Straw Cups

A key issue in transitioning your baby to a sippy cup and learning how to use a sippy cup, is the development of a good strong fist grasp and the ability to easily move things from the hand to the mouth....Ahh, your baby has been moving items from the hand to the mouth for ages now right? Using a sippy cup requires much more than simply picking an object up and putting it into ones mouth!

Many parents prefer to wean their babies from the bottle to the straw cup instead of the sippy cup for several reasons.
     @     Straw cups are easier for a baby to hold because they don’t require tilting.
     @     Straws are EXCELLENT for oral motor strengthening and speech development.
     @     A sippy cup is just one more thing to have to wean from. He can use a straw until he’s an adult!
     @     Sippy cups can contribute to speech problems and dental problems, so I wanted to avoid them if possible.
How to Clean Sippy Cup Straws
Step 1 : Remove the straw from the sippy cup. Most cups come with removable straws. If they don't, you can still use this method to get them clean.
Step 2 : Run hot water through the straw to give them an initial cleansing.
Step 3 : Take a tiny amount of dishwashing liquid on one end of the Q-tip and insert through one end of the straw and pull it out.
Do the same with the other end.
Q-tips are generally not long enough to go through the straw from one end to the other, but inserting it from both ends will get the job done just as well. You could also insert one Q-tip and use another to push it out through the other end.
Step 4 : Rinse the straw well under running hot water to wash all the soap out.
Reinsert into cup and let dry.