will i ever win this battle

[ryan's mum]

as many of you know we are really struggling to get Ryan to drink out of something other than his bottle. i have a drawer full of sippy cups , beakers , straw cups he can drink out of them but won't drink enough . he knows he has 1 up on me as i have to leave the bottle out , he is on a med that requires him to drink a lot of water for it to work properly.
 i have totally quit on the sippy cups and beakers now , so today i took the lid off one of the beakers i have with handles and put a juice i know he likes in it , he stood there dipping his fingers in the juice and sucking it 
  this is driving me crazy , we have been to playgroups were he has seen other kids drinking out of them but it doesn't bother him.
  i'm out of ideas now .we have left a straw cup out all day before now and he has had 3 small sips in the space of 6hrs , then he moans and searches everywhere for his bottle.

[mommyoftwo]

I know he is over 2 years old, but, if there are no other reason (except for his age) to wean him off it, then, why not just give him the bottle?  Sooner or later, he'll wean himself off.  My niece had a bottle until she went to kindergarten... didn't seem to give her any issues and her teeth are fine as well.  Her mum tried to wean her off but, finally decided it wasn't worth all the aggravation and she was right.  This may not be the support you are looking for.  I just thought you'd like to see the other side of the coin.

[ryan's mum]

to be totally honest , yes it is only the age factor that is bothering me . some days i dress him for the day and he looks so much older depending what he wears , then he lifts his bottle to his mouth .i know that i used to look at older kids with bottles and think "he's too old for that " now Ryan is slowly becoming one of those kids.i have got to the point of giving up soo many times , i know like most other things , he will do it when he's ready. it seems he's digging his heels in the more i try.

[mommyoftwo]

I know what you mean....

You certainly have a stubborn son -- that's for sure!  

Is he into Thomas trians?  We got our son Thomas the train sippy cups and made a big deal out of it.  He was so excited when he saw them.  He always asks for his sippy cups now.  If Ryan doesn't buy it, then, you know what?  Let him drink from his bottle.  I wouldn't worry about it.  Maybe when he sees that mommy isn't making a big deal out of it, then, he might just want to drink from a sippy cup, KWIM?  Otherwise, just wait it out if it's not hurting him.  And to hell with other people, heh?

[ryan's mum]

we have been down that road too . he has a Thomas 1 , Bob the Builder and a spiderman straw cup. he chose 2 of them himself , couldn't wait to drink out of it , 1 sip and O.K don't want that anymore. i can leave them out with drink in and not say a word all day , he just acts as if it's not there. he is very strong willed.
  going to be brave and leave a regular plastic cup out with no lid and see if either he wears it or eventually drinks from it. i am not doing sippies anymore cos knowing my luck he will take to it soon and then i spend the next 2yrs trying to get him off that  .
 DP has banned me from buying anymore cups ,i must have over 10 

[mommyoftwo]

Short of not giving him the bottle at all (which you can't because of the meds), sounds like you've pretty much exhausted all other ideas.  I'd just wait it out with him then even if it takes a while.  Hugs to you.

[Rachel Anne]

Ryans mum,

I can totally relate.  Chloe loved her bottle too!  She had it until she was 3 1/4.  In the end I thought enough is enough she should be off the bottle by now so I snipped the teat right off with a pair of scissors.  I told her "uh oh" the bottle's broken lets go and buy you a brand new big girl cup.  We went shopping and she chose a Dora straw cup.  We haven't looked back since and now she says "when I was a BABY I had a bottle".  She now associates bottles with being babyish thank goodness.

I too have a kitchen draw full of every cup available on the market but I found that once the bottle was out of the way there wasn't the choice of bottle or cup.  It was cup or nothing!  I would seriously consider getting rid of the bottle for good.

It is very frustrating we had MANY false starts like you describe with drinking one sip and then tossing the cup across the room.

[rooby-rooby-roo]

Hey Nadia,

Which med is he on that needs the fluid intake?? - Just nosey!!

If i were you (which i'm not lol!) I would let him have the bottle at home but not when you are out. I know what you mean about people judging you if they see Ryan with a bottle and i would be aware of that, but that is my problem for being too caught up with what other people think!!

I think even though he is two, he is still a bit too little to really understand about giving it up. I would wait until he is a bit older, and like Rachel-Anne and Chloe i think he will 'get it' a little better then.

[ryan's mum]

half of me thinks i'm being too soft with him but would i rather see him with a bottle or in pain ?
 he is on "lactulose " for constipation and we have found that unless he drinks a certain amount it is not as effective.i don't want to go back to the days of him crying and not pooing .the teats on his bottle have broken in the past due to him biting them , he has stopped doing it now incase they break. he is just too clued up .
 he even calls the cup a "big boy cup" but it doesn't matter to him that he's not using it. i don't want to say "well you're not a big boy then " it will feel as though i'm putting him down .
  we tried the no lid cup yesterday and i held one handle and tilted it and made it fun that he wasn't getting a drink cos i wasn't tilting it enough , so he held the other handle and had some drink. we are progressing a bit with that 1 so i'm going to try the " doidy cup " he doesn't have to tilt it as much . also he doesn't seem to handle too much drink in his mouth so that's something he will have to get used to.
 thanks

[notenoughshelfspace]

Hey Nadia, you already know I sympathise with you about  the sippy cup palaver; no luck here either. My ped. said not to give it another thought; sippy cups are not great for babies either so just carry on with the bottle for his fluids. Just keep the  straw cup out for however many sips he wants to take and always offer it but if he does not take it do not stress; he will give  up the bottle eventually.

[ryan's mum]

if he does not take it do not stress; he will give  up the bottle eventually.

fingers crossed

[amheusser]

Since he already understands about them breaking if he bites, Rachel Anne's idea might work.  I know a lot of people use it to get rid of the paci - just cut a little more off every couple of days until there's no nipple left, then it's not as interesting to keep.

What about limiting where he can have a bottle?  Like if you keep a straw cup in the living room for him to have as he plays, but he has to walk to the kitchen to get the bottle?  Having to interrupt his play might not be worth the trouble....

I know at some point it gets to be a problem with their teeth, though I'm not sure exactly the age.  I know you're afraid of him not getting enough to drink, but I don't think he'll hold out more than a day or two once he knows the bottle is really not an option anymore.

[ryan's mum]

we are having more success with an open cup , he seems to drink more out of these .i leave him to it , no pressure and at least he goes for the cup , he's really good no spilling . the doidy cup is good too !
 we went to the hospital the other day and they have the water dispenser , i got him a plastic cup and he drank loads of water , took the cup home and he used it all day. after all the money i have spent on different cups it's the free , cheap plastic cup that did the trick  typical .

[Ennypen]

Just come across this Nadia

and all I can say is...

Kids!!!

Oh and I'm glad Ryan seems to be getting better at drinking from a cup... seems like you are winning the battle... slowly but surely!

H xx

[ryan's mum]

yes ! but there are always more obstacles . we are now taking on the potty taining battle  , he's co operating more with this one