Ever since she had a couple sores in her mouth which are now gone, she has refused to take liquids from a bottle and is completing refusing to learn how to use the sippy cup. This has been going on for about 2 weeks now. My daughter has not quite mastered the concept of a sippy cup so every time I try to offer her the sippy cup she pushes it out of the way. I have been spoon feeding her liquids for 2 weeks now i.e. formula and breastmilk mixed with some cereal. I even tried giving her some juice for the first time with very little luck. I dont' know how long I can keep this up. We saw the doc for her 1 year old check up and she said that my daughter will eventually learn how to drink out of a sippy cup when she's thirsty enoughn and that she probably has an aversion to both the bottle and the sippy cup due to the pain she had with the sores in her mouth.
I was planning to wean her from breastfeeding since she turned 1 and since I'm not producing as much during the day, probably around 4 oz at the most, but now I'm not quite sure if I should since it's so difficult to get her to drink. She obviously loves to nurse instead of drink from a bottle or sippy cup. Should I just stop nursing her altogether? Any advice would help greatly.
Thanks!
Thank you all for your helpful suggestions! After much persistency and patience in offering my daughter different avenues to take liquids at meal times, in between, etc, she has finally learned to drink out of a sippy cup. It took about 6 weeks. I was driving home with her and decided to give her a sippy cup during the ride just so that she would get used to and familiarize herself with it. I looked in the rear view mirror to check on her and noticed that she was sucking out of the sippy cup or at least attempting to. I was soo ecstatic and from that moment I really believe she realized that was how she was to get liquids outta there. She's been drinking liquids ever since then, although not as much as i'd like her to. She's needing quite a bit of encouragement but at least she's drinking something. Thanks again!
Try a regular cup. You'll have to hold it for her at first, but some kids (my son included) can use them at an early age.
The sippy cup is a modern invention. Lots of kids around the world go straight from breast to cup.
maybe you can use a straw you put your finger over to keep the lquid in and the put it in the child mouth and then they can learn to drink from a straw . you may try going start to a real cup . good luck S.
My son is a little over a year and he hasn't quite mastered the sippy cup either and is still breastfeeding. He will drink out of a small cup at mealtimes. I put a very little amount of water in the cup, less than a sip. To him it is like a game or a new adventure. If he drinks I put a little more. If he spills and plays then I let him do that for a while. You could try putting the cup on her tray with nothing in it and see what she does with it. If she tries to drink you could add a little water and gradually work your way up.
Some kids have an easier time with a regular cup than a sippy cup. Try just a small plastic cup or even a little dixi cup. They aren't spill proof ofcourse, so just a little at a time :-)
I wouldn't stop nursing her - she's still young and she likes it. Try giving her water in a regular open cup. She may really like it. It's much easier for them to get a lot of liquid in that way anyway. Maybe if you buy a special (non sippy, yet closed) cup and just leave it around she will get interested. You may have to accomodate this for a while.
Also, have you tried a straw in a cup? Not built in, but just a loose straw? If I were to drop anything it would be the spooning.
Good luck,
M.
Don't spend precious time worrying about this. Just nurse your daughter for a couple weeks and don't present the bottle or sippy cup. Give her time to not be stressed out by fear of the cup hurting her mouth. Then, in a couple weeks see if she's interested. She may be more willing to take the bottle or cup when she's out playing or somewhere really exciting where she doesn't want to take the time to nurse.
I am sure you are aware of the research that shows the greatest benefits are for children to nurse for two years...so there is no reason to stop half way unless you have a good reason that necessitates stopping.
There is nothing magic about the one year milestone. Punishing a child is never a good way to effectively teach anything and stopping what she loves and feels safe and comfortable with will be seen as punishment. Try letting her play with various cups in clean water and see if she tries to drink from any of them. Offer her various options at non nursing times and see if she is thirsty enough to give them a try. She will eventually....
Have you tried a straw? My both of my son's liked the straw cups better than the sippy cup! Just a thought.
Have you tried a couple different cups? or a straw? My daughter got the hang of the straw when she wanted some of my Jamba Juice.
I agree with others. Skip the sippy cup, give up the bottle now before it becomes a hassle, and go straight to the regular cup. The idea is to get her to drink from a cup anyway, so save your money on the sippy cups and get a regular plastic cup. Let her pick it out. Also, only give her an ounce at a time until she learns not to throw, drop, or dump her cup. When she does do any of these have her clean it up (then you clean it up the rest of the way). Good luck!
I wouldn't stop nursing her now and wait until things are less stressful for her. In the meantime, have you tried using a straw cup or by helping her use an adult cup? If you go slow, she can learn to drink from a regular cup and skip the sippy cup stage. You could also try a sport cap from an adult water bottle so the liquids will trickle into her mouth ( bought a Sigg water bottle with the children's sport top for my son and its great). Perhaps popsicles may be fun for her as well. Little ones want to do what they see the adults are doing. I don't think there's really a need to give her a sippy, except when out and about and you can resolve this with sport tops. I would take advantage of her not wanting the bottle now and wean her off of it, though. It will be much easier now than if you wait. As far as breastfeeding, she will most likely cut back most of her daytime feedings when she's ready. Hope this helps a little. Good luck to you.
I breastfed my sons for 1 yr minumum. My second however went straight from the breast to a sippy cup. She's just excercising her opinion which is growing. Guess what, eventually she'll take it. Even if you have to make it more enticing like putting something yummy in it. My first son wouldn't take regular milk so I added a tiny tiny bit of ovaltine and got him hooked. One day I just didn't put it in and he didn't miss it. By then it was a habit.
If it was me, I'd continue to nurse until she learned to drink from a sippy cup. I'd do that just so I wouldn't have to stress about whether she was getting dehydrated. Besides being good for her, it would give me more peace of mind and less stress in having to worry about her learning sooner rather than later to drink liquids. The last thing I need is more stress in my life!
Not breastfeeding any longer is totally up to you, kids do deal with it better than Mom's I think. I have a 13 month old grandson and when my daughter-in-law wanted to stop breastfeeding at 9 months I took him for the weekend to make it easier on him and her. It worked well and although we had given him a Tupperware sippy cup since the age of 4 months old he did deal with it much better because Mom was not there and therefore had no choice but to drink from it, he gladly did.
You might wish to try the Tupperware sippy cups, they are much better for their teeth as they do not have to suck hard. The liquid will come out when you put it to her lips so that may help alleviate her fear of sucking. Granted that they can spill a bit but in my opinion drinking is the same as eating, kids should not be running all over the house with food, nor should they be running all around the house with a cup.
Why not skip the sippy cup and bottle and go straight to a regular cup. She doesn't have to drink out of a sippy cup and a regular cup you don't have the sucking action. Try it and see how she does. It may be messy at first so have her use both hands and sit by her to help. Much easier than spoon feeding liquid. Good luck
