Advice on Switching from Bottle to Sippy Cup

It took me some time to get my daughter to switch from the bottle to the sippy cup. She will only use the cups with the hard spout and at first would only take juice or water from the sippy cup. I finally just put all of her bottles up and did not give her a choice. After a day she decided to drink her milk from her sippy cup and has not tried to drink from a bottle since. Good Luck and hang in there.

It does take time for them to adjust, you may have to try different kinds, a lot of them are hard to suck out of (read major frustration for a 1 year old). If she likes a straw and really does know how to use one, have you tried Take and Toss kind? I buy the flexible "bendy" straws at the grocery store and use those in them instead of the hard plastic ones they come with. My son didn't like the Nubby ones with the straw but he loved the Take N' Toss kind.

Try the Avent cups. I tried all kinds, but when I tried that with my 9 month old, she never took a bottle again. It took one day to break her from the bottle. And you can get them with the rubber spouts for kids who are just starting with sippy cups.

have you ever tried drinking from a nuby sippy cup yourself?? its extremely difficult, and was for my daughter. we started her on the blue soft nippled playtex sippy cup. they have 3 diff. colors, and the 2 packs come with handles to put on them, but u can remove the handles too. they are and easy way to transition because the nipple is softer, and its easy to get the liquid out of when drinking. id say give that a try, and to stop with the nuby's. that would be my advice. then transition to the hard "nipple" playtex cups.

Trying something new always takes time, she'll be o.k.

You just have to do it. I was torn up trying to get my daughter off her bottle. She was very skinny and I was so worried she would not get enought calories. I would give in everyday after about 1/2 day of her not drinking. Finally I just decided it was time. So the next day I got ride of all her bottles. Bought every kind of cup on the market. Filled it with milk and offered it to her every hour. By the end of the day she was drinking from them. I think I was the one with the problem not her. I did not give her enough time to get use to it. She knew I would give her a bottle and so she would hold out for it. Once she figured out the bottles where gone she did just fine.

I think the general advice to moms to get their kids off of a bottle at one year is goofy. Every child is different and they are still infants at a year. My kids are bf and I wouldn't even dream of weaning them to a cup just because they hit 12 months. They still need the comfort.

YOur little one just probably isn't ready to completly transition yet. Use your best judgement on this. YOU are the only true expert on your children. Who cares what anyone else thinks (except dh of course!). I know it is hard to have that confidence in your ablilties as a mother, especially with the first one, but I bet you have it in you. Good luck!

First of all, please consider that you do not HAVE to use sippys. Also consider that you must suck harder from a non-spill sippy than from a bottle to get anything out (just turn it upside down or try drinking it yourself:) Sippys can do as much damage to a baby's teeth as sucking on a bottle. Sooo.....what to do?? With my youngest we went straight to a little REAL cup. You can just buy little shot glasses that fit into their hands perfectly. We have both glass and plastic for her. In the beginning you just put a TINY little bit in the cup and help her bring it to her mouth and drink but you will be very very surprised at how fast she catches on. You do have to keep refilling as she goes. It is best to have little ones drink sitting in a chair anyway instead of nursing a cup all day while playing anyway, right. For time in the car or at other peoples houses (who tend to panic when I give my one year old a REAL cup) I have a Born Free (I have found them online and at Babies r us)sippy cup or the Tupperware sippys. Both are NOT spill proof so they flow much easier for the baby but will not just dump out. Good luck finding what works best for you and your little girl!

A sippy cup is basically a bottle too. They still have to suck to get the liquid, instead of sipping (like you do from a cup or straw). Sippy cups are popular now because they don't spill.... so it's really a convenience for the parents, not a "stepping stone" for kids.

My suggestion, since she DOES like a straw - it's not like she only wants a bottle or is reluctant to give it up - is if you go to places like On the Border or Chilis they serve kids drinks in a plastic cup with a lid and straw. I keep these... and use them at home with a straw and my son loves it. If you don't eat at those places, maybe you can find something similar to purchase....

Let her skip the sippy.... advance right to a straw!!! Good luck!!

~ t

My daughter is 11 months old and she does not know how to do sippy cup. And I totally agree with the other moms here and not going to stress about it. Every child is different and sippy cup is just a transition object to real cup. And my daughter actually like drinking directly from a cup better.

Do what works for your baby and don't stress about it. A lot of us did not grow up drinking from a sippy cup before going to a cup neither. Just use the bottle until your baby is comfortable with a cup.

I had the WORST time transitioning my son. He LOVED his baba. When he was a year old I tried switching him and we went 4 days with no milk before I gave in. I searched the boards, called the Dr. office and everyone said cold turkey was the best way to do it. I was so worried about him not drinking milk. He was already small for his age and I didn't want him losing weight. I was so stressed over it. So at 15 mo. I tried again. Same problems. At 18 mo. I tried again and HALLELUJAH! He took the cup and we have never looked back.

The bottom line is every kid is different. I tried being the "perfect" parent and being done with the bottle by a yr old but it didn't work for us. It was way to stressful for both of us. Eliminate the stress. If she needs more time, give her some. She won't go to college with her bottle. Now I am also a dental hygienist so it is not good for them to have their bottle too long. So my pediatrician said as long as you can transition by 18 mo. you're doing fine. Hope this helps.

Hi J.,

I believe your instinct is correct. When my daughter made the switch, it took about a week or so for her to get used to the new way of doing things. I was afraid she wasn't going to drink milk and I was going to have to figure out other ways of getting her calcium. After about a week, my fear subsided. She's still hot and cold drinking milk, but toddlers are hot and cold with food anyway.

Good luck!
E.

My son turned 1 on the 6th. I went cold turkey on the bottle! It sucked for 3 days and then it was fine. I had bad withdrawls and I felt bad for him but he was the same way. He wouldn't drink out of the sippy cup if he had the option of the bottle. That was the only thing that would work for me. When he was thirsty enough he would finally drink it. Now it is so easy not having to deal with bottles!! R.

I had the best luck with Avent sippy cups. They have soft inserts for the first stage and have an insert with a silicone disc on the inside to adjust the flow. You can also get handles for them if you like. Later on you can buy harder plastic inserts and get rid of the handles. I felt like I got more bang for my buck by being able to use them longer. Lastly I moved onto the cheepie kind of sippy cups and then the cheepie cups with straws.

Perhaps your daughter is not quite ready for the sippy cup. I say hold off for a month or two and then try again. Every child is different. Try not to stress if she is not doing the same thing as other kids. She will get the hang of it. In the meantime, enjoy that sweet baby stage. Time goes by so fast.

Be blessed.

R.

There are two different types of Nuby cups. One has a soft flexible nipple and the other is all hard plastic. If you have not tried the soft nipple, then you should. My son went from a bottle to the soft nipple nuby cup with no problem. He could drink from it like you do a bottle so therefore he didnt really see a difference in the bottle and the nuby. Hopefully this advise will help.

have you tryed the tummy ticklers apple juice its 100% juice with reuseble sippy no spill cup with cartoon caraters thats how i broke my son i started replacing one bottle at a time