Transitioning from the Bottle to the (Sippy)cup for Cow's Milk

Hi!~

Like Mandy F,the sippys with the built in straws are great!!!That's how I got my son to drink milk form a cup:)

Good Luck:)
AmberC

While he is still getting his milk from a bottle you might skip trying to use a sippy cup for milk and just give him a small glass to drink from. Just put a little milk in the bottom of the glass until he gets the hang of it. The children at the center I work at do very well this way, even if they are attached to their bottles. Increase the amount in the glass as he improves on his glass drinking skills.

If it's the baby bottles you're talking about then try getting rid of the bottles. It may be hard at first but if milk is the only option for him at that moment he will eventually drink it. I often use the rubbermaid bottles with the pop-up straws or the cups that have the straws built in them that you can get at almost any grocery store or even at walmart. I fill them a few of them up every morning and leave it in the fridge. Whenever my 2 1/2 is thirsty he helps himself. I don't use it during meals though. They're also great when I'm out on errands. Good Luck.

Daughter was terrible at this. When she got it in her that certain tastes came from certain things she was stuck and wouldn't change her mind (i.e. breast milk comes from mommy NOT a bottle...cow milk comes from a bottle NOT a sippy etc). It's frustrating, I know but don't worry about it too much. You can sub his milk intake with other dairy things to be sure that he's getting the fat, calcium and other things. We used alot of yogurt. We put it in her oatmeal to sweeten it, gave it to her for snack or a meal and also let her have cheese. Be sure to get the full fat kind. You can also make yummy smoothies with yogurt or milk and some ice and fruit. Most of all just keep trying. You could try sweetening a little (some honey or splenda or a LITTLE powdered chocolate) that is the only thing that has worked for my daughter...she still won't take more than a sip of plain milk from a sippy and she's almost 2.

Hi - I would just keep on offering him a cup with milk in it for however long it takes...OR you could go the route of cold turkey, and just get rid of all your bottles and if he wants milk,then he has to use a cup...kind of extreme but I hear that it can work. I just recently started not taking any bottles to daycare for my son who is 14 months old. He had been drinking from a cup with milk in it for awhile, so I just decided no more...but he does have 1 bottle first thing in the morning when he wakes up, that is the only one. I figure that will be the hardest one to give up and will start to wean to a cup sometime soon..
Hang in there!

My daughter wouldn't drink out of a sippy cup either - but not for any liquids. She has been drinking out of a cup with a straw since about 14 months. She loves these cups, as they are hers. Good Luck!!!

Personally, I wouldn't worry about it. Up until about a month or so ago my son refused to even drink from a sippy cup and he is still very particular about which one he will use. We give him juice and water in a sippy and his formula in a baby bottle. Our pediatrician and our nephrologist plus the developmental doctor that follows my son have not been very concerned about it as each child develops at their own pace AND I am sure you have a favorite type of cup to drink from at your house. They are the same way.

I wouldn't worry too much about how much milk he's getting. You can give him dairy in other forms (cheese broken up into small pieces, yogurt, cream cheese on toast or bagles, etc.). I'd stick with the cup though otherwise he may get too attached to the bottle as he gets older. Good luck to you!

Sorry that I can't offer any advice on getting him to drink the milk from a sippy cup as I am going through the same thing with my 12 month old. He also drinks water from a cup like a champ but won't touch the milk. He hasn't had a bottle since he was six weeks old either so I don't have that option either. He is still nursing for naps and bedtime but I mix formula in his cereal that I still give him 2-3 times a day to ensure he is getting enough milk.

But the thing I wanted to put my two cents on is the amount of milk for them to be drinking between 12 and 24 months. I spoke to two pediatricians about how much milk I should to try ensure he is drinking now that he is at 12 months and the answer I got was between 16 - 20 oz. The one even told me not to go more than 20 oz as there then becoming a risk of him becoming iron deficient and such. There is something about how the calcium and iron combine and then the iron isn't absorbed in it's own right into the system. The other mentioned that this total would also include any yogurt and dairy products that he consumed, not just straight milk. That helped relieve some of my worry about making sure he was drinking enough milk.

I know this doesn't help any with getting him to drink milk but maybe it will help to ease the worry about him getting enough milk.

We had a similar issue with our son (who is now 2.5, and drinks from a cup just fine). Around 14 months, I decided to push the issue...and we were told that a few days without milk (3-4) would be fine...and by 2nd day of no milk in a bottle, he switched just fine and accepted milk in a cup. I guess that because it was the only option, he decided milk was important, and drank from the cup.

Good luck!

I don't think there's any problem with using a bottle. Children naturally breastfeed for several years. However, the idea that they need cow's milk is not only wrong but dangerous, as cow's milk is not meant for humans and causes all kinds of health problems. check out notmilk.com

My daughter had the same promblem and I finally just ended up getting rid of all the bottles. I found that if it wasn't a choice then she waould drink the milk from the cup but it did take a couple days for her to get used to no bottle but it did work out in the end. Maybe you could try giving him one bottle of milk and have him drink from a sippy cup for the rest of the time. Just a couple of suggestions and what worked for me hope that it helps. Take care. I have 2 children ages 5 and 7.

No advice on the sippy cup as my 12 month-old doesn't want anything to do with it. As for the amounts though, 24 oz is the upper limit for milk intake--16 oz the lower limit. His intake is right in that range. Any more than 24 oz., most toddlers will have less appetite for other foods they need.

We have an almost 13 month old and we were having the same problems. Then one day I just switched cold turkey to both all sippys and all whole milk. My son went the whole morning without drinking too much, but by the late afternoon was downing the milk. So cold turkey did seem to be the best way--so far.

I will say that I was totally opposed to going cold turkey, as I thought it would be too traumatic (not sure if I thought it would be too hard for him or too hard for me!!:-) But I'm happy with my decision. Our son is drinking a little less than he was in the bottle but our pediatrician said that was ok too. Just to offer milk often and allow him to drink what he wants when he wants.

The hardest part for us is that like you, we were feeding our son around 5am and now we're not. We're truly trying to get him to sleep through the night without waking/eating. He's capable of doing it but there have been a few nights/mornings of crying.

Good luck!

About me: I'm a former high school teacher who is now a SAHM. My son is one and my husband and I are smitten with him!!

Just curious if there is a really compelling reason for not wanting to use the bottle for milk? If not, I just wanted to comment that I've found with my kids that when I stop pushing something or trying to change something, it often changes on it's own. Perhaps he's just still more used to having his milk from something that feels closer to a nipple in his mouth and if you give it a little more time with the bottle, he'll switch when he is ready. Just a thought.

I feel your frustation, my 2 1/2 year old daughter was the same way. I found that when I put chocolate milk in her tippy and plain milk in her bottle she soon found that her cup was more tasty. I was really carefull not to put to much chocolate in the cup but enough for a tast diffrents to be found. A. Skelly

Hi Alisha,
He needs to be getting 24 oz of dairy try yogurt or cheese, and forget trying to give him milk in the cup. You can also just make all the bottles disappear overnite, or have him help you put them away for the next baby who will need them because he is a big boy now. The first day might be tough but that is usually all.

I am the mother of 5 kids. My oldest is 6 years and youngest is 4 months.

We've dealt with it before. Just make sure whatever you decide you and your spouse are on the same page with it.

I haven't read all the replies so this may have been covered but this is what I did:

Filled sippy with water and one drop of milk for a day or two, then a bit more and a bit more and a bit more until it was full milk. It took quite a while but it worked. I also used an opaque cup during this process.

Good luck!

We transitioned our son to one bottle in the morning, one at night. Then we got down to one at night. Then, one day, he saw the bottles when I wanted him to drink from a cup and he asked for it. He was about 14 months at this point. I gave in that time, but decided to put the bottles away for good. So I guess we did "transition" then went "cold turkey".

He got used to the sippy cups. Try different cups. Try smaller amounts, try drinking from the cups too (this can be interesting since your mouth is larger than theirs). Try giving him a cup with a straw (this is interesting, since they are accustomed to tipping the cup up to get what they want...doesn't work with the straws). Just keep trying. The bottle is familiar and he will learn to drink from a traditional cup very soon.

Because we had experience, it went a lot faster for our daughter.

Best of luck with this debate!