Cup Feeding Older Babies

While you might be familiar with cup-feeding newborn babies who are still working out how to breastfeed, did you know a cup continues to be an effective alternative to bottles for breastfed babies?

Bottles and teats have been in use in various forms for hundreds of years. You might even have seen some antique glass feeding bottles in a museum! However, these were often used by families in desperate circumstances - following the loss of a mother in childbirth or to feed babies substances commonly known as ‘pap’. These concoctions of anything from bread and milk to flour and water were used when wet nurses were not available to help keep the baby alive.

Bottles and teats as we currently think of them became common in the 20th Century, when formula was marketed as superior to breastmilk. But mothers have always introduced liquids to their babies using simple cups, long before ‘sippy cups’ - spillproof training cups were invented. Indeed, silver Christening cups were commonly gifted and used to newborns.

When a baby needs to be fed and the breastfeeding mother is not available, breastmilk can be offered from a simple open cup. It doesn’t need to be a special infant product - anything from a shot glass to a teacup will do the job!

From brand new babies through to toddlers, drinking from an open cup held by the adult is quick and straightforward. You'll be surprised how easily babies work it out - after all, they see us drinking out of cups all the time!