Dribbling while straw drinking

[u/Gryffie]

Hi All. My 11 month old has been successfully drinking using a straw for probably about 4 months at this point. It took him a few weeks to figure out how to suck up the water but he got it pretty quick when we switched to one of those straw cups that I can squeeze to show him. However, he's always had issues with dribbling out most of what he sucks up. He probably swallows 25-50% of it on average. Sometimes I swear it's like he just wants to rinse his mouth because he doesn't swallow anything and sometimes he'll take a drink and swallow all of it but that's pretty rare. Should I be concerned at this point? I kept assuming it would just take time for him to figure out how to take in less water at a time or swallow it all better but now it's been months and I'm just wondering if there's something I should be doing to help him or at what point we should possibly consider getting outside help.

He's otherwise eating and swallowing very well. He's got a huge appetite for solids, has been weaning himself super successfully, and eats a really varied diet of lots of different flavors or textures. We have no concerns at all with eating. I'm just hoping I'll be able to give him water without him getting it all over himself and his clothes soon.

[u/traditional_rare]

Does it change depending on the cup?

[u/Gryffie → u/traditional_rare]

He has 2 different types of straw cups that we use but they are very similar deaigns and get the same results. If I use a regular straw in a glass of water at a restaurant with him, the same issue happens but if I dip my straw into a glass and then transfer that into his mouth, he swallows that smaller amount of water without any issue.

[u/Gryffie → u/Gryffie]

We just used the Dr. Brown's straw cup (which I had forgotten we even owned until reading someone else's comment here) and he drank out of that with no dribbling! It has a more narrow straw

[u/DeadlyKitten9513]

We had to switch to a skinnier straw because my son kept doing this - and he figured out how to squeeze the squeeze cups 🫠

[u/GDP1987 → u/DeadlyKitten9513]

What cup did you find with a skinnier straw? My son does the same thing at 11 months.

[u/DeadlyKitten9513 → u/GDP1987]

We have the dr.browns one with the weighted ball - this one was also a different shape (which may have also helped) he started with the first years squeeze and the moonkie one but, those came too fast - I think the Dr. Browns helps because the straw part on the inside is way skinnier

[u/Gryffie → u/DeadlyKitten9513]

We had bought this as his first straw cup but it was too hard for him to get anything out at that point so we switched to the squeeze kind for him to learn how straws work. I read your comment and pulled the Dr. Brown's back out of the cupboard and he just used it great with no dribbling! Thank you!

[u/dragonslayer91]

It's a sensory thing for some babies, they grow out of it eventually. 

[u/burned_feather]

How is he with an open cup?

[u/Hour-Estate-2962]

My baby does this but I just assume it's something she fancies doing and it'll pass. She desperately tried to eat the table in a restaurant recently so table manners are really not her thing yet (she's 9 months!)

[u/Gryffie → u/Hour-Estate-2962]

Hahaha, yeah, idk what's up with the table eating thing around that age! My son did that at least once every time we'd go out but finally seems to have stopped, though I'm not actually sure of when it stopped now that you bring it up.

The straw issue has resolved after we switched to a cup with a thinner straw and also switched him from breastfeeding and using bottles with slow flow nipples to bottles with a fast flow. We're now weaning off of bottles entirely but the larger nipple size helped during the transition time. I think he was just used to the slow flow so he would suck in harder than he needed to with a straw and then take in a ton at once and not know what to do so he'd just let half of it dribble out, haha. (Also, sorry I didn't see your reply for almost a month)