Summer Weaning Tips from Dr Jemma Hook aka The Mummy Dentist

Did you know that it is recommended to introduce your baby to drinking from an open cup from around 6 months onwards?

Early introduction and following guidance about baby’s liquid intake can help to establish good feeding preferences. Tooth decay in children’s front milk teeth is often associated with certain drinking habits, therefore open cups can be great for babies for many reasons including;

  1. It encourages a sipping action (rather than sucking)
  2. This is good for promoting jaw development
  3. It also prevents liquids from pooling around the upper front teeth
  4. Using a cup helps your baby practice their fine motor skills

The main concern parents have with infants using open cups is – the mess! Well firstly weaning is always going to be a messy time and it’s actually a key part of how a baby engages with food stuffs: the sensory experience of
‘playing with their food’ helps them to learn about new textures and flavours.

Doidy Cup and Bowl

An open (or free flow) cup is preferred by dentists and other health professionals, as opposed to a spouted or sippy cup, for the properties
described above.

By introducing an open cup during the weaning process a baby will experiment and refine their grip and the dexterity needed to drink effectively. Using a small amount of liquid in the beginning means that the cup won’t be overloaded or too heavy to lift. If it spills there’s only a minimal amount to clear up! Initially you can support the base of the cup to help guide it up towards your baby’s mouth.

doidy cup

With a Doidy cup the unique slanted design supports the natural upward/downward physical motion of their arms and hands. It has small handles suitable for baby fingers to grip onto and it encourages the drinking action of ‘sipping’ from the rim.

Using a Doidy Cup infants are able to ‘lap’ their drink: as this is a similar action to breastfeeding it comes naturally to babies. And with 14 different colours available the trickiest thing is choosing which one to go for!

You can also get matching Doidy Bowls which also feature the slanted design to help little foodies scoop up their food more easily. And with a super suction base its ideal for baby-led weaning.

Thanks to the team at Doidy Cups, I have a Doidy Cup and Bowl set to giveaway to three lucky readers.

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