Won't drink anything from a cup - going cold turkey?

[ENMS]

DS is 21 months and still on a bottle 

He was delayed in his eating due to food intolérances and we've been doing one thing at a time and it's finally time to wean the bottle.  But he refuses to drink anything in a cup. I've tried a few of them  - straw, soft spout, hard spout, same as his sister, he plays with it but never drinks.

At that age I'm assuming I have to go cold turkey because no matter how often I offer he doesn't take it. I'm just scared he won't drink anything all day since he's not even having water in a sippy.

Also he's still getting 3 bottles a day which I know is too much so I don't mind reducing it along with the wean, but my first priority is to get him to drink from a cup.

Any advice?

[jessmum46]

I wonder if he's having three bottles whether he probably isn't thirsty enough to be bothered about drinking anything else? J really didn't drink much water at all until we were down to only two breastfeeds. I'd be tempted to get rid of the middle bottle cold turkey and keep offering water in the sippy and see how that goes as a first step.

[ENMS]

Yeah you're probably right about him not being thirsty enough... up until 2 months ago he needed those 3 bottles since he was barely eating but now he's eating just fine and I've just been lazy about it over the summer

He started a new daycare 2 weeks ago and he's not eating a lot for lunch. Also all the LO's get milk after lunch over there (in a cup). Wondering if given the circumstance it would be best to wean the morning bottle maybe and let him have his lunch one? WDYT? OR I could stop offering the lunch bottle over the week-end to start him being used to it and tell daycare to offer the sippy after luncH?

[Mama2Athena]

Honestly if it were me, I'd wean the middle bottle, especially if he is starting daycare soon.  Both my kids went/goes to daycare and they always seem to "follow" what other kids do, kind of like peer pressure.  So if your LO sees other kids drinking from a cup, he might follow suit.

[ENMS]

ok will definitely stop the middle bottle as of today. I still offer the morning and evening bottle and wean them to a cup one at a time you think?

[ENMS]

Ok so I am now offering a bottle morning and evening but not in between. Am only offering sippy cups with water and milk during the day. He is totally refusing the sippy, throwing it every time. Should I try for a different sippy or just stick to it? We had 3 full days now.

[jessmum46]

Have you tried a doidy cup?  It's a bit different to a sippy - it's a slanted open cup which is meant to be quite easy for LOs to get the hang of.  Maybe he'd feel more 'grown up' with that?

[ENMS]

Tried it tonight. He though it was lots of fun but did not get anything to drink from it really.

*sigh* I think I have to take the quiz again, because he's getting more and more spirited every day this kid! he wants what he wants, and he wants it NOW!

he's still adapting to the new daycare so by the time I pick him up he's totally tired hungry (and thirsty too!). this is so hard

[jessmum46]

How much milk does he get in his bottles?  I'm still wondering if he's not thirsty enough to bother drinking during the day.  They do get quite a lot of liquid from food too so if he still has quite large bottles he really might not have the drive to drink something he 'doesn't like' if you see what I mean.

Just for comparison over the course of a day J probably has about 5-6oz of water from her sippy (occasionally more), couple of oz milk on her cereal in the morning, maybe up to 5-6oz of milk in the evening before bed (often less) and that's it apart from liquid in food.  Oh, plus a bit of bath water Doesn't sound like a lot now I think about it, but she's perfectly happy.  Sometimes if we're out and about she will as a treat have one of those no added sugar fruit drinks and will happily drink it all, but I think that's because she likes the taste rather than actual thirst.  And she always has a massively full nappy about an hour later!

Have you considered trying a diluted juice (not sure how easy this is with his intolerances/allergies?) to tempt him to use the sippy?  And then gradually water down? 

[Mama2Athena]

Has he used anything to drink from other than a bottle?  If not, maybe start with a Nuby, which has a soft nipple like spout.  I know it sounds backwards and maybe not appropriate for his age.  But the soft spout is easy for them to get liquid from, and it sort of feels like a bottle.  Both my kids started with the Nuby, then slowly transitioned to a hard spout and finally a straw cup (well 17 month old DD is not quite there yet).  DD now drinks milk mainly from one of those Take n Toss sippy cups, but still uses a Nuby (which she LOVES) for iced water on weekends.

I know it's hard to see them so thirsty after daycare, but both my kids are this way too.  Have you tried the sippy cup at this time, when he's thirstiest?  I know my DD will easily chug down 4 oz of milk in her sippy in a couple of minutes when we first get home from daycare.  Also jessmum46 is right, there is a lot of liquids in food, especially if your LO likes fruits and yogurt like my DD does.  DD's pediatrician also told me that they don't really need a lot of liquid, maybe 16 oz, which doesn't seem like alot does it?

[ENMS]

Thank you both for your responses!!

Katherine he gets 4 oz in the morning and 8 oz at night. He doesn't eat cereals but he eats very well so I'm sure he does get a lot of fluids through his meals. This summer (granted it was much warmer) he was getting 3 x 8oz of milk and 2 x 6-7 oz of water. So it just seems so little right now but you're right, I have to look at his needs and obviously he must be having enough. I've also tried diluted juice in the sippy, no luck.

Mama2Athena I've tried soft spout cups but not the Nuby, will look for it this week-end to try it. I don't really mind which cup he takes to even if it's a soft spout I'm more interested in getting him off the bottle