Do you want to chat about transitioning to a sippy cup??

[mclaudiam]

Hi.  I'm so happy I found this chat, because I was looking for some advice about how to deal with bottles and zippy cups.

First, my daughter, who is 2 and a half, takes a bottle in the morning and one before going to sleep, and she drinks it while in her bed.  Everytime I offer milk in a cup (I have bought a lot of them to make it interesting for her) and explain her that she is old enough to quit bottles and drink in a cup or a plastic glass, she drinks only 1 or 2 oz and then cries until she get her bottle.  I hate bottles!!!!  I want to get rid of them and I don't want to be worry about not having her bottles if I'm out of my house... and so.  What can I do?  I don't want her to quit drinking milk, but I don't want her to have bottles anymore.

The second fact is that my son is 6, almost 7 months and I'm offering him a zippy cup for 3 weeks now, but he is not very interested.  I know it takes time.  He is bf in the morning and before going to sleep and as I see things, everything will lead me to the same problem I have with my daughter.  How do you manage to give the milk before going to sleep and in the morning with the cup instead of the bottle?  Right before dinner and then not giving him anything before going to sleep?  Will he drink as much milk as he does when I feed him?

[legend_018]

I guess I ended up lucking out. I tried a few times and failed. One week she wasn't feeling well and not drinking as much. I started her on the sippy cup that week. I had enough because she is a milk a holic more than the norm and doesn't eat solids well. It worked. She has been drinking out of a sippy cup now for weeks and I put away the bottles.

[Calums mum]

Hello,
my little guy is 20 months and I'm having a heck of a time transitioning form sippy to bottle. He'll take water out of a sippy no problem but not milk. He still gets 3 bottles a day. Morning, nap and bed. He really loves his bottle and I'm pretty sure he's not using it as a soother because he has one of those too. He's a real creature of comfort. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to make this transition easier for both of us? I would really appreciate some help.

[debo620]

my only suggestion would be to possibly remove the association of milk and sleep. So start with the morning, and offer milk in sippy with breakfast, if he only takes a couple of oz then so be it.
no milk at nap time, offer it at lunch instead,
no milk at bedtime, offer it with supper instead,

you could do the milk in the bottle with meals and I think as it stops being part of the sleep routine, that maybe the transition to the sippy will be easier

[*Kimberly*]

Calums Mum- Deb's suggestion is what we did and it worked for us.  We stopped making milk and solids two separate meals.  For a bit, his milk consumption was smaller than normal but it did go back to normal.

[NikkiSurrey]

Hi there

Last post here was a few months ago so not sure if anyone's checking this thread, but here goes.  I've read back a few posts to get some ideas but in that short time didn't spot a situation quite like ours, though I'm sure (hope) it is probably fairly common.

DS is 10.5 months.  He will not be held at all to have his bottle (it's a wrestling match), so we sit him in his high chair (so he can't crawl away), however he will not hold his bottle - we have to hold it for him.

He uses a Tommee Tippee 6m+ cup pretty well to get around 1oz of water with each of his 3 meals, though it's taken a lot of practice.  I started him with the Avent cups - giving only milk at first - and he did fairly well (with the valve removed) then I realised that after several weeks he'd actually got no better at actually drinking.  So I tried a few different cups and found the Tommee Tippee ones worked best - there is no valve and his instinct to bite down on the cup spout is rewarded.

He is not that proficient with the TT cup but he understands how it works - he bites then sucks to get the water - and I am seeing him improve very gradually.  As he won't tip the cup, I fill the cup right up so that he only needs to tip it slightly to get the water.

This change to the TT cups was when I was already only giving water with each meal, as by then, meals were separate from milk feeds.  So I've started offering his milk in the TT cup and he refuses it - scrunches his face up as if to say "you've got to be kidding, my milk comes from a bottle and you hold it for me".

He often feels quite indifferent about his milk anyway, getting between 10oz-15oz a day (sanctioned by our health visitor) so if he didn't get his milk, he probably wouldn't care - but I do!

Anyone else out there with this combination of factors? Ie

- won't be held to drink milk
- won't hold bottle himself
- just learning how to drink water from cup
- refuses milk out of same cup
- not crazy about milk

I've tried different types of cup for his milk but he looked at me as if I was completely mad - didn't even seem to recognise them as a cup for drinking anything out of, let alone milk.

At the moment, I'm just perservering with offering the milk in the cup and hoping that as he gets older and better at drinking the water from the cup, his inherent sense of independence will take over.

Any thoughts extremely welcome.

Many thanks.
Nikki

[sarahbeth]

I am having the same problem as many of  you: my LO will only take milk from a bottle. She has associated milk for the bottle and juice/water for the cup. She easily adjusts to many different sippy cups.  I have bought the Nubby sippy cups and placed the teat in place of the nipple on her bottle.  She takes two sips and throws the bottle.  If she sees milk in her sippy cup, she won't even try it.  I have tried to go cold turkey, but she gets so worked up that she almost vomits.  It is good to know that I am not the only one!  Advice would be wonderful.  Until then, persistence in offering milk in the sippy cup.  (She takes her bottle before bed, before her afternoon nap and again mid afternoon.)

[Larissanne]

lol... It seems like I'm not the only one having trouble getting my baby to drink milk from a sippy cup!  I was starting to think something was wrong with my kid, because all of my friend's baby had no problem with their transition.  I've started a sippy cup from when she was 8 months and we finally found one that she liked- Nuby.  However, whenever I try to do milk, she won't drink from it... only water.  She literally will cry and throw the cup down.  I eve tried the little milk in a sippy cup trick and she does the same thing.  I'm getting worried that soon she won't want to drink out of the sippy cup at all.  The other issue I have is that she is underweight (5%) and the Dr. wants me to fill her up with as much calories as possible.  She is already a picky eater and pretty much gets most of her calories from milk, so I can't really can't wait her out to see if she is really hungry and drink from her sippy cup trick.  Is anyone else in the same boat?

I'm also thinking, that maybe, I just wait on the sippy cup.  I actually don't let her walk around with a bottle.  We have bottle time and mommy usually holds it for her, as she likes to splatter milk from her bottle.  She loves to drink out of a glass (but, not milk).  Do you think I should just wait or keep trying? Thanks!

[grahamsmama]

I think because of the weight issue, it's probably more important to get the milk in her anyway you can.  I'd stick with the bottle and offer the sippy maybe once a day, but don't make it a stressful situation, just for fun. 

[Vanessia]

wow..!!
this thread is god sent ..seriously!!!
and its a good thing u renamed it like u said..bcoz thats what got my attention..this is just what i was looking for..
yehieeee...!!
okie, so, DS is 15 months and has two bottles a day(of milk) one in the morning when he wakes up & the 2nd at night before he sleeps.
I have been trying to wean him off the bottle for quite a while now..say...mm..since he turned one...but i only managed to get him off the bottle for water & juice..it took me months & a hundred different sippy cups....(no kidding!!!)
and FNALLY i found one that worked..its a straw cup...the no spill types...
healways loved drinking water ...and when i was weaning him off the bottle i wanted to see the same look of satisfaction that he usually got from drinking from the bottle..and i finally did..
now he will drink water and juice from this and juice smetimes from any kind of cup..!!!!
NOW heres my question...
HOW DO U GET THEM OFF THE BOTTLE FOR MILK???
if u ask me..id say its NOT possible...
i give him the same milk in a sippy he refuses it....in a straw cup also he will refuse it..he seems to want milk ONLY in the bottle and the bottle ONLY for milk!!!
and also only in the mornings when he wakes up & at nights before he sleeps...
so ...how do u start weaning them off..and he just LOVES his milk..(c'min from the bottle fo course)
he relishes it t o the very last sip...but seriously ..is there a simple & easy way out..or ..am i just asking for too much...
 

[grahamsmama]

Well, I saw on Super Nanny that you just take it away.  That makes me nervous.  Personally, I don't think there's any harm in him still having 2 bottles at this age, as long as he isn't using it to fall asleep and you clean his teeth after the bottle before bed.  If it were me, I'd just keep offering it during the day and keep it really fun and see if it clicks in the next few months.

[Mama2boys]

Hi All,

i'm having pretty much the same problem. Sippy cup is great for water, but milk is refused, so much so that DS is now refusing the afternoon bottle!

he is quite keen to drink anything i am drinking in my open cup so was wondering about the Tommy Tippee open cup trainer, the lid has a hole so LO can try and drink like an open cup but the lid makes sure there is no spillage..any thoughts?

Anyone any experience with this. I know 2 bottles a day at 14months is not a problem, but for my own sanity and trying to add some efficiency in my life, i'd like to get DS used to normal cups/sippy cups. Washing bottles has lost its glamour!

thanks,
Mukta

[blitz]

I'm also having the same problem.  DS is only 11 mths old, but he refuses formula from his sippy, which he's been using for water proficiently since he was 7 mths old.  Also, he won't hold his own bottle, except to play with it and spray the whole house in milk.  Lately his intake of milk has been decreasing also, going from 3 6 oz bottles to usually on 4 oz.  This distresses me because he is on the small side, although he does eat lots of solids (but whether he eats lots or not his milk intake is the same).  I was hoping that when he is one and starts on cows milk that he may take that from a cup, but maybe not.

[nwmm]

This thread cracks me up because I still receive notifications since I was on here with my first lo and now I am on #2. 

I know there are a few challenges people are facing.  In terms of an open cup, consider having your lo drink from a shot glass.  That is what they do at Montessori schools.  If glass is daunting to you, find a plastic or stainless steel shot glass.   It is just the right size for little hands.  Some people use votive candle holders.  Now that my lo is "older" I have found glass measuring cups (Walmart) that hold more than a shot glass, but are still small.  Mine is in the dishwasher now, but it holds a few ounces. 

Some of the sippy cups are fine to use without a lid.  We do that when we are tired of washing the valves etc. 

[suzannemoore]

My lo is almost 15 months old and we are wondering when to make the transition from bottle to sippy, and giving up the bottles for good.  He is good about drinking cows milk out of his sippy, as I offer it to him at all meals.  I guess it is the bedtime bottle that will be the most challenging.  When did most of you try the switch?  Any advice on how to drop the bottles??
Thanks
SUzanne