Won't Take a Sippy Cup

Updated on March 14, 2010
T.H. asks from Hoven, SD
7 answers

My son is almost a year old and was introduced to a sippy cup around 7 months and he still will not take it. I have tried many different sippy cups with a lot of different options in the sippy cup, i.e. water, juice, milk, formula and he still refuses. I feel completely lost at what to do. I was planning on weaning him from the bottle at a year but since he won't take a sippy cup at all I'm not sure that I should stop the bottle since he won't be getting any fluids at all then. I'm hoping there is someone else out there who has dealt with this same situation or one like it and can give me some advice. Any advice at all would be wonderful.

p.s. I have tried just using a cup instead of a sippy cup and have been able to get him to take one or two sips occasionally but that has been extremely rare as well.

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V.C.

answers from Louisville on

try getting to use a STRAW... and if he see's you throwing away the bottles.. and DON'T bring them out at all he will have no choice, he knows he still has a choice.. it is the same thing with using a pacifier... they may fuss and cry but it isnt going to hurt them I promise, it is more of they like trying to control the little things that they can... whcih are big things to us. ;) I nursed but I have gone through this with pacifiers, and other things at one time or another.
If and when he is thirsty and wants a drink he will drink from whatever you have available... he may pitch a fit at first but you could tell him he is a BIG boy now and big boys use sippy cups/straws/ regular cups whatever you decide to use but NO BOTTLES... it is much easier than you think as long as you don't give in those first few days. :) Maybe think about colored straws but make sure you use some white ones too...

E.S.

answers from Asheville on

My girls are 21 months and we just got off the bottle. They would take anything from a sippy cup except milk. My sister in law showed us a sippy cup that she got at Kmart. It looks like a sports bottle with a 'nipple' instead of the pull up spout. I found something like it at Walmart. It's made by Nuby and has no slip sides. They love it. I had been cutting the holes on the bottles really big so the flow on the cups was less than they were used to. A quick jab with the knife to make one extra slit in the top and the sippy cup is great. (To me, it looks like a cadillac bottle, but they use it and we are officially off the bottle.) Good luck!
Beth

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C.S.

answers from Charlotte on

With my second son I had to use the Nuby brand of sippy cups. They have a soft silicone like spout. Walmart sells them.

My pediatrician is to NEVER give whole milk out of a sippy cup. I would give everything to him out of a sippy except (breastmilk or formula). When
you are ready to transition off of a bottle to a sippy cup, make 3/4 formula and 1/4 whole milk, then half formula and half whole milk, then 1/4 formula and 3/4 whole milk.

Good luck,

C.

I would also say just relax about it, he is picking up on your tension. My second son was 13 mo old when gave up the bottle.

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T.M.

answers from Charlotte on

My little one had trouble also. I tried several as well and then tried the cheap throwaway kind without the inserts and he fianlly got the hang of it. (by the way he was breastfeeding for most of this time and got juice/water in the sippy cup
Any siblings? My youngest will copy just about anything the older one does. Try a cup with a staw like a big kid? Hope this helps.

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F.K.

answers from Charlotte on

I have been there before so I feel your pain. My oldest son wouldn't take a sippy cup either. Eventually at around 13-14 months old, I gave him a cup with a lid and straw. It took a little while but he got the hang of it, especially after I put some mommy milk in it instead of whole milk. I too bought every sippy cup ever made and he didn't like any of them. Try a cup with straw and be sure to put something he likes to drink in it. You can also try holding him on your lap and holding the cup for him so he still gets the comfort of mommy while drinking.

Be patient. And don't let the so called experts freak you out if he doesn't give up his bottle by 12 or 15 months. Every child is different and does things on his or her own schedule. It's not the crisis situation that the doctors make it out to be. Good luck and God bless.

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M.M.

answers from Memphis on

Have you tried a sippy with a straw instead of the spout? My daughter would never take a bottle or normal sippy, but took to the straw after a few times. She wouldn't take milk at first, but I gave her drinkable yogurt and that's what got her started (and then I started diluting it with milk). Good luck!

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J.K.

answers from Raleigh on

My daughter was the same way when we tried to get her off of the bottle and I found these sippy cups that had the same type of rubber top that was similar to the bottle (not the same) and I think they were called NUK or something similar. My daughter is almost 5 so it was a little while ago. Keep trying different ones until it works because you will find one. I thought my daughter would drink from a bottle forever and finally that one just worked. Then you can transition from that one to one that is for toddlers (once they get used to it). Baby steps! Good luck!

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