As I was showing the nanny how well Emil drinks out of a glass, she looked at me in surprise, and then said, "No one can believe me that he's using the potty already at 6 months. They're gonna think I'm crazy when I tell them that he drinks out of a regular cup."
When Esme was 5 months old, my mom visited us and announced that Es was ready to learn how to use a regular cup. Jacob and I looked at each other in surprise, but we didn't stand in her way. Sure enough, Esme knew just what to do when that cup was lifted to her mouth. Jacob recently announced that Emil was ready, and he likewise took to the cup quickly. I still remember the day that Esme's daycare teacher told me that she was teaching the children how to use a cup at school. Esme was the youngest of her students at that time, and I said something about Esme always using regular cups at home, to which the teacher responded, "No wonder she's the only one who doesn't spill."
In a consumer world, we easily forget that there was a time that we didn't have all these gadgets, like sippy cups. People honestly think that a baby can't drink out of a regular cup! We use sippy cups at our house, but only for certain situations, like riding in a car or going to bed, where spills are more likely. Those are the times that I can see why someone invented the sippy cup. But using sippy cups all the time just slows our children's learning curve. They never learn how to handle a regular cup, and when it's time to take the sippy cup (or the bottle) away from an older toddler, you tend to meet with resistance.
I'm sure that there are plenty of other baby gadgets that we have come to depend on unnecessarily. Yes, these things can make our lives easier in the short run, but by becoming overly dependent on them, I don't think we let our kids learn to do the things that they are capable of for themselves.
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7 comments:
oh, c'mon. . . half the success of "sippy cups" is due to the fact that it is simply fun to say "sippy cup".
That's true. Then there's actually a band called The Sippy Cups here in the Bay Area that plays covers of Velvet Underground and Ramones for the little tykes (and their parents).
http://www.thesippycups.com/
Today's Post-Intelligencer ran an article about The Sippy Cups in advance of their upcoming Seattle gig. Fun article.
But more importantly, while we are on the subject of kids music, I have to ask when the heck are you going to blog about it? You could say something (anything really) about Raffi or the Wiggles and just about inspire a riot.
True to my Luddite nature, I have few of the gadgets attached to child-rearing, although I must admit to a bizarre fascination with trying them out in other peoples' homes. Baby walkers seem fun for a while, but I can't see how a child would learn to crawl or balance if they were in one often. Electric swing-seats lull my offspring to slumber swiftly, but I'm sure the motion would become a need rather than an aid to sleep. Buggy boards look cool and seem great fun, but my goodness try pushing a buggy loaded with groceries, baby and toddler up a hill- going for a walk would only wear out the parent!
The one gadget I wish I had brought back to England from SF with me was Imogen's night-light. Picked up on Haight St it used the heat from the light-bulb to rotate a small drum which then projected moving stars. The whole thing was about 6-8" square, and looked plain and simple when off but was beautiful when on. Now that's a gadget I like.
Okay, reading Emily's note, I realize that my original post may have been slightly disingenuous. I will confess: we have a swing (which saved our lives with Esme when she was just a few months old and collicky as all get out - it was one of the only places she didn't cry), the "exersaucer" ie walker that doesn't walk anywhere, and the (for shame) Bugaboo stroller with toddler board. I guess I have to confess to being something of a gear head now that I think about it. Makes my rant on sippy cups seem a little petty.
Hee, hee- caught you! But if the truth be told we all stand somewhere along the edges where our ideals and compromise meet. I wish Imogen were tv-free, but her Dad loves watching the odd show with her. I am aiming for a fairly low-tech, low environmental impact childhood for my kids, but still use disposeable nappies about 50% of the time and have a huge basket of beloved plastic animals in the corner of the room (alonside the plant-dyed silks). There are times when I feel a hypocrite, then I shake myself and point out that real-life gets in the way of purist ideals. Oh, and Immi may use a glass for most of her drinks, but still has a sippy cup for milk at bedtimes.
Well funnily enough I have a different problem. Alexander won´t drink from a sippy cup and pretty much refuses to drink from a bottle now too. After seeing mum and dad drink from cups, he wants to do the same. It´s a bit messy and labourous but I have to admit very sweet to see him drinking from a cup.
As for other modern gadgets, the dummy is one route we weren´t going to go down but from 6 weeks to 3 months he was very collicy and the sucking seemed to help him sleep.
We have a baby walker but the rule is no more than 10 minutes a day and not every day and I have to say it´s given us great insight into the the pitfalls to our living room for a walking Alexander. We now know what he´s interested in and needs protecting from him and vise versa. His main interest however is sliding into a corner by the small book case we have there and pulling books off to browse through. We´ve replaced all our books (within his arms reach) with his cloth and kiddie books and he seems quite content to sit studiously in the corner reading. The cats have also been forwarned about the perils of a walking Alexander, but that´s a different issue!!!!
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