My son is one year now and he will drink from sippy cups and regular cups and even through straws all day long but when it comes to taking a nap or going to bed he refuses the sippy what should i do?
one thing i wish i did when mine was younger was to just let the stuff that works work! If its isnt harming them then who cares? Now milk in a bottle at nap is a problem for the teeth so offer him a sippy cup with milk, or and a bottle with water
When I was ready to take away the bottle, I just did it cold turkey. Pediatricians recommend taking bottles away at age 1, so when my son turned one, I just did it. He didn't have any problems with it. I think he just accepted it. If your sons has too much trouble, you could try giving it back and taking it away more gradually and putting water in it like the other mom below suggested. It might not be as bad as you think to just take away.
Only put water in the bottle, then at least you don't have to worry about his teeth getting cavities and who knows, he may gets some healthy h20 in him. It sounds like he is sucking on the nip like a paci and uses for comfort more than anything else. If this is the case & you remove it before he is ready, he could turn to sucking fingers, which is a worse situation. See if the water only over times helps him to slowly ween on his own as he finds another method to lull himself to sleep. Mine lost interest over time. Hope this helps.
SuperNanny has suggested that the parent help the child give the bottles away to a baby. Talk about how babies need bottles and now that he's a big boy perhaps he'd like to give his away. You can have a ritual around it.
My daughter switched her kids to water in the bottle. When they were ready they switched themselves to a sippy cup. She provided both. Every once in awhile she'd suggest taking the sippy cup and eventually they did. They did drink from it at times during the night. I think it's a good way to get water into them and makes for better sleep because they aren't thirsty.
When the oldest was around 3 I found travel cups in cheerful colors. They were leak proof but easy to use. The kids used those for another year or so. They stopped when they forgot to get them and Mom enforced the rule that once you're in bed you stay in bed. For awhile getting them was part of the bed time routine.
I prefer a gradual change. He is most likely using the bottle as a source of comfort. Cold turkey feels just a bit cruel unless you give him something else to use for comfort.
In my opinion, the one year mark is not set in stone - it is a general guideline. My son needed a bottle a day until he was about 18 months old. If you think about it, it is recommended that babies nurse until 2+, so if he needs a little type of this nurturing so be it. My son gradually gave it up himself when he was ready. If he won't take water, then give him milk and brush his teeth before putting him down to sleep.
you should not be putting a child down to nap or bed with any liquid at all, so great that he is refusing it then!! Now that he is older only give him drinks at a meal (breakfast, morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack, dinner)
Robyn is right on the money! We did it cold turkey and it worked great! The reason he is supposed to get off of the bottle is because of the teeth issues it can cause, so I say just force him to go off. My son really didn't have an issue after the first night or two! Good luck!
It's recommended at 1 year of age to take the bottle away from them anyways, so if your son has accepted the sippy cup, great. Also, at his age you shouldn't be giving him any liquids before nap or bedtime other than water, it's bad for their teeth. It's very hard to take something away from them that they are used to, but after a few days he will forget about it. Good luck!
