Spilled Milk

[spud912]

So I have a dilemma that seems like it's not a big deal, but it drives me nuts! I try to transition all children at age 2 to an open cup at the table. Well, my nearly-4 year old daughter (will be 4 in 2 weeks) still hasn't grasped the idea of it. She has been drinking out of an open cup since she was 2 years old and while she manages to drink fine, she knocks over her cup nearly EVERY.SINGLE.DAY.

It may not seem like a big deal, but having to mop up during meal time and do a major clean down while all the kids are at the table is a huge pain in the you know what. Our dining table has a turn table in the center so the milk goes EVERYWHERE. It drives me insane!!!

She knocks it down because she bounces around constantly at the table and swings her arms around. I put her in a booster seat (even though she no longer needs it) to control the bouncing but she still swings her arms around.

At this point I'm at a loss. My dh tells me constantly "well just have her drink out of a sippy cup like the babies and she will get the idea" and I always tell him "well she really needs to learn how to control herself at the table." Even when she is trying to be very careful and sits nicely, she is just careless and doesn't pay attention to her arms (or she'll scoot her plate and knock over the cup).

What would you all do? I'm seriously about to just throw in the towel and have her drink out of a sippy cup from now.

[Blackcat31]

I have little placemats for the kids that they made themselves....it has the shapes of a cup, a plate and the silverware on it so the kids know exactly where the cup is suppose to sit.

ABOVE the plate....out of the way of moving arms.

We spend a lot of time practicing good posture at the table as well as proper placement of out utensils and dishes.

ALL my DCK's use unlidded 5 oz Dixie cups... even the youngest

[rmc20021]

I'm probably going to get a lot of flack here about this but here goes...all my kids drink from sippy cups until they are about 5-6 years old. They all know how to drink from open cups and I'm not going to be doing the extra cleaning you're describing. It's not going to hurt them to use sippy cups if they are developmentally capable to use open cups.

If a child is transitioning from a sippy, I may offer a few sips throughout the day from an open cup as I supervise the drink, but at meals...it's all sippy.

I also do not give the kids their drinks until they finish eating as I've learned from experience that many will down their drinks and fill up on the drink and not eat regular food. They are never too full to drink...

[NeedaVaca]

I think it might be time for her to start helping you clean the mess, at age 4 she can "help", yes, you will do most of it but maybe if she has to be a part of the clean up process she will start to realize it's no fun and will try to be more careful...

[My3cents]

So I have a dilemma that seems like it's not a big deal, but it drives me nuts! I try to transition all children at age 2 to an open cup at the table. Well, my nearly-4 year old daughter (will be 4 in 2 weeks) still hasn't grasped the idea of it. She has been drinking out of an open cup since she was 2 years old and while she manages to drink fine, she knocks over her cup nearly EVERY.SINGLE.DAY.

It may not seem like a big deal, but having to mop up during meal time and do a major clean down while all the kids are at the table is a huge pain in the you know what. Our dining table has a turn table in the center so the milk goes EVERYWHERE. It drives me insane!!!

She knocks it down because she bounces around constantly at the table and swings her arms around. I put her in a booster seat (even though she no longer needs it) to control the bouncing but she still swings her arms around.

At this point I'm at a loss. My dh tells me constantly "well just have her drink out of a sippy cup like the babies and she will get the idea" and I always tell him "well she really needs to learn how to control herself at the table." Even when she is trying to be very careful and sits nicely, she is just careless and doesn't pay attention to her arms (or she'll scoot her plate and knock over the cup).

What would you all do? I'm seriously about to just throw in the towel and have her drink out of a sippy cup from now.

you might have to do that. After two years of trying what else can you do?

Try placing her cup in front of her plate, this is what I do with my kids. I have wigglers and they learn pretty fast that the table is for eating or we get down and it is rest time. If they play with a cup or a dish, I take it away.

Another idea is to give the cup after the meal has started. They concentrate on it more it seems.

Try- not always easy to do, to prep before so that meal time is for eating and not much time to have to wiggle and move and maybe for her when she is done I would take her down from table or have her first in line for rest time or however you do it.

Rice table where she can pour and spoon and pour and dump to her hearts content so she learns the dexterity.

That is what I have got for ya, prob not much help-

[ABCDaycareMN]

I have a carpeted dining room, yeah I know, so the kids only get water out in the dining room and anything else in the kitchen after their meals.

I am moving my 18m old away from a sippy cup to a non lidded cup now but only in a mappable surface.

[snbauser]

All of my kids have open cups and we rarely have spills. We do similar to Blackcat. I don't have placements but the kids have a separate table from my family table. I put the kids names on the table - covered in clear packing tape - so they know where they sit and as a way to work on name recognition. When we are eating the kids know that their cup goes on their name. When I have a new child I must say "Put your cup on your name" 1000 times the first week but after that they learn quickly. Their name is at the top of where their plate is so less chance on knocking it over.

[MissAnn]

I have little placemats for the kids that they made themselves....it has the shapes of a cup, a plate and the silverware on it so the kids know exactly where the cup is suppose to sit.

ABOVE the plate....out of the way of moving arms.

We spend a lot of time practicing good posture at the table as well as proper placement of out utensils and dishes.

ALL my DCK's use unlidded 5 oz Dixie cups... even the youngest

I do the same thing except I draw right on the table with permanent marker. happyface

[MissAnn]

What if having an open cup is a privilege? Something you earn when you are capable of using one? Something to strive for and rejoice when you get it?

[My3cents]

I'm probably going to get a lot of flack here about this but here goes...all my kids drink from sippy cups until they are about 5-6 years old. They all know how to drink from open cups and I'm not going to be doing the extra cleaning you're describing. It's not going to hurt them to use sippy cups if they are developmentally capable to use open cups.

If a child is transitioning from a sippy, I may offer a few sips throughout the day from an open cup as I supervise the drink, but at meals...it's all sippy.

I also do not give the kids their drinks until they finish eating as I've learned from experience that many will down their drinks and fill up on the drink and not eat regular food. They are never too full to drink...

No flack but it is not good for their teeth. That is why it is encouraged to drink from a reg cup and not sippy.

[Crazy In Mo]

I'm probably going to get a lot of flack here about this but here goes...all my kids drink from sippy cups until they are about 5-6 years old. They all know how to drink from open cups and I'm not going to be doing the extra cleaning you're describing. It's not going to hurt them to use sippy cups if they are developmentally capable to use open cups.

If a child is transitioning from a sippy, I may offer a few sips throughout the day from an open cup as I supervise the drink, but at meals...it's all sippy.

I also do not give the kids their drinks until they finish eating as I've learned from experience that many will down their drinks and fill up on the drink and not eat regular food. They are never too full to drink...

Lol I can not even imagine seeing a 5 year old drinking from a sippy cup. I learned a couple years ago that the muscles that are used to drink properly from an open top cup are the same muscles they use for talking. My oldest son is 16 and I had NEVER heard that. :confused:

I'm not judging..... whatever works for you I've just always been against sippys for older kids. I personally think it's a bottle in the shape of a cup.

[Play Care]

I'm probably going to get a lot of flack here about this but here goes...all my kids drink from sippy cups until they are about 5-6 years old. They all know how to drink from open cups and I'm not going to be doing the extra cleaning you're describing. It's not going to hurt them to use sippy cups if they are developmentally capable to use open cups.

If a child is transitioning from a sippy, I may offer a few sips throughout the day from an open cup as I supervise the drink, but at meals...it's all sippy.

I also do not give the kids their drinks until they finish eating as I've learned from experience that many will down their drinks and fill up on the drink and not eat regular food. They are never too full to drink...

After years of spending meals cleaning up spilled drinks, I moved to the "take and toss" straw cups. FWIW I have read that straws are better for teeth because they take the liquid past them right to the back of the mouth...
My OWN kids got plenty of practice with regular cup filled with water in them at non dc meals and on weekends. They do need it for proper muscle/speech development.

OP, If you are really looking to keep using a regular cup, you could keep your DD's drink away from the table. When she is thristy she can ask for it. Let her drink and then move the cup away from the table. Eventually she won't be so "wiggly."

[LK5kids]

I have little placemats for the kids that they made themselves....it has the shapes of a cup, a plate and the silverware on it so the kids know exactly where the cup is suppose to sit.

ABOVE the plate....out of the way of moving arms.

We spend a lot of time practicing good posture at the table as well as proper placement of out utensils and dishes.

ALL my DCK's use unlidded 5 oz Dixie cups... even the youngest

I do this too..Dixie cups and all!

[mema]

I had a wiggly one. She would knock over her cup a few times a week (it was above her plate too). Each time she did, I gave her dry paper towels to soak it up and wet ones to wash it. I would rewash it, but not until nap time. After a while, she stopped wiggling so much, but went to spitting it instead.

[nanglgrl]

I would just put less in the cup and keep a small pitcher to refill it as needed. Then when she does spill it will be a lot less liquid. If she spilled I would definitely make her clean in up though.
Another thing I just though of was maybe place her plate and cup in front of her but on a cookie sheet (the ones with the 1 inch sides). Then if she spills it will at least be contained.
I would stick with an open cup though because she will never learn without the opportunity to try.