Switching to a Sippy Cup

You aren't trying to early at all. If anything you may be trying to late. I read it is easier to start a child on a sippy cup around 5 months. It worked for my girlfriend. I did what you did and waited until almost a year and ran into the same problem. I used the avent bottles the entire time, and when it was time to transition I used their sippy cup nipple. Try that and let me know how that works. The avent sippy cup inserts are perfect for teething. It will feel good on the gums.

I had trouble with my son and sippy cups too. he didn't know what to do with it. he could use a straw, so when I called the pediatrician (it was july, hot, and he wasn't getting any liquids) he said to try the straw cup. the straw cups were a success. he has since learned to use the sippy cup, but still predominantly uses a straw cup.

so see if he can/will use a straw. if so, get a straw cup. but trying the straw is cheaper than just buying a cup! good luck!

Shonda,
I don't know if you tried this or not but we gave my daughter a Nuby soft spout sippy cup when we were first switching her over. It is not the same as some of the other soft spout cups. Our problem was that she simply would not suck out of the spout - the Nuby spout is soft enough that if they press down with their lips or teeth - then the water or whatever you have in it will come out. The soft spout is more like a nipple than the other sippy cups. It worked for my daughter because once she figured out that there was water in the cup - she eventually learned to suck the spout and we then switched her over to the harder spout sippy cups.
Hope that wasn't too confusing :) Let me know if you have any questions.
D.

The best advice I received was to drink out of one yourself because your baby wants to do what you do. Or, maybe get him acclommated to drinking water from your cup by sharing.

As far as types, my baby really likes the Playtex with the handles. I've also heard moms who swear by Nubies.

I work full time. Therefore, I needed to begin the transition early for the sake of my homecare provider's sanity. She was extremely nervous about the transition. I started out by giving him a sippy cup at bedtime using the little "to go" sippy cups you can purchase at Wal-mart. I would help hold the cup (as he held it too) and regulate the amount that would come out of spout. After a week, I made the transition to giving him a regular sippy cup with the family meals at dinner time. I sat the cup next to his bowl of food. It was familiar and by that time he had an idea of how to drink from it. I continue to do the same with his bedtime bottle (using the cup). It didn't take very long before he was drinking from it on his own. Then I began changing out the different types of cups to see which ones he adapted to more easily. On his 1st birthday, those bottles were out the door. My homecare provider said it was like he had been drinking from a cup all of his life.

Good luck! Hope it helps.

I actually started at 5 to 6 months, because I had read several books that advised to do it earlier for just that sake. Apparently it's tough once they get accustomed to one thing. With all three of my kids I had the best luck with the Avent Sippy cups with a little juice.

Good luck, I know you will get tons of advice, but your little one will learn soon enough. As mothers we always worry about the smallest things.

Take care!

We had the same problem...my daughter who is almost 2 went through every kind of cup! Finally we tried the Avent Naturally sippy cups. The spout was slightly soft, but the biggest difference was that she still had to suck to get it out. So it wasn't such a difference. It still allowed her the sucking part she was used to. After a couple months of using that one we were able to switch to any other kind.
Good Luck!!

Try and see if he likes straws. My daughter fell in love with them. It made the transition much easier.

Hello Shonda. I actually didn't start out with sippy cups for my daughters. I used a regular cup and sometimes straws. Have you noticed that when you eat and drink aroound your child that he wants whatever it is you're having? Well use that to your advantage. If he wants some of your water let him sip out of either your cup or give him his own. Later on after he learns to use it he will want his own cups and then you give him the sippy cup.

On timing, our pediatrician said around 12 mos. but no later than 15 mos. The advice we used that worked well was: 1) try to get down to 1 bottle a day (at night); 2) to get to one/day (or to get rid of the last nightime bottle) get 3 days worth of bottles for any given feeding (e.g., 3 bottles if you are down to one bottle/day) and line them up on a table so she can see them visually, and tell your toddler that the bottle fairy is coming for the bottles since she is now one and that she will have three more and then that's all. Then after she drinks the bottle each day, you will put it outside for the fairy and replace it on the table with the sippy cup so she visually sees the cup replacing it. You can do many variations of this to fit your situation but the idea is to transition her with a finite ending, let her see the change happening visually and also let her participate in it. Then when the 3 bottles are gone, cut her off. Don't give in no matter what. She will eventually take the cup when she get's thirsty enough.

My little boy wasn't really interested either, I tried when he turned one and the doctor said it was ok to give him milk full time instead of nursing or formula. So I did it cold turkey and he figured out if he was thirsty that was his only option. It won't hurt them to go on strike for a day or so, anymore and I would say consult your pedi. I just kept offering it to him and leaving it around for him to try and see on his own accord. As far as brand, the first cup I got him to use was a Tommee Tippee (sp? I could only find it at Right Start stores or online) he couldn't work the others, maybe b/c I nursed him and he couldn't grasp the way you had to suck on them. The T.T. cup lets them bite it to release the liquid so it was easier, plus they are still leak proof. Then after a bit he would take the other cups. Good luck, hope this helps some. Angela

Hi Shonda,

One thing I found with my girls is they loved the sippy cups that have the straws attached. They don't leak and close up when they are not in use. Good Luck!
J.

My little one (13-month old boy) really likes NUBY brand sippy cups - I get them at Target or Babys R Us. They are shaped more like a bottle and the spout is soft like a nipple from his old bottles (playtex). After using Nuby for a while (started around 11-months old) he is now more open to other brands of sippy cups.

The first several times I offered him a sippy cup he thought it was just another toy - then later he would try to drink from one but it would make him choke. So as with anything...if my little guy doesn't like it at first, we just wait and offer it to him again later until he does.

Good luck. My personal opinion, there is no rush.

I had to switch because his daycare said I had to before my son went to go into the next level. They told me to give him either a lot of vanilla wafers or crackers and set a sippy cup in front of him with his favorite drink. If that is his only option, he will drink it. Well, it worked for my boy. Now I have to get him off the sippy cup and on to the regular cup. ahhhhh.

Try not to get discouraged. He's just *doing his own thing*. I run into the same problems in my daycare home. I'd suggest starting him with a straw. You get the liquid in the end of the straw while having the top end of the straw covered...and give him drinks that way. After he begins actually sucking liquid through the straw it may be easier to switch him over. If not....well, be consistent and continue...or give him a few weeks and try again.

He's plenty old enough to drink from cup. I usually start them with a cup at mealtimes when they first start sitting up.

Might even be a little power struggle. If that's the case...just give him time. He'll come around. I wouldn't give it to him to carry around or play with. I'd just use it with meals.

Good luck and God Bless!

hi shonda so is your daycare person not helping you with this? also if you pull the stopper out of the cup and let him see that the liquid is there that might help it takes time and patiences don't give up on it and don't give in to the bottle i have been doing day care for 23yrs and that's the key constant offering don't let him have it hold it til he knows how to suck out the liquid then put the stopper back in and let him have the cup it may take a little while but he will catch on just be consistant with him every time he wants a drink.

He doesn't need to be off the bottle until he is 12 months. I would just keep giving them to him. They way I did it with both of my boys was at 1 year, all bottles went in the trash and it was either a sippy cup or nothing. It took about a day and they were fine!! You may have to help him a little for a week or so, but he will get it!! Try Laying him on the ground and giving it to him like you would a bottle! That may be easier for him to understand!

Shonda~

My oldest, now three made the switch at about 9 mos from bottle to hard-spout sippy; however, my little one (who will be 1 yr in May) did not. I transitioned the "baby" at about 9 mos as well, but he balked at the same sippies that his older brother used. I then used the Nuby (now available at Target -or Walmart) with him and was determined that this would be what he'd use. He did for about 2 months and then I switched him to the hard spout/no valve sippies his brother used and we all are happy.

The transitions weren't super easy, but they happened. Bottle to Nuby, I was still just using Formula and Nuby to Hard Spout sippy, I used Formula and Juice. For the longest time, the baby would not take juice and it is still a challenge at this point.

The above is my mom info; this is me as the Speech Pathologist/Feeding Therspist... Best thing is to pick the cup you want and only offer that - don't switch between two sippies and/or going back to the bottle. Each sippy is different on how the child has to work to get liquid. Start these trials starting with breakfast - your little one is most hungry and will try to find a way to get mild/formula if that's all that he has to drink before you give him solids/cereal, etc to eat at the same meal.

If you have more questions, don't hesitate to ask - otherwise, I wish you good luck in this transition.

Sincerely,
D.

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www.mycmsite.com/daniellemohr

Definitely not too early:) Some people train with a cup/straw/sippy as early as 6 months. Try the Nuby products. They're the best in my opinion. You can find them at Wal-Mart and Target. My 7 month old likes the one with the oval shaped straw with the flexible valve.

My son was the same way, he just never took to the sippy cup. Instead, I started giving him his drinks in cups with straws and he just took to drinking from the straw so well. It took him some tries at it before he got it down but it was pretty quick. They have plastic cups with attached straws at the grocery store (which I'm sure you've seen.)What we do now is we just collect those kids cups with the plastic lids everytime we go out to dinner. Just buy some bending straws from the store and you will always have a cup and straw for them to drink from. Again, this may or may not work for your child but it's worth a try. Hope this helps.

R.

You can be very grateful your child doesn't like a sippy cup. Ask any dentist or speech therapist and they'll tell you they are crap!

My daughter is 13months and at 12months we transferred her to a straw cup! It's awesome. If we go out to eat and forgot her cup, no big deal, straws are available everywhere! On top of that, it is excellent for oral motor strength and development of the muscles needed for speech AND it provides a calming sensation similar to sucking on a bottle.

You can start training by dipping a straw in a cup or something he prefers (milk..) and holding your finger over the top of the straw so the liquid stays in. Then put the other end of the straw in your child's mouth and release your finger from the top of the straw. This allows the liquid to flow into your child's mouth and eventually he will learn to put his mouth around it and then he will learn to suck liquid from it. It took us a few months of slow introduction (nothing consistent, just when we were out or something) but then a week of consistency and all we gave was a straw cup and she figured it out.

Let me know if you have any question!

R.

Shonda,

I had a HARD time with my now 2-year-old daughter, as well. She was dead-set against sippy cups of any kind, it seemed!

I finally got her to take the Nuby soft-spout bottle, after trying about 47 kinds. It was kind of a nice in-between cup and bottle for her. But then, she started fighting that one, and we switched to the Nuby hard-spout cup, with the white filter thing that lets you switch between fast and slow flow.

I liked that all the Nuby cups were pretty cheap, but colorful [not cheesy], and at that price, I could afford to try a couple of different options for her.

In terms of whether your child even wants to try a cup yet [because sometimes, they just get stubborn and won't do it], does he ever try to drink from a straw? Does he try to drink from a regular cup? I found that talking up the "big girl" ["big boy," in your case] aspects helped more. And talk to your pediatrician and/or day care teachers [if he goes to day care].

When it came time to switch, my daughter's day care teachers just went cold turkey on her - they said she'd keep taking the bottle if I let her [which was true]. And her doctor said the same thing. The thing is, at your son's age, he'll take the cup if he's thirsty - he's just hoping you'll buckle and keep giving him the bottle. :)

I'd check with your pediatrician, just to be sure, and once you make the decision to switch, let everyone who might takes care of your son know, as well, so that there's consistency. He'll switch, and even if he throws a fit for a few days, he WILL get over it, and a week later, you won't even hear about it anymore.

I had the same problem and my son didn't master it until about 13 or 14 months so do worry if it takes a little while. I ended up throwing a few different kinds on the floor while he was playing (empty of course). Eventually he started picking them up and chewing on the spout or sucking. Once he was doing that, I added some milk and began offering it to him regularly in the afternoon. I didn't do it on the first bottle of the day or the last of the evening which is a comfort routine time of day. I found it best to introduce new things when he is courious and playful and not starving or sleepy. It worked for me and I hope it helps you.

Shonda -

I wouldn't worry about it - it sounds like he's just not ready. I switched my son at one year, and didn't have too much of a problem, but we did start by really talking up "big boy cups" - and I would leave a sippy cup out on the coffee table with water and ice (something about ice really fascinates him) and just no pressure to drink from it at all. Then, a month or two later when we were really ready to switch, he didn't seem to have a problem with it. Maybe the exposure to the sippy helped him be ready, not sure.

Maybe just take the pressure off of him and yourself - who cares what the other kids in daycare are doing - maybe they can drink from sippies, but are lagging in some other area, you just don't know.

Good luck - S.