Help with transition to sippy cup

Jesica - posted on 07/18/2009

I had my daughter on a sippy cup when she was 7 or 8 months old and she took to it just fine without any problems. But after she took her seizure (she was almost a year old) she completely stopped doing everything and it was like having a new born baby again. I tried and tried for a long time to get her to go back to a sippy cup and she refused. So what I did was put a sippy cup with water in it on a table that was in her reach and left it there. It took me doing this every day for several months and one day she just started using it and hasn't touched a bottle since. After the first couple weeks of trying really hard to get her to use the cup I just ignored the fact that I left one on the table for her. I think the "sippy" cup my daughter took to was made by Playtex with the straw in it. In my experience of both easy and difficult transition, I'm afraid I would have to agree with Joy Willmore on her comment. While I would recommend you trying what I did, I wouldn't push the issue, your baby is still young and just very well may not be ready for the next step. Good luck

Shawnett - posted on 07/18/2009

Oh my goodness!!! same here

Megan - posted on 07/18/2009

Im having the same issues....just recently she started to take juice from the sippy cup but she still will not take formula from it! Im fearing the day when she goes to drinking whole milk because she has to have it warm...

Ann - posted on 07/18/2009

Ok, I'm gonna be weird here. I know that a lot of parents feel that their child should be off the bottle either mostly or completely by age 1. I disagree. There are studies that show suckling is an important part of emotional development for the first couple of years of life (or more!). Now, I'm not one of those moms who advocate nursing for 4 years like one woman I know, but I do think we cut off from the bottle a little earlier than most kids are ready for it. I let my kids decide when they were done. They all slowly stopped wanting the bottle for the most part sometime between their first and second birthday. The last bottles they wanted to give up were the ones at bedtime and naptime (with water of course). That lasted maybe another 6 months and then just a drink before going to sleep was all that was necessary. As for advice: offer a cup, act happy if she takes a drink or two, and don't get upset if she wants the bottle back. Let her go at her own pace.

Firebird - posted on 07/18/2009

When my girl turned one and started on straight milk (no more formula) I stopped giving her bottles period. There was no "transition period", if she was thirsty she could have her cup. She had very little trouble with it because her spill proof cup was very easy to drink from. Every child is different. Some people get their kids using sippy cups at 6 months others aren't ready for it before a year or so. If she still doesn't get the hang of it maybe you should wait another month or 2. Good luck!

Julie - posted on 07/18/2009

It may sound mean but I tossed all bottles when my son was 1 1/2, since they weren't in the house he couldn't have them, and I couldn't give in. He didn't like it at first, and I did feel bad so at the dinner table I would take the lid off and let him drink from the cup like a big boy, it made him feel very special and I told him in other parts of the house lids had to be on. He got so good with the cups I ended up getting rid of the sippy lids to. The whole thing took about 6mths but I think what help the most is making him feel like he was doing something special and becoming like a big man (as he says).

Katie - posted on 07/18/2009

the sippy cups with the silicone seem to be the best for when your little one is just starting as the tip still feels more like a bottle. she may just not be ready for it. my daughter is a year old now and has been on a sippy since she was about 7 months or so, but that's because she was ready and trying to steal her cousins sippy. your daughter will let you know when she is ready

Shawnett - posted on 07/18/2009

Thank you

Dana - posted on 07/18/2009

My son started out only liking one sippy cup, and it is more like a bottle than the other cups out there, as the silicone spout is pretty much an orthodontic nipple. Have you tried the Nuk learner cup? (http://www.amazon.com/Gerber-NUK-Learner...) It is spill-proof, no small valves to deal with, and my son can't live without his!

Ashley - posted on 07/18/2009

I am in this process too but my daughter turns it upside down and chews the bottom of it. I think it may take them a while to figure out that the sippy cup has stuff to drink in it too. I just give it to her a couple times a day and got the kind that does not spill even if they turn it upside down. I think eventually they figure it out.

Tanya - posted on 07/18/2009

I started giving my daughter a sippy cup when she was 6mths, it only had water in it and most of the time she carried it around and played with it. She would take the occasional drink and most of it ended up on her, but that was how she learned. I had her completely off the bottle and using sippy cups by the time she was 11mths. She stopped using them by the time she was 3, she's 5 now.

Savannah - posted on 07/18/2009

When my son was 1 he started sippy cups right away, he had them here and there before he was 1, but I took the bottles away right when he was one. He did great! But she just may not be ready yet for sippys. She still is young, just do it here and there

Joy - posted on 07/18/2009

I'm sure there will be a hundred comments contradicting me, but maybe she's just not ready for a sippy cup. Let her stay on a bottle, while still trying to get her to use the cup, and eventually she will prefer the cup to the bottle. Maybe put plain water in the bottle, but what she wants (formula, juice, whatever) in the sippy cup, that way she learns that the sippy cup will give her what she wants, while the bottle is boring. Could work, who knows. lol Both of my kids had their bottles well past 1 year (almost 2) and as they would start using the cups, I'd slowly start throwing out the bottles.



Now that my daughter is 5, I'm working on getting RID of the sippy cup, but it's hard since her brother is only 2. lol Yeah, yeah. They should both be drinking from a regular cup, but my carpet can't take any more stains. lol

Alea - posted on 07/18/2009

My little girl is 11 months old and doesn't like sippy cups. I nurse her and she has no problem with bottles. I just mix between giving her juice in bottle and sippy cup. They will eventually take to a sippy cup.