A week ago, I’d just about given up. Over $20 later, we were on our third set of sippy cups for Jack, and he still wasn’t getting the hang of it.

His first sippy looked like this:

Product: Gerber Graduates Sippy

Problem: He can drink from this one just fine. We introduced it around 5 months, giving him water, and around 7 months it became a regular part of his meals. He eventually started grabbing the handles to hold it himself, but can’t figure out to tilt the cup upwards to get liquid out. So he just sucks in air and gets frustrated and throws it.

Solution: Buy a new sippy cup that he can use on his own, that doesn’t require tilting to get liquid out. He already knows how to drink from a straw at this point.

So I did some research (okay, a lot of research) on the internet and found a supposedly better cup. His second sippy looked like this:

Product: Tommee Tippee Explora

Problem: He’s scared of the straw. He wouldn’t go near it for a while, and when he finally put it in his mouth, he just chewed on it. Fail. We tried this one for over a month and even enticing him with milk, he hasn’t gotten a drop out.

Solution: Buy yet another sippy cup, preferably one that is easier to suck out of. Again, requirements include a straw cup, not a tilt-cup because he still isn’t catching on to tilting the cup up.

Annnnnd his third sippy cup looked like this:

Product: Nuby Flexi-Straw

Problem: Still can’t figure out this giant straw thing. Why do they make them so big, and not like adult-sized straws? He refuses to use it and gets frustrated. Even with milk as the reward, he can’t figure it out. Mama is equally as frustrated because they have spend over $20 on stupid sippy cups and baby can’t get liquid on his own.

Solution: Decide to invest in a kid-sized camelbak. He already knows how to use Mama’s camelbak, so there shouldn’t be any problems….right?

Enter in fourth and final sippy cup (that isn’t even a sippy cup at all):

“Ages THREE and up. It’s on my box: ages three and up.” Remember that line from Mr. Potato Head in the original Toy Story?

Well the Camelbak waterbottle packaging says ages three and up, too. But I ignored it. Clearly the kid knows how to use this “big kid” toy, but can’t figure out the “6m+” toys.

But hallelujah, the kid can drink on his own.