This is a caution about sippy cups from a speech pathologist that is  
part of a web site on Early Childhood Caries by Dr. Dan Peterson,  
Family Gentle Dental Care, in Gering, Nebraska, USA at http:// 
www.dentalgentlecare.com/baby_bottle_decay.htm
(Does not mention breastfeeding)



"Sippy Cups Alert

       The increased caries risk for toddlers who use the duck-billed  
cups, often carrying with them and sipping throughout the day can  
cause cavities.  Spill-proof cups are more like a bottle than a cup.  
These cups are an effective tool for shifting children from baby  
bottles to regular cups, but parents should use the cups only as a  
transitional device because tooth decay remains the most common  
chronic childhood disease-five times as
common as asthma.
      Prolonged use of the cup also inhibits the development of  
muscles needed for proper speech.  You should not to allow your child  
to suck on the cups throughout the day. "Sippy cups are great;  
however a traditional cup is even better."

In response to the “sippy cup dilemma”…..

As a licensed practicing Speech Language Pathologist, I have observed  
the damaging impact on oral-motor musculature, swallowing patterns,  
dentition, and speech/articulation development as a result of chronic  
sippy cup use.  This is especially true with the "new" totally spill  
proof sippy cups that have a stopper and the only way to drink is to  
suck.  Maintaining a sucking pattern while drinking interferes with  
the development of adult swallow patterns and directly impacts on  
oral-motor muscle development, speech, and articulation development.   
Sippy cups were/are meant to TRANSITION a child from bottle to  
regular cup.  A child is transitioned from a bottle at a certain age  
to encourage proper oral-motor musculature development and  
development of an adult swallow pattern.  In my opinion, chronic use  
of a pacifier, bottle, and/or sippy cup during this time FREQUENTLY  
results in oral-motor and/or speech disorders, malocclusion, and  
"tongue thrust" swallowing patterns.   I also agree that chronic use  
of a sippy cup may be one of several contributing factors for a  
particular child with speech/articulation delays.  Once a child has  
been identified as having oral-motor/speech/articulation deficits,  
removing pacifiers, sippy cups, and/or thumbs will at least  
contribute to increased rate of progress in therapy.  Many parents  
continue chronic use of sippy cups until age 3 to 4 (or later).  It  
is not the sippy cup that is the problem, but in how it is used, and  
how parents are not informed as to the dangers and risks of not using  
it properly: as a transitioning tool rather than as a "pacifier for  
the carpet or car".

Lori Johnston, M.A., CCC-SLP ; Licensed Speech Language Pathologist '
New Jersey, USA"



Anne Altshuler, RN, MS, IBCLC, LLLL

Madison, Wisconsin, USA

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