Toddler Still Taking Sippy as If It Was a Bottle

So What?

this sound like nothing to worry about. Everyone has a crutch. If he doesn't handle stress or change well then let him have it.

hi H.,
i wouldn't worry about it. he will give it up when he is ready. if he doesn't adjust to change very well then i wouldn't unecessarily stress him out. make sure he's getting a snack before bed and i've heard of moms leaving extra pacifiers in the crib or bed maybe you could leave an extra sippy cup filled with water so he can drink that when he wakes. just a thought.
also, for what it's worth if my ped told me to take my toddler's bottle away cold turkey and leave her to cry alone for hours i would be looking for a new ped.

If it is a security issue for him, why not just let him have it until he doesn't feel like he needs it? Once he gets a little older, like between 3 and 4 you can start giving him words for his emotions and teaching him coping skills so that he has other options. If he doesn't handle change well then why stress him out by taking something away that he feels he needs? All kids have items they are attached to, whether it be a blanket or a stuffed animal. Your son just chose a cup and I think if you let him have it as long as he needs it and wait until he has more maturity and language to deal with his emotions, you'll find he gives up the cup voluntarily.

Hi H.,

You said he has texture problems, so I might check on his oral motor status, you can do this with an occupational therapist or a speech therapist and she might be able to give you answers about the texture issues, including this one if he is dependent on it for an oral motor based texture issue.

If he is only using this as a way to soothe himself, as long as you are using water instead of juice or milk at nap time, he should be fine, unless you get advice from an occupational therapist, speech therapist or dentist that he should stop. If you are offering milk and juice in the cup, you could switch to only water in the cup and offer the milk and juice in a regular cup at meal times. Water in a sippy is not much different from a paci.

How is his speech?

M.

Hi H., I love your name, that was my daughters name. She passed away suddenly form a blood clot she did not know she had. I am a grandma of 11 and I have seen that each child has their own shedule and when your child is ready he will give up the sippy cup.It is a crutch . The battle would have been worst if it had been a bottle. Hang in there. Y.

I carry a cup or glass with me all day and I am 56, LOL. Okay, during the day and at meal time switch him to a cup with a straw then in a couple of weeks switch to a regular cup for meals and during the day. Your son wants to make sure if he is thirsty his drink is close at hand!!! By carrying his sippy he never has to ask for a drink until it gets empty. I would continue with the sippy cup at night for now. It is a secutity thing. My daughter carried a receiving blanket, and was she picky about the one she carried around. Didn't take it to school, but still had it and slept with it until she was 15. Poor thing, didn't have any color left in it and was unraveling! My brother had a little pillow, we were laughing about him packing it up and taking it with him to West Point. I remember mom throwing it away in the outside can and when he couldn't find it he tore everything apart and found it and brought it back in when he was 10. My son had Ted E Bear, he still has the darn thing but it is at home, at 27 he doesn't carry it out into the field but I saw him snuggling with Ted last year at Christmas.
As for the texture thing, you might consult with a speech therapist. I know they can help with texture concerns.

Whew! I had the same problem. I know it's hard to here him scream and cry for it, but when my son had to get 4 of his front teeth pulled and 4 silvers added at the age of two,because of tooth deacy, enough was enough. I just had to prepare myself to have a couple of sleepless nighs. It starts off bad the 1st two nights, but I promise it will get better. Try starting him on juice box or a cup with a straw, so he can just swallow and not have the liquid sitting in his mouth while he sleeps, then you can start wheening that way. You have to be firm moma, because the results are not pretty.
38 yrs old mother of 4 at ages 3,6,8 and 10.

Hi H. ~

As long as he's not drinking sugary, unhealthy drinks from it, I wouldn't worry about it. It's not likely he'll still want it when he goes to college, and if he does, so what? LOL!

I would think that the biggest danger would be from drinking something that could harm his teeth. Stick with water at bedtime.

I know that right now, it seems like he's been walking around with that sippy cup forever, but it's only been a year and a half, and you'll be surprised one day what a blink in time that is. Ask your pediatrician about it if it really bothers you.

I think that just so long as what he has in the sippy cup is water at night it wont hurt him to have it a little bit longer. It may prove a problem when it comes time to potty train him but for now he is young enough that you can give him some time to find another way to soothe himself. Because that's all it is a way for him to comfort himself back to sleep and in other situations. Once he has become more confident in the world the self soothing will diminish and his need for the sippy cup will too.
One way you can start to help him see he won't need the cup as often is when you notice he has set it down or fallen asleep remove it and wait until he asks for it to return it. He will one day forget he even needs it and will break himself. When its time for him to have a drink give it to him in a small plastic cup he can hold himself. You may need to help him at first to learn how to master it. This will also help him forget about the cup.
Good Luck and enjoy him while he is small they grow up so fast.

I don't know a soft approach.
My daughter was "addicted" to her bottle at 15 mos and the doctor told me to cut it off cold turkey. He said put her in bed without it, go somewhere where I couldn't hear her. I did just what he said, went in the bathroom and stayed in a tub of hot water. She cried 2 hours. The next night 1 hour and after that she did not cry for it again.

Lots of kids carry around a sippy cup and use it until age 3 or even 4. All my kids had a sippy cup around them until their 3rd birthday - when I stopped giving it to them. Most kids don't drink enough water and this was a good way to ensure that they did. We only put water in it, though. Milk and the occassion juice was in a real cup at the table at mealtimes starting around 18 months.

hey am goign throught the same thing but my lil one is 20months and she is ok with it in the day but does want it at night and am try to breack her from it bout time she is to so any help plz i just dont want her to take it to bed with her so she want wake up so wet

Hi H.,

No offense, but i didn't see the problem in your post. Is there a problem with him loving his sippy? All kids need something to rely on- whether it be a paci, a blankie, a teddy.... they get attached to things, and that is okay. I only see a problem if what he has in the bottle HAS to be fluids other than water. For example, if he insisted to have milk, and it being the middle of the night, or worse yet, juice. I would be fine with it as long as it was water by night. Why create an issue out nothing. Maybe I don't understand the real problem...

Anyway, I hope it goes well whatever you do or don't do.

God Bless,

A.

I would try sitting the cup in one spot for him to easily access, as the mom below me mentioned. I had similar issues with my son here not too long ago. I now leave a cup for both of my children to easily access when they feel they need a drink. My son's is left on the table where its easy for him to access. I try not to allow him to carry it around the house as a "security blanket" or "crutch". Try to see if you can replace the cup with a favorite toy for him to carry around the house. After he's finished if he has carried it away from the table & left it laying elsewhere I pick it up and remind him it belongs on the table. Generally I will have him take it back himself. Another thing I have started doing was letting him start drinking from a water bottle. I would buy the small 4 oz bottles of water and pour half (or a little more) in his cup and let him drink the rest from the little bottle. For whatever reason when he got to do this he started wanting less at a time... I guess maybe b/c he was getting bigger gulps at once. I also think it made him feel "bigger" b/c he then had a water bottle like mommy and sis. (My daughter has not had a sippy cup at all since she before she turned 3.)
As for the night time breaking.... make it less interesting for him! Make sure your giving him water only in his cup. Don't sweeten the deal for him. It may take a few nights of him calling out for a drink, but whatever you do don't let him take the cup to bed with him. Let him have a few sips and tell him its time to go back to sleep. Slowly try and give him fewer sips at night. Eventually if your only giving him water and slowly weaning it from him.... it should get easier. Another thing... do you give him a snack before bedtime? If there is a fairly decent span of time between dinner and bedtime you might try giving him a snack..maybe some cheese and crackers or something else thats going to be filling before bed so that he's going to sleep on a full belly and shouldn't need the cup at night to hold him over until morning. Good Luck!

My daughter has a cup out all day, I refill it as needed. With the cup out all day she can drink whenever she wants, it was helpful when she was younger and couldn't communicate easily. Most of the time now we set it some place and she'll come and go as she pleases. You can try that, take it from him gently when he's not drinking it and put it some place he can see it and get to it. Explain to him that it can sit there while he plays and he can get it when he's needs it. You're going to have to stick with him and take it again when he's done drinking. As for bed, we use a pacifier, you can set him in bed and let him take a sip or two then take the cup and give him the pacifier, to the same thing when he wakes, a few sips then pacifier and back to bed. Be consistent and stick with it, he should get the idea.