Weaning from the Bottle to a Cup

I had the same problem. I fianlly had to put the bottles away so there wasn't another option. It didn't take long for my daughter to finally get the hint that her cup was the only option.

When I weaned Emme from the bottle, I started with one feeding each day for a week. So week one, I'd give her a cup instead of bottle at breakfast. We'd continue this for a week. Then the next week she'd get a cup with breakfast and lunch for a week. Then the next a cup with breakfast, lunch, and afternoon snack. Proceed from there.

Hi S.,

I had the same problem with my son...and it is an attachment thing. I tried many different sippies before I decided to go with Nuby's soft top sippy. You can get them at Walmart, I know, because that's where I got his. But you should be able to get them at any store that sells sippies. This particuler sippy cup has a soft silicone lid that is transparent,like many bottle nipples, and the "bottle" part is also a colored-transparent plastic that is shaped to fit their little hands, so it feels and looks similar to an actual bottle. My son took to these really well, and was around 15-16 months when I switched. He used these for about 6 months and I switched to a hard top sippy with one of his favorite things on it (trucks). He is 4 now, and can drink out of anything. Hopefully this helps you!

S. - My son will be two in January and we finally got him off the bottle probably 6 months ago. The only bottle he was having at the time was at night to go to bed. If he is still having several bottles a day, you might want to slowly cut it down to one, then you can focus on getting rid of just that one and not four. As far as not drinking the milk out of the sippy goes, my son is the same way. In fact, he just won't really drink milk anymore. I have to give him a multivitamin because I am worried about him not getting all the nutrients. I have also tried (and this may help you too) is to get those pediasure drinks (walmart also has an off brand that is much cheaper). Its a nutrient drink that is supposed to look and taste like milk. You can get the flavored ones and slowly incorporate more milk in until there is no drink and all milk. Hope this makes sense and I'm not just rambling :)The best way to get rid of the bottle completely, is to just GET RID OF THEM. If he doesn't see them, he most likely won't want them. And by the way, they say it only takes a few days to break a baby of any habit. Well, I'll stop now before I just start babbling on and on... Good luck! And enjoy them while they are little because man they grow up fast!

This is going to sound crazy, but look at a Farmer's Almanac and go by the signs that they tell you for weaning. It works, I promise! I tried to wean my oldest daughter cold turkey and it was aweful. I gave her back the bottle, it was so bad. My mom suggested this and while I thought she was nuts, I was willing to try anything, so I did and IT WORKED! So I used this method on my other two kids and it worked for them too! Good Luck!

I had all three of my kids off the bottle before they were 13 months. As soon as there 1 year bday came I would take away one bottle. Eventually if the kids get thirsty enough they will have to drink out of the sippy cup. My kids never had much trouble. When they realize there not getting a bottle they'll drink whatever's in there cup. Good Luck!

I had that problem too when I took my son off the bottle he would not drink much but I stood my ground and he started drinking from a cup more often and believe me he was a picky kid. He'll get the idea that he's not getting his way. Hope this helps.

Hi S., This is very normal, so don't worry. What helped my little girl was when I found the Nuby sippy cups that have really soft spouts. They were enough like a bottle that she didn't seem to mind drinking milk from them. Good luck!

My girls would never drink milk from a sippy cup either. I am a big milk drinker so I would give it too them from my cup and they would drink it fine. Also, once you decide to get rid of the bottle, don't worry so much about him drinking milk. As long as he is eating cheeses and yogurt and other dairy products, he will be getting the stuff he needs. Other people have suggested to me that you had something like chocolate syrup to the milk but I never like the idea of getting them used to the extra sugar or sweetness. Just keep trying and eventually he will pick up on the milk again. My 3 year old would always want juice for long time if she was given a choice and within the past month or so, she hasn't wanted anything but milk.

Hi S.,
My name is L. and I have to lovly daughters and run a daycare from my home. With that been said I have delt with this plenty and what I have noticed is they will do that for about a couple weeks or so until one day they will just start drinking it. Take the bottle and don't give it back!!He will come around just give it time.
Good Luck!!!

Hi S.!
Any time you try to change the habits of your baby, it will take a few days. I would suggest (when you're ready) to take the bottle away completely. He may go a few days without getting much milk, but a few days is no big deal in the long run. He'll eventually get used to it and drink milk out of the sippy cup just like everything else. You might try getting a sippy with a straw, just for something different and interesting to him. When I was nursing my first baby, my lactation consultant told me something that has stuck with me, and applies to so many things--He/She who is more stubborn, WINS!! Enjoy your little guy!!!

I wouldn't worry about it too much. My son wasn't 100% off the bottle until he was 16 or 17 months. He would drink from the cup for several days and then he would get angry at just the sight of a sippy cup. Just like anything else new (foods, switching from pureed to table foods) it's going to take time and patience. Just keep at it. Soon enough he'll be trying to hijack your drinks!

Sara if he is really ready, and you feel you are really ready, then throw the bottles away, or donate them. The problem is not just breaking him but also breaking mommy. When he cries you do not want to have access to the bottle, you both have to go cold turkey.

With that said, I think there is something here that you might be missing. If he is using the sippy cup for everything but milk, it may be because of the taste difference. If he is expecting another taste from the sippy cup but he gets the taste he usually gets from a bottle, one sip may be all it takes. I know myself that if I am expecting one taste and get another it can alter my enjoyment. You may need to go through the motions of allowing him to see you put the milk in his sippy cup. Help him to understand that what is in the sippy cup is his milk.

I hope this helps.

S.,
We had the same issue with our son, who just turned 14 months old, after going "cold turkey" off of the bottle. He will drink juice or water out of the sippy cup, but would only drink milk from a bottle. Be it right or wrong, I finally decided to put a little bit of Hershey's syrup in his milk. Now he has no problem "choking it down." :) Of course, the next issue will be getting rid of the Hershey's syrup . . . . :)

You've got a lot of good responses and so I just want to say, don't worry about timelines. I had a nutritionist say to us at my daughter's 18 mo appointment, "as long as they don't take it to Kindergarten with them, it will be fine!" My daughter took a long time before she would drink milk from anything but a bottle. Water was fine in a cup, but she wouldn't drink the milk. And really we just waited and suddenly she started wanting other things in a cup. She's two now and she takes a little bottle of water to bed to go to sleep (it's just a comfort thing for her and it isn't going to go on forever I can tell already as she drinks less and less of it, so I'm okay with it), but milk only comes in a cup now and that is fine. One day, they are just ready on their own. So, offer litle bits of milk in the sippy frequently along with the water and juice, but don't worry about still taking the bottle, he'll just give it up when he's ready. And it is a lot easier when you can offer juice, milk and water and they can tell you which they want, when they get that kind of decision-making ability developed it really seems to be the end of the bottle.

I don't know if your warm the milk for the bottles, but if you do then warm the milk in the sippy cup as well, so it tastes the same. That's what I did, and my kids had no trouble going to the sippy cup for milk. Good luck!

Start watering down the milk in the bottle and give his regular milk in the cup. Do it gradually, a little more water every couple of days until it all goes to water and see what happens. That was how I got my children to the sippy cup. It took about two weeks.

Good luck,
D.

At 13 months its totally normal for them to be resistant. Its OKAY!! Hes not behind at all. Hang in there, be persistent but understanding. If you warm the milk in his bottle, do it in the sippy as well. That way its less of a change. Hope this helps. Dont worry, you and your kiddo are doing great! You may try going cold turkey. Thats what I did and she got over it quickly!

My son was definitely a bottle lover. He also loved his milk warm, and still does. I started warming the milk in the sippy cup and he seemed to take to that really well.

Keep hilarious in mind. some kids have a very strong sense of what goes with what. It is a good sign of intelligence. My 15 month old grandson tried to hand his dad a bottle from a visiting neighbor to put Dad's milk in because that's "where it belongs" Then he giggled like a comedian. The less you act as though it is important the easier a transition he will make. He is at the perfect age developmentally to do just about anything to keep the attention focused on him that he has had since infancy. (The child not the husband that is an entirely different subject, probably):)

S.,
I could have written your question word for word a few months ago! Here's what worked for us. My daughter is now 17 months, and when she turned 1, several people told me she should be off the bottle. It didn't seem right to me...she was still a baby, we were in the midst of a big move across the country, and life was stressful. Before the move, I had been working on cutting her bottles down to 2 a day (one in the morning, and one before bed). The rest of the time she drank from her cup, usually water, or diluted juice. Even now, she'll rarely take milk from her cup except in the a.m. and p.m. After we moved and were settled, I started working on replacing the morning bottle with a cup. I would warm (and still do) the milk and offer her the cup first. After she wouldn't drink anymore from the cup, I'd pour it in her bottle and she'd usually finish it up. At first, she'd just take a sip or 2 from the cup, but then after just a few days, she was drinking solely from her cup (if there was just a little bit left, I wouldn't transfer it to the bottle). Then, I set a date to switch her night bottle...after the grandparents left from a visit, all would be peaceful...she would be just over 15 months old...then one night, about 2 weeks before I planned it, her bottles were all in the dishwasher, so I gave her a cup of warm milk to tide her over until the bottle was done, and to my surprise, she drank from her cup and went to bed! That was the end of the bottles! (I went downstairs and cried! I realized that I wasn't ready to give them up yet!)
So, in short, she was about 15 months old, and I wasn't in a rush. They won't be taking a bottle in high school (ok, at least not THAT kind of bottle! Just kidding) and they're only little once. Enjoy those times and cuddle! (We still cuddle with the cup!)
Good luck!

here's an oddball idea: let him "help" you pour it from the baby bottle to the cup...this will promote ownership of the cup & may just get him over the hump! Good Luck.

I know you've gotten a lot of responses but I just had to respond as well because I too have a stinker of a 13 month old. She is still on her night time bottle which the doctor told was fine until 15 months as well. But I did have to get "mean", because she was pulling the same stunt. Would drink water from the sippy cup, but one sip of milk and spit. I asked the doctor how little of milk was ok and he said as long as she got 15-20 ounces a day that was fine. I went with that and as long as she got that, she had a sippy cup with milk the rest of the time. She eventually has slowly given in and is drinking milk from a cup (actually Nuby sport bottle, but what ever works). I just have to break the night bottle which she is starting to give up herself. Drank only 1 ounce from it last night. So Good Luck.

Good Morning S., it's been a while but my oldest son just gave up his bottle at 19 months. Threw it out of his bed and never wanted one again. We went start to small cups as I do not remember having sippy's back then.

Our gr kids on the other hand were doing like your little one. Everything but milk from a sippy. Our youngest just turned one last month and he is being introduced to the cups with snap on lids. They are the throw away sippy's (we keep ours through) He does pretty well if you hold it for him. If you give it to him he shakes it and milk... Welllll You know makes a mess...lol

Keep trying if you want or wait a while, he is still young enough to want the sucking sensations of getting milk.

God Bless and have fun with your precious Boy
K. Nana of 5