Transitioning Milk from a Bottle to a Cup

warm the milk in the sippy cup, eventually you may not have to, but if it is warm in the bottle, you are expecting two drastic changes, cold milk, and a sippie cup. Good luck.

Toss out the bottle and say another baby needed the bottle. If it is out of sight ie availability, he's likely to graduate to the sippy cup.

We used straw cups. A speech therapist told us that our oldest daughters speech problem was due to her using sippy cups. We did not even try sippy cups w/ the next 2. We went straight to straw cups. We started w/ everything but milk in the cup and then milk. If you are still warming the milk, I would try to slowly start getting him use to his milk being cold. That might help. Good luck.

What we did with our kids was to cradle them at night, like you're giving him a bottle, but use the cup instead. This works best if he is already pretty tired and just wants the milk really bad. Another thing we did was to use a little bit of Nesquick to sweeten the deal. I know many moms will protest to this, saying that the chocolate adds unneeded sugar, but for the record our dentist has said that the sugar in chocolate milk is no worse than the natural sugar in regular white milk. So, it may be worth your while to try it, at least for the transition time, then gradually take the chocolate away or put less and less in the cup. Good Luck!

I'm having the same problem! My older son just seemed to naturally take to the sippy cup, but for some reason, my 12 month old will drink very little milk out of a cup, but if its in a bottle he guzzles it. I have started to give him a bottle of water at night and naptime after I brush his teeth b/c I know they're not supposed to use a bottle at all to go to sleep but I guess water is better than milk for now...but now I'm worried about upping his milk intake the rest of the day! I really don't want to have to keep giving him milk in bottles...I'm going to try a variety of sippy cups and just not give up. Hopefully someone will give us some good advice! Sorry I can't help but you're not alone!

My son was the same way until we got him a sippie cup with a straw. We just kept trying different cups until we found one he would take. But once you go to the sippie cup don't give the bottle back. They are smart little stinkers and will figure that out quickly!!!

My daughter never did drink milk from a cup. We tried everything-- adding flavors to the milk, different cups, surprising her... We finally just had to make sure she got her calcium through things such as cheese (they make some that each slice is worth an 8 oz glass of milk), yogart, and yogart drinks. Now instead of drinking milk, she'll drink a yogart drink. Hope this helps!

Haha this hits close to home!!! My little spoiled rotten one went through this. We had the hardest time trying to transition him (and daddy and I were having a tough time sticking to our guns on the issue) and then one night (by the grace of God) a water main busted and we did not have any water that evening. Just so happens that all of his bottles were dirty and all we had for him to use was a sippy cup. He cried until I finally got him out of bed and let him see for his self that all his bottles were dirty so it was a sippy cup or nothing! Every night for the remainder of the week we told him his bottles were dirty and that was the end of it!! The little mess still has to have his milk warmed!! Oh... start your son out with the sippy cups that have a soft nipple type material for the spout. That makes it easier for them to switch over. Good Luck!!

I had the same issue with my now 16-month old daughter at the same age. A multi-level approach worked with her. And she no longer drinks the same amount of milk from a cup as she used to from bottles, which isn't a big deal because at this age it is more a nutritious beverage than a main source of food. Just add dairy in other ways, such as yogurt and cheese.

Anyway, we first got her used to drinking warm milk from a cup. We started with the bottle feeding she was least attached to, and once she was comfortable with that, we just went cold turkey with the other two bottle feedings. Once she seemed more secure with the sippy cup, then we gradually worked on the temperature, by warming it less and less each week. It took about a month, but now she loves her cold milk . . . and I never thought I would see the day!

Good luck!

My youngest son took a nuby sippy cup with a straw and it only took 1 day for him to get used to it.
In the morning i put him in the high chair w/milk(warmed) with his breakfast, then lunch, dinner and i would only give him a bottle for nap and bedtime until he was 15 month he was weaned completely.
Is he on cow's milk completely if he isn't you might want to try 1/2 cow's milk and 1/2 formulaor breastmilk and every day give put less formula or breastmilk until it is 100% cow's milk. That's what I did and it did help the transition.
Good Luck and I hope this helps.

It might be the type of sippy cup you are using, my 13 month old daughter would not take a sippy cup until we started using the Nuby brand. It has a silicone top similar to the bottle, it is $1 at wal-Mart. We used this for 1 month, then were able to transition her to the hard topped playtex ones that our son uses. try changing the cup before changing the milk. If it is the milk the make it chocolate milk, or get the pediasure flavored drinks. It is different than plain milk, so he won't know the difference. After a while of him being on the sippy cup, you can go back to plain milk. This is what we did with my son and it worked perfectly. He had to be on the pediasure for six monthes because his Dr. said he was borderline "failure to thrive". He is now almost 3 and takes milk anyway he can get it in the sippy cup.

Try a few different type cups. My son transitioned well with "Sip and Smile" and Playtex. Also, try putting juice or something he REALLY likes in it and you'll get an idea as to whether he actually can drink out of it. My son wouldn't take his milk from one, but would take juice. That told me he was just being lazy so it gave me the power to go cold turkey with his milk because I wasn't feeling guilty that he just couldn't drink from the cup. Sure enough, it only took a couple of days and he began drinking milk regularly. Just be sure not to give in and keep on giving him that juice instead of milk :) It is tempting.

I have an idea! See if he will drink from a straw. We bought Carter thos throw away cups with a straw and he loves it. Also, they are pretty spill proof. Its worth a try for sure.
Also, you could try to gradually warm his milk less and less to get him adjusted.

Good luck T.!

Hi T., This is what I found to work with the many children I have card for over the years. The bottle needs to completely disappear. That way the sippie cup is his only choice. This could take some time as he has you well trained to give him his milk in a bottle and warmed. I did have a foster child a several years ago that still wanted his milk warmed (he was about 13 months old when we got him) so for a while I warmed his milk. Then over the course of a few weeks, I would warm his milk for less and less time. It did take a while but he did learn to drink it cold. And the funny thing was he would drink it cold away from home! Good luck with your child. L.

COLD TURKEY! You and your child might be absolutely miserable for a day or two but it is well worth it.

I found the softer the spout on the sippy cup the better. Target and (I think) Wal-Mart both sell these cups called Nubie Cups. They have a spout similar to a bottle that are very soft. That's what I had to use for my son. He really didn't like the harder plastic sippy cups till later.

As for the temperature of the milk: try warming it up less and less each time till you aren't doing it at all.

It'll happen in time.....just let him go at his own pace. :-)

My dad used to say (of his hunting dogs) "if they get hungry enough, they'll eat." The same wisdom holds true here. Put water in the bottle and warm milk in the sippie cup and let him choose. Or try a cup with a straw.

Side bar - the only cups we found that will not leak are the Platex ones, the ones with straws ALWAYS leaked for us. So find what works for you. W wanted a cup the kids could take to bed with water in it and others weren't made for that. However, in order to get hium to drink out of a cup he may want more to drink with less work so a straw cup might help.

Also - try drinking out of a water bottle like mom and dad. If you give him the Evian bottle or some like it that have the top that requires him to suck then maybe he'll adjust sooner to other option.

Ultimately he will quit going to the bottle if the preferred liquid is always served in a sippie. My best to you.

I stopped warming the milk, threw out all the bottles and went cold turkey. It only took about a day for her to realize all bottles and warm milk were gone!

Get the sippy cups that have a bottle like top from which the child drinks. They have these everywhere, you may have to ask or even go to Babies R Us for a good variety. My daughter is blind so we have had to do everything in a special way because transition is a big issue with her, because she cant see. If it will work for a blind child it will work for your child! DONT give in or give up. If he is thirsty enough eventually he will take whatever you give him, however I truly believe this should help!!! :) God Bless

A couple of months ago I asked these woman the same question. My little girl was so stubborn and would not take the cup, but she managed to take our neighbor's little girl's cup. So I knew that she could drink out of one. I spent so much money getting her the great ones and the cheap ones. I finally just took up all of the bottles and kept offering her the cup. For one whole day she wouldnt drink out of the cup. I guess she finally realized that mommy isnt giving in, I might as well use this cup. That was that..Good Luck!

There are these cups from Walmart, they are like a dollar. They are in between a bottle and sippy. The top looks like a sippy but feels like a bottle. She took it right away. We used them for a couple months, then switched. It worked great.

my daughter got off the bottle when i stopped heating her formula. she didnt like it cold from the bottle and wanted it in a cup instead. I also had to put a little bit of ovaltine in it, just to give it a different taste and then i cut back on that and she did fine. The pediatrician was like hey i never thought of putting the ovaltine in it, and he tells his moms that if they are having problems getting their kids to drink it. Maybe is he thinks it is something different coming from the cup he will do it. If not i am like the one in the post Cold Turkey. the longer you go the longer it will be.