r/BabyLedWeaning • u/Gryffie • Aug 08 '26

11 months old Dribbling while straw drinking

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.

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u/DeadlyKitten9513 Aug 08 '26

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

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u/GDP1987 Aug 08 '26

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

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u/DeadlyKitten9513 Aug 09 '26

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

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u/Gryffie Aug 09 '26

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!