Ideas for a 10 year old spiller!? 1 May 2013 at 9:17PM edited 1 May 2013 at 9:20PM in MoneySaving mums 14 replies 1.7K views

K9sandFelines

Hope this is in the right place!

My DD likes a hot chocolate of a night time before bed, but i am finding more often than not that she is spilling her drinks all the time. I have a rule that cold drinks have to be in a lidded bottle (the type you get with packed lunch boxes), or lidded beakers she has with straws. I don't want to baby her, but i am in a rented house with carpet and between an elderly dog having peed through the rug to the carpet underneath, and DD lashing drinks everywhere; i am trying to save what carpet there is left. ... but what do you do for hot drinks? I thought of those travel mugs people take in cars, but the majority are stainless steel; therefore the drink would remain too hot for too long, and she wouldn't be able to access the drink to dip a biscuit in (which is a little treat with the hot chocolate before bed). Are there any magic inventions out there that any of you know of? I have barred her from hot chocolate in a mug until further notice. She now has to have milkshake in a lidded beaker ...mean mummy that i am!

K9sandFelines

Is there such a thing?

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ceebeeby

IMHO you need to teach her how to not spill the drinks rather than give her 'toddler' type cups, otherwise she'll never learn. Could you try sitting at table with mug and biccy's (you too) and only have that, nothing else and then she can concentrate on holding it properly. Perhaps start with only half filling it. Teach her how to carry it etc. good luck, I also had a spiller ... It was a case of taking away distractions that solved it.

Kayalana99

You can't teach people not to spill drinks.. sorry. My OH is impossible for it.

balletshoes

Maybe a tall plastic travel mug, half filled, would help? They are lighter than ceramic mugs, so they might suit better? You can get them in Home Bargains, pound shops etc.

K9sandFelines

ceebeeby wrote: »

IMHO you need to teach her how to not spill the drinks rather than give her 'toddler' type cups, otherwise she'll never learn. Could you try sitting at table with mug and biccy's (you too) and only have that, nothing else and then she can concentrate on holding it properly. Perhaps start with only half filling it. Teach her how to carry it etc. good luck, I also had a spiller ... It was a case of taking away distractions that solved it.

I do see what you are saying, but she already sits down with it at the biggest size table out of a nest of tables. She could be sat at a table the size of the room and it wouldn't matter. I've moved to a house where there is no dining room, only a living room; but even when i had a table in my old house, she would spill then too. I think it's just something you either are or aren't. I am also clumsy, but not in the same way. I agree about the distractions though, maybe i could try that. The TV probably isn't helping. Thank goodness for Sky being installed on Sat, i can press pause and record to my hearts content :rotfl:I was thinking more along the line of a travel type mug what adults use not a sippy type toddler cup.

K9sandFelines

Kayalana99 wrote: »

You can't teach people not to spill drinks.. sorry. My OH is impossible for it.

I agree, i think you are either clumsy or not. She could be in an empty room and still achieve it . I do think there are ways it can be managed so it stays at a minimum though.

K9sandFelines

balletshoes wrote: »

Maybe a tall plastic travel mug, half filled, would help? They are lighter than ceramic mugs, so they might suit better? You can get them in Home Bargains, pound shops etc.

This is what i was thinking above, but as she likes to dip a biscuit in then it involves taking the lid off. I might have to be even meaner and say it's a hot choc with a lid and no biscuit dunking :rotfl:. I will have a look in HB tomorrow as i will be passing by one, and maybe Wilk*s on the camping section, see what they have available.

escortg3

can you not just put the drink cup on a tray for her. would that help.

My grandaughter who is six has a light plastic normal beaker for cold drinks as she is normally walking around with it but with hot drinks she has a heavy two handled china mug. she has never spilled it. Perhaps try a two handled one.

gingin_2

K9sandFelines wrote: »

Hope this is in the right place!

My DD likes a hot chocolate of a night time before bed, but i am finding more often than not that she is spilling her drinks all the time. I have a rule that cold drinks have to be in a lidded bottle (the type you get with packed lunch boxes), or lidded beakers she has with straws. I don't want to baby her, but i am in a rented house with carpet and between an elderly dog having peed through the rug to the carpet underneath, and DD lashing drinks everywhere; i am trying to save what carpet there is left. ... but what do you do for hot drinks? I thought of those travel mugs people take in cars, but the majority are stainless steel; therefore the drink would remain too hot for too long, and she wouldn't be able to access the drink to dip a biscuit in (which is a little treat with the hot chocolate before bed). Are there any magic inventions out there that any of you know of? I have barred her from hot chocolate in a mug until further notice. She now has to have milkshake in a lidded beaker ...mean mummy that i am!

I use the travel mugs regularly and find that they don't keep the drink piping hot, in my opinion they would be fine, the top is also easily unscrewable. I've made hot choc for my daughter in it many times.

WestonDave

Re it being too hot - part make it and then add cold milk. Our two (8 and 6) have theirs made this way and then put in the travel mugs. It isn't foolproof as they can still spill but generally there is time to pick it up before you end up with a massive puddle. We've also got a trainer cup which is shaped like a tall glass, made of plastic which has a lid on it with a hole either for a straw or to allow a controlled amount out to drink as you would a cup without a lid. Not sure if they are still around.

There simply isn't going to be an option which has a small enough hole to reduce spillages and which is also big enough to allow a biscuit to be dunked - its either clean carpet or biscuit!