Does anyone have any advice or tips on how to get a 10 1/2 month old to use a sippy cup? I have been trying off and on for about 3 months, with no luck at all. I have bought every different kind of cup there is and he won't even let them get near his moutn. He just pushes it away. He has 3, 8 oz. bottles of formula a day and I am concerned that he isn't getting enough fluids (he has a lot of problems with constipation). Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
A.,
I suggest just offering it a few times per day with only water in it. Make it fun and if he's not interested, don't worry. My son hated it at first and he liked it a little later on. He may not be ready for it.
Molly
My son was about 11 months old before he really started using his sippy cup. He didn't get the hang of the having to suck thing. What I did was offer it to him at every meal then I also would take the white stopped from inside the cup out and tip it up to show him what is inside. That got his interest. I let him have his cups like that until about a month ago and then I put the stopper in and he caught right on to sucking for his juice.
If he absolutely will not drink for it, don't force it. Still offer it to him at every meal. If you're really concerned that he isn't getting enough fluids, put water in his bottle - or pedilite. That way he still gets fluids. I am sure he is fine though. My son barely drinks any juice, he drinks a lot of water. Good luck!
My little munchkins weren't all that interested in their sippy cups until they were closer to 12 months. I would keep it around at all time like the other mom advised and offer it frquently throughout the day without pushing it on him. Another thing to try, is holding your little guy and giving him the sippy like you would a bottle. This worked for me and several of my friends. It kind of bridged the gap from bottle to sippy. Don't let him get too used to it, though. Then you have a new problem on your hands! :) Best wsihes!
My daughter didn't really start using her sippy cup until she was about 11-11 1/2 months. We started putting diluted apple/prune juice in it (she also has problems with constipation and this helped a little) and once she tasted it she was all about the sippy cup. =O) I would not introduce any type of cows milk until he is a year old, it's not recommended and may cause more constipation. Just keep offering it to him and he will eventually start using it. I think you introduce the sippy cup before they are one for the experience, not the fluid, but I may be wrong.
C.
Hi A.,
Why change to a sippy cup now? There's really no hurry. If you are worried about his teeth, look for nipples that are designed to not cause orthodontic issues. If it's the plastic, there are BPH (BPA? never can seem to remember!)-free bottles. The valves in sippy cups can be vicious. Have you tried drinking out of the sippy cups yourself? When my son would not use a sippy cup (at a little over a year), I tried using it myself. Even I found it difficult to drink out of? Some people remove the valves, and apparently there are some sippy cups that are easier to use (though it sounds like you have tried them all). However, when I brought up this issue at the developmental clinic at CPMC (our son was born 11 weeks early, which allowed us to get free developmental assessments), they said to skip over sippy cups entirely as they did not teach any new skills -- basically the same motion as drinking from a bottle but with that valve thing making it more difficult. They suggested going straight to straw cups, which we did at around 15-18 months -- don't recall precisely. I cannot think of anything bad that happened from having him take bottles until that age. He is now five years old and drinks out of regular glasses without any problems, etc. If you really want your son to use a sippy cup, back off for a few weeks and then reintroduce them without the valve. For us, skipping sippy cups all together was the best solution.
K.
Have you tried giving your son his formula bottles in the sippy cup and weaning him off the bottle. My daughter is 15 months and last month we got rid of bottles completely, and she had a tantrum for about 3 days and then she realized the bottles were gone for good. At 8-9 months she was drinking water out of a sippy cup, but she would refuse milk/formula out of it. Maye getting rid of bottles altogether might work, but it will probably involve a couple of bad days. We use the Nuby top (soft tip) for the milk usually, but she will now pretty much drink out of any cup.
Good Luck
My son used his sippy, but he really didn't like it very much. I was getting really desperate a little before he turned 1, because I wanted to ditch the bottle completely, but I knew he hated the sippy. He just never seemed to catch onto to it. Anyway, so i decided to try a straw cup, and he was able to use it just fine, and that's what we used from them on. If you are worried about spilling, they have some really god cups that have spill proof tops, we use these during the day to keep hanging around with water in them. Then at meals we use the cheap Take and Toss straw cups.
Good luck! I know your daughter is a little younger, but they sucking motion to a bottle is similar to sucking on a straw so you might want to try. I wish I had tried earlier :-)
I would just keep giving it to him. Always have it with him. If it turns more into a toy that is always there instead of something that you really want him to do he might be more willing to give it a try. If you don't think he is getting enoungh fluids just give him more bottles. also any food that starts with a p works really well for constipation. Purnes work the best for my son. I give them to him in morning and by noon he is pooping away. Don't worry so much about how he is getting teh fluids only that he is getting them.
A.
My daughter's a month younger than your son. I've been offering her a sippy cup which she will take a few sips from if she's really thirsty but that's it. I would like her to have more fluids too because of constipation and now with the hot weather. I was thinking about getting her a straw cup like the other moms have suggested but haven't yet. In the meantime, I've been offering her an open cup to drink from and holding a washcloth under her chin to catch the water. She's getting the hang of it and does get some good swallows in. More importantly, she really seems to get a kick out of drinking this way.
Really, there's no need to push the sippy cup. He'll take to it when he's ready. Our peditrician said that when our son seems curious about drinking out of our glasses, then we should introduce the sippy cup. That's what we did and our 15 month old drink ounces of water every day from his cups, but he didn't start until he was around 13 months.
