Perfect match: Find the best sippy cup to support your baby’s development stage

The bigger picture

Generally, babies take around 15 months to complete the transition bottle to cup, beginning at around 4 months old. We’ve labelled each of our sippy cups with an age indication, but remember it’s just that! Every baby learns at their own pace.

Break it down, baby
To learn how to drink like a grown up your little one will need to master more advanced oral motor skills and hand-eye coordination.

Here’s how we get them there, one step at a time:

Step 1: Learn to drink with handles

Kick things off by helping your little one learn how to hold a sippy cup. You can ease your baby into this while you’re still bottle feeding by using our Trainer Cup: your baby holds onto soft, easy-to-hold handles while drinking from a familiar nipple.

The best sippy cup: Trainer Cup

Ideal for: 4 months +, sitting upright with support

Step 2: Learn to drink from a spout

When your baby is starting on solids, you can help them learn a new skill: drinking from a spout. A spout requires a bit more finesse than a nipple to draw out liquid. It also supports your baby’s transition from a suckling to a sucking drinking motion, which typically happens around the 6-month mark. To support those first sips, we created a soft spout that’s flexible and soft on gums. When your little one starts using their teeth more you can switch to a hard, bite-resistant spout.

The best sippy cup: Spout cup

Ideal for: 6 months+, able to sit in high chair

Step 3: Learn to drink from a straw

Next up is learning how to drink from a straw—a natural graduation now that your little one has mastered drinking from a spout. Drinking from a straw helps your little one develop more advanced oral motor skills and is a grown up skill they’ll have for life.

The best sippy cup: Straw cup

Ideal for: 9 months+, crawling

Step 4: Learn to drink from the whole rim

Finally, it’s time to experience the real deal: drinking from the rim of a cup, just like a grown up. Don’t worry, this step isn’t as messy as you might think! Our Grown Up cup has a spill-proof valve that’s only activated when your baby presses their lips against the rim.

The best sippy cup: Grown Up cup

Ideal for: 9m + months, crawling

Choosing the best sippy cup to support your baby’s development

As a starting point, use the age indications to find a sippy cup that’s suited to your little one’s development stage. But remember there are no hard and fast rules. Perhaps your little one isn’t yet confident sitting upright on their own, or needs some more time to get the hang of grasping a cup. The important thing is to select a cup that supports their development stage and helps them reach the next step.

This one’s a keeper

If you’re thinking, Whoa that’s a lot of cups, think again. Most Philips Avent sippy cups, spouts and tops are interchangeable. This means that you can easily use the same spout on multiple different cups, or place a spout on a bottle. Handy, right?

In general, we recommend changing the spout or top on your baby’s bottle or sippy cup every 3 months.

Want to know more about our toddler sippy cups? Click here to explore the range.