Can't Get 13 Mo Old to Take Milk from Sippy Cup

I had the same problem when we dumped the bottle. She didn't drink milk for a week because of it. My girlfriend resolved this for me, and now I will pass it on to you. Of all things, the (multi colored) disposable sippy cups are what we use for milk. Still to this day(2.5 yrs), we have disposables for milk and every other sippy cup on the planet for water. We still warm the milk in a ceramic mug, then poor it into the disposable. I also had to poke a tiny hole with the tip of a knife in the top edge of the lid. They don't release air, and they guzzle milk differently than they drink water. You never know, try it out.

Hi J.,

Will she take milk from a bottle? If so, let her use the bottle for milk and the sippy for water. Just keep trying the milk in a sippy and eventually she'll take it but for now let her use a bottle. It's more important that someone can feed her while you are out than to stress that she is not using the sippy for everything.

Hope that helps.

L.

Have you tried nubies sippy cups the top is just like a nipple but shaped like a sippy cup. you can get them at walmart in the infant section.my daughter loved them and i started useing them at 10months...

I recently weaned my daughter and it was tough (but know that she will not starve) you have to leave her with your caregiver and believe me she will drink from that cup when she is hungry.
that is how it happened for me, my husband was hospitalized for 6 days and I was gone a lot from her in those 6 days and my mom began giving her bottles and she had no other choices so she finally weaned, up until then she was only breast fed and 14 months old. she has no interest in the breast now, sad though I miss the closeness!!
goodluck!

Hi J.,

Keep on offering the milk in a cup (the disposable's worked best for us and they last just as long as the non disposables but if they get left behind, NO worries!)
I was a nanny for years and am the mother of a 14 year old and a 2 year old. This has worked with them all but you just have to keep offering consistantly at each meal and try to make it in a happy, fun way...no forcing. Having others offer is also terrific. I highly recommend NOT offering chocolate milk, slurpee, soda, etc.. All are terribly for both a little one's health/body and their teeth.

GOOD LUCK to you!
~R.

My duaghter was the same way to start. I found out if I changed to the Nubby Non-Drift Bottle from my regular Playtex bottle, the nipples are completely different. The Nubby has a weird looking nipple that is more like the soft tops on the sippy cups. I had her on the bottle for about two weeks before swtiching the milk in her sippy every couple of meals or so. She eventually just took to the sippy cup for all her drinking needs.

Before my daughter would take milk in a sippy cup I had to wean her completely. I weaned her completely at 13 months. She weaned pretty easily. I never put breast milk in the cup just went straight to whole cows milk. It took her a while to get used to. It also took her a while to get the idea of what to do with a sippy cup, so we started her on a sippy cup without a anti-spill mechanism just a hole. This was a bit messy, but we only used it for a little while and then moved her up to a no spill cup with a soft nipple. She is 2 now and has been able to drink from normal sippy cups and straws for quite some time.

Why don't you try using a regular cup, small in size, with a limited amount in it?

Hi J., in my opinion, you just need to keep trying. My son was the same way! He didn't start to drink the milk willingly until 21 mos. A lot of my friends like to use the "Nubby" cup for this transition due to the very bottle/nipple like sippy on this cup. They all seemed to have success with that brand. My son likes the silicone straw "Nubby" cup.
Hope this helps!
M.

The way that I taught all of my kids to drink from a straw was by using a juice box. put the straw in her mouth and squeeze a little; once the juice hits her mouth she will suck. It has worked immediately with every baby I have tried it on.(And I have 3)

Try warming the milk a little - she may think it just too cold.

My daughter wouldn't drink out of a bottle at all, so while I was breastfeeding and we left her with a babysitter she refused to eat while I was gone. But she just waited till I got back from whatever errand I was running. Sometimes it was almost six hours that we would be apart and she would just wait rather than take the bottle. So I'm sure your daughter would be fine while you left her with a sitter.

You could always try a regular cup and help her until she gets the hang of it better. And I don't recommend adding chocolate or sugar or anything else (no matter what the ped says), not only because that's unhealthy but because it doesn't sound like the flavor is the biggest issue but the sippy cup rather. Is she using a bottle or breast right now? She probably associates milk with the source it's coming from and water from a sippy cup. You can't fool her! :)
It'll take some trial and error, but be patient and loving in the transition and hopefully she'll eventually make the switch.

There is no problem putting your daughter back on the bottle when it comes to drinking milk for her. Unfortunately, we live in a society that is accustomed to rushing through life and all of its pleasures that we should take the time to enjoy. I would advise to let her have her bottle. You may want to try buying a smaller bottle and place the remainder of the milk in a cup.
From, JR

Little people often know what they need, or don't need. While breast milk is so wonderful, if she is done, eating healthy fruits and veggies, whole grains and taking a pedi-multi vitamin, will be the solution. And while cows milk is so commnly drank here, it is not the best source of calcium, brocoli is! See other options, such as soy milk, to go with her cereal. Let her drink water - it is the healthiest choice around! Juice is like soda pop, but water! Youre lucky.

Hi J.,

I have two daughters ages 4 & 1 1/2. My 4 year old, Katerina had a tough time letting go of the bottle of milk for the sippy cup of milk so I waited until she was 16 months to really make a fuss about it. At 16 mos. she was old enough to really understand things that I said to her. So after countless attempts to feed her the milk from a sippy cup, I just stopped giving her any milk... and she LOVED milk. I would show her the milk bottle as I would use it for other things and she would get all excited but the second it went into one of her ordinary sippy cups... she barely drank any. So, about 3 1/2 weeks later, I decided to make an event out of it. I took her to our local Rite Aid for a stroll along the sippy cup section... she became very excited about a Dora the Explorer cup so I picked it up with a huge smile on my face and much enthusiasism and said "oh wow! What a beautiful cup! This could be your new Milk cup! Don't you think that's a good idea? This could be Katerina's one and only SPECIAL milk cup! We could only buy it if you use it for your milk. Oh my gosh I am so excited for you you will have your OWN SPECIAL milk cup! WOW!!! And NOBODY else could drink from it.! Only Katerina!"
It worked like a charm. The second we made it home she ran to the fridge and started saying milk! milk! milk! And I only used that cup for her and for her milk.

Your Ped. told you to put chocolate in her milk? Kids acquire enough sugar in their diet... no need to introduce them to chocolate at such a young age.

Good luck! V.

I had the same problem, when my child was that age. Try a straw, give her milk in a cup with a straw. Make sure its fun. For example, we got a cool cup with a built in straw that she loved. Then, I got a straw (not as cool) and we all had milk together. It was a fun party type atmosphere. She will chew it, but eventually if you keep trying she will get it. You have to drink with her. Now the kid is crazy about straws. Hope this helps.

My daughter drank from a bottle until she was about 3 1/2 so don't feel bad if that's the only way she'll drink milk. She did eventually drink milk from a straw. Perhaps a bottle is the best thing. After all baby needs her milk and that's the most important thing. Good luck:)

My daughter did the same thing... The cup that I finally got her to take is the NUBY. It has a soft, nipple-like top. My daughter didn't know what to do with those other hard top cups and would just bite on them... I've told friends of mine about the NUBY for their kids and it worked for them too! Try it out!! You can find them at Target, Walmart or Babies R Us... Good luck!!

I had the same problem with my son. I took the bottle away at 12 mos. and it took about 6 mos for him to finally drink milk again. My pediatrician said he would be fine since I was making sure he ate yogurt and cheese. He prefers almond milk instead of cow's milk.

we put water in with the milk to let him get used to the taste then eventually we started adding more milk and less water. good luck

Hi J.,

I'm thinkin' your gal loves her mama!

Don't know if you tried the straw this way, but this is what we did. With our first daughter, we went straight from breastfeeding to a straw cup. To introduce the straw, we dropped water/milk into her mouth directly from the straw (Put straw in cup of water/milk; cover top opening of straw with index finger; with index finger still covering straw opening, lift straw out of cup. Water/milk will be in straw so you can just drop it in your child's mouth and she'll eventually figure out she's supposed to suck on the straw.)

Hope this helps.

R.

Hi J.. Try getting one of those bottles that come with a sippy spout and try that, it worked for my 1.5 yr old when I wanted to get rid of the bottle. You can find them at CVS.

My daughter and a lot of my friend's kids had difficulties with milk initially no matter what cup or bottle it was in. Do not add chocolate, but just be patient. Try a Nubby sippy cup that has a soft spout like a bottle. Realize she will eventually drink milk and it takes time. The amount recommended for a 1 yr old is 16oz per day of whole milk. My daughter had all of her pumped breast milk from a sippy cup starting at 9mo but she would not drink cow's milk when I weaned her at 12-13mo. At first, it was 2-3 oz per day. Now, she is 17mo and drinks 10-18oz of whole milk from a regular or sippy or straw cup but this transition took at least 2 months. Eventually, she will take it and if you want to go out, you just have to tell the babysitter what you want her to do - either only offer milk in a sippy cup and let her cry if she won't take it or give her alternative foods and drinks when you are out. Good luck! (By the way, if she is hesitant with the milk, offer cheese, yogurt, etc for the protein, fat and calcium she is missing).

I am having that same problem but the cup is part of the problem. I got the Nuby Soft Spout Sippy. It doesn't have the valve that makes it no spill. If you try to drink out of the other kinds you will find they are very hard to drink out of. With this cup it is a little easier to control the flow. You can get them at Target or Walmart. Good Luck!!

My son likes yogurt smoothies. I get the Yo on the GO from costco and put it in a sippy cup for him. Some of the yogurt smoothies from the grocery store have big chunks of fruit that get stuck in the sippy part of the cup so try to get one that doesn't have big chunks. It may help smooth the way to milk. Nesquick got him to drink milk (and it adds vitamins along with the extra sugar- it's lower in sugar than Ovaltine). Your daughter should be fine though going a while without milk and just drinking water with her food. They aren't supposed to drink a ton of milk anyway because too much hurts iron absorption. I forget the recommended amount...

I did have this problem. In the baby's world milk comes from mom or a bottle and juice and water come from a cup. I had twins so I did not nurse very long and they were on the bottle. We made the switch from formula to milk at their first birthday but I kept them on bottled milk until their second bday since they would not drnk it from the cup. It seemed crazy to me because they loved their milk bottles but refused the milk in a cup, even though they drank juice and water from the cup already. By the time they were 2 they were getting milk from cheese and yogurt. I cut them off the bottle and still to this day will not drink milk from a cup. They are 3 now. This may not be encouraging for you. Just keep offering the milk in a cup since I'm betting you don't want to start bottles at this stage of the game. If your baby refuses to drink milk then try getting the calcium with cheese, yogurt, OJ and even some bread are calcium fortified. Good luck.

Hi J., I have a 16 mo. old little girl who did not like to drink out of the sippy cups at first. I found these cups at Walmart (and they have them at Albertsons grocery store and CVS)called Nuby. They are non spill but have a soft spout. She loves them. I guess it takes less effort than the hard spout cups to get the liquid out and maybe it mimics the breast or bottle a little bit more? But anyhow she is drinking out of those just great. Just make sure you don't get the sports bottle one. They are fairly inexpensive also(about 1.50 or so) so you could try one and see how it works. As for the straw that just takes time. My little one is just getting the hang if it. She likes to drink her Danamals yogurt with bendy straw that I cut to fit the bottle. Hpe this helps. God Bless, H. A.

Hey J. :)

I went through the same thing with my son and found that soft nippled sippy cups would work where the hard plastic kind would not. Gerber and Nuby both have a silicone topped sippy cup that isn't so hard and is closer to bottle or breast than the hard plastic kind. I think you can get them at Walmart (I live overseas and so had to order mine, but I've seen them on the Walmart webpage). My son took this variety where he would not take the normal hard plastic. He eventually made the switch from soft to hard and from sippy to cup with little problem. I hope this helps :)

Does she like to drink out of water bottles, the one with the sports lid? or just use a regular cup? That worked for my youngest son.

My advice is to just keep trying. You're going to waste a lot of milk but offer a small amount at least 3 times a day. I don't think many babies take milk without a fight. I had a tough time getting my sons to like milk but as you decrease the breast feedings they'll learn to like the cow's milk. With my older I gave him cow's milk in a bottle with some vanilla flavoring and a dash of sugar. He got used to it then loved it. My problem was weaning him off the bottle at 2. He stopped drinking white milk once I took away the bottles because he didn't like it from the cup. Now at 5 he usually drinks chocolate milk (although he doesn't have a problem with plain milk in a cup anymore). Since she doesn't take either in the cup, you should just try to get her accustomed to the cow's milk that way you don't have to wean her all over again from the breast milk. I'm assuming you've tried lots of different cups? At a year old with my 2nd son I bought those soft spout Nuby cups. I really liked them because the spout wasn't hard on his gums, very similar to a bottle. And because they were cups, I never had to wean him off the bottle, and as he grew he would take milk from any kind of sippy cup. Oh yeah, and I always heated their milk for them. My first son liked it really warm, just like my breast milk. If I were you, I'd try it both ways. Your daughter may have a preference. Anyway, I just recommend sticking with it. It just takes some patience.

My now 2 yr old son did the same thing. He took water from a sippy cup fine (Nuby-- sports bottle), but wouldn't drink his milk from a sippy, only when in a bottle and heated. We tried the chocolate thing from our ped as well. No go, tried a different sippy cup for milk, etc. nothing... I was told it was more important they get milk the first few years of life as many kids don't get enough milk after they are 1 years old cause if the bottle is taken away they tend not to drink as much milk out of the sippy cup during the day. Was told as long as your baby is off the bottle by age 2... just continue to give them a bottle so they get their milk (but try not to give it to them at night before bed as the milk sits in their teeth during the night and isn't good for their teeth). We did that with my son- he got two 8 ounce bottles a day on avg. until age 2... one after breakfast and one after nap and then we decreased to one bottle after nap (sometimes before) once he was getting closer to age 2. As our ped. wanted him to have around 16 ounces on avg. until age two.

The people I know who have done this (their kids are now around 5) said their then 2 year olds went through a phase after the bottle was gone where they wouldn't drink milk at all from a sippy... which was fine. Then after some time they started to again and at that point, you are to give them nonfat or 1% (unless your child is slight-- then I think they may recommend 2%). Save your energy for other bigger battles.

It may be too late for this to work, but I just did milk in the sippy cup, so the only time she had ever had milk was in the sippy- I never did formula or breast milk in it. But, at this age you don't have to worry about her nutritionally over short periods not having any milk. Just stick with it and be patient, and offer it often. My daughter does fine, but when I turned one I absolutely refused milk and have hated it to this day- there are other sources of calcium. My concern would be fat and cholesterol because kids need lots and tend to get most from milk.

My daughter had a hard time with drinking anything from a sippy cup. We now own lots of different styles of sippy cups. She's not a big drinker to begin with. One thing we tried was to take the valve out of the sippy so the liquid just came out. You have to sit and watch your child a little more, but it's worth a shot.

We taught my son and daughter to drink from a straw by 7 or 8 months by using a slurpee. it is thick enought that you can suck it up and then pinch the straw to keep it there. GIve them a taste and then they kind a get the sucking motion going because they want more slurpee. It worked wonders for both. THen she might drink the milk through a straw

My son would not drink milk out of a sippy cup after we tossed the bottles. So I took him to Target and he picked out his own cup that was for milk only. Apparently in his mind the other cups were for water.
He was 15 months at the time and he didn't drink milk for almost six months. The doctor said it was fine and I gave him more yogurt and cheese to try to make up for the calcium. however, I offered milk at every meal(with a touch of chocolate of course).
He is 2 1/2 and finally drinks milk with some regularity (1X a day).
I pretty much had to wait it out. Still to this day he will only drink it out of the Thomas the Train cup we bought at Target over a year ago.

If all else fails, mix the milk/breastmilk in with some cereal or what not.

Dear J., Your not alone on this one. I am also a first time stay at home mom, My daughter who is 16 months old is the same way, will only take water in her sippy cup..I introduced her at 5 months old to the sippy cup and would only put water in it, which may now be my fault for her only wanting water in her cup..She will take only milk or juice in her bottle which I see as a problem because I know don't know I will get her off the bottle..I am just curious as to what other moms have done..

J.

have you tried a flavored liquid yogurt? my son doesn't like cow's milk..he almost 2..i am still bfing..and he also drinks formula.

Hi J.,
I would love to hear some of the responses you get because my 16 month old daughter also won't drink milk from her sippy cup. She loves to drink water drom any sippy, with or without a straw, but always pushes it away when it is milk. She was breastfed for 9 months but had no problem switching to cow's milk in a bottle. she still has 2 bottles a day because i want to make sure she gets at least 12 oz. of milk a day. Would you mind sharing some of the iseas/suggestions you receive? Thanks so much, from one concerned mother to another.
K. T

the soft silicone nuby nipple worked for 2 of mine!

Like Rosanna said, use the straw occlusion method to introduce the straw. She has to know something is going to come out of it before she can figure out how to use it. Then, what I typically do with my clients is go to a juice box (or there are some special bear cups in therapy catalogs that have the same concept). With the juice box, you can squeeze it until it's just at the tip and she can taste it. You control the squeeze and regulate how much she gets in her mouth while you are teaching her. I am not a fan of juice, but it's a great motivator to just introducing a straw. You don't have to use the whole box in one sitting either. Let me know if you want information on the bear cup if you don't want to use juice.

D.

J.,

We are going through the same thing with my 12 month old. She has finally started to take tiny sips of cows milk out of a sippy cup or straw cup, but is very stubborn. She would rather nurse than drink the cows milk. My son was stubborn too and I just offered him maybe 2 oz of milk about 3 times a day and he finally started drinking milk about a month later. I would just continue to offer it to your daughter - that is what I continue to do with my daughter and hope she will start to drink more. I know a lot of people say to cut her off from breastfeeding completely, but it isn't that easy. I tried that with my son and I got really engourged - so I personally think it's better to slowly cut back. Good luck!

L.

I tried strawberry quick like nestly quick chocolate milk with my kids it worked then you make it less and less strong. good luck. Mr

My 23 month old still won't drink milk in her sippy if I'm the one giving it to her. However, if it is another person, grandparent, babysitter...she'll do it for them.

Good luck!

Way to go Holly S. I feel the same about cows milk, its over-rated! J., I too had this problem with my twins. They would not take milk from a sippee, since they knew at some point they would be getting a bottle of it. Here's what I did at first. I tried taking one bottle away during the day and replacing it with a sippee of milk (soy), but mine refused it. They would just wait until they got the bottle a few hours later. I tried every kind of sippee, nuby included which leaked everywhere. I then went to the straw kind of sippees and that was what I stayed with until just recently (4 years old). But for us, nothing really worked in getting them to drink a lot of milk from a cup. A bottle is just so easy, no effort. Initially I was so nervous about them not getting their milk, but I finally just went cold turkey. No bottles! They only got their soy in a sippee. It took a few days and even then they were not getting as much milk as they were from the bottle. But as I researched it, I learned that milk really is not the best source of calcium nor is it as great as we are lead to believe. Eating healthy is very important to me and I strive to give them meals that are well rounded and good for them but to be safe I began giving my boys vitamins and we eat a ton of broccoli (which is a great source of calcium) around here. To this day, they hardly drink any form of milk actually. And I am so OK with that. Good luck to you!

My little guy was the same way...it took us 4 months of trying every day and now he LOVES his milk from a sippy cup. He is 17 months now and is a very picky eater. However, he is getting so much better. It just takes repitition over and over again...and not getting frustrated. I would get so nervous as to whether he was consuming enough calcium/protein...thankfully, he loved yogurt, so I gave him YO Baby yogurt twice a day. It's a little pricey, but it is lower in sugar than yoplait and high in protein/calcium.

I hope this helps...my little guy would literally through his sippy cup across the room because he hated cow's milk :) And I thought for sure he would never take to it, but he loves it now !!!

Good luck!!

Hi J.,

I had a similar problem. What kind of sippy cup do you use? Try those see through colored disposable ones. They last years too. They seem softer at the mouth and kind of can replace a bottle. They also get softer. I stopped breast feeding at 14,15 months and my mother said he needed the sucking for comfort so she talked me into a bottle. Tyring to get him off the bottle was hard, until I tried those kind of cups and it replaced bottle. It looked more socially acceptable. He sucked it like a bottle, but only i knew. Also he ONLY drank warm milk, even to this day - and hes 5. L.

Clearly the problem is not your daughter's ability to drink from a sippy cup but her willingness to dring milk. I had the same problem. Only I never solved it. I stopped considering it a problem. My daughter (now 3) was weaned at about 13 months. I still can't trick her in to drinking more than a sip of milk. However, she drinks smoothies, eats cheese and yougurt. We make sure we offer her plenty of calcium ladden veggies too.

Good luck getting your little one to drink milk. I sure hope you can get her to drink milk.

However, if you don't it doesn't have to stop you from weaning. If my daughter and lactose intolerant/dairy allergic children around the world can do without milk your daughter can too.