Advice for sippy cup trouble?

[muddyfeet]

I've been trying to get LO to take her sippy cup since 6 months, and she's 8 months. We practice daily with her on my lap with her back to me. She just chewed on the nipple or flung the cup.

The nipple on the cup is interchangeable with her bottle nipples, so a week a go I switched them and she drank an entire bottle through the sippy cup nipple...but it was attached to the bottle! So I know she can deal with the nipple. But when I put it back on the cup, it's war!!

Today after her morning nap, I gave her 2 ounces of formula in the sippy cup, knowing she'd be hungry. She fussed, and flung it, and I told her she had to finish the formula out of the sippy cup and then she could have the rest in a bottle. She finally did it, but what she really seems to have issues with is raising the cup high enough so the milk will flow down. I try to push her elbows up the way they need to go, to show her, but then she stops drinking and tries to drop the cup.

I have tried 3 types of cup, and the cup structures all have this lip on them that forces her to tilt WAY back to get the milk from the cup into the nipple. Any ideas on helping her with technique? Am I doing a bad thing now by making her only do 2 ounces with the sippy cup and then giving the rest in her bottle? I wonder if I'm confusing her by doing it that way, but at least today she drank from the cup.

[Jiinx]

Hi hun,
 I don't have too much help to offer as I don't have a lot of experience in sippy cups. Maybe it's bc my lo is a little late on motor development, but at 8 months she did not know what to do with a sippy cup, but knew it contained liquid to suck on. She would just let me tilt it up and she would suck on the end.

Now, at 9 months, she wraps her hands around it and is 50/50 with tipping it up to drink.

Perhaps give it a few more weeks? They're so good at picking up our anxiety and stress and maybe coming back to revisit the sippy cup after a couple of weeks?

[Texomamama]

I am inclined to agree with Sarah.  I was told by my Pedi that most kids don't really start learning to get the hang of sippy cups until around 9 months (this despite the marketing of the products that suggest 6 and 7 month olds should be proficient using them).  As I recall, my DD, who is now 2.5 just sucked and played with them until around 10-11 months.  Now, as for "Holding out" drinking from sippy cups and preferring the bottle, that is a different issue, and one that is very common.  Again, in my experience, DD only started really using the sippy once we had gotten rid of the bottle of 13 months and she had no choice.

[Canadian_Mom]

Have you tried to just use a regular cup??  I was giving my DS daily practice with a sippy cup, but I tried to give him sips from a regular cup with his meals for two days now and he actually drinks from the cup (he is 6.5 months).  He knows what is in it and he wants the cup when I show it to him.  He has only drank about 1/2 oz each time (lots of little sips), but he doesn't dribble and I see him swallow the milk.  Worth a try??

[muddyfeet]

She actually seems to like a regular cup...just like mom and dad's you know! I just was getting the impression that they're "supposed" to be drinking out of the sippy cup for a couple years and it's handy that they don't leak. But if she prefers the regular cup, I guess I can deal with having her use it daily for a little while just for practice until she's coordinated enough to handle it herself. I've been thinking about it, and she drinks 24-30 ounces of formula a day still. She has to be well hydrated, so I'm not worrying about that anymore. I think she just needs more work with whatever not-bottle solution she prefers.

[We Three]

What we did was to offer the sippy at snack times in her high chair....we'd put some fruit out, some cheerios, and a sippy of water.  She'd bang it, fling it, whatever...I just wanted to get her used to seeing it.  I'd pick it up, take a sip and put it back down, just so she'd get the idea of what it was for.  In just about a week or so, she was drinking from it...or at least trying to! 

I might just try offering it and leaving her to it, no pressure...she'll get it! 

[Canadian_Mom]

I had totally planned on going with the sippy cup (therefore the practice time).  But my mom had mentioned that neither me or my siblings used one we just went right to a regular cup early on so I figured I would give it a try.  I still think I will add the sippy cup here and there for practice (I am using the high chair playtime way), but I am not going to stress about it.  If he doesn't use the sippy cup, then he might have to rely on mom for a little bit longer with just a regular old cup!
I agree with Amelia about taking the pressure off. Try putting her in the high chair and just let her play with it at a meal!

[muddyfeet]

Success! She's getting the idea that she has to lift it higher to get stuff out of it, and she can make it work. If I leave her alone with it and her snacks, the cup ends up on the floor ultimately, but, oh well.

BUT...she likes a regular cup better. We tried that last night and she actually drank 2 ounces the "grownup" way! I was really surprised. Thanks for the help and advice, and I'll just try to relax about it. It's goes much better when I don't pressure her to perform. Whew.

This baby-raising thing is HARD!!

[Jiinx]