Parents of Toddlers

How to Train a Toddler to Drink from a Real Cup (Without Losing Your Mind)

It's been a few years since Jen and I raised our six children. Our oldest is nearly 30, and our youngest is 15.

Since then, it's wild how many things are here to help parents.

And when it comes to helping kids drink--"stay hydrated"--there is a plethora of kid-centric cups, bottles, straws, sippies, etc.

As Jen and I look at the market, we see a few things.

First: there is an overabundance of "safety."

This is good.

Second: there is a desire to keep a kid protected for a long time.

Maybe too long.

So when our grandkids came to town, we bought four regular cups -- stainless steel seemed to be a good material -- for our grandkids to use.

No more sippy cups for them!

With that in mind, one day I was setting up one of our grandkiddos to eat lunch at our table.

I have many CupCorner's sitting around, and thought, "Why not let A. try this?"

She (2 1/2 years old) grabbed the cup with two hands.

Then she took it straight to her lips, sipped for a while...

...and put it back in.

No spill. Clean and simple.

That wasn't the end of it. She kept eating her food, and each time she wanted a drink, she used her cup nestled in the CupCorner.