Sippy Cups: When to Start, Which Type, and What the NHS Says
Somewhere around six months, in among the purée and the flying broccoli, a new question arrives: how does this small person learn to drink?
It sounds like it should be simple. It is not. There are spouted cups, valved cups, free-flow cups, straw cups, 360 cups and open cups, all shouting for your attention, and a surprising amount of strong opinion about which is best. So here is the honest version — what the NHS actually recommends, why it matters for teeth and speech, and which cup makes sense at which stage.
When should a baby start using a cup?
The NHS advises introducing a cup or beaker from around 6 months, offering sips of water with meals. That lines up with the start of weaning, which is no coincidence — solid food makes babies thirsty in a way milk alone never did.
It will be messy. That's not a sign it's going badly; that's the process. Babies learn to drink by getting it wrong repeatedly and slightly damply.
If you're not sure your baby is ready for solids yet, our guide to the signs your baby is ready for weaning covers the readiness cues to look for.
The bit most guides skip: free-flow versus non-spill
This is the single most important thing on this page, and it's the thing most sippy cup articles quietly avoid — usually because they're selling non-spill cups.
The NHS is direct about it:
“Using an open cup or a free-flow cup without a valve will help your baby learn to sip and is better for your baby's teeth.”
And on choosing one:
“A cup or beaker with a free-flow lid (without a non-spill valve) is better than a bottle or beaker with a teat as it will help your baby learn how to sip rather than suck.”
Childsmile, the NHS Scotland oral health programme, puts it more bluntly still: “Valve cups (non-spill types) are not recommended. The sucking motion can lead to speech problems.”
The reasoning is straightforward once you see it. A valved cup requires sucking — the same action as a bottle. A free-flow cup requires sipping, which is what drinking from a proper cup involves. The whole point of this stage is to teach the second thing, and a valve teaches the first.
There's a dental angle too. Sucking pools liquid around the front teeth for longer. With water that's harmless. With anything sweet — juice, squash, flavoured milk — it means teeth sit under acid attack for far longer than they would otherwise.
“Non-spill” and “leakproof” are not the same thing
Worth separating these two, because the words get used interchangeably and they mean very different things.
Non-spill usually means a valve inside the spout that stops flow until your baby sucks. That's the design the guidance warns about.
Leakproof can simply mean the lid seals when it's shut. A cup can be completely leakproof in your changing bag and still be entirely free-flow the moment it's open — those two things aren't in conflict at all. It's worth checking which one a cup actually means before you assume you have to choose.
How to tell what kind of cup you've got
Simple test, and it works on any cup already in your cupboard:
Fill it with water, put the lid on, and turn it upside down over the sink. There are three possible outcomes, and they're not all the same thing.
- It drips or trickles out. Free-flow. This is the type the NHS recommends, and it's what you want for everyday use at the table.
- Nothing comes out, and there's a separate rubber or silicone insert in the lid. That's a non-spill valve — the type the guidance advises against. The good news is that a great many of them can simply be pulled out, and most parents never realise. Check the underside of the lid.
- Nothing comes out, but the spout itself is a soft straw or teat that opens when bitten or squeezed. This is a bite-activated spout. It isn't a valve, and it doesn't ask your baby to suck against resistance the way a valve does — but it isn't free-flow either. Useful in a changing bag; not the one to rely on all day.
Straw cups are a case apart — see below.
The types of cup, compared
| Type | How it works | Best for | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open cup | No lid at all | The end goal, from 6 months with help | Messy. Genuinely, properly messy. |
| Free-flow spout | Spout with open holes, no valve — flows when tilted | Everyday use from 6 months | The NHS-recommended type. Will leak in a bag — that's the trade-off. |
| Free-flow straw | Straw with no valve; lid seals it when shut | 6 months+, and the best option out of the house | Free-flow and leakproof, because the seal is in the lid rather than the straw. The best of both. |
| Bite-activated spout | Soft spout opens when bitten or squeezed | Travel, buggies, changing bags | Not a valve, so no sucking against resistance — but not free-flow either. |
| Valved non-spill | Valve blocks flow until sucked | Short bursts only | Specifically not recommended by NHS guidance. Check whether the valve comes out. |
How to move from bottle to cup
The NHS advises that once your baby is 1 year old, feeding from a bottle should be discouraged, and Childsmile suggests aiming to have your baby off the feeding bottle by their first birthday. That gives you roughly six months to make the switch, which is plenty if you go gradually.
- Start at 6 months with water at mealtimes. No pressure, no expectation they'll drink much. This is about familiarity.
- Let them play with it. Chewing the spout, banging it on the tray, turning it over — all useful. They're working out what it is.
- Drop one bottle feed at a time. The mid-morning or afternoon feed is usually easiest. Leave the bedtime one until last.
- Offer the cup before they're desperate. A very hungry, very cross baby wants the thing that works, and that thing is the bottle.
- Introduce an open cup alongside, with help. A tiny amount of water, your hands over theirs. This is the actual destination.
One thing that catches people out: don't let your baby wander around with a cup all day, and don't let them fall asleep with one. Constant sipping keeps teeth under attack, and Childsmile warns against leaving a child alone with a cup or bottle because of the choking risk.
Are sippy cups bad for your baby's teeth?
The short answer: the cup matters less than what's in it and how long it's in their mouth.
Water in any cup is fine. The problems come from three things:
- Sugary drinks. Juice, squash, flavoured milk. The NHS advises babies under 12 months don't need fruit juice or smoothies at all; after that, dilute one part juice to ten parts water and keep it to mealtimes.
- Prolonged contact. A drink nursed slowly over an hour is worse than the same drink finished in five minutes.
- Night-time and comfort sucking. Childsmile is emphatic: never give sugary drinks last thing at night, between meals, in the buggy or car seat, or as a comforter.
Water between meals, milk at mealtimes, and everything finished promptly rather than nursed for an hour — do that and the cup type matters far less.
Which cup, and when
6–9 months: first sips, free-flow
This is the stage that matters most for getting the habit right, and it's where you want a genuinely free-flow cup.
Our Silicone Sippy Cup (150ml) has a plain spout with three open holes and no valve of any kind — tip it and the water comes through. That's exactly the free-flow design the NHS recommends, and it's rarer on the high street than you'd expect. Dual handles, soft silicone that's kind to teething gums, and a small capacity suited to a first attempt rather than a full drink.
Start offering an open cup with help at the same time, even if almost all of it ends up on the floor.
9–12 months: out and about
A free-flow spouted cup and a changing bag are natural enemies. This is where a free-flow straw cup solves a problem that looks unsolvable.
The Tum Tum Tippy Up Cup has no straw valve at all — nothing to suck against, liquid flows the moment your baby draws on it. The leakproofing comes from the flip-top lid sealing the straw when it's shut, not from making your baby work for a drink. So it's free-flow and it doesn't leak in a bag, which most cups make you choose between.
Tum Tum developed the short straw with speech and feeding specialists, so it positions the tongue tip forward for natural sipping rather than the tongue-back pattern a teat encourages. And the weighted straw follows the liquid wherever it goes, so a baby tipped back in a car seat still gets a drink instead of a mouthful of air.
If you only buy one cup for out of the house, that's the one.
The 2-in-1 Silicone Sippy Cup with Snack Lid is the other option, with a soft straw-style spout that opens when your baby bites or squeezes it. No valve, so nothing to suck against — but it isn't free-flow either. The second lid turns it into a snack pot, so it's one thing to carry instead of two.
12 months+: bottles away
By now the bottle should be on its way out. If you're using a cup with a removable valve, this is the moment to take it out for good. The Sophie la Girafe Cup is built for exactly this — a valve for the messy early days, and a free-flow mode once you remove it.
18 months+: the open cup
The goal all along. Small, unlidded, filled about a third of the way up. Expect setbacks, keep a cloth handy, and don't rush back to the lid at the first spillage.
The simple rule: free-flow everywhere. A spouted free-flow cup at the table, a free-flow straw cup in the bag. You don't have to accept a valve just because you need something that won't leak — that's a false choice.
What should go in the cup?
Keeping it simple, based on NHS guidance:
- Water — from around 6 months, with meals. Water for babies over 6 months doesn't need to be boiled first.
- Breast milk or formula — until at least 12 months.
- Whole cows' milk — as a main drink from 12 months.
- Not squash, fizzy drinks, flavoured milk, herbal or “baby” drinks, tea or coffee.
- Juice — not needed under 12 months. After that, heavily diluted and with meals only.
And never put anything other than breast milk, formula or water into a bottle or trainer cup — no sugar, no cereal, no chocolate powder.
Frequently asked questions
What age can a baby start using a sippy cup?
Around 6 months, alongside the start of solid foods. Offer sips of water with meals.
Is a free-flow cup the same as a sippy cup?
Not quite. “Sippy cup” is used loosely for any lidded toddler cup. A free-flow cup is specifically one without a non-spill valve — liquid comes out when tilted or drawn on. That's the type the NHS recommends.
Are straw cups better than sippy cups?
A straw cup with no valve is one of the better options going. It avoids the valve problem entirely, and a short straw encourages the tongue-forward position used for sipping rather than the tongue-back pattern of a teat — which is why some are developed with speech and feeding specialists. A weighted straw also makes them far easier for younger babies to manage.
Can a cup be leakproof without having a valve?
Yes, and this is the bit worth knowing. If the seal is in the lid rather than the spout, the cup can be completely leakproof when closed and completely free-flow when open. You don't have to choose between the two.
When should my baby stop using a bottle?
The NHS advises that feeding from a bottle should be discouraged once your baby is 1 year old.
My baby won't drink from a cup at all. What now?
Very common. Try a different type — straw cups often work when spouts don't, particularly weighted ones that don't need tipping. Offer it when they're calm rather than ravenous, let them see you drinking, and give it time. If you're worried, your health visitor is the right person to ask.
Can I put milk in a sippy cup?
Yes. Breast milk, formula or, from 12 months, whole cows' milk. Just avoid letting your baby sip it slowly over a long period, and never at bedtime after brushing.
The short version
Start around 6 months. Choose free-flow — a spouted one for the table, a straw one for the bag — and avoid valves. Water between meals, milk with them. Aim to be off bottles by the first birthday, and treat the open cup as the destination rather than something to postpone.
Browse our sippy cups collection, or set up the whole weaning kit with silicone feeding sets and bibs — free UK delivery over £25.
Sources: NHS — Drinks and cups for babies and young children · Childsmile (NHS Scotland) — Drinking from a cup. This guide is for general information and isn't medical or dental advice — if you have concerns about your baby's teeth, speech or feeding, speak to your health visitor, GP or dentist.