Trying to Switch from Bottle to Sippy Cup

I have the same problem. My son will be 1 the end of March he doesnt understand to tip the sippy cup up. I got him a few cups with straws and he loves them.

Hi my friend was having this same problem and she started leaving an empty bottle around and a full sippy cup. She started using the cup because she could get her drink. I thought it was pretty smart!! Good luck I hope you find something that works.

We are in the same process and our son never liked sippy cups no matter which ones we tried (soft spout, silicone spout, handles, no handles). So we tried a cup (1st Years makes a 6 pack of them) that has a lid that you insert a straw threw and he has been drinking from that since. I was surprised that he figured out how to suck from the straw because he is blind so its not something that we could "show" him how to do. He drinks water, milk and juice from this cup.

Also bear in mind once they switch from bottles to cups they will drink alot less than they did with the bottle which is normal because they are transitioning to solid foods being there main source of nutrition not milk.

Hi C....
My suggestion? She is one. Let her be a baby a little longer. I never understood the "rush" to have our kids grow up so fast!!! If she enjoys her bottle, let her have it. It may be a comfort to her, like a blankie is to other kids....My kids are 15 and 12 and had a bottle until they wer 3 ( although at this age is was for naps and bedtime only) but they loved going to bed...but before the change from all day bottle to nap and bedtime bottle, I would let them drimk from their bottles....
My kids teeth are absolutely fine...NO DECAY....just dont fill the bottles with sugary juices...and if you do juice, do what I did, 75% water, 25% juice to dilute it.
A one year old cannot possibly understand why you want her NOT to have her bottle. Let your little girl enjoy being baby!!

Hi C.,
I agree with Jill G. It won't hurt her teeth anymore than parents who let their children have a pacifier over one yr. old. However, I have bought all different types of special cups for my daughters, ones with straws, sports tops, or sippy cups. They loved and enjoyed them, so they had no problem giving up the bottle for it. I would keep on offering the sippy cup to her, but not force her. When she's ready, she'll part with it without a fight. I agree that some children use it as a security and taking it away when she isn't ready may not be a good idea. I would gradually do it. My first daughter was around two when she wasn't drinking from the bottle anymore.

Hi C.,

My daughter sucked her thumb for 5 years. It didn't damage her teeth in any way. Sometimes doctors want you to know that there is always a possibility there will be damage. At one, your baby is fine for another 8 months, especially if her teeth are not fully in (which I doubt). Try it again in a month, if not, then in another month. Don't worry - eventually she will want to give it up when she sees the big kids drinking from a sippy cup. Sometimes you just can't manage a one year old so don't stress yourself or her about it. I know mothers who breastfed their daughters until 3. She was the leader of the La Leche league. There are no cookie cutter rules for an individual child.

I hope this helps.

C.

Hi C., You know, I think that Dr's and society tries to make babies grow up to fast these days. For decades and decades babies have been on bottles and have had fine teeth.
My daughter took her children off the bottle when the kids were a little over a year but gave them the sippy cup in it's place. I felt it really wasn't any different then a bottle because she still continued to use it like one at bed time. Every child is different but I think your baby is still young to take her away from her bottle and something that she finds enjoyable and soothing. My children were
close to 2 when I took them off of their bottles (we didn't have sippy cups then) and they never had any issues with their teeth. My children did not, however, walk around with bottles or pacifers. They only got them while in a high chair, or bed time. You need to do what works for your baby. If she has a bottle for a few more months, who is that hurting? I don't think it's hurting her. Give her time, don't make her miserable and yourself miserable. Remember all kids do things at their own time. (A quick little story...my daughter took her 14 mt old son out of his crib because she was having a new baby and he was so upset over having a big boy bed. She would wake up to find him in the crib she was getting ready for the new baby to be. She did have two cribs so she put his back up and he was the happiest little boy. He stayed in his crib until he was a little over 2 and then wanted his big boy bed then. So, don't rush them do what works for you and your baby. It's a win, win, situation. Try not to give in to peer pressure when it comes to your children. It will drive you crazy. Good luck. xoxo D.

Straw cups worked well for us since my son wouldn't use a sippy cup. The only problem is we never found one that did not leak. The Munchkin insulated straw cups leaked the least of all that we tried. Good luck.

Have you tried a normal cup? It may be a bit messy at first, but she's definitely old enough to drink from regular cups.

PERSONALLY I AM WITH YOUR DAUGHTER I HATE SIPPY CUPS!!!!! Now that being said...why does she need to use one?? Give her a cup with a straw...my last 2 never used a bottle or a sippy(boob to cup)...why force her to use one? Besides they don't teach your kid to drink properly...you have to introduce that later if they have a sippy cup...I think it's a bad habbit to let kids walk around with a drink all day(which is really the only reason you need those cups) they eat less and loose the cups...(or pick up someone elses) teach her how to drink from a cup and stay at the table or in the kitchen when she does...it'll be easier to potty train her down the line too if you're already in control of the fluids...throw out the bottles or mail/give them to someone who needs them(you can't cave if they're not around) Goodluck!!!

Our ped as well as my brother's ped, said to start the transition around 12 months, but there wasn't a huge hurry. So we did it gradually. I let my daughter set the pace and before she was even 13.5 months, we were down to just the bedtime bottle. We slowly got rid of that starting around 14.5 months. That only took 2 weeks. She's been bottle free since 15 months. And our ped says she's doing great. No comment about her teeth being ruined. I've only ever heard that comment with parents who actually give their child a bottle to take into the crib with them at night. .

Initially, my daughter refused to drink milk out of anything but a bottle. But she drank water out of the sippy cup without a problem. Around 12.5 months, we started the process slowly. At breakfast, we'd give her just a sippy cup with milk, nothing else to drink. We'd give her bottles of milk throughout the rest of the day. Eventually she started drinking more and more milk out of the breakfast sippy because she was thirsty. Every day we'd also offer her a sippy cup with milk throughout the day. Sometimes she had a few sips, other times she didn't touch it. She'd wait for her bottle. Then at lunch, she'd started drinking more milk out of her sippy cup, so we got rid of her pre nap bottle. Once we saw that she consumed enough milk during the day, we worked on getting rid of the bedtime bottle. By 15.5 months, she was bottle free. I didn't force it and let her do it on her own. And she gulps milk and water out of her sippy cup without a problem.

try the nuby sports bottle at lunch and then when she accepts it, try the nuby sippy cup and after that a regular sippy cup. As soon as my son accepted the nuby sports bottle (it is a cross b/w a bottle and sippy cup), I took all bottles away and he has been fine ever since. This is also a good time to switch to milk at meals only. It was a little tricky, but after 5 days he was off the bottle for good. good luck!

Yes I had this issue, and the dr. suggested that he needed milk more than he needed to be off of the bottle. My son used the bottle until a little after 2. With a little encouragement, he gave up the bottle, but never drank milk the same. I was fine with that since he was already 2, and never had any issues with the teeth since we brushed before going to bed. Sometimes I feel we try to push our children into what the norms are told to be, but if your child is not ready then she's just not ready.

My son was LAZY at holding his own bottle, so when he turned one, I switched him right to a sippy cup. I found that the Playtex insulated sport cups were the best as they weren't prone to leaking, were easy to clean AND were the straw type (which are better for their oral development). You can try like someone else suggested and offer everything other than her milk or formula in those and then transition the milk later. My son never noticed his bottles were gone, but I know some kids definitely need to be weaned from it.

I have 2 kids... one never took a bottle the other an addict..... but with both.. i had a sippy cup full of water out all all meals & even at some playtimes.. eventually they took it.... tho the kid who loved the bottle liked a real cup ( big girl style) so you clean up a little water...also found the first years disposable cups the best. tehy were light...
good luck.........

just "lose the bottle" she will be upset and not want to drink but eventually she WILL drink from it. Give her a choice of cups or let her pick the one she likes from the store so she feels like she is deciding(make sure there are no bottles in the same aisle)
I know tough love sounds bad sometimes becasue we never want to here our kids cry but it does work and althought stressful for you the child will transition easily and never remember.

if you keep giving in your promtoing a pattern that will continue-she will learn if she cries enough or has a big enough of a fit she WILL get what she wants. if you put your foot down she will learn that you are the boss.good luck!S

Hi C.
What worked for us was, only offer formula in a bottle. All other beverages go in a sippy. The more you expose her to the sippy the quicker she will learn to use it. She will object and get mad the first few times. Stick to your plan of transistion and she will figure out that screaming and crying will not get me what I want. Don't give in and it will be done sooner than later. Most any transition takes three days to complete.

Good luck
D. V

hahahahahaha

I hid her bottles. Seriously. Luckily, my daughter is an opportunist - she wants everything she can see. Sonce she couldn't see the bottles...she didn't mind the sippy cups that much. (Granted, I did this on her SECOND birthday. I weaned her from breast to bottle on her first...but, still!)

good luck!