Best Of: Ultimate Guide to Baby-Led Weaning (BLW) Cups

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Welcome to the very first post in our brand new “Best Of” series! 

While the goal of much of our blog content is to help you develop an intentional and confident decision making process, we recognize that there are so many decisions we make as parents related to “stuff”. Things like which brand, which style, which kind of “X thing” to buy, rent, or borrow. 

This NEW blog post series aims to provide you with resources about the “Best Of” a particular topic. We’ll share general information about the topic and information about products you might consider. 

Trying to decide what to buy (and why)? We’ll scour the Internet so you don’t have to! 

This first post is our ultimate guide to baby-led weaning (BLW) cups. There’s lots of information and recommendations out there about what kind of cup is best to use when teaching your child to drink. For this post, we’ll focus on types of cups that are recommended to fit with a BLW approach to starting solids. 

Like these recommendations? Have something to add? Let us know in the comments or find us on social media! 

Overview: BLW approach to introducing independent drinking 

Learning how to drink out of a cup is an important developmental milestone in baby’s feeding journey that typically accompanies the introduction of solid foods. Most recommendations are to try introducing a cup for drinking around 6-12 months of age, when baby shows signs of readiness and is starting solids, but mastering this skill (especially without spills!) is a learning process and can take up to several years of age as your child improves their fine motor skills.  

Up to this point, your baby has been drinking solely breast milk or bottle feeding. Introducing a cup typically refers to trying a small amount of water. There are several types of drinking strategies you could use when introducing a cup to your baby. 

Solid Starts, a professional BLW resource, has a comprehensive article that you can read here all about cup drinking for little ones. They provide helpful information about introducing a cup including timing and types of cups, as well as troubleshooting ideas for those “what to do if” questions. 

Types of Cups 

While there are many cup options out there, the two types of cups that BLW experts most commonly recommend are an open cup or a straw cup. Learning to use one of these types of cups is the ideal choice as they can help provide a seamless transition into cup skills as the child grows. BLW experts typically do not recommend using a sippy cup, both for oral-motor development reasons as well as sippy cups usually being only a toddler training cup and not lasting into childhood. (NOTE: if you have used or are using a sippy or 360 cup, it’s perfectly okay and most babies can easily learn to use a different kind!) 

BLW Open Cups 

• The Tiny Cup: ezpz makes a great tiny open cup that fits into little hands and is the perfect size for baby’s mouth. They come in lots of color options! Available from their site or on Amazon (affiliate link).  
• Mushie cups: This brand makes cute silicone open cups in a kid-friendly size that you can match with dinner plates, silverware, and other tableware options. Find them on Amazon (affiliate link).
• Glass cups: If you’re wanting to use a glass open cup instead of silicone or plastic options, there are lots of options in a few ounce sizes (3.75oz or 5oz). Check Amazon (affiliate link) or whatever store you’re at as they’re often easy to find in a “Home” section.   

To learn more about how to introduce an open cup to your baby, check out this article.  

BLW Straw Cups 

• Honey bear cup: One great option for a first introduction to straw drinking is the honey bear cup. These little cups are shaped like a honey bear (see the picture above) and you can give them a little squeeze to encourage the water to flow up the straw. Many babies have an easy time grasping the idea of sucking the straw as you help them get a little water with their suck. You can find them on Amazon (affiliate link) with options for different colored tops or sized packs. 
• Zoli straw cups: The Zoli straw cups are a brand recommended by many  Find it on Amazon (affiliate link), at Walmart, or straight from Zoli. 
• Munchkin cups: If you’re looking for an easy to find cup at Walmart or Target, the Munchkin cups are often right on the shelves in a few different colors! They have a spill proof, short straw which is handy for taking in the car or out and about. Also available on Amazon (affiliate link). 
• Silicone cups: There are MANY different kinds of silicone baby cups with straws available on Amazon and in stores! Some come with different features, like this one with handles or this one that can convert into a small open cup. Experimenting with a few different kinds of cups can be useful both to see what baby does best with as well as help introduce them to a diversity of cup types. 

Regular cups 

You can also just use regular cups that you already have in your house! You don’t even necessarily need specific cups for kids. Our kids like to use the little glass cups (a few oz in size) that tiramisu desserts come in from Costco. They’re the perfect size for a toddler cup – an open glass cup with just a small amount of liquid for little hands. Shot glasses are a nice size, too. Maybe you already have a small straw cup, or you can add a small straw to an open glass or mason jar. 

Water bottle 

Plastic or stainless steel water bottles are a great choice for straw drinking on the go. These are especially fun for toddlers to encourage them in drinking. There are lots of options with fun patterns in a variety of colours like these available on Amazon (affiliate link), or on the shelves at many stores. Here’s another water bottle option (affiliate link) that comes in a small, more baby-friendly size.

More Resources 

The bottom line is that it takes practice and patience to introduce independent drinking skills. The best cups are the ones that work and are a convenient choice for your family and your baby. The good thing is that there are many different cups available that are all a good option for tiny hands! It may not hurt to try a few different styles and see which one your baby has the easiest time with.

For more BLW related resources, check out our previous Resource of the Week posts! We’ve featured a research article related to BLW and nutrition as well as an informative BLW podcast.