From Bottles to Cups at 1 Year - Who Knew? Any Suggestions?

My kids never had a bottle, but they had no clue how to use a sippy cup when we started introducing water at meals (at 6 months). I switched to a straw cup and it was a miracle! Both my kids took to that very easily, they didn't have to tip it up which helped and they learned how to hold it themselves. My dd finally got the hang of the regular cups that you tip up to drink from closer to 2yo. My ds is 16 months and uses the straw cup. If I give him a regular cup I have to tip it up for him, I am confident that he will learn how before long. So I just use the strawcups most of the time and every once in a while try a regular one.

I thought it was going to be hard too, but I just didn't give my boys a bootle one day, and everything was ok. Your son will realize if he's thirsty, he should drink, he won't just wither away. Just don't give the bottle and it's not as hard as you think!

My son does very well with the Nubby cups that have a straw instead of the spout. They are no-spill just like a tippy cup. He doesn't have to tip it, just suck on the straw. It's great because he understands straws at restaurants too now (just keep those cups away from him when you aren't holding them since they aren't so-spill).

Hi C.,

Neither of my kids had any interest in using a sippy cup. I employed the same method with both children that was originally suggested by our pediatrician: cold turkey.

As long as my kids had the option for the bottle, and they knew it was coming, they wouldn't touch the sippy. So, no bottles were offered.

It took my daughter three (agonizing) days to accept the sippy. Once she did, she drank like a champ! My son took less than two days to drink from the sippy.

It may take a month or so until your son is proficient with the sippy. You may need to help by holding if for him at first, but as he grows so will his independence.

Best of luck!

M.

Hi C.,
My name is G. I am a mom of 3 great kids. My kids are older and I don't have the bottle worries anymore but I am watching a 6mth old during the week. If sippie cups are not working try cups with straws. Kids tend to love drinking out of straws it is fun for them. My first child broke himself of a bottle when he was 9mths because I worked for Pizza Hut and brought home a cup and straw every night when I came home from work He would rather have the cup and straw. As for the going to bed with a bottle I have no idea what to do about that that was a habit I myself didn't start. I am sure some of the other moms on this site will be able to give you suggestions though. Have a great day hope this helps. G.

Hey my son just turned one too, and his doc told us that he should be off the bottle, of course I knew this was coming....Grant tho doesn't really care about bottle or sippy cup as long as it has something in it...I use the Nuby soft top ones..the top is like the same material as a bottle nipple and he still drinks from it like a bottle kinda sorta....Grant is almost 13 months and just started holding his own bottle and tipping it up, We just kept holding it for him and he eventually just took it from us and did it on his own, he wanted to be a big boy....we still use the bottles though in the morning and if no sippy cups are clean....also a way we got Grant to hold his bottle was we laid him on his back and placed the bottle in his mouth and he held it...at about nine/ten months we started doing this and he has held it that way ever since.....well I hope this helps a little Just remember every kid is different and the docs aren't always right about small things like this

When I switched my daughter over to a sippy cup we found that she prefered the Avent sippy cups becasue they had a softer piece for her to suck out. Nubby offers this too. I think it might have been closer to a bottle why she liked it at first. Now she will drink from just about any sippy cup. I found switching cold turkey was best for us but our pediatrian said we could switch over gradually by starting with formula in the sippy and then gradually mixing it with milk and eventually switching to just the whole milk. Also, we were told 16-20 ounces of milk a day for my daughter and then the rest of the day I give her water to drink. At the nightime feeding we started giving her less milk and then switched to water and then eventually nothing.

We are still having issues switching from bottle to sippy. We are using Nuby transitional bottles. It's not a "sippy cup" design (cup part) but the nipple switches in and out - choice of nipple-like and sippy-like. My son uses the sippy-like nipple. And my daughter.... we are still working on her. They still get a few ounces of milk before bedtime in the bottle.... which we do need to cut out but it's hard. As far as # ounces... your pediatrician should be able to tell you but we still do 24oz. And you could give sippy cup with water at naptimes... that's what we do and it works out well.

Good luck.

Just keep trying. It usually takes kids a few times before they get something new. Keep offering a sippy at meals and throughout the day. Before you give him the sippy, take a few drinks yourself. Act overly enthusiastic about how much fun it is to drink out of a sippy. He'll think it's a game and will want to play. We have the same problem with bottles before bedtime and naptime. I'm trying different things, so foar nothing has worked. If I figure something out, I'll let you know.

Hi! My daughters sleep routine involved holding herwith a bottle too. I gave her a sippy cup at 5 months and she started to drink from it at 6 months What I did about her bottles was start with taking away the bottle at the first nap, then the second one, then bedtime, just one at a time. My Pediatrician also wants them off the bottle at 1 year, but sometimes that is just not realistic. She was 18 months when she gave up her last bottle on her own. She would only drink milk out of a bottle, and only juice or water from the sippy cup, and her ped told me there was many other ways to get her calcium, cottage cheese, cheese, Motts Plus Light has calcium in it, etc.. Just tell your ped when he asks that you are working on taking the bottles away. And just remember your son will not go to kindergarten with a bottle, he will let you know when he is ready.

don't put whole milk in the bottle you want him to associate milk with the cup and formula with the bottle
just keep introducing it and give up the bottle he will drink when no other option is available

Hey C.-- I have seen this many times at the daycare I used to work at. The parents brought in a cup and said no more bottles. The kids dont know what to do, how to suck and think it is a new toy on their highchair. At jewel osco they had regular cops with lids( like the old fashioned ones with out that spill proof thing) they are colored cups with clear plastic lids(tupperwear like) you need to just tip it in his mouth at mealtimes just a little at a time so he doesnt choke and he will eventually get the hang of it. Yeah-it will make a mess but if you hold it up and he doesnt have to suck he will eventually understand. After sucking on a bottle nipple for so long, it is probably really wierd to try to suck on something else. The parents at the daycare also brought in those "nuby" sippy cups and that replaced the bottle at nap time. It isnt a bottle but is supposed to feel like one. I wouldnt cut bottles out cold turkey until he gets the hang of it completely. Good luck and let us know how things are going

Take bottles away cold turkey. That was the only way it worked for me. Have your tried the cups with the straws?

When I was switching my daughter over (one year this past August). The first time I tried a cup with her I made a bottle and poured the liquid into her sippy, just to see how much the cup held. Once I knew, I made her cups the way I made her bottles. She actually took to the cups pretty easily. You could try just give him a cup and let him work on it at his own pace, when he empties it, get him a new one. Don't try to make him drink a full cup/bottle in one sitting. I did it that way with my daughter. I would just handed her a cup while she was in her playpen and she would work at it through out the day. It turned out that through out the day she was actually drinking 3 8oz. cups. You could also try curling his hands around the cup for him, a few days of dropping it after you let go and he might get the hint. My daughter would hold it from the bottom keeping it in her mouth that way. She still does when she tries to walk and drink at the same time.
I use a passifier for bed and nap time. That's the only time she gets it. You could start watering down his milk little by little until he's getting nothing but water, less likely to ruin those new teeth too. If he starts rejecting the water but still needing the soothing sucking, try a passifier.

Do not put the formula in the sippy cup and don't put milk in the bottle. Throw out all the bottles and do not give him the option of seeing the bottles in the house.
Cold turkey is the best way to do. When he gets thirsty he WILL drink.
Try giving him a regular cup and help him with it. so he spills a little bit of the milk...no use in crying over it, eh?

One thing I learned years ago with my kids is not to give them too many choices. You're the mom and you're the boss. They will learn that.

I would just let him keep using the bottle. It is not going to hurt him to use bottle for a little while longer. What is most is important is that he does get his liquids.

12-15 months is when they usually say to ween the bottle, as the kids no longer need that kind of sucking motion and to continue it beyond 15 months could later affect their teeth and speech. So that's the what and why. As far as how much he should be drinking, my peds office said no more than 24 ounces of milk, as more than 24 ounces milk could cause them not to be hungry enough to get nutrition from their solid foods. What we've done is milk with meals and water throughout the day otherwise. (That way the milk is always fresh and there really is no minimum they need anymore after age one as it is no longer the primary source of nutrition.) My first son also REFUSED to hold his cups for the longest time. He'd hold both hands back as far away as possible while I held it for him so he could drink. Eventually, he came around and drank on his own...I want to say around 14 months. Keep all those different cups you bought, because my kids seem to go in stages with which ones they liked best. For weaning the bottle, just put less and less in at a time. My second son was VERY VERY attached to his bottle and this helped to gently ease him toward the sippy instead of the bottle. My kids too are not huge liquid drinkers, but they've never been real dehydrated. All you can do is keep water available and keep offering his drink to him. When thirsty, he'll take to the cup, and easing him off the bottle will give him time to slowly ease into the cup. As well as lowering the amounts in the bottle before sleep, also gradually doing the bottle farther from his sleep like not in the same room, backing it up in the routine, so that the bottle is not a crutch to fall asleep. Also so that you can get tooth brushing in after the last food/milk before sleep, so the milk is not sitting on the teeth while he sleeps, as it's bad for the teeth. Hope this helps!