Going from a Bottle to a Sippy Cup

My twin sons didn't want the sippy cups either. It is bad for their teeth if they take the bottle over a year. I was really worried about their teeth so I got a smoothie, sucked some up, put the straw in their mouth so they got the taste. THey learned really fast how to suck it up! So I got them off of bottles by transitioning to a cup with a straw. We couldn't get them to take sippy cups at all until my husband got the playtex soft tip ones. They are rubbery and almost like a bottle so once they learned to use them for a little I transitioned to the hard ones (my kids chew on everything so the soft tip ones didn't last long and are also choking hazards!). Good luck!

Hi. I am also 28yrs.old with an 11 mo.old daughter. It took a while for my daughter to get the hang of the sippy cup. I would just keep trying. I know that for us, what we did was to put formula in her bottle with a nipple on and put the handles on the bottle. Then when we felt that she was ready then we slowly got away from nipples till she was only drinking from a sippy cup. What we did was give her a bottle when she got up in the morning, bottle about mid-morning,bottle for lunch, bottle mid-afternoon, sippy cup for dinner, and bottle for bed. Then we did bottle in morning, bottle mid-morning,bottle for lunch, bottle mid-afternoon, sippy for dinner, sippy for bed. Then bottle for morning, bottle for mid-morning,sippy for lunch,sippy for afternoon snack,sippy for dinner, sippy before bed. Then bottle for morning,sippy for mid-morning snack, lunch, mid-afternoon snack, dinner,before bed. Then sippy for morning, morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack, dinner, before bed. The sippy's for morning and afternoon snack have juice in them, the rest have formula. Hopefully this helps. Anyway just keep trying and see what works best for you.
Lis B

Both of my sons had touble transitioning from bottle to sippy cup and I would become frustrated because other children seemed to take to the sippy much easier. You feel like there is something wrong with your child because they prefer the bottle--there's not! I found that once I completely weaned them from the bottle, they took to the sippy cup very well. I will say, however, I had to try several kinds of sippy cups before they found one that they liked.
I am not sure about the bottle ruining their gums/teeth, but I will say that once they get a full mouth full of teeth and their jaws become stronger they are at a greater risk of biting right through the nipple (bottle or pacifier)and this becomes a choking hazard! Take this from someone who found the tip of a nipple in my child's mouth!

I have a 9 1/2 month old and I have difficulty getting him to even look at a sippy cup!! I found one by Nuby that is shaped similarly to a bottle- long and slender- and has a soft silicone mouth on it that is also similar to a nipple. It is the only one so far that Bradley will drink from. I don't know where you are from, but I bought mine in the Uniontown Wal-Mart. They were in a display box at the end of the aisle near the formula....

I feel your pain! I have a 10 1/2 month old that I am weaning away from the bottle. I give her her formula in a sippy cup in the afternoon. Sometimes she holds it, sometimes I have to give it to her. I found that some of the sippy cups were too big. I found a small Nuby sippy cup that really is helping her adjust well. I have to have her off the bottle entirely by the time she goes to daycare in January.

hang in there!

K.

Hi C.,

My daughter did not like the sippy cup, but the straw cups worked for her. She took to them with little problem. As far as what to put in it, I would try maybe putting 1/4 milk, rest breast milk, and keep adding regular milk until eventually you are at all regular milk. That may help her with the transition and still be familiar to her.

Hope this helps.

Have you tried giving her one of the sippy cups w/ the flexible straws? My son started drinking out of a straw between 9 & 10 months (shocked me b/c my other two didn't do it until they were 12 months). Anyway, he rejected all the sippy cups I bought but immediately took to the straw.

That's about all I can offer. Good luck!!

Hello,
I am also 28, mom of one and work full time. It's tough isnt it? Anyway....my son is 16 months old and has been drinking juice from a sippy since about 9 months. He is also still getting milk from a bottle 1-2 times a day. He does not want to drink milk from a sippy! I think the bottle is ok up until about 18 months, so i've started weening him from it now. As for getting him to use the sippy...i just kept offering it each day, and eventually he started drinking from it. I will suggest starting with a soft spout sippy. the ones that have the entire lid as a flexy (like a nipple) type top and spout. and try alot of different sippy cups....mine definately has a preference! Good luck.

Hi! Some good ideas already posted!

I also pumped for all 4 of my kids up until they were at least a year old (a bit longer for 2 of them). I started offering a sippy cup when they were about 9-10 months old just because I hate seeing toddlers walking around with bottles hanging out of their mouth...so all my kids were weaned from the bottle by age 1.

Anyway, we found that if we took the valve out of the cup initially, that helped, because they just didn't seem to get that they needed to suck on the spout. When initially offered the cup, it was just another toy, not a "milk delivery device." KWIM? So they just wouldn't persist with sucking long enough to get any milk. So we took the valve out--or at least half out on the Playtex cups--left the "air intake" part connected.

Once they got the hang of cups, we put the valve fully in.

I did find with about my 3rd child that kids are able to handle open cups a lot sooner than they seem to be given them anymore. I think at about 14-15 months old I started giving him an open plastic cup at the dinner table with just a tiny amount of drink in it, and he was fine. Gradually increased the amount of drink as he was able to handle it without spilling. Did the same with the next child (boy also). In my house we keep the sippy cups for in the car and for having "water to carry around" for probably way too long though. :-)

I, like you, nursed my son while working full time. I pumped at work and he never had formula. I did this till he was about 13 months old and he self weaned. I started him on a sippy cup early...like maybe 8 or 9 months...with water only. He finally got the hang of it weeks later. So be consitant...with water only....with a sippy cup. Have it availble to her at all times. Even if she just plays with it for the time being. Also, it is much harder to suck the water out of the cut than it is a bottle. So give it to her without the valve in it. Yes, it will leak, but it is only water. You also may want to try the soft spout sippy cups...like the Nuby. That worked better on my 2nd son.

Once she is ok with the water - shouldn't take her long at this age, get a different kind of cup for milk. Like Gerber cups for water, Playtex for milk. Or pink cups for water, purple for milk. That way she knows what she is getting after a while.

Also, for moving from expressed breast milk (BM) to cows milk took my son a little bit of getting use to. Start by not warming her bottles...get her use to having it cold, if you have not already done so. Then start putting in a little cows milk with the BM. Then keep on adding more to it over a weeks time.

It will take a while, but before you know it, she will be drinking like a pro! And don't worry about her being over one and still taking a bottle. She will be fine as long as she does not keep drinking from one when she is much much older.

Good luck!