From bottles....to sippy cups???

Lynn - posted on 02/20/2010

I started using a variety of cups along with the bottle. I found the cups with the silacone nipples were a good transitiona tool. They feel like the bottle nipple, but help them get used to the feeling of drinking something a lttle harder and bigger. I also used the cups with the straw. It was messy at times, but my baby felt accomplished when she finally learned how to drink with it.

Jennifer - posted on 02/19/2010

Good luck! I'm sure she'll get the hang of sippy cups soon enough =]

Mary Beth - posted on 02/19/2010

Thanks Everybody!!! Great advice!!!! Day One today and Mommy is NOT BACKING DOWN!!!! No more bottles YAY!!!!!

Kelly - posted on 02/19/2010

my son had a bottle till 2yrs. I woulnt worry about what others say.

When she is ready you will beable to change her over. Maybe try a normal cup she may like that better my BIL did that with his girl as she hated sippy cups and they wanted her off the bottle. She now is just about to turn 2 and only uses a cup.



Good luck and dont stress

Jennifer - posted on 02/19/2010

I've been told that health professionals recommend not using bottle after 1 year old due as it contributes to tooth decay. I've bought a sippy cup which is suitbale form 4 months and plan to try using that with my son from around that age and hopefully by the age of 1 he'll be off bottles. Have you tried different types of sippy cups. You could try the non-spill type or some actually have a rubber spout which is very similar to a teat which may help the transition.

Tracy - posted on 02/19/2010

I never used a bottle except when leaving my child with a relative for a long period of time. I nursed my kids till they were two, two and a half, and I can't imagin stoping before then. I did start introducing additional fluids in a sippie cup about 14 months old. The breast was for sleep time and the sippie for meal times. There was no confusion :)

Iridescent - posted on 02/19/2010

We made sure our kids could drink from their sippy cups (a few of the kids had a very hard time with certain types), and once we found a kind that worked, the bottles magically disappeared during the night. We have never put the kids to bed or to a nap with a drink (EVER), so there was no habit to break there. With our oldest, we had a cup of water available to him for nights (he only slept ~5 hours per night from infancy on, so his activity level at night caused thirst). They didn't really even fuss much about it - out of sight, out of mind. Bottles were gone, cups were there.

And any time our kids decide to do things like throw something they don't like at us (be it what's in a cup, what's on their plate, or the fact that they are using a cup), we take it, put it away, and let them cry. Mealtime OVER. Offer it again when the rest have finished (10 minutes or so later). If they do it again, put it away again. When they cry for a drink or food, offer it again. Eventually, they get the idea. They will not starve over this!

Melissa - posted on 02/18/2010

my daughter is 10 months and has all her milk besides her night bottle (cos i would miss the cuddles too much lol) in her sippy cup the only kind she would use was one with a straw she loves it. i also flavour her milk now and then as a treat.

Dana - posted on 02/18/2010

i agree with Delores...."TRY A DIFFERENT CUP". I've had 3 boys all of them were off the bottle and drinking out of sippy cups at 9 months. My kids never liked the "trainer" cups with the 2 handles on the side. i bought the soft top ones at wal-mart for about $2 and started with those. Then i moved onto the hard ones when they started chewing on the rubber. Sometimes my boys would try the cup and not get anything out so i had to remove the stoppers and slowly let the drink pour out as they tipped it back. Of course you had to pay attention so they didn't get too much and choke, but it worked. The only other advice i could give you is maybe skip the sippy and just try to get your child to drink out of a real cup. Some kids will do that.

Delores - posted on 02/18/2010

i started early with the conversion he's 14 months now.. at first my son would get upset with me about not putting his milk into a bottle and would also throw his sippy cup. i know its hard and difficult but all i would do is just pick it up and offeer it to him again. it takes time. just dont give up. you might want to try to change the type of sippy you are using. she just might not like the kind she has. luckily there are many many different types out there.

Kim - posted on 02/18/2010

My daughter was just over a year old and I was having the same problem. My cousin recommended telling her that the bottle was broken (I didn't think she would understand) and that she would have to have the sippy cup. Incredibly she understood and it was bottle to sippy cup in one day! I praised her and told her she was a big girl. We never looked back. Put the bottles where she cannot see or have access to them (out of sight out of mind right?). Good luck!

Erin - posted on 02/18/2010

try giving her water in a sippy and see if she will drink that, and then start putting her milk in it, or put water in her bottle and milk in her cup if she wants the milk badly enough she may opt for the cup.the 1st methose worked with my oldest, the secound methode with my middle, good luck

Jamie - posted on 02/18/2010

My daughter had a hard time too and I bought the sippies that have the soft nipple-like tops.It seemed to make the transition easier for her!

Andrea - posted on 02/18/2010

My little cousin was like that when we tried to switch him off the bottle. Try flavoring her milk with either chocolate or strawberry syrup. That way she has an added bonus associated with drinking out of a cup. Don't add too much (not as much as most of us would add for ourselves haha), just enough to give it more flavor than she would be expecting. It worked with my cousin, and luckily, my daughter is not putting up too much of a fight. Good luck!

Delores - posted on 02/18/2010

i started early with the conversion he's 14 months now.. at first my son would get upset with me about not putting his milk into a bottle and would also throw his sippy cup. i know its hard and difficult but all i would do is just pick it up and offeer it to him again. it takes time. just dont give up. you might want to try to change the type of sippy you are using. she just might not like the kind she has. luckily there are many many different types out there.

Delores - posted on 02/18/2010

i started early with the conversion he's 14 months now.. at first my son would get upset with me about not putting his milk into a bottle and would also throw his sippy cup. i know its hard and difficult but all i would do is just pick it up and offeer it to him again. it takes time. just dont give up. you might want to try to change the type of sippy you are using. she just might not like the kind she has. luckily there are many many different types out there.

Heather - posted on 02/18/2010

I know this sounds hard and horrible but YOU have to be the stubborn one. I work for a pediatric dentist and an orthodontist. The longer your baby stays on the bottle the more likely she is to have a narrowed pallate and a crossbite. There was a week (over christmas) our offices closed. I chose that time to break the night-time bottle habit with my 8 month old (since I would be the only having to deal with my sleep deprivation) It was HARD I got about 2 hours of non-consecutive sleep the first 2 nights, then he gave up. It might take longer since these are her comfort methods but you just have to keep forcing it. She WILL drink when she's thristy.



Also. Is she in daycare? around other babies still on bottles? this can have a HUGE effect on how long it will take to break the habit