LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE

Did you know it’s TOTALLY find to skip the sippy cup phase? As a new mom, this was news to me. I just assumed baby went from breast or bottle to a sippy cup and then eventually to an open cup. 

But my guest Dawn Winkelmann, MS, CCC-SLP set me straight! She’s a speech language pathologist specializing in infant feeding and pediatric swallowing and she designed my FAVORITE baby-led weaning cup, the Tiny Cup for ezpz.

Dawn’s sharing 6 reasons why you want to skip the sippy cup and I think they’re going to blow your mind. From not being necessary to actually downright dangerous and potentially interfering with baby’s ability to hit feeding and speech milestones, you’re going to be looking at the sippy cup in a whole new skeptical way my friends!

SHOW NOTES

Dawn Winkelmann, MS, CCC-SLP

SUMMARY of episode

In this episode, my guest Dawn Winkelmann, MS, CCC-SLP is walking us through 6 reasons why you want to skip the sippy cup. I don’t want to share all the secrets here in the show notes, but it has a little bit to do with:

• Developmental necessity....well, the lack of it. Babies don’t need to learn how to suck fluid out of a hard plastic spout. Dawn explains the different types of suckling and swallowing patterns babies engage in at different stages of development, and why we don’t want to mess that progress up by introducing a sippy cup

• Those “spoutless” cups aren’t any better either. They say “dentist recommended” but they’re definitely not speech-language pathologist recommended. Dawn explains how the head and neck movements associated with learning to drink out of an open cup are impaired when baby is trying to learn how to drink out of a spoutless/360 cup...skip these ones too she says.

• What to look for in an open cup that your baby can start learning to drink out of around 6 months of age. She’ll explain how lip closure when learning to drink out of an open cup actually sets the stage for your baby hitting his or her speech milestones and she explains a little bit about the Tiny Cup (6-12 months) and the Mini Cup (12 months+) that she designed for ezpz.

LINKS from episode

• Learn more about Dawn Winkelmann, MS, CCC-SLP on her website www.msdawnslp.com and her Instagram @msdawnslp

• Check out another great guest interview with Dawn on the podcast, this was Purees + BLW: How This SLP Feeding Expert Makes it Work with Dawn Winkelmann

• Check out the Tiny Cup Dawn designed for ezpz; this is a baby-led cup for babies age 6-12 months and you can check it out & get 10% off with code KATIE10.

• This is the Mini Cup Dawn designed for older babies and you move your baby to this cup at 12 months of age. Code KATIE10 also works for 10% off this cup.

• A few times each year I teach a series of live baby-led weaning workshops with Dawn. If you’re interested in learning more about our 100 First Foods digital program when it’s next open for enrollment, leave your email address & we’ll contact you when it’s live again!

TRANSCRIPT of episode

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• SIGN UP for my online workshop called BABY-LED WEANING FOR BEGINNERS here. Inside this free online workshop you’ll learn everything you need to know to get your baby to eat 100 foods before turning 1 without you having to spoon-feed purees or buy pouches. Everyone on the workshop gets a copy of my 100 First Foods list...including the Big 8 allergenic foods which includes soy and other 7 foods your baby should be introduced to early and often. Register for this week’s workshop times.