Learning Sippy Cup- plug/valve in or out -help needed

pizzo84

I'm trying to get my girls used to using a sippy cup, and have been offering them water and juice at meals and throughout the day. They rarely take more than a swallow or two.

I have heard that some mom's take the "no spill" plug out to make drinking easier. I have tried that, but then between meals I've been putting the plug back in so they can drink independently without making a huge mess. 

Am I just confusing them by taking the plug in and out? Do I just need to  accept that things will be messy for a while? At what point can I put the plug in and leave it in?

I would appreciate any advice from those who have transitioned to sippys, and even if you didn't go through the ordeal of  taking the plug in and out, what did you do to make the transition easier?

TIA

MrsLnt

We've had better luck with sippy cups that just have a plastic top like the Munchkin ones rather than ones with the valve.  We have one set of Playtex cups with the valve and I use it at the pool, with the valve out, when I don't care if they get drenched. 

kmb585

With DS #1, he was in daycare and they only used the take-n-toss cups for sippy's once he turned 1 that had no valve so he learned how to control the flow w/o choking spilling it on himself pretty quickly.  However at home I must admit I am a neat freak and would no way allow him to have sippy w/o the valve (we STILL use the playtex w/ a valve for milk and Nuby sippy's for water/juice- I use different ones b/c that way he knows what he is getting to drink and I find the nuby's harder to clean if dried milk is stuck in the bottom).  He uses regular cups at daycare and can drink out of them just fine, but again w/ the neat freak thing I don't allow him to have regular cups at home