Thicker Sips

What you need

• a small cup
• milk or a thin yoghurt drink

How to do it

1. Pour a small amount of milk or a thin yoghurt drink into the cup.
2. Sit your toddler upright and offer it the way you would water.
3. Hold the base and tip slowly so a little reaches their lips.
4. Let them set the pace: one sip, a breath, then another.

Why it matters

A thicker drink moves more slowly than water, so there's more time to organise the sip, the swallow and the breath while that rhythm is still new.

What they're learning

Sip, swallow, breathe

Three things in order, which is genuinely hard at first. A slower liquid gives them time to get the order right.

Lip closure

A thicker drink clings to the rim, so their lip has more to work against.

Steady wrists

Same hold, same tip, with a drink that doesn't rush ahead of them.

What to look for

Watch for a calm pause after each sip. That pause is them breathing in the right place.

A tip

If water makes them cough and splutter, this is the version to come back to for a while. Coughing is them learning the timing, not a sign anything is wrong.

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