Help Switching from Bottle to Sippy Cup

I tried a lot of brands of sippy cups for my 10 month old with no luck. She didn't like the Nuby that so many kids seem to go for. Finally a friend suggested the Nuk a couple of weeks ago. She loves it and drank it dry on the first try. As another poster said, they have them at Wal-Mart, but not all Wal-Marts. I had to look for it, but it really works. It is definitely worth a try!

Far be it from me to disagree with a doctor, but do what you think is best.... My son is now 12 years old... He was on a bottle until he was 2 (he was tiny so we got away with it). He is perfectly normal.. He is fine...
Yes, he has braces, but so do kids who get off the bottle at one! Just my 2 cents!

I used the Nuby brand sippy cups when I transitioned my son from bottle to cup because they have a soft, bottle like spout. I used that for about 6 months then moved on to hard top cups. We only let my son have the pacifier when he was sleeping, nap time and night time. He was about 18 months old when we took it away. The reason we finally did is because he kept throwing it on the floor and then crying for it. So one night we just didn't go give it back to him. He cried for about 5 minutes and then fell asleep. The next night we didn't give it to him and he cried for about 3 minutes then fell asleep. The next night he cried for a couple of seconds and fell asleep. It only takes 3 days to break any habits. It is hard at first to listen to the crying but they won't remember.

Well I honestly don't think he HAS to be off of either by age 1. Every child is different and obviously pediatricians seem to have differing opinions. My daughter is 14 months old and still on the bottle. At her 1 year check-up our doctor said she was fine and he saw no reason for her stop. She also only has 3 teeth so her food choices are limited as opposed to some 1 year olds with a mouth full of teeth. Our pedi is more lax in these two departments and doesn't make us feel bad if we don't follow the rules that all those books tell us otherwise.

The sippy cup needs to be offered at each meal/snack time so he can get used to the fact that there is another way to get liquids. Just keep offering, just like you continue to offer new foods. He'll get it eventually.

As for the pacifier, my son took his until he was 3. Our pedi recommended weaning him before he was 2, but he just wasn't ready. He needed that comfort and security for an extra year. Some people probaby thought it was ridiculous, but he is fine and doesn't have any problems with his teeth.

Basically what I'm saying is take it in stride, if your baby is not ready to give up either than do not force him to. Don't feel guilty for the choices you make for YOUR child, you and only you know him best.

Hi M.,
Just continue to offer the cup to him at all meals and snack times, he will come around. I've never tried to force my little one, I just offer it and he's finally got it figured out at almost 9 months. I also took the valve out that controls the flow and he's learning already how to control his own intake. We all learned to drink from a cup with safety valves in the nozzle.
As for the pacifier...I don't have any suggestions for a little one as young as 10 months. To me he still uses it out of necessity to soothe, not habit. Just my opinion.

I also recommend the Nuby cups. When I first tried to switch my daughter to sippys she didn't want anything to do with it but a friend recommended the Nuby brand and she loved them. My daughter has never had a problem with her speech and she's 2 1/2. She does also drink out of straw cups and regular cups but sippys are great for the car and when they want to walk around with their cups.

I have a 9.5 month old that we are getting off of the bottle. Our oldest who is 2.5 years never took a sippy cup, so we have a few that are practically brand new. The baby isn't interested in them either. I guess they are too complicated, I don't know. We only tried them a couple of times and decided to do like we did with our oldest. Straw cups. We started with a regular cup and a lid with a regular straw to get him used to the idea of sucking on a straw. After a couple of times, we switched to the Nuby no spill straw cups. He has been using them with no problem. The added benefit, we don't have to figure out how to get him off a sippy cup in a year. As for the pacifier, I can't help. I have thumb suckers, but I feel like if they need a pacifier in the bed, they need it. Try not letting him have it any other time. He probably spits it out while he is sleeping anyway. Dr.'s make up "rules", he's your baby. Go with you works for you.

First of all, I would take it one thing at a time. Start with the cup. There are sip cups out there that have a silicone end to them that is a good transition from the bottle. I think it's made by Nuby. Sometimes having the soft spout helps with the transition and you may have to revert back to holding it for him for a little while. (not more than a day or two)
Now, for the pacifier, at this age it is best to go cold turkey. Be prepared for about 3-4 days of misery but after that he will have all but forgotten about the paci. It can be helpful to have some other comfort measure available like a stuffed animal or soft blanket. Extra reassurance from Mommy and Daddy will also be needed at this time. If you choose the cold turker method you can wait until he is 12-13 months old. That will also give him plenty of time to adjust to cups. Hope this helps. Just remember that whatever you choose he is your son and you know best.

I am not sure that you MUST be off the passy and bottle by 1. My daughter is just now using a sippy cup and she turned 1 in April. Here is my suggestion for the sippy cup, get the nuby brand, they are $1 at wal mart, they have a silicone spout and does not leak. It is close to the bottle but transitions them to sippy cup. For the passy (both my kids are thumbsuckers), but I have heard that a good way to get rid of it is to poke a hole in the tip. This won't allow them to get the suction they need and will give it up. He is not old enough to understand the "passy fairy" that some parents use for older children. I hope this helps.

You definitly don't want your emotions to control how you approach this, otherwise your son will be one of those kids running around with a bottle/paci well into toddlerhood. I started giving my daughters sippy cups when they were 6 months old, as soon as they were strong enough to hold it on their own, so it just became part of normal life. Food in the bottle, water and other drinks in the cup, and they were able to tell the difference. As they got older and on to FOOD, they had their food on their plate and their drink in their cup. On their first birthday's it took no coaxing to throw the bottles out.
The pacifier is a comfort item and the longer they have it, the more they depend on it, and the harder it will be to get rid of down the road. Do it now while his memory is still extremely short, if he absolutely cannot take the separation replace with something like a lovey or a doll, small blankets work for my baby. Save yourself a lot of expensive dental work and a little broken heart now.
The docs have these timelines and recomendations for a reason. Americans are giving into convienience rather than sensibilty. Start him on the cup now, for his birthday buy him a few with his favorite character on them and have him throw the bottles away. Get rid of the paci (ALL of them) as soon as possible and don't go down that isle with him for a little while. He'll adapt well, babies always do.

The one year mark is just a suggestion. If you don't feel comfortable about taking his paci away, then don't. You are the mom. As far as the bottle, my ped told me to offer only water in the bottle. That if the boys wanted something else it was going to come out of the sippy cup. I didn't start that process though until they were about 12 months and off of formula. That advice has worked for all 3 kids with the bottle.

M.
I am a first time mom myself and my little one is almost four months... But I helped raise my share of kids and did most of the bottle and paci breaking myself. As far as the paci goes you have two choices. take him completely off the paci throw them all away so that you dont give in and offer a teather instead, or just wait untill he is ready but you might want to find other things that sooth him because you dont want to take it away when he is truly dependent on it.
As for the bottle giving it to him and meal time is a good way to start, also try sippy cups with the soft nipple first. there are moms that keep their kids on the breast till they are 5 so i dont think the bottle is much different as long as you dont send him to bed with it.
hope this helps

M.:
The transition may be easier if you switch to a sippy cup with the silicone (soft) spout. My advice is to stay with this type of cup until you transition to a straw cup. I let both of mine use the hard spout cups and am working with them for speech therapy because it caused tongue misplacement and has caused them to have a lisp. The soft spouts or straw cups are flexible so they won't do that. And as far as the pacifier goes, I think I was more dependent on them than they were. When we finally decided to get rid of them, I just threw them all away. A day or two of missing it and they were done. Hope this advice helps!

My son just turned 1 and he uses the Gerber Nuk sippy cups, it has two slits and the handle can be taken off so it feels like a bottle. I've only found them at Wal-Mart & Babiesrus & the come in red, blue & green. They are about $6 each, he loves them. He does like the Nuby's but prefers the Gerber. And happy to say he is no longer on the bottle!! :-) Hope this helps!

Wow, that seems young for taking the pacifier away. I will share what we did with my son and maybe it will help you. Once Zach started walking, we would not allow him to walk around with the pacifier in his mouth. If he found one and put it in his mouth, we would explain that was only for bed/nap time and lay him down in his bed. He soon realized that pacifier meant bed and only wanted it then. Then, when we switched him to a toddler bed, we told him that Big boys who sleep in beds don't use pacifiers. Then, we went on a trip to grandma's and put them all up. The change of scenery helped him to forget all about it and the transition was easy. As for sippy cups, we just kept exposing the twins to them and they figured it out. Sorry, I don't have any tricks to help with that. Good luck with the pacifier.

I had the same problem with my son. He was NOT interested in the sippy cups. I just kept offering it over and over until he eventually started liking it. Unfortunately for us he still refuses to drink milk out of it. I talked to the pedi cause I was concerned he would need a bottle forever and he said to "pick my battles". The most important thing right now is that they get their milk and other fluids. If it comes from a bottle thats OK!!!
As for the paci issue.......
I'm still working on that one. :)

Hi M.!
I have a boy about your son's age (11 mths) and a 2 1/2 year old girl. With both kids I used the playtex brand sippy cups. They're great! They have a longer rubber spout that I thinks makes the transition easier. Another brand I used for Daniel was the Gerber cup. I liked these as well because they tilt at the neck and don't require the baby to tip his head so far back to get a sip. They also have a longer rubber spout, but it's more flexible than the Playtex brand. You may have more luck with this one. As far as the paci, I wouldn't worry too much...Both my kids still use a paci, but only to help them fall asleep. We put it up in a drawer until nap or bed time. But I am like you: I know the day will soon come when we can no longer allow it. I'm hoping they'll wean themselves of it! Good luck and GOD bless.

First, I would recommend that you not use the sippy cups. My oldest daughter had a speech problem because of being on sippy cups for too long. We then switched her to straw cups and fortunately it cleared up pretty quickly. My son and youngest daughter were never given a sippy cup. I just went straight to straw cups. We started to by giving them everything but formula in a straw cup. It also made it easier when we switched them to whole milk. We gave them whole milk in a straw cup on their 1st birthday and never offered a bottle again. We were lucky and had no problems. I hope that you fine something that works well for ya'll.
As far as the pacifier, by the time my kids were 1 years old, they were only using it for nap, bedtime, and when they were really upset. We started talking about it going away when they turned 2 years old. My oldest bit a hole in hers 3 weeks before her bday. She did not like it with the hole in it. We told her it was icky and to throw it away. We then threw away all the others. She did not ask for it again for 2 days and we reminded her that she threw it away because it was icky. She said ok and that was the end of it. My youngest 2 got rid of it on their own shortly after they were 18 months old. Fortunately, they were never as attached to theirs as my oldest girl. I had heard if you cut a hole in the tip, that they will not want the pacifier. Since my daughter did not want her's after she bit a hole, I tend to believe that information. Maybe you can try to do the same; however, I would not try to get rid of both at the same time. I think that is too big of a battle.

I am the mother of a 16 year old and a 4 year old. While the pediatricians are well meaning, you have to take stock in what is right for YOUR child. Don't try and pigeonhole him into what is "appropriate" for his age. All children develop at different levels. My daughter (16) had her pacifier until she was 3. That was my personal cut off. I started telling her about 2 weeks before her birthday that she would be a big girl and that big girls didn't have Nuks (that's what she called it). On her birthday I woke her up and told her it was time to throw it away. She got out of bed went straight to the trash can with it and never asked for it again. The choice of when you transition your child from one step to the next is yours. Everyone can give you advice, but ultimately you have to go with your gut instinct about what you think your child is ready for. If he's not showing interest in the sippy cup right now, I'd say wait 2 or 3 weeks and try again. He'll let you know when he's ready. By the way, to jump ahead a little, the same goes for potty training. My daughter was completely trained at 2 and my son (who is 4) has finally stopped having "accidents" in the last 6 months. Be patient, God designed your son as a special individual with his own personality. He'll let you know when he's ready for the next step. I hope this has helped you some. Have a blessed day!

No advice really, just my story. My pedi wanted my first son off the paci by 18 months. Well, he's 4 and still uses it at night. When he was 2, I didn't tell anyone he still used it at times because I didn't see any of my friend's kids with them. I soon learned most of my friends kids had their paci at some point during the day or night, too. That is when I decided to let my son have his beloved paci as long as he felt he needed it, but with limits I imposed-paci is only for naps and bedtime. This compromise didn't go perfectly smoothly, but I stuck to my guns and soon it was the routine and still is for as long as he wants it. I have taken him to the dentist and his teeth look good and she says as long as I limit it to night use only then it is ok. I definetly would not try to take away the bottle and paci at the same time. That's too much for any little one. As far as the bottle goes, I took away one bottle at a time and only offered the cup with milk at meals. I wasn't in a hurry. The whole process took several months and I continued with the night bottle until 2. I never let him go to bed with it though. Then one day, I announced that that bottle was going to and after giving him a few days warning, we never touched another bottle and he only asked about it once. Hope something I wrote helps. If you think this is a tough one just wait until potty training!!!

Hi M.! I'll just share what worked for me. I am a SAHM to a 28 month old boy and an 8 month old girl. I thought my baby boy was still little at one and didn't start weaning him from the bottle until he was one. But I did only give him juice in a sippy cup from the get go. The only one he could really figure out was the Nuby sippy cups. They are very similar to a bottle nipple. But from his first birthday on, I would just replace one of his bottle feedings with the Nuby sippy cup, probably every week until they were gone and he had the hang of it. He was officially off the bottle at 14 months and I don't think that is so bad. Also he didn;t figure out any other sippy cup until he was 18 months old.
As for the paci, my son had one too. We started that weaning around 18 months. Definitely not at the same time of the bottle. What someone shared with us, and worked, was at some point we only allowed him to have the paci in the bed. It stayed in the bed at all times and that was it. There were very few exceptions, like long car trips when he would need it to sleep in the car, but that was it. Then after a few weeks of getting used to that someone else suggested cutting the nipple off, but still giving it to him. So what worked was cutting the nipple down to where he could only close his lips on it( still only offered in the bed). And eventually, like a few days, the paci was in his bed but he didn't even go for it to go to sleep.

So this worked for me, but I feel that he was a little easy for us. But that advice was from another parent, so hopefully it will help you! I think this part is hardest on the parents anyways, because it is a big transition from baby to big kid and it can be sad. But there are new adventures that are fun with toddlers, so good luck!

When my 14 yr old was 15 months old, we found ourselves down to only one remaining "binky" pacifier. She lost it one day and had to eventually go to sleep without it. It was surprisingly easy and she had been REALLY dependant on it for a long while. I just talked to her - told her I'm so sorry you lost/can't find your binky. I'll read you a story and you can hold onto this blanket tonight and we'll look for it more tomorrow, but you have to go to sleep now. Very simple, no room for negotiation. I must have struck the right tone, because she did, it worked. *And when I found the binky the next day under the edge of the kitchen cabinet, I just threw it away without her seeing it. She only asked about it a few times over the next 2-3 days and when she did, I let her look for it for a little while, then distracted her with something else.
Good luck

My experience is that sippy cups misform a child's mouth worse than a bottle. (My 7yo has been in speech therapy since age 19 months.) You're the mom. Don't let the doctor dictate everything; take the advice from the pediatrician and then reason it out.

Yes, a child needs to learn the cup, but a straw can be easier since baby is used to sucking. Start out using the straw as a dropper with about an inch of sweet juice in the end at a time. Once baby knows what is in it, offer it without releasing the liquid (make baby suck it out). When you think baby is ready, offer the straw in a cup.

Just my opinion. I hope it helps.

P. <><

i have an almost 9 mth old and i've already got him on his sippy cup and i had to use an avent one. it has a soft rubber mouth piece. also, playtex has a sippy cup that is silocone mouth piece and it feels like the nipples on a bottle. i started taking my son's pacifier away during the day, he only gets it when he sleeps.

My boys never had problems using sippy cups. But he may not be ready yet. Another idea is trying a straw cup. I have had some friends that their kids would not use sippy cups but would use the ones with straws. Now with the pacifier I had to go with what I felt was best from my kids. My 9 year old had one till he was 3. Most of the time it was at night and at nap time after 2 years old. And my youngest had his till 2 I believe. You need to do what you feel is best for your child. Not ever kid is the same. My kids have not had any problems with their teeth because of having a pacifier to long like a lot of people will tell you will happen. Do what's best for you and your baby.

Good luck!

I agree with a lot of other posters, don't stress too much about the paci, it does seem very young. Just work at it slowly.

I have an 13 month old who is completely off the bottle (she never took a paci but still sucks her thumb). She wasn't crazy about regular sippy cups but does very well with the straw sippy cups.

With both my 13 month old and my 5 year old when we started using sippy cups, we put them in the bath (the baby, not the cup) and gave them a cup with juice in it (something they really like) and took the plug out so they didn't have to suck on it so hard. It leaked all over the place (which is why we put them in the tub) but they figured out there was something good in there and it was worth working for. It was then easy to transition to putting the plug back in so the cups didn't leak everywhere and they would suck at it to get the juice. Once they knew how to use the cup, we started putting milk and water in them. Good luck!

My daughter didnt move to a sippy until about 13 months...it took us a long time to get her to take to one. We tried several differenty ones...they nuby worked the best and slowly trans her to a regualr sippy. She now 2 and now off nuby's and on sippy cups.

As for paci's there is no rush to get them off. My dentist said she would like her off it by age 2. But as long as she isnt using it all day and only for nap time it is no rush. No damage will be done.

I wouldnt worry about getting him off the Paci right now...but i can tell you this if you do it now it is a lot easier to get him off the Paci then it would be in a Year.

Just keep trying different Sippy cups he will find one he likes. Turns out our DD doesnt like handles on the cups and liked the soft Nuby spout and not the hard ones.

Good luck.

To help switch my little one to a cup,I put a soft spout sippy cup on the floor when she was playing. I also pretended to drink from it and made it a game. Then I started to cut down on bottles during the day.So she got one in the morning with breakfast then she got a cup at lunch and one for dinner and then got a bottle to go to sleep.If he fights you and doesnt want his cup with lunch or dinner just stick it out and then maybe 15 after he is done with his meals then give him the bottle and then wait longer and longer as he gets used to it. He will eventually like his cup.After a couple of weeks you can get rid of the bottle at breakfast and have the one at bedtime.We didnt take our daughters pacifier away at the same time though because she still has the need to suck still.I hope this helps you the way it did me.

I think all pedi are different my daugter will be 2 in August and we gradually started taking her off the bottle at 1 and she is now down to just taking one at night before she goes to bed. Our pedi said not to rush her. She has never taken a pacifier so I can't give suggestions for that.

My daughter also disliked sippy cups, so I found some cups with built-in straws at Target. I cannot find them anywhere else, and it was only at the SuperTarget near Bryant Irvin Road in Southwest Fort Worth. The regular Target did not carry them, nor Babies 'R Us or WalMart. They are Munchkin Brand and hold 10 oz. They have a soft silicone straw top, similar to the Nuby's sold at WalMart. Try this, or persist with the sippy cup. For her, she just needed lots of exposure to finally adapt. Hope this helps.

I may not be the best one to give you advice since I didn't get my son off the bottle until he was 2 but here is my experience. I finally decided one Friday that it was time to get him off the bottle and I bought him the Gerber Transition cups. (There is a link below to the Gerber site) I hid all of the regular bottles and when he asked for his BOT I gave him the transition cup. He was very unhappy the first two days but finally the third he just accepted the Transition Cup. It is the best thing I ever did and I wished I had done it sooner because he started eating more (like a little pig) and sleeping a lot better. The main reason I finally decided to take the plunge wasn't so much his teeth but he was drinking so much milk and only milk he was beginning to throw it up. He does not drink as much milk now but he definitely makes up for it by eating food. This approach seems a little barbaric I know especially for someone as young as a 10 month old. Try the Transition Cup with juice for a couple of days along with his bottle to give him time to get used to the Transition cup. As for the paci my son only took while he was in the hospital had no interest in it once he got home. Hang in there you will do fine. I am still trying to get my 2 year old into his own bed.

http://www.gerber.com/prodcat?catid=566

There is no magic day to have the sippy cup, I'd just introduce it, give him a little now and then and wean gradually, as for the pacifier, give it to him at bed time and nap time and hide it other times, and he'll gradually wean himself from it also.

What worked for me is putting something new in the sippy cup, like diluted juice or water. I recommend the Gerber sippy cups to begin with. My kids did really well with them while they were getting started. Take the stopper out of the cup and just let your little one get a taste of what is in the cup. As you are feeding baby food, give him the cup every now and then with your help. Once, he realizes that there is the yummy juice in there, he will be more likely to make the switch. Once he has it down on the "sipping" part, then you can add the stopper back in. Once my kids were good at using the sippy cup, then I switch them to the Playtex Sippy cups. I like these way better, but the Gerber ones seem to be easier for them to learn with. It will probably take about a few weeks to get used to it and don't be afraid of it getting a little messy.

On the paci, what I do is start limiting my babies to the paci only at certain times. Such as, you can only have the paci in the car, at naptime and bedtime. Then we take out the car time. Then we will take out the bedtime. If they want the paci at other times, then they have to go to their bed to have it. Now, my baby is 2 years old and I am incorporating this routine with him. It is working great. I have never tried to take a paci away from a 10 month old. Both of my paci babies started their limited paci time when they were 2. As others have told me, they will not go to Kindergarten with it, and they won't get married with it; so, when it is right for you and your baby, then it will be the right time. You are the mother and you will decide what is best for your baby.

Good luck.

G.