Sippy Cup Help - Santa Clara,CA

I had a lot of luck with the iplay (straw) aqua bottle. The straw is really soft. These can be a little difficult to find so you may want to order them on line. Once my son got used to that he switched to the Fogoo straw cup. That one is also really soft. Good Luck!

i think it's the Nubbi (sp?) that has the soft 'sippy'. only thing is if it's tossed around a lot it kinda leaks b/c it's so soft

I have the same issue with my 13 month old son. He just didn't like milk. I give him soy milk instead. He loves it. No problem drinking Soy milk. May be you can try that or a different type of milk. Good luck.

Sounds familiar...my son stopped drinking milk when I introduced the sippy cup. I'm not sure if there is anything you can do about it.

He too would only drink water and juice from the sippy cup and his milk only from a bottle. He is 3 1/2 years old now and still only on rare occassions likes to drink milk from a cup. And he is extremely picky now.

I think it just depends on the child. My daughter (5 years old) never had a transition issue and to this day drink milk with dinner everynight. And she is the complete opposite of him; she eats and drinks almost anything!

Good luck!

My daughter did the same thing and I think it was because she was used to only water in the sippy cup and liked knowing what it was. I found a sippy cup called green sprouts that she immediately drank milk from when I gave it to her. This was after trying a few others first. After that initial struggle, she will drink milk from anything, but it was a weird transition and passed quickly.

My daughter didn't drink milk from a sippy cup either. I just gave up thinking she didn't like milk. But when she started part time daycare, she was given it in a CUP... of all things (doh!)! I think going from nursing to milk in a sippy was too foreign... but the cup was a better experience for some reason- also the kids around her probably helped her try it too. So, try giving her a cup and help her so she understands. Give it time. Before long, she'll be wearing a milk moustache!

What worked with my son was to let him see me drinking milk. I didn't make a big deal of it, just poured a glass of it with my breakfast. Eventually he wanted it because "it's what mom drinks". Also, I was very careful to not present it as an alternative to nursing, just another thing to drink.

Dear Rhea,
I'm sorry you are having a tough time with this and I'm also sorry about what I'm going to say....
Do NOT under any circumstances put chocolate or strawberry flavoring in the milk to get your daughter to drink it.
If she will drink milk from a bottle, she will learn to drink milk from anything you put it in. Especially since she will drink other things from a sippy cup.
Don't set yourself up for one more thing you will have to break her from. No offense to the other moms, but just don't do that.
She likes milk...she's happy having it in a bottle, she just needs to get used to being happy having it in another form and she will get the hang of it if you stick with it.
At 16 months, she still wants a bottle, so let her have one at bedtime. She will cry and throw fits, but she will not die if she has to have milk from a cup during the day. She simply won't.
I have two children and believe me, I know that no mother likes hearing their kids cry or be upset.
Just don't trade one habit for another.
Best of wishes.

she takes juice and water from the sippy cup, then it must not be the sippy cup, she is probably getting used to the milk in a cup, my 13 month old refused milk in a cup for 2 1/2 weeks- I kept offering and offering and he finally took to it and drinks 2 full sippy cups of milk/ day. So just keep trying and offering with the sippy cups you have
good luck

If she's taking water and juice from the sippy cup, I don't think your problem is with the sippy cup. Maybe she just doesn't like milk? There are other ways to get the calcium and other nutrients contained in milk, so if she doesn't like it, try making up for it by feeding her other foods that are rich in the same nutrients. You could also try soy milk or goat's milk to see if she likes either of those better than cow's milk.

I use the Born-free training cups for milk. I was having the same problem. My son would drink everything except milk from all kind of sippy cups. When I tried the born-free, he took milk from it right away. Although, the soft nipple needs to be replaced occassionally if you have a chewer. I found that the harder nipple tends to leak a little and my son prefers the softer tip.

I dont believe that it is the cup just that she doesn't want milk from it. Give her milk with meals in a regular cup. She will have spills but thats ok.

Hi Rhea, I had that problem with my daughter when she turned 15 months. I told the doctor and he said if she didn't want to drink milk that was fine as long as she was getting calcium in other ways, which she was through vegetables and other foods. He also told me to start her on vitamins. She is now two and likes milk again. I too was going through all kinds of cups because of it. It is normal. I hope this helps. Also my doctor told me to throw away after 15 months which I did and she did fine. I will do the same with my next one

Hi. I agree that if she'll drink other things from sippy cups, then it's probably the milk and not the cup that's at issue. So, the suggestion to flavor it is a good one. If you still think it's the sippy cup, then introduce a real cup. My 17-month-old is doing pretty well with drinking from regular cups. You bet she spills every day, but she's getting really good at it. Or, if you're not into picking up messes, then you can hold the cup for her. I tried that, but my daughter just wanted to hold it herself. Best of luck to you.

My 23mo son refused ANY and all milk but my milk until he was 22mo. Then all of a sudden he started drinking it out of his sippy cup. At 16mo, maybe your daughter just doesn't want to drink milk. Just make sure she gets her calcium, etc from the foods that she eats. My son's pediatrician assured me that it's normal and not to worry, especially since I'm still nursing.

If you are giving her cows milk, she may not like the way it tastes. Formula and breastmilk are sweet and cows milk is not. I've heard of other moms putting a little honey or sugar in the milk or just giving formula.

We just had this problem too. We found this cup that has a silicone sippy, the part you put your mouth on and drink from. She likes it alot better. I started thinking about it and those other sippys are hard plastic, I wouldn't want to drink out of those either. Anyway it's kind of like a bottle nipple (the way it pops into the ring/cap)but there are no valves and it's soft. It's made by Nubby and I found it at Target. 2 cups for about $4.50, not bad. Anyway she likes it so I hope this helps you too.

I had sippy cup issues too. My pediatrician said a few days to a week witout much milk would be ok.Just keep offering it to her only in a sippy cup. She will eventually adjust. It's not the cup itself since she will use it for other liquids.

Rhea,

The Nuby brand cups worked great for us. Our son Lucas was ready to drink juice and water from a sippy cup sooner than he was ready to drink milk from a sippy cup. But we kept at it and he got used to it. We wound up using different types of cups for milk and juice to get him used to it. Your daughter will make the switch.

Good luck.
V.

I am having the same problem with my 14 oonth old. At what temperature do serve her milk in the bottle?
Try giving her luke warm milk in the sippy cup.
It worked for me...good luck

My son who is now 5 years old decided when he turned one year that he no longer was going to drink milk from a bottle. I was thrilled that the bottle was gone but he reufsed to drink milk out of any kind of sippy cup! I tried every sippy cup and regular cup made. He would drink water and juice out of a sippy cup but not milk and he has not had a drink of milk since his very last bottle. He still refuses to drink milk in any way, shape or form. My doctor told me not to worry about it and recommended I give him orange juice with added calcium and or Kearn's juices that are also made with calcium. My son still drinks a glass of orange juice every morning. I don't him other kinds of juices he mostly drinks water so I also gave him a liquid vitamin and now he can do chewables. My son has grown and thrived without drinking milk and I made sure he received his calcium in other forms. I suggest checking in with your pedi to see if something other then milk can be recommended.

I would try the Playtex trainer sippy cups. My son still uses them at almost 3 and prefers them to the harder Playtex ones for older kids. He mostly drinks out of a regular cup now and a stainless steel sippy cup with hard tip. I also found that for a long time he really enjoyed his milk out of a bottle and still does for his nap and bed time. I nursed him until 2 1/2 and that's how I got him to wean by offering a bottle instead and he still likes that which I don't think is much of a problem since he'll drink out of most anything any other time. I use the Playtex drop in system for the bottles. I think it's a comfort thing so I don't mind. And especially since your daughter is only 16 mos. she may prefer the bottle too. Guess it all depends on how you feel about it. HOpe this helps.

The Nuby cups have a sort of soft nipple kind of mouth piece. However, nothing worked for my son. Still on the bottle at 25 months, ugh, and we have 2 each of every kind of sippy cup on the market. Good luck!

Any possibility that she is dairy sensitive?

Hi Rhea - My older son never drank milk from a cup. (He never drank cow's milk at all.) I became concerned about him getting enough calcium when he was 1 and our gradual weaning process began. What I found was that he really enjoyed plain yogurt. I even mixed it with cheerios for his breakfast and it became a favorite. He ate enough yogurt that I didn't worry about him not drinking milk. I rarely gave him juice because I didn't want him to develop a preference for sweet tastes young. He still drinks a lot of water.

For whatever reason my daughter was the same way. Now at 18 1/2 mths she will take milk from one type of sippy cup. She had breastmilk in a bottle and I stopped pumping the next time I offered cow's milk in a sippy cup... no interest. She took water and juice in a sippy fine. She would finally drink in from a cup (with help) after a few tries at 1 year. So try letting her sip from a cup and/or offer a straw. My daughter loved straws. A cup can be time consuming for a while but I needed her to drink cow's milk and now that I've just weaned her she is drinking more cow's milk finally from a sippy.

I've heard sippy cups delay speech development because they push the tongue back (or something like that). Teach her to drink from a straw or just give her a regular small cup and put a tiny amount in until she learns not to spill. She's old enough. Also, don't offer her the bottle with milk in it if you still are using bottles. Get rid of em. Only offer her milk with meals and water with snacks. With your next kid (if you have more) start using a sippy cup around 8 months and completely wean from the bottle by age one (meaning bottles are completely done by age one latest). Don't wait until age one to start sippy cups because kids grow attached to bottles at that age. It is perfectly acceptable to get rid of bottles and use only cups by 10 months.

Best Wishes!

Try the Born-Free trainer cup. You can buy it at Whole Foods.

I have that same problem only my daughter won't drink water. I have found the "disposable" sippy cups without the value work really well.

I also wanted to add how great the Nuby sippies are. This is what my daughter started drinking from sippies on. They ar very inexpensive and you can get them at Target.

Also, it may be the taste of regular milk that she doesn't like. Have you tried the Next Step formula?? They are made for kids from 9-24 months, and taste just like the regular formula.

Our first daughter never took milk from a sippy. Actually, she doesn't care for plain milk at all (used to in a bottle), so we make her chocolate milk and she drank that. Have heard the same thing from many moms.

Hi Rhea,
At 16 months, it's okay for your baby to still use a bottle if that helps. However, given that she is able to drink juice and water from the cup, it sounds like it's not the softness of the cup but what's inside it that matters to her! Maybe you should cut out the juice? I suppose milk is a bit more viscous that juice or water, but still...
I'd rather drink juice, too!

She's still young, if she will take it from a bottle, let her. My daughter would never take milk from a sippy, but did fine with juice or water. I let her have the bottle until she was about two, then she could drink her milk out of a normal cup.

If she will take water and juice from a sippy cup, then I don't think it's the cup that's the problem but the milk. When my children were transitioning from nursing to whole milk, they didn't like it and would not drink it. (They were used to the taste of mom's milk so it must have tasted strange. They did get used to it though, and now love milk.)

You can try several ideas if it's the taste of the milk that's the problem--mix in a little chocolate or strawberry syrup, or warm it up, or use just room temperature milk (they sell milk boxes now, like juice boxes, that don't need refrigeration). I also found my kids liked the novelty of drinking from a regular cup with a straw. Then you have to hold it for them, but at least it helped them get over the hurdle of the changing taste.

In the meantime, if your daughter isn't drinking much milk, she can still get calcium from other sources like cheese, yogurt, pudding, milk mixed in her cereal, etc.

I had the same issue with my daughter, only earlier. From 7 mos on I had her drinking water from a Gerber sippy cup that had spout softer than hard plastic but harder than a silicone bottle nipple. But when I tried milk in it at 10 mos, she refused. I finally decided she knew water went in that sippy cup, and needed a different special cup for milk. I found a Munchkin-brand sippy cup at Target with a soft silicone spout, and she eagerly drank milk from that one from 10 mos on. Since your baby is older, she may be more stubborn about it, but perhaps a cup with a softer spout will help because it feels more similar to a bottle.