How to Teach your Baby to Drink from a Straw

My twins nursed until they were almost 14 months old. Considering the fact that they were premature and had to start their life being fed from a tube I was pretty happy with that. I thought we could just skip right over the bottle phase and their transition to sippy cups would be seamless. Easy, right?

Nope.

One of my twins figured out how to use a sippy cup just fine but couldn’t quite figure out the straw. Good enough. One down, one to go.

The other twin didn’t get the memo. No matter what I tried, she just couldn’t seem to get the hang of a sippy cup or a straw.

At a regular visit to the pediatrician I mentioned the trouble we were having. She recommended occupational therapy and put in a referral for the twin who couldn’t figure out how to use a sippy cup. In the meantime, she shared a tip for teaching babies to drink from a straw that she’d had good luck with.

My pediatrician said that she liked to teach babies use straws by filling the straw, putting her finger on one end to hold the liquid in, and then dripping it in the baby’s mouth. As they got the hang of that and realized that they were going to get a drink from the straw, she started only taking her finger halfway off the straw so the baby had to fight a big more and start to stuck to get the liquid out.

I tried that on my first twin and she figured out how to use a straw within minutes. I breathed a sigh of relief because once my babies figure out how to use a straw it always made going out to eat so much easier since they could just drink from a cup at the restaurant.

The second twin still struggled for a bit but just before we were ready to schedule a visit with the occupational therapist she figured it out. We had to get a bit creative and work with her to help her learn how to use a straw.

How to Teach a Baby to Drink from a Straw

• Start with water. It’s going to get messy. I fill the cup up just a bit at first and work up from there.
• Cut the straw short. My twin who struggled the longest was able to suck a bit of water up the straw but she lost interest before anything made it to her mouth so she didn’t realize she needed to keep going. Cut a straw short so your baby doesn’t have to suck as hard to get something to drink.
• Use a wider straw. Some babies have a hard time getting a seal on a thinner straw. Look for thicker straws. I found some thicker milkshake straws that worked great. You can still cut these short if your baby needs a little extra help.
• Put your finger on the end and drip it into your baby’s mouth. This is the trick I mentioned above and I’ve had great luck with my kids with this. Fill the straw and put your finger over one end to hold the liquid in, let your baby drink from the straw. Gradually release your finger slower so your baby has to start to suck to get anything from the straw.

Once your baby has mastered the straw, I love these little Take ‘n Toss cups from The First Years. I always lose the straws that come with them but a regular straw fits just fine. It’s so much easier than hunting for all the pieces to a regular sippy cup.

Have you ever had a baby struggle to learn to drink from a straw? What worked for you?

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