cup.)
Step 3: After you’ve taken a sip or two, let baby try. Hold it in front of baby so it’s within reach, and let baby try to grab it. Don’t bring the cup to their lips right away. Give them a bit to touch and try to hold the cup, then gently assist with moving it toward their 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.”

Amelia, 7 months, reaches for her cup and drinks water

Amelia, one month later at 8 months, uses her cup independently

Ripley, 9 months, explores her open cup

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.

Step 1: Dip a straw (a standard plastic straw will do) in breast milk, formula, or water, use your finger to trap a small amount of liquid in the bottom of the straw.
Step 2: Hold the straw near baby’s face and wait for baby to open their mouth to accept it.
Step 3: When baby accepts the straw in their mouth, lift your finger from the top to allow the liquid to pour into their mouth.

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.

Kary Rappaport, our pediatric feeding specialist, teaches Lucy, 7 months, how to drink from a straw with the pipette method

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.

Step 1: Bring the straw trainer cup with water, breast milk, or formula to the table at mealtime. Offer the cup to baby by holding it in front of their mouth.
Step 2: Wait for baby to open their mouth and lean in to accept the straw, then give a little squeeze to the cup, which will express a small amount of the liquid into their mouth. Most babies will respond by immediately sealing their lips to swallow, which helps them learn to close their lips around the straw.

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.

Caden, 8 months, learns to drink from his honey bear straw trainer cup

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:

After a month or two, baby coughs constantly when drinking from a cup and/or straw, and modifications (thicker liquids or straws with thinner diameters) don’t help.
Baby makes “wet” vocal noises (sounds like they are underwater or congested) when drinking or after drinking liquids.
Baby is suddenly getting unexplained upper respiratory infections or fevers of unknown origin a month or two after you started cup practice.
Your child is older than 15 months and still not drinking from a cup.

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.

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Our Team