By Stefanie O’Donnell, MS, CCC-SLP
Sippy cups come in practically any shape, size, and color.
However, from a speech-language pathologist’s perspective, the most important
characteristic of a sippy cup is the spout. The best spout for a sippy cup is a
straw (make sure the straw reaches all the way to the bottom of the cup) or no
spout at all. Yes, no spout at all. There are many sippy cups available that
mimic an open cup, but lessen the spills of a regular open cup. Straw cups and
open cups are the best to use with your toddler because they further develop
your child’s oral motor muscles, which are important for developing more mature
feeding skills and speech-language skills.
Other sippy cup spouts, whether hard or soft, are equivalent
to your child using a bottle. How? Your child uses the front muscles of the
mouth to drink from a typical spout cup, which are the same mouth muscles your
child uses to drink from a bottle. Therefore, the child continues to use only
the front muscles of the mouth. In contrast, straws and open cups engage and
strengthen the back muscles of your child’s mouth, therefore, allowing your
child to develop different oral motor muscles. If the back muscles of the mouth
are not developed, it could lead to atypical drooling, tongue thrust (tongue
protrusion while swallowing or speaking), or speech sound errors. A child can
begin to drink from an open cup as early as 7 months old and a straw as early
as 9 months old.
So, next time you are browsing the sippy cup aisle, look
closely at the spout of the sippy cup and search for a straw cup or open cup
for your child to use. Here are some examples of straw and open cup sippy cups
to help your search.
Anchor
Therapies, LLC offers services in Chicago and
Northwest Suburbs. If you have questions or concerns about your child, give us a
call at (312) 715-7218 or contact us to schedule your FREE screening
today!
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