Our son will turn 1 next week (soooooo exciting!). I have been breastfeeding him since he was born. He took a bottle really easily from about two weeks of age on and we never had problems. I am trying to get him to drink from a cup these days but he just refuses. He just shakes it up and down so the milk or water flies out the spout, or he chews on the bottom of the cup. If I give him a cup without a lid/spout and hold it for him, he will take a sip or two but then just spit it right back out and dribble down his chin. I'm not ready to give up nursing yet but it's hard for my husband when he's alone with the baby and can't get him to drink anything. Any suggestions? Is he just too young for a cup yet?
Thanks so much everyone for the tips! Patrick turned one last week and we added whole milk to the cup regimen, and now he's fine. Hahaha! He just didn't want plain ol' water! So we are doing much better. Again, thank you for responding. :)
Be patient. All children learn at a different pace. His chewing and shaking behaviors are perfectly normal as he explores the ins and outs of cups and liquids. He will get there when he is ready.
Have you tried a sippy cup/bottle hybrid? They have a pliable nipple like spout but function as a cup. They greatly help to ease the transition.
H.
How about trying a straw....one year olds think they are great fun!!
When our first daughter was turning 1, she's now 4 1/2, our day care provider told us she was to young to move to a sippy cup - she wouldn't get enough fluid from it. She shared that she had experienced the same thing. We didn't believe her. We started Josephine out with a soft "nippled" sippy cup that I think Nuby makes. It was shaped similar to a bottle, and had the same feeling as a nipple. It's not very spill proof, but it worked very well. We slowly transitioned her to other cups to see what was best, with the hopes of finding something spill proof. Eventually we found several that worked. Our younger daughter moved to solid foods and sippy cups at roughly 9 months of age with no difficulties. She suffered from reflux and the doctor thought that if we could get her on solids earlier, the disease would clear up. I wouldn't begin to say that your son is to young for a sippy cup, but I will say it appears that infants/toddlers transition at different ages and go through different stages of getting there. I'm also in GR.
The peditrician generally recommneds starting the cup about 9 months. Just start with water or breastmilk in the cup and see if that helps. I just start with no lid at dinner and feed the child and offer a drink but not give them the cup since there is no lid. If I have the child eating finger foods then I put a sippy cup with plug in on their tray to use and play with.
Good Luck.
Have you tried the sippy cups with straws? Some kids really like these b/c they see the adults drink from straws all the time. They don't seem to leak too much either. Or maybe try something really yummy in the sippy cup. Breastmilk if that's his fav or some juice. The point is to get him to like the cup, then you can adjust the liquid content. He is not too young. My pediatrician said to introduce the cup around 7-8 months. Both my kids played with their cup for a few days and then they got the hang of it. You might want to try other brands too. You'll get through this and it's on to the next puzzle!
only put the good stuff in the cup. There are sippy cups with a one way valve they only empty with sucking. Eventually the baby will drink out a cup
