Sometimes you have to do the opposite first - try blowing thru a straw first to blow bubbles in your milk. Drives my husband crazy but sometimes we have a no table manner night but only at home - it helps in more ways than one especially w/a stressful day....lol

Put a straw into a drink (juice or w/e) and then put your finger on the top opening of the straw, then pull the straw out of the cup while KEEPING your finger over the straw hole. Ideally, some liquid will remain inside the straw. Next, place the bottom end of the straw into your child's mouth and remove your finger from the top of the straw to release the liquid. After doing this a couple times, try keeping your finger on the straw end a little longer before releasing the liquid. This is how I helped my son figure out how to use a straw.

Also, if you don't want to have a mess with blowing into milk,etc, try using a straw to blow cotton balls across the floor or table. Great fun!

I tried so many things. What finally worked was rationing his favourite beverage (this was unintentional in my case) and only providing it in a cup with a straw. since my son loves sippy cups with the spout, this was a big deal, however I bought the same style of cup but different lid. He stopped taking it for a while, but started using them on occasion. He also seen the rest of the family using straws, and would ask for help. We modeled it in an exaggerated way. Also, the sippy cup with the straw was leaky... so in reality he just shook it because he wanted his milk, realised it leaked and held it up high and went to town... taught himself and realised he could do it after he seen everyone else do the same!! I absolutely am a huge fan of experiential modeling, being exposed to it in so many ways that it becomes second nature.

We did a couple things. We used something like a milkshake that was kind of thick in the straw, and once he got a taste, we were showing him to suck in and he mimicked us. Juice boxes are good because the straws are smaller and you can squeeze to get it into the straw, but then they want to squeeze all the time and that can be messy, but it got him used to the idea of drinking from a straw.

Our speech therapist said that drinking milkshakes thru a straw is great workout for mouth muscles. The thicker the better...