How to Cup-Feed a Baby

Although you may connect drinking from a cup with an older baby, toddler or child, there may be situations when a very young baby needs to cup-feed. If a breastfeeding baby cannot breastfeed directly, bottle-feeding is not the only option. You might also feed your baby breast milk with a cup to provide the needed nutrition. As a baby grows, it will be time to introduce a cup to help her learn this skill. Cup-feeding has benefits that make it a useful feeding option for a baby of any age.

Things You'll Need

  • Small plastic medicine cup or shot glass
  • Breast milk or formula
  • Bib
  • Sippy cup

Instructions

  1. Young Baby

    • 1

      Fill the small cup or glass with about 1 ounce of breast milk or formula

    • 2

      Place a bib on your baby to absorb drips and messes.

    • 3

      Hold your little one on your lap in an upright position, using your non-dominant arm to support her.

    • 4

      Place the cup at your baby̵7;s lower lip and tilt it slightly until a tiny amount of liquid reaches his mouth. Hold the cup in this position and allow your little one to lap at the breast milk or formula. Young infants do not drink and swallow from a cup in the same fashion as older people, cautions the Ask Dr. Sears website.

    • 5

      Keep the cup tilted to enable your baby to reach the milk to lap it and swallow it. Don̵7;t try to rush your baby by pouring milk into her mouth because this could lead to choking.

    • 6

      Remove the cup and end the feeding when your baby stops lapping the milk.

    Older Baby

    • 7

      Place either breast milk or formula into the sippy cup to enable your baby to drink fluids she knows and likes.

    • 8

      Tilt the cup and hold it at your baby̵7;s mouth so he can taste the milk. You may have to hold the cup for your little one initially to teach him how to tilt it and drink from it. With practice and time, he should learn how to tilt the cup to drink.

    • 9

      Offer the sippy cup to your little one frequently throughout the day, filled with breast milk or formula at meals and water between meals. Offering your baby liquids other than water continuously throughout the day could cause tooth decay, according to the American Dental Association.

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