Author Topic: Sippy transition questions for 12 month old (Read 2760 times)

katemom · « **on:** June 28, 2009, 21:12:19 pm »

Hi,

I've read some similar posts - but I wanted to ask specifically what you recommend with my 12 month old who has been drinking out of sippy cups (a range of types) when filled with water for at least 5 months. He doesn't guzzle a whole sippy like babies do bottles, but he does drink a lot out of them over the course of a meal. But I just started offering his bottle full of milk in a sippy cup, and he isn't drinking very much. Even if I don't offer a bottle after his refusal to drink much out of the cup, he's fine to just play. It's like this at multiple times of the day. One time I tried offering him the cup several times, and then poured the milk back into the bottle and he drank a good 5-6 ounces. So, where do I go from here? Just keep offering the cup from now on and wait for him to get the idea, and miss the milk enough to do it? Or do I just offer bottles like usual for awhile and only offer milk in his sippy when I used to do water at mealtime? And slowly try to switch out one bottle at a time? Any other suggestions?

I appreciate any feedback, my older daughter didn't bat an eye when I gave her the milk in a sippy cup when she turned 1. She too, had been using them for water for months, and wanted the milk however it was offered to her. It was super easy.

thanks! Katemom

jana224 · « **Reply #1 on:** June 29, 2009, 02:07:20 am »

We are in EXACTLY the same boat.
Avery drinks water out of sippy like it's going out of style; milk she wants either BM or whole milk in a bottle, not the sippy. If I give her milk in a sippy through the day she'll take a few swigs with her meals, but I'd bet it's less than 3- 4ounces ALL DAY. Plus, she could care less if she doesn't get it. So same question: what now?
So far we do the water sippy all day -- it's around her at all times -- and the milk sippy with meals and before or after afternoon nap.
I'm thinking I'm going to keep offering the milk in a sippy and make sure she's getting lots of other dairy (cheeses, yogurt, etc.) until it "takes".
I do not want to keep BFing her for much longer.

* Paula * · « **Reply #2 on:** June 29, 2009, 20:30:25 pm »

Hello ladies,

Hope you don't mind but I am going to pop this over to Eating for Toddlers.

LucySol · « **Reply #3 on:** June 29, 2009, 20:34:36 pm »

im here too reading along cos im in this fix too!

~*Nicole*~ · « **Reply #4 on:** June 29, 2009, 23:39:34 pm »

I don't know if it would help but could you try the reverse of gradual weaning (where you dilute BM or formula for Night feedings until it's all water and they lose interest) maybe do mostly water and a little milk and gradually increase milk until they take all milk in the cups?

jana224 · « **Reply #5 on:** June 30, 2009, 14:06:04 pm »

My problem is that the only thing she'll take out of a cup is water.... not even formula or expressed BM. She'll take BM, formula, whole milk out of a bottle no problem, but I've BF her for 12 months, I don't want to start with a bottle NOW... At this stage I want to push the sippy!

Someone else suggested I try a few drops of chocolate syrup to give the milk a new flavour, but I really don't want to create that habit either.

Mashi · « **Reply #6 on:** June 30, 2009, 14:33:41 pm »

I'm in a similar boat, and my own personal attitude towards it is "oh well." DS will drink water from a sippy at meals and throughout the day but when it's milk time and I offer a sippy he just lets it roll out of his mouth and would rather go play. For him, bottle time is not just about the milk intake but about sitting on my lap and having a while to suck...comfort, not just nutrition.

As he nears dropping his mid-day bottle I have been giving him the sippy cup every couple of days so he gets used to it.

My understanding of getting LOs off of bottles at one is that many parents give babies bottles of juice to drink from all day, and many give a bottle in the cot/crib at night to settle babies for sleep. Both of which are bad habits to break and are bad for teeth. But when it's a bottle of milk at set times and LO drinks nothing but milk, has teeth brushed after meals, and isn't using them as sleep tools, then it's a different scenario. There's nothing wrong with LOs still breast feeding (sucking) at 12 months and people don't say that at 12 months you should exclusively pump and offer it in a sippy cup, so I don't see why bottle fed babies should have to lose the comfort of sucking their milk either! I know people disagree with me on this and I have no problem with that, but I really don't get the push that at a magical age, babies need to stop sucking milk from a bottle.

I would just keep trying slowly, go gradually, and don't make it a stressful thing. Aim to transition over a few months rather than a few weeks and you will see more progress than if you get too hung up on it being something that he should be doing now that he's one.

jana224 · « **Reply #7 on:** June 30, 2009, 14:40:41 pm »

Mashimaro
I agree totally that there's nothing magical at 12 months that means you have to switch from bottle to sippy cup. In my case though, I don't plan to *start* bottles now at 12 months. And I'm ready to be done with breastfeeding because I can't when I go back to work in September... so I'm going to try to get this sippy cup fully in place by then.

Texomamama · « **Reply #8 on:** June 30, 2009, 18:13:06 pm »

It seems like this is a common problem, LO will take water and juices in the sippy, but not milk. As someone already suggested to you, flavoring the milk is an option, and the route I went. I use Ovaltine chocolate malt powder (as opposed to choc syrup). It has far less sugar and contains lots of vitamins. Plus, the amount I give is far less than the "recommended" serving size.

.................Now, the downside, is, you guessed it, my DD will not drink milk unless it is flavored. Every time I have tried sneaking in white milk, she will not drink it. So be warned, if you start this, it may be very difficult to stop. My DD gets milk 2X a day, and the total extra calories she is getting is about 40 and sugars about 9-11 g. I really don't think that is a big deal relative to the benefit of her drinking milk, but I know almost everyone else on this board will caution you against what I have done.

Mashi · « **Reply #9 on:** June 30, 2009, 18:18:11 pm »

Quote from: jana224 on June 30, 2009, 14:40:41 pm

Mashimaro
I agree totally that there's nothing magical at 12 months that means you have to switch from bottle to sippy cup. In my case though, I don't plan to *start* bottles now at 12 months. And I'm ready to be done with breastfeeding because I can't when I go back to work in September... so I'm going to try to get this sippy cup fully in place by then.

Yes I understand...I was responding mainly to OP who is on bottles not BF.

katemom · « **Reply #10 on:** June 30, 2009, 21:11:52 pm »

Hi everybody, thanks for all the different suggestions, points of view, etc. It's nice to hear this problem is as common as it is, even though I'd rather you all had an easier transition! I do think this thread is helping me to relax a bit. I was just thrown off like I said, since my DD1 didn't even act like anything changed! I do find it odd that my little guy will excitedly drink water, but not milk, in a cup. I guess it's all about the association, but still, you'd think it would be no biggie to change things up.

I do think I'll try to do things slowly, and try to be more patient. I've been putting about 6 ounces in a bottle, and 2 or 3 in a cup. I start with the cup, and then after he refuses several times, I go to the bottle, let him drink half way through, then go to the cup for a minute and see if he'll take it, then back to the bottle, and then try to finish up with the cup again. It's not really taking off all that well, but my hope is that he'll learn over time that milk comes in both containers, and maybe one day he won't be as concerned with what he drinks from. I also only serve milk with meals now, and give him some water in between, like on errands or something. It's so funny how happy he is to find water in there!

I do think cold turkey makes sense for a lot of things, and if this goes on for a really long time, then I'll probably do it. But for now, I fear him just giving up milk, and he's a lightweight and I'm not okay with a major drop in intake.

Anyway, I'll keep you all posted on how things are going, and for those of you still in the process, give us updates as well! And if anybody else has other advice, I continually welcome it!

katemom

p.s. (I secretly still enjoy our bottle time together!)

jana224 · « **Reply #11 on:** July 01, 2009, 15:17:08 pm »

Hey katemom,
How much of a lightweight is he? I always wonder about baby size at 12 months...

katemom · « **Reply #12 on:** July 01, 2009, 16:07:44 pm »

My little guy is long & lean...21 lbs., 13 oz. and 30.5 inches tall. I just worry because he used to be in the 75% percentile for weight, then meandered down to 50%, and now we're at 25%. The doctor says it okay, but I don't want it to drop any more than it already has...

katemom

jana224 · « **Reply #13 on:** July 01, 2009, 18:37:15 pm »

I hear ya. We're in the same boat... Avery is just over 19 pounds and 31 inches -- she looks like the longest baby in the world because she's got no pudge. Born at almost 8 pounds, she barely doubled her birthweight by 9 months. Same thing for us though, pediatrician isn't concerned at all because she's always had a huge appetite and eats almost adult size portions of food, with regular milk intake throughout the day, so, must just be her genes.

jana224 · « **Reply #14 on:** July 06, 2009, 14:23:02 pm »

Hi all
We just got back from the pediatrician for her 12 month shots and I asked him about the whole cow's milk / sippy cup question. He said that after one year most, if not all, of a baby's nutrients should come from their food, not milk. He said milk is a bonus if babies will drink it, but that DD could be perfectly healthy if she never ever drinks a cup of milk for the rest of her life. He also said there are a lot of babies who drink lots of milk but the rest of their diet is crap, so his suggestion was just to be conscientious of her intake of grains, vegetables, fruits, dairy and proteins, and make sure they are balanced, and just keep offering the milk cup with meals.

I have an update too...
Only in the last few days have I been heating up DD's milk to a very hot temperature... you would think it's too hot... but she loves it and has been drinking out of the cup a good 3-4 ounces per meal of milk. So, that's good. My concern is that now we'll have to be heating up her sippy cup when we're out and about, but oh well, better than starting a bottle now.

my3girlsjde · « **Reply #15 on:** August 19, 2009, 01:00:16 am »

Not sure if anyone has been into this since the site was down. We had the girls off of their bottles altogether with little issue at 10 months. It wasn't planned and definitely not a struggle (we felt we deserved it as there were two of them lol)

For Christmas we received some sippy cups with silicone tops. A little messy but the girls loved them! I would put the milk in them for the morning feed and they would go right to it. There was one refusal so we just put the milk in the bottle and tried again the next day. I made sure that there was no forcing as they were so young and I had little expectations. Four days later there was no issue with breakfast so I said 'why not the lunch bottle too?'. Took another four days and only two refusals. Just gave them the bottles again and didn't make an issue of it. The supper bottle went and I thought things were great with only the nighttime bottle. I had some reservations with this one but the girls took right to it with absolutely no refusals. They're quite spirited and we often have to slow them down with food so that may have been our saving grace. That and the silicone lids.

I waited a couple of weeks and they never looked for the bottle again. I did the same to get them onto the hard sippy and this time they wouldn't drink as much but were coming up on a year so I supplemented with yogurt and cheese.

To this day it was the only 'easy' part of having twins

I wish you the best of luck.

The sippy cups are made by Nuby. I'm in Canada but I'm pretty sure it's an international brand.

~*Nicole*~ · « **Reply #16 on:** August 19, 2009, 14:17:28 pm »

Congrats on getting the girls switched. We got DD switched to all cups with hardly any trouble at all as well. Started around 10 months and I'd say it only took a week or two. Fantastic news for you!

katemom · « **Reply #17 on:** August 21, 2009, 02:52:05 am »

Jana - I'm glad to have just read your reply - with the website down and my summer travels, I am behind, but your message really helped a lot. I've also read that about how baby's diet should get most calories/content from food and not milk, but I somehow forgot that in my consumption with his sippy refusal and skinny body! (Of course I am not blessed with a good eater like yours...he eats well when he eats, but it all depends on the day!) Maybe I just need to get rid of the bottles, and hope he eventually likes milk in a sippy. But meanwhile, maybe he'll have to eat more because he'll be without milk. Anyway, why is it that when a pediatrician says something, we finally believe it? Thanks for sharing your update, and I'm glad to hear your lo is liking the piping hot milk in a sippy!!!

katemom

Mashi · « **Reply #18 on:** August 21, 2009, 18:22:52 pm »

Yes, congrats on such an easy switch. We have the NUBY cup as well, and it has been a big help in the transition. (Although, at 13 months we are still on bottles for breakfast and bed, but all other drinks through the day are now in sippies!)

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Author Topic: Sippy transition questions for 12 month old (Read 2760 times)