Since your little one starts drinking water from bottles, you probably have tried many different types of water bottles, from sippy cups, 360, to straw cups, and many other styles to get them drinking more water everyday. Is there a water bottle that is the best for the little one? I hate to spill the answer before you finish off reading the article, but there is NO definite answer to which water bottle is best for kids. 

WHY?

All babies need their learning curve to find the right bottle. When they first explore drinking water from a cup or water bottle, it’s always suggested to begin with a sippy cup. My little one started right off from the straw cup though when he was around 5 months old and he had no problem with it. I found that babies that are breastfed directly have better suction and that’s probably the reason that they can skip one step ahead to use a straw cup.

How about those 360 cup? I personally highly recommend them because they have the best spill proof design that actually works. I’m glad that my two little ones were able to drink from the 360 cup without any problem since 10-month old. 

How to get them to drink more water?

That’s an everyday question for almost all parents. I got lucky that my older one loves drinking water, but my younger one doesn’t. I guess life is fair and always brings different challenges to us parents. 

1. By far, the most effective way in getting them to drink more water is to change to a different kind of water bottle once in a while. Kids love to explore new things, even with water bottles. 
2. Kids are copycat. They love to learn from adults or their older siblings. Another way is to give them our cup or water bottles. It’s not suggested to share straws, so I have used trick by just switching the lid, so that they would think it’s their sibling’s bottle. 
3. Encouraging. We praise them every time they drink water from their bottles and keep encouraging them to get their bottle up and drink up.
4. Peer Pressure works. Every time works well if they see other kids are drinking a lot of water and being praised for it. This also works when you want them to eat more vegetables.

At the end of the day, there are a few kinds of water bottles that are highly recommended to have for your little one: a thermo bottle for warm water or cold milk to bring outside; an insulated water bottle to bring hot water for refilling; and a straw cup that is light enough for them to hold. Last but not least, when you are buying the water bottle, don’t just look at the price tag, remember to test how easy the kids can press the button to open the lid or flip up the straw. Oh, one more thing -- remember to label the water bottles!