Author Topic: How do I drop bottles/introduce sippy cup?  (Read 2664 times)

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Offline genyaf

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How do I drop bottles/introduce sippy cup?
« on: May 11, 2011, 15:46:37 pm »
Hello,

I have a 12 month old boy.  Recently we just made the switch from breastmilk to cow's milk without issue.  Here is my question...we're still on an EASY schedule where he wakes up, has a bottle, has a meal about an hour later, plays some more, and sleeps again.  I keep reading that at 12 months I should be weaning him from the bottle, but I don't know how to start.

He REALLY likes waking up with a bottle...as soon as I lift him out of the crib he points to the chair where he drinks his bottles with me...it seems to sort of let him slowly wake up while he sits on my lap and looks out the window.  Takes him about 3 minutes to drink the bottle (6 oz) and then he's off to play.  I have not had any luck with a sippy cup at meal times, he will take some sips of water (doesn't seem to like juice) IF we hold it, but has no interest in holding it himself (he also doesn't want to feed himself with a spoon and other than dry cereal has not, as of yet, accepted any other finger foods)

Is it a big deal to let him drink his bottle a bit longer or do I need to get serious about the switch?  Is drinking 6oz of cow's milk an hour before meals contributing to him not being very interested in finger foods?  He'll eat purees as long as I'm the one doing the spoon holding.  Usually eats about 5-7 ounces of pureed fruit/veg/meat.   Doesn't like yogurt or cheese so he's not really getting any dairy other than the milk. 

Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks.
G

Offline Lolly

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Re: How do I drop bottles/introduce sippy cup?
« Reply #1 on: May 12, 2011, 21:15:49 pm »
How many bottles a day is he getting now? From 1 year they need about 14oz of dairy to get their needs met so if he is taking a lot more than that it could be effecting his apetite for solids.

Both my kids still had bottles unitl they were over 1 year. We switched day time milk to snack times in a sippy cup then dropped the morning bottle and eventually the bedtime bottle. DS had a bedtime bottle until 2.5 but DD swapped hers for a sippy about 4 months ago but she still has a bedtime milk drink. I don't think there is a problem with your morning routine, we only swapped milk to after food because she wasn't eating any solids for breakfast so we needed to!

What type of sippy cup are you using? If it's a non-spill valve cup try swaping it for a free flow cup, or a straw cup or even an open cup like a doidy cup may be better for him.

With the solids/ finger foods are you giving him finger foods at every meal? How smooth/ textured are the purees he is having?

Laura

Laura


Offline genyaf

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Re: How do I drop bottles/introduce sippy cup?
« Reply #2 on: May 13, 2011, 01:24:09 am »
Hi Laura,

Thanks for the reply.  Right now he is drinking 4, 5 oz bottles...so about 20 ounces total.  Our pediatrician told us 14-24 ounces of milk at 1 year.  Here's our schedule right now.

6:30ish wake/5 oz bottle
7:30ish breakfast - usually about 4 oz of fruit and grain or fruit and oatmeal puree and 2-3 ounces of something else - fruit or veg as well as a couple handfuls of dry cereal.
9:30 - 11:00 morning nap
11:00 wake/5 oz bottle
12:00 lunch - usually about 4 ounces of vegetable puree or vegetable and grain puree and 2-3 ounces of something else as well as a couple handfuls of dry cereal.
2:00-4:00 afternoon nap
4:00 wake/bottle
5 or 5:30 dinner - usually 4 ounces of a meat/rice/veg puree and a few ounces of something else as well as dry cereal.
7:00 bedtime routine - bath, bottle, books and sleeping by 8.

So I keep reading that people drop the two daytime bottles for sippy cups, but he really likes drinking his bottle when he wakes up from his naps.  I know I could force the issue, but the routine is so nice right now and it seems like as soon as we get into a routine we need to change it because he's reached a milestone or whatever.  I tried giving him milk in his sippy cut on my lap in the chair where he usually has his bottle and he refused it.  I guess I don't feel like that's a battle I want to fight right now if it's not that big of a deal.  I was hoping to get him drinking from a cup at meal times before worrying about dropping the bottles in favor of a tippy.  He is happy to take water from us (he likes us to squirt it in his mouth from a sport bottle top) but doesn't want to hold a cup (or a bottle, or a spoon for that matter) We have tried several soft flexible spout cups (Nuk, Munckin) a straw cup (he doesn't get it) and a couple easy flow firm spouted cups.  He is happy to drink from the latter if we hold it for him, but he won't hold it himself. 

Right now his purees are pretty smooth - basically stage 2 organic foods in a jar or tube (Ella's, Plum baby, Happy Tot, and Earth's Best) We tried some stage 3 stuff for a while but he would just gag and spit it out and get all fussy.  My philosophy was to keep meal times calm so if he didn't seem ready for something I wasn't gonna force it...I wonder if I was too timid though and should have kept with the stage 3 stuff longer.  I didn't introduce the dry cereal until almost 10 months cause I was reading all the labels that said he should be crawling first and he was a late crawler...we started with baby Mum-mums and then added the smaller puffed dry cereal pieces.  Occasionnaly I'd give him some banana in one of those mesh things which he'd eat a little bit.  We kind of stayed there for a few months...partially because I got really busy with grad school and he was with the sitter and the grandparents more and I didn't trust them to introduce new things.  I'm not taking classes or working this summer though so I'm ready to figure this out. This week we've been offering more finger foods at the begninng of each meal.  Just putting them on his tray and munching some ourselves.  The first few days he wanted nothing to do with them and just poked them and then turned his head away and fussed.  But tonight he didn't seem to mind them being on his tray.  He kept pointing to them and "asking" us to tell him what each was.  He went as far as picking up the red pepper a couple times but never put it in his mouth (which is crazy since EVERYTHING else in the house goes right in his mouth the second he picks it up.)  So I'm hopeful that we're heading in the right direction.  I know that I don't want to turn meal times into battles, but I also don't want to create a finicky eater...I'm not sure what the right balance is. 

He is generally a very happy baby, just doesn't totally love meal time.  He's a little on the small size (15% for weight, 60% for height, 90% for head size) but has been gaining weight at the right speed over the past few visits according to the doctor.  I feel like he's getting enough food, I just wish he seemed more interested in being a part of the feeding process.  He loves popping cereal into his mouth so it isn't like he doesnt' get the concept.  But he wants nothing to do with holding his own cup or spoon or trying any new finger foods.  Maybe it's not really a problem...perhaps I just need to keep offering and wait it out...I'm a first time new mom so I obsess about these things.  :)

Thanks for your help,
G

Offline Lolly

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Re: How do I drop bottles/introduce sippy cup?
« Reply #3 on: May 13, 2011, 06:50:20 am »
I think a good way to start would be to thicken those purees up and start moving onto lumpier food, he needs the opportuntiy to learn to chew and move on to proper foods. We started by not pureeing foods but mashing so the texture becomes thicker rather than lumpier and offered finger foods at the same time. They do gag a lot to start, but that's actually good as they are learning to deal with textures and use their oral muscles to protect their air ways. If you are still on stage 2 baby foods I would move onto stage 3 now and give plenty of finger foods.

I've never heard the waiting until they are crawling! Both mine had finger foods as soon as we started solids so were feeding themselves all sorts from 6 months! Parents who follow baby led weaning do no purees at all from 6 months! We moved through the stages pretty quickly so they were eating stage 3 well by 10 months and both were on "proper" food by 1 and mostly self feeding.

I would swap one of the day bottles for a sippy cup too, he really doesn't need that much milk now - if you do some research they really only need about 14oz and you wan't him to be hungry at meal times to give him an incentive to eat more chunkier food and finger fodds. Most babies are on a morning bottle and a bedtime bottle by 1 year - don't forget the dairy in food counts towards his intake too, their dairy doesn't need to be liquid milk at this age.

What do you think?

Laura


Offline genyaf

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Re: How do I drop bottles/introduce sippy cup?
« Reply #4 on: May 13, 2011, 14:34:19 pm »
Well so far he won't eat any dairy other than milk...he makes faces at yogurt though sometimes he'll eat it mixed in with other things.  So let's say I want to swap one of those day bottles for a sippy cup...how do I it?  I've tried giving it to him upstairs where we usually have the bottle sitting on my lap and he was just mad it wasn't his bottle and cried.  Should I take him downstairs and put him in the high chair....I've never gotten him to take more than a few sips from a cup so far.  Also he wakes up kinda cranky from naps until he drinks his bottle....do you think he'd get over that if we just started heading downstairs to the high chair right away?

I tried mashing up a banana and feeding it to him "lumpy" this morning and that went okay.  He made crazy faces at first, but when I mixed it in with some of his puree he ate it without issue.

The gerber finger food type things (puffed cereal, yogurt bites, etc) are all labeled as either sitter, crawler, toddler, etc and all the finger food one said crawler or toddler so that's why I didn't give him any earlier.  When we saw our doctor for his 9 month apt (he was acually 10 months at the time) she told us not to worry about that, but of course it was kind of late by that point.  Oh well.  I just don't get why he will self feed dry cereal so easily but won't take anything else.

Offline Lolly

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Re: How do I drop bottles/introduce sippy cup?
« Reply #5 on: May 13, 2011, 15:53:51 pm »
I would just take him downstairs and give him a sippy when he wakes, he will probably object but he should get used to it in a few days if you stick to it. I don't think I would put him in a highchair though, take him to where he plays so you can distract him with toys and have the sippy to offer him and he can have it while he plays. You could always do his evening meal a bit earlier if he is hungry but won't drink his milk from the sippy.  The routine you have him on is more common for younger babies really, around 10 months is usually when bottles get dropped to 3 a day and after food because they need to work towards solids replacing milk. Our routine used to be milk first thing, just before afternoon nap and bedtime with solids at the usual mealtimes and a morning snack if she needed it. After 1 you need to think of milk as a drink rather than the food it used to be!

I see where you got the crawling bit from! I'm in the UK so our baby foods have an age indication but to be honest I've never tyaken much notice, once they hit 6 months if they could manage it they could have it (withing reason of course ;))!

Well done on the mashed banana - keep going with the mashing of his foods! He could be liking the cereal over other foods because it's dry - it may be a texture issue. A good thing to try is to let him just play with foods in his high chair, wet foods, slippery, yoghurt etc. It will be messy but he can explore different textures and he will probably start putting things in his mouth or at least getting tastes when he puts his hands in his mouth - keep smiling and encouraging him!

Laura


Offline genyaf

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Re: How do I drop bottles/introduce sippy cup?
« Reply #6 on: May 13, 2011, 16:08:52 pm »
I will try bringing him downstairs to play when he gets up from one of his naps and see how it goes today.  He was a bit of a crank this morning though...so maybe I'll wait till after the afternoon nap and see how he does this afternoon. 

He did start poking at the finger foods a bit more yesterday, and whenever I accidentally drop any puree on his tray he likes to finger paint with it...so I guess I'll just embrace the mess and see what comes of it. :)  Right now I have the bowl and just feed him, should I get one of those sticky bowls and let the puree sit on his tray to you think?

I realize his schedule is a little bit more like a 10 month one...we've been doing it since then. :)  It just seemed to be going so smoothly that it was hard to want to change it..  Also at 8-9 months he wasn't gaining weight well and we switched from nursing to exclusively pumping and giving bottles to be sure he was getting enough (also because he really didn't want to nurse anymore anyway)  After 3 months of working hard to get enough milk into him, it's hard to turn around and try to get him to drink less milk.  Seems like as soon as we get a good system going it's time to switch to something else.  I suppose that is the nature of raising babies.  :)


Offline Lolly

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Re: How do I drop bottles/introduce sippy cup?
« Reply #7 on: May 13, 2011, 16:15:01 pm »
Definitly put the bowl in front of him and give him a spoon too! I've never found a stick on bowl that worked though - my two were able to pull them off within seconds ::).

They do like to keep us on our toes though - some will let you know they want change and some need to be nudged in the right direction! My soon to be 2 "baby" is currently having fun pulling a pair of knickers up and down because she wants to use the potty, not my choice but what can you do! ;)

Laura


Offline genyaf

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Re: How do I drop bottles/introduce sippy cup?
« Reply #8 on: May 14, 2011, 01:58:44 am »
Potty training before 2...wow.  Have fun with that. :)

Well the sippy cup after the afternoon nap didn't go very well.  He woke up and smiled at me when i came in and I picked him up and took him downstairs and he was happy enough for about a minute and then seemed to realize that we weren't going to the red chair to have a bottle and he just got all limp, clingy, and weepy.  I tried offering the sippy cup and he cried even more.  I kept with it and he took a couple sips then really started wailing.  I have to admit that I gave in and gave him a bottle at that point.  I know...not my best example of being firm.

We did chunky sweet potatoes again at dinner though and I put the bowl on his tray.  He played with them a little and dipped a spoon in the once and put the (mostly empty) spoon in his mouth once too so that was progress.  I was thinking about shifting things aroudn so he has lunch right when he gets up from his morning nap and a snack right when he gets up form his afternoon nap (right now he has a bottle first and then a meal an hour afterward)  Or do you think putting him in a high chair right after naps, when he's used to his bottle, will just make the high chair a bad association?  He tends to be kind of fussy in his hair chair already.

And thank you so much for responding to all theses posts.

Offline Lolly

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Re: How do I drop bottles/introduce sippy cup?
« Reply #9 on: May 14, 2011, 06:59:17 am »
Think of it this way - he has had his routine for quite a while now and it's pretty ingrained, the fussing and crying is his way of complaining that you are doing things differently. He doesn't need as much milk as he is having and he won't be harmed by not having one bottle and he won't be harmed by crying and complaining for a few days while you change his routine. What you are teaching him is that if he complains loudly enough about something he doesn't like then mummy will give in to him - and that's not good for either of you ;) I do understand why you gave him the bottle back, but if he has spent time crying and then gets what he wants the crying has been for nothing and you just have to start all over again the next day.

Giving lunch or a snack earlier is a good idea, you can distract him with food and give him milk in a sippy cup with his meal/ snack instead of the bottle before. If he does start crying in the high chair you can take him down and get him to calm down - use his favourite toys what ever will distract him and then try again when he is calm. Just remember to stick to your plan - if you are changing things it will take a few days at least to get him used to it so no going back to what you were doing before!

Good progress on the eating!

Laura


Offline genyaf

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Re: How do I drop bottles/introduce sippy cup?
« Reply #10 on: May 23, 2011, 20:39:31 pm »
I totally agree with what you are saying about letting him cry and then giving him the bottle in the end only teaches him that crying = getting his way.  Which is why I know I need to be ready to commit to changing the habit before it will change and I guess I'm not quite there yet.  Again I feel like I'm working on too many things at once (lumpier food, finger food, cow's milk, how to use a sippy cup, no bottle after naps.)  It felt like too much at once.  So I decided to pick a few things to focus on first.  I don't know if that was the right thing to do, but it felt right and what I've learned about changing habits will help give me more confidence when I do eventually tackle the bottle dropping.

So...in the last week he has become a PRO at lumpy textured purees.  Like you said, it only took a few days of constantly offering it for him to get over the crazy faces and spitting he had been doing.  He'll happily eat stage 3 foods now and I got a food mill so I can make up some even chunkier versions of whatever we're having for dinner.  We have also been working on finger foods and haven't had a ton of success but he will now eat several different things that are the same texture/consistency as dry cereal (which is all he would eat before) and after we had another baby come over to show off his finger food eating skills, he will now eat toasted cheese mini-sandwiches which I was REALLY excited about. 

I added a couple of snacks to his routine and we are working with the sippy cups at snack and meal times.  He still doesn't hold it and drink, but is pretty good about taking drinks if I hold the cup.  In general he's been a lot less fussy in the high chair than he has been and is eating more solids that he was.  He is still getting 20 ounces of milk a day in bottles, which I know is on the high side (our pediatrician said 14-24) when he wakes in the morning, when he wakes from naps, and before bed.  Would it be terrible to wait until he drops his morning nap to work on cutting out the daytime bottles?  That way there would be only one to cut out.  I'd at least like to wait until he actually drinks form him sippy cup without assistance...do you think that's a bad idea?

Offline Lolly

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Re: How do I drop bottles/introduce sippy cup?
« Reply #11 on: May 23, 2011, 20:54:05 pm »
That's great news on the eating! Well done both of you!

I can see where you are coming from with changing things and you absolutely have to do what you feel is best for your toddler and your family. There are no rights and wrongs, we are all doing the best we can with the information we have available!

It wouldn't be terrible to wait a until he moves to one nap to drop a bottle, but that could be a few months yet and it depends on how happy you are to be carrying on with bottles - I was VERY glad to be done with them, it makes life easier all round ;). I wonder what would happen if you stopped holding the sippy cup for him? If he wanted it enough I'm sure he would work out he needs to pick it up and drink from it, especially if he wants his milk, it's in the cup and you aren't going to hold it for him! If he knows you will do it for him he has no incentive to do it for himself - these toddlers are very clever!

What do you think?

Laura


Offline genyaf

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Re: How do I drop bottles/introduce sippy cup?
« Reply #12 on: May 23, 2011, 21:03:51 pm »
I don't mind the bottles at all.  We just switched to cow's milk and I had been exclusively pumping for the last 3 months because he'd stopped nursing and I wanted to get to a year on breast milk.  So I'm still basking in the glow of not having to pump anymore or worry about how much milk I produced or what's left of the freezer stash, etc.  So bottles are fine with me, but I don't want to hold him back or create a huge issue for myself later.  I did switch the bottles back to the slow flow nipple and put a little less milk in each bottle so he's down from 24 ounces a day to 20.  I think I may try bringing that down a little more as well.

I will continue to work on the tippy cup at meal times.  I think you may be right about not holding the cup.  I was a little unsure of whether or not I should be "helping" him or "showing" him how it works or just letting him be to figure it out.  When I don't offer the cup he tends to mostly just ignore it sitting on his tray.  I recently tried another brand that has some pictures of animals on it, so at least he seems a little interested in the cup.  Perhaps I'll just step back and let him work it out on his own.  Your suggestion of putting the bowl on his tray and giving him a spoon has been going really well too by the way.  He used to just ignore his spoon but now he picks it up every once in a while and if I say "put that in your mouth" he does (or at least tries to anyway ;) )

Offline Lolly

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Re: How do I drop bottles/introduce sippy cup?
« Reply #13 on: May 23, 2011, 21:13:32 pm »
I learned the hard way with spoons and forks - they spent so long trying to get the spoon off me it was easier to give them one to play with while I spooned the food in! With forks it's also easier to have two, they get so frustrated trying to spear food I load one fork and leave it on the plate to be picked up then while they use that one I load the next one ready! Keeps meal times calmer and they get some food in them!

I would cut the bottles back a bit more as well, it will make it easier to drop if you gradually reduce the amount in the day time bottles. That should also help his solids intake as well.

You have done a fantastic job with pumping for so long by the way!

Laura


Offline Texomamama

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Re: How do I drop bottles/introduce sippy cup?
« Reply #14 on: May 29, 2011, 12:51:59 pm »
The transition from bottle to sippy cup can take a while and entail a fair amount of practice.  As Laura suggested, you might also have to try several different kinds of cups before you find one that works best for him.  I really think it can takes weeks or maybe even longer for a LO to get the hang of a sippy cup.  You just have to keep offering and let them figure it out independently.

Also, if having that bottle first thing in the a.m. is a sacred part of his routine, then I personally would let him keep at it for a while.  On the one hand, it seems to be going backwards, not forwards (b/c getting to the cup is the goal you are trying to reach), but a bottle in and of itself is not the problem, it is just an object from which they get the milk.  The issue is that lots of toddlers will carry their own bottles around and keep it in their mouths for long periods of time, and that can cause problems with all those sugars on their teeth etc.  If he is draining that a.m. bottle in 3 minutes, I see no problem with it.  Save this transition to sippy for the very end.  Why start out his day on a bad note?

As far as solids, those "age and stage" things are just guidelines and they seem overly conservative to me.  My DD2 will be 9 mo next week and has been eating finger foods/lumpy foods since 7 months, about 3 weeks before she was crawling. I am surprised Gerber Stage 3 foods don't say something like "If your child is starting Kindergarten this year, he/she may be ready for the lumpier texture of these foods". :)