After the sippy cup. What comes next?

Today, since all of the sippys (?) sippies (?) were in the dishwasher and it was time for Buddy's milk, I had to improvise.  So I poured his milk into a big plastic cup and straw.  Worked well (but then again, he is very used to the sippy cups with straws).

Anyways, I'm thinking I ought to try a regular cup more often.  I've been giving Buddy sips from regular cups for some time now (either from my cup, or when we're at Trader Joe's and they're passing out free juice samples in little Dixie cups). And he loves it.

Maybe it is time to take the next step.

After all, Buddy did transition very easily from the bottle to the sippy.  And he is pretty darn good with the sippy.  Check this out:

double fisting sippy cups

Anyways, it got me wondering;
-When are you supposed to stop the sippy cup?
-What comes next?
-Is is straight to a regular cup?
-Is there a transition cup between sippy and regular?
-How do you teach using the regular cup without having spills all the time? 

So I did a little research on the good old world wide web of ours.  I found a good suggestion on the Distinguished Dr. Gregory Gordon's blog.  I'm joking - I have no idea who he is, but his website says he is a pediatrician and father of seven. Sounds like he knows what he's talking about. 

His suggestion is to set out two small cups, one empty and one with a few ounces of milk. Give your child the empty cup and keep the second cup with you.  Throughout the meal, pour single swallow servings into your child's cup for him (or her) to drink.  That way you limit the mess and they get used to using the cup.

Good idea Dr. G! 

It seems like once you start adding more into the cup at one time you'd end up with some major spills, but, I'm not a pediatrician with seven kids.  So I think I'll try Dr. Gordon's advice.

And, I found a good cup on Playtex's website, the spoutless Lil Gripper. 

It has a lid like a coffee cup with a little opening for the drink to come out.
 

<--- see little opening





I shall buy one tonight! Hopefully they have other colors besides pink & purple. 

And, if you have any other suggestions on transitioning or any good "first regular cup" suggestions, please do share! I'd love to hear them.