Strategies to get dc to use a sippy.

[Lana]

I know that I have seen this question come up many times so I thought we could put all the info here for future reference for moms.

How did you get your child to drink from a sippy?

[Lana]

Well we tried almost everything.  We would take the valve out so he could get a taste and then put it back in and offer it in hopes that he would drink, no go.  We tried juice and water.  We offered it during meals and periodicaly throughout the day.

But in the end it was my sister who finally got him to do it.  She sat him on her lap, put the sippy up to his mouth, and said "suck, suck, suck".  Lo and behold he did it.  I guess all he needed was direction :wink: .

[Anonymous]

I started by drinking water in front of her out of the plastic cup part.  When she had seen me do this several times over a few days and had begun to get really antsy about trying to get my cup and have a go at it, I let her take a sip or two out of the cup with me holding it.  She LOVED it, and would sip as long as I let her--which I monitored so she didn't start cutting back her formula.  I did that for a couple of weeks just here and there at about 5.5 months, so that by 6 mos. she would be more used to water.  Then, I put the lid on the sippy cup and found she couldn't figure out how to suck.  So, I took the stopper out of it, and I held the cup for her, tipping it back so she would get the water.  I did that for the first couple of weeks of solid food at 6 mos. to give her .5 to 1 oz of water at her meals.  Then one day, I just put the stopper back in, and she picked it up and sucked it right down.  Worked great for me--just eased into it with no pressure.

[aurora's mom]

I had her watch me while I filled the cup with her favorite juice and then I drank it myself. When she saw me doing it of course she wanted to copy and that's how I made it work. Now she drinks everything except milk from her sippy.

Elisa
Aurora 31/12/03

[Cecilia~Olivia's mom]

My dd drinks everything from her sippy cup except milk too.  how should I get her to drink milk from it if i want to start weaning her off the bottle (except for bedtime)  I was thinking maybe offering her afternoon milk(after nap) in a sippy?  I've tried it but she will not drink as much.  this is the bottle of MILK I actually want to take away, but I'll only do that when I see she increases her milk intake at breakfast & morning snack.
Any ideas?  will she eventually drink her milk from a sippy if she has no choice?   BTW, she is VERY spirited.

[cjwagner77]

I found that initially, dd didn't like the "official" sippy cups like Gerber, Playtex, etc.  She would however drink from the take and toss cups.  They are a little easier to get the liquid out.  So I would suggest starting with those if you are having problems.

In terms of switching to milk in the sippy cup . . . dd started drinking water from a sippy cup at meal times when she started solids at four months.  It took a couple of months to really get the hang of it.  I weaned her from the breast at 8 months.  We weaned directly to sippy cups since she did that so well.  I just substituted a cup of milk for breastfeeding.  She fortunately was one that didn't really care either way as long as she got milk.[/u]

[Stacie:Emma&Josh Mom]

I highly recommend the Nuby brand cups where the spout is shaped like a sippy cup, but it's still latex like a bottle nipple.  It's a great transition cup to let them use, while also experimenting with regular sippies, that will help them figure out the different action needed...

[LukasMom]

It was a long process but it was easier because we did it so gradually.  My mother started giving her drinks of water from a cup when she was only 4 or 5 months old.  She did it just for fun, but it was helpful later.

Then when she was 5 1/2 months old she started to sit up to eat and she got a Gerber soft spout sippy full of water whenever she sat for a meal.  She played with it for many months, but she couldn't really hold it herself until 7 months.  Until then I tipped it into her mouth.

She was bf and never had a bottle, so there was no confusion with the bottle.

She pretty much was so used to the sippy cup that by 10 months she could drink from it on her own, just because of her long experience playing with it.  The final step was to introduce a straw.  It was remarkably easy to teach her to sip from a straw.  All we had to do was give it to her and she immediately knew what to do.

Now she uses a straw sippy and a regular sippy and she will drink from a cup if you hold it. 

The easiest way to do this is to introduce it early and just keep presenting it.  That way it's not unusual or traumatic, it's natural for them to learn to use it. 

I wouldn't bother with a bottle at all if you are bfing, or if the baby's older than 7 months.  It's just one more thing they have to learn to use and then get weaned from--doesn't make much sense really.  Go with the sippy.

[Erin (redstarfalling)]

DD never used a bottle so at around 6 months, I started offering water from a sippy.  Tried Avent with the valve removed - she'd sputter a bit at first, but got the hang of it, and would drink a bit with the valve in.  But Nuby cups are WAY better.  She still won't drink much milk from them but some, so it's a start!