14 Month Old Does Not Drink Milk from Straw Sippy Cup

I would refuse to hold his bottle while he plays. He either sits with you to drink or gets down to play.

It can take a little while to transition from the bottle to the sippy cup. I've found that dropping the bottle completely is the most successful way. You might have a couple of days that he doesn't drink much, but he should get over that.

I've always thought of the straw type cups as being for older toddlers. I've always started with the spout type cup, but if he'll drink water from it he'll drink milk.

They are stubborn, you just have to be more so!!!!!!

Good Luck, M.

Why do you want him to drink from a straw? Those cups are horrible. They can make one heck of a mess with them. I much prefer the cups that are made by playtex, have small holes in the top, long spouts, but no pieces to have to take out and wash separately. They are great cups and they almost never leak.

It sounds like you have taught him that you will always hold his bottle for him. He doesn't have to if you will do it for him - while he plays, even. If all he has to do to get his way is to cry and throw a tantrum, you will have to unteach it. Decide what you want him to learn to do that is within his capability. Reward good behavior but do not reward bad behavior. Even giving in one time to his crying will teach him that he will have to just keep trying and you will give in eventually.

Just walk away calmly if he cries and throws a tantrum. He won't die of thirst. Put in headphones if you have to, but you are going to have to teach him that a tantrum will only cause you to walk away. Don't argue, don't plead, don't bribe, don't try to rationalize with a toddler. Teach him that a tantrum will just make you walk away.

I am also weaning my 14 month old from the bottle (we are down to only the bottle right before bedtime). WE have a variety of sippy cups that he uses. The ones we have are the straw ones, the ones with the soft spout, and the ones with the hard spout. When I first started, I would offer him the sippy of milk instead of the bottle for only one feeding. He would through a tantrum because he wanted the milk in a bottle, but after a couple of days he started sipping at it. Then I took the next bottle away and the same thing happened. I always give the sippy of milk at meals on his high chair and leave a sippy of water on the end table to sip on throughout the day as he gets thristy. Today, I gave him his snack while we were on a walk in the stroller. He got his snacks on the tray and his milk in the cup holder. Before I new it, the entire cup was gone! You son might just be slow to make changes like mine is. We have been doing the sippy cups for a whole month now and all of a sudden there has been lots of improvement. Don't cave and go back to the bottle, but maybe try a different sippy cup.

they don't need cow milk, avoid the battle, just give him water, cow milk is really for cows, just like human milk is for humans... if he gets enough calcium in other places, don't worry about it: spinach, broccoli, cheese, yogurt....

The good news is, he knows how to drink from the straw sippy. For my boys, that was the first battle. I also found it easier to just decide one day that the bottles were gone. My boys weren't all that interested in the sippys at first. They didn't fight me on it, they just weren't interested. It wasn't actually long before they just accepted the fact that if they wanted a drink, it was in the sippy. I would say a day or two at most.

It kind of sounds like your son is just not that intersted in milk. My boys happen to love milk, but it's harder to get them to drink water. Go figure.

I wouldn't worry too much about the milk, as long as he has plenty of dairy in his diet. Yogurt, cheese, occasional ice cream. I try to be aware of my kids overall diet for the day and week and not worry too much about any one meal (or beverage). We try to make sure they get all their fruits and vegitables and not too many sweets and junk food.

Good luck!

Is cow's milk new to him? It took my son almost six months to actually drink milk. He refused and refused and refused for a long time after he was weaned at 13 months. My doctor said not to force it -- to give him yogurt and other dairy products for the calcium and vitamins, but that he didn't really need milk specifically to get those nutrients. He liked those sippable yogurts and cottage cheese.

In terms of the cup itself, I would try a regular sippy cup instead, one with a spout instead of a straw. The straw ones are more challenging for kids because they aren't supposed to tip them up like they did with their bottles; they need to keep them upright for the straw to function. A regular sippy cup can be held more like a bottle and there's one obstacle out of the way. My son always preferred the hard-spout sippy cups from Playtex over the soft spouts. You just have to experiment and see which kind of cup he will drink from.

Also, I would stop holding the bottle for him, unless he has a physical limitation. If you keep doing it, he's going to keep throwing tantrums until you give in.