Can't Get Breastfed Baby to Drink from a Cup

I breastfed my daughter and was worried about her taking a cup. I was given a special cup by my health care provider in a way to prevent dental decay. My daughter took to it with out problems, only thing, it is not a sippy cup. It is a plain cup that has handles and is cup at an angle on the top so that they don't spill as the child trys to drink it. The only time my daughter had a sippy cup, and still does is for milk. She won't drink milk anyother way, but water and juice she prefers either a straw or just a plain cup. It can be messier but it is easier for her to drink. The no spill sippys make children suck really hard to get anything out of them. Try it and you'll understand why she might not like a sippy. I just don't let my daughter on the carpet with a drink and that works well.

Have you started with water? My daughters didn't want to take juice from a cup, but they did take water, and eventually went on to juice and milk. I made sure I gave them sips, with an open cup, and then sips from a sippy. The transition really worked.

Hi J..
My lil one is almost 9 months and refuses a sippy also. She will drink juice from a cup with out a top just fine. Maybe you can try that? I also let her carry around a sippy cup with the top on it with about a fourth full of juice to get the feel of it. She is starting to take to it, but still prefers just a cup.
maybe you can try that? hope that helps.

A friend suggested a Rubbermaid container that is a bottle with a built in straw that flips up. A speech therapist had said that a straw is better than a sippy cup for learning to drink and the Rubbermaid brand is flexible so that you can squeeze some into the kid's mouth so that they get the idea. I found it in the Tupperware/Rubbermaid/kitchenware section of WalMart.

I breast fed my daughter for 13 months and my twins for 12. They all weaned themselves. I too had a problem with sippy cups, it just takes time. Mine liked the Nuby type from Walmart with the soft tops and also the Gerber ones. It will be a tough couple of weeks but she will eventually understand that if she is thirsty she gets the cup. The twins are 2 and sometimes they still won't drink juice, so maybe she just doesn't like the taste, have you tried different juices?

Mine also hated cow's milk from the sippy, so I asked the pediatrician how to get them to drink it and she suggested warming it slightly and then adding some chocolate or sugar to make it taste more like breast milk. I added a little Hershey's syrup and eventually added less and less until they drank plain white milk.

I would not suggest a bottle at this age since most children should be weaned or weaning from a bottle at this age already.

I, too, am a breastfeeding mother of an almost 11 month old daughter. I was really desperate to find her a cup. I posted the exact same question as you about a month ago. Unfortunately, none of the advise works (although I do appreciate it!!). I was at Babies 'R' Us one day and saw a sippy cup that I had not tried yet. It's called a little trainer cup. IT IS AWESOME!! She drank out of it the very first time I gave it to her. It is short- 4 oz. (no handles... she wouldn't use them anyways), and has groves all around the cup. Her hands fit on the cup and she grips on the groves... it is absolutly the best thing EVER invented!! It's one those take-n-toss brands. I love them!! And even better... so does she! It has a hard nipple (my lactation consultant said not to use the soft spout, cause it's not good for them). But she drank it up! And they are so cheap!!- you get like 7 for $4!!!

Have you tried a cup made by Gerber (at wal mart or target) that has handles and the tip/spout is soft. My daughter was VERY picky about cups and thats the only one she would use. I don't know the exact name. They are larger cups (about 8 oz) and have handles on both sides with a square type spout that is soft and flexible. Good Luck. If you want I can email you a picture so you know what to look for (if you havent tried it) :) I know how you feel, we had SOOOOO many different cups it was horrible.

J.,
Don't stress about juice. If your baby eats fruit, she doesn't NEED juice. I often find that the babies I have worked with refuse things that later turn out to cause allergic reactions. How much does your baby weigh? If she is on track for her own personal growth curve, gaining and growing consistently, then save the worries for something else.
Your breasmilk is specially formulated by your body to provide your baby with exactly what she needs, let your body do the work, and just enjoy your baby. :)
L. G

Have you tried the Nuby brand sippy cups? They have a soft tip, almost like a bottle nipple. When I stopped nursing my son that was the only cup that he would drink out of.

I had this problem with my daughter, but we started out by putting breastmilk in the cup. Or let someone other than you give her the cup. If she can smell you, she will not take the cup of juice from you, she will more than likely want that breastmilk straight from you. See if that helps. :-)

Hey J.,

I had a very similar situation. I couldn't get my breastfed son to drink out of a cup either. At first, I thought it was that he didn't like juice. But one night he was very constipated and my doctor told me to give him apple or prune juice. I knew he wouldn't take the cup so I put it in a bottle. He practically guzzled it down. I gave him juice and water in a bottle a few more times and then switched over to the cup. He was fine with it then. I think he just needed to adjust. So you might try doing that or if you are really hesitant about using a bottle, you might try putting breastmilk into her cup and see if she'll take that. Hope that helps and good luck!

T.

Hi J., My 15 month old is the same way. I am still trying to wean him and I think I still enjoy nursing him. He does not drink much from a cup until he gets really thirsty. I dont give him cows milk because it causes thier sinus to clog up so I give him juice and he is starting to drink more now but still not very much. It is not the cup, it is simply liking to nurse instead. The less often you nurse, the more he will start drinking from a cup. I am down to two nursings a day and I just stopped the morning feeding today and the little man drank all his juice for breakfast. So just be patient. He is going to get all he needs.

You may have already done this, but, have you tried some milk or water in a sippy cup that has a soft spout [like the nuby kind]? if you already have tried that just ignore that first questions! *smile* my little one has just started drinking juice and she is 18 months old. maybe it is too sugary for your little one--who knows--just a thought. some recommend not starting juice till much later because then they might want the juice over milk or even other foods. truly, at least for my daughter, she took much longer than the MDs say she should have to really latch on to sippy cups even for milk. in the long run it won't matter if they drank from a sippy cup at 9 months or 15 months etc.... just keep introducing the sippy cup with milk or water or diluted juice [1 part juice to 3 parts water is what i read was recommended or even no juice at all] and eventually she will take it. i found great and cheap little sippy cups that have the soft spout at walgreens for 2 for $3--they have worked awesome and even helped my daughter get off her bottles. H. i have been somewhat helpful.