Neither of these are requirements for your baby. We owned one sippy-cup and our son dropped it on the floor and since it was made free of BPA it smashed to smithereens! After that we just offered him a cup. It took us a while to get him going and had to help him coordinate the entire affair, but he was using a cup on his own in no time at all.
Using a cup is not as carefree as a sippy-cup, but that was okay with us. Holden learned that you can’t turn it sideways, that you have to tilt it back far enough, but not too far, and that if you aren’t careful, it’s contents can be totally lost! What a great and simple lesson. Once more, we never had to worry about packing it for trips, worry for tantrums by not having a special cup or misplacing it and so forth. By not having a sippy-cup, our son learned not to walk around attached to it. We also never filled his cup with sugary juice and so it was never a big deal for him to carry it around the house. We offered him just juice or milk and it stayed on the kitchen table for him. If he wanted more, he would simply sign for our help in reaching it.
We started with a soother in his early months to help calm him for sleeping. It worked great for a few weeks, but later he would push it out while sleeping in the middle of the night, wake, and then cry until we put it back in. At one point it became a crutch for him and he’d wake several times a night only for us to put it back in. I decided that the soother and his lack of coordination to put it back in was the issue, and not that he really wanted to be up at all hours. That morning I decided to put the soother away. Then we let him cry himself to sleep on his morning nap with frequent trips in to help calm him – the cry-it-out method. It sounds brutal, but at one point or another, most parents will either give into their child’s demands for constant attention or they’ll take a stand against it. We chose to take a stand, and thankfully, it only took one try. From then on out, our son slept without a soother and for most of the night.
As our son got older he great attached to two blankets given to him by his Nan. We never tried to form an attachment for him, he did this on his own. Since my wife had a blanket herself as a child, she had a soft spot. My take was neutral so I never made issue with it. We both set rules, however. It doesn’t leave the house for day-trips. When we sleep someplace else, it’s welcome to come. We always gave our son the option of leaving it in his bed for later which he’d take on occasion and of which he might ask to have it back part way through the day. Blankets are a form of crutch and at some point need to be dealt with. You’ll know when this time comes and there are techniques you can use to help your child along.
One such technique is to “put it in the mail” and send it off to a needy child someplace else. This is what you tell to your toddler at least. This mailing technique can be used with soothers too. As a parent, you’ll know when it’s time to ditch the security tools in your baby’s life and at that time, you should take action. Waiting will only cause unnecessary pain and suffering – perhaps even delays in maturity. Children are resilient either way though, so if you choose to pull the bandaid off all at once, or slowly, or delay it, your child will adjust. Whatever you do decide, stay consistent and stay strong.