Dropping bottle and sippy cups

[Mom2katiebug]

DD is 10.5 MO and takes 3 bottles a day (okay 4 if you count the small diluted bottle she has at 4am).  We have made the transition to cows milk without problems and her intake is actually up on the cows milk versus formula.  We haven't been really successful on the sippy cup transition.  She will sort of drink from a sippy cup but it's more of a novelty than anything.  Her intake with a sippy cup is counted in sips not ounces! 

I think we need to do better in this area and would like your thoughts on how to make the transition...should we just stop offering the bottles altogether?  I'm a "yank-the-bandage" kind of person, so I was thinking of just offering the sippy cup until she outright refuses it and then pouring the remaining milk into a bottle for her to finish.  Hopefully she'll get used ot the sippy and keep drinking more and more before wanting to switch and eventually not switching at all.  Or is she just going to learn that rejecting the sippy will get her the bottle?
What other ramifications can I expect?  (She does eat cheese and yogurt so I'm not worried about the calcium/fat...but I am worried about fluid intake.)  How long would a transition like this take, do you think?

TIA!

[*Natasha*]

Hi Casey,

Let me tell you that the transition from bottle to cup doesn't happen overnight. We started DD on a sippy as soon as she started solids for water then at 8months she started fussing with her bottles she to extra into her we would give milk in a sippy cup with breakfast and dinner. We started with 1oz then as she got the hang of it we would give more in the cup and her bottle intake started to get smaller. At 10months we dropped the 3rd bottle and at 11.5months i dropped the morning bottle and replaced it with a snack and milk in a cup. Then just after her 1st birthday she wasn't interested in her night bottle so we stopped that and increased her milk with dinner. It was also at that time she decided she was going to hold the cup herself. She the point to my story is persistence. Keep offering milk in a cup and you will find that she will slowly drink more and more from it. Good luck.

[Mom2katiebug]

Stacy - Thanks for your thoughts.  The transition has been all positive for us.  I did a quick comparison of the whole milk that I buy and DDs formula and, on a calorie-for-calorie basis, found that the whole milk actually has more fat and protein and just slightly less carbs than her formula (and carbs are pretty easy to supplement in her diet for us).  With her intake up, she's getting even more fat and protein and comparable carbs.  However, your point is well taken about the other vitamins and nutrients in formula.  I'm going to all her doc and get a recommendation/perscription for vitamins for her to take. 

She's pretty much dropped the "bedtime" bottle so I'm going to let that one go and I think I'll switch to a sippy cup for her daytime bottle since we have to make the transition for daycare anyway.  Plus she can drink on it (with water) on and off all day, and I think I'll keep the breakfast bottle cuz it works very well in our day and I can get some cuddles while she drinks it.