the saga of the sippy cup...

Gloria J - posted on 12/05/2009

Your pediatrician is right, you need to switch him to sippies but probably more when he is closer to ten/eleven months. It is going to be tough but you should keep trying to familiarize him with a sippy. Start by giving him H2O in the sippy until he gets the hang of using it. Once he has mastered it then it's time to remove the bottle all together. I breast fed my boy until 30 months but he always had a sippy cup w/h2o at night (since he was a year old) in case he got thirsty (he's a mouth breather at night) then when I was ready to weane him off the booby he was already used to sippies. I also got him sippies in three separate colors: green was for milk because cows eat grass, orange was for juice, and blue was for h2o so when I came to the table with his sippy he knew what he was getting to drink. When you decide to remove the bottle altogether stick with it--DON"T GIVE IN! Pick a time when you know you can be rested and stay strong because it might take a couple of nights of fussing before he realizes he will survive without a bottle. I work in daycare and have a mom who keeps succumbing to her daughters fits of anger about not getting a bottle and it is really frustrating as a care giver because this child can totally use sippies and regular cups! Her mom just keeps giving in.

Nicola - posted on 12/03/2009

Yeah I would wait a while till you start again. I would either go with Ashley Brown-Jenkins suggestion or how about trying a children's sports bottle. If after 1yr go cold turkey, that is take away the bottle completly. If you can't stand the thought of being so mean limit the bottles to bed-time or first thing in the morning. But otherwise do what you feel you and he can handle and don't stress he'll give it up eventually. Sounds to me like you're doin the right things.

Greta - posted on 12/03/2009

My son is 12 months and hates sippy cups too. He really just wants to use a regular cup like we do. He will drink WAY more water and milk when drinking from a regular cup. Usually he just refuses the sippy cup. I'm not sure this is the best solution because sippy cups help prevent spills, but it's working fine for us.

Kumiko - posted on 12/03/2009

Although modern advice seems to be to get the child off the bottle by 6 months or so, I think the reality is more that people start really trying from about 12 months and just kind of let their child play with the cup up until then. I tried at least 5 different cups with my first child (boy, now 5) from 8 months or so, but he didn't really start drinking from them until later than that. The cup that was most successful I have never seen sold in stores - I got it from the local dental clinic - it was a Tommee Tippee cup with a hard spout that had three holes in it, so that if you tipped it at all the liquid inside would come out (similar to the ones TT make with a soft flip spout and one hole). I think it was successful because little effort was necessary to get the liquid out. There was mess involved but the result came. However, all my friends have been successful with different cups for different reasons, so if you are worried, you should just take a deep breath and bear the cost and try out different cups.

(for future reference) My son continued to have his night milk from his bottle until he was at least 2 (although from a cup at other times). We got him off that in the end by putting the milk in the bottle, but when drinking time came, unscrewing the top and asking if he wanted to drink it like a cup. Eventually they all come around - I wouldn't worry about it. Good luck!

Jane - posted on 12/03/2009

try putting water in it when he's not hungry so he doesn't get frustrated and can figure it out. it will also help w/his teething so he has something to gnaw on.

Katie - posted on 12/03/2009

My son started with the sippy cup at around 6 months. He took to it pretty fast and was off the bottle right after his first birthday. I'd keep offering it to your son but I would not stress over it. He'll get it soon enough. You're his mom and you'll know when he's ready.

Jene - posted on 12/03/2009

I got my son onto a sippy cup at 6 months old, I'm not sure if you can get the cups that i used, there the pigion ones, i'll attach the link for them for you, they come in 3 stages and all you need to go is change the teet not the cup. First to get your son to adjust to the cup, you use the regular teet like he is using now, once he has gotten used to this new cup thing, you move on to the sippy cup teet which i might add is not these horible hard plastic things so can't hurt his teeth if he happens to bang the cup against his teeth and then of course the last stage the straw attachment,

I really hope that this works for you

Also another tip, as much as the screaming makes you give in to the demands, just leave him to play with the cup for a while, he'll soon get it
Good luck

http://www.toysntots.com.au/nursery/feed...

Eleisha - posted on 12/02/2009

Try a straw. My 6 month old has been sucking out of a straw for over a month. It's only for water as she breastfeeds, but when i wean her I will skip bottle altogether and use a straw.

Nina - posted on 12/02/2009

My son didn't start using a sippy cup until just before his first birthday. Then he got hospitalized and regressed back to the bottle. Took us another 6 months to get him to use the sippy again. One thing I did notice between the normal sippy cup and the straw sippy is that my son was used to tipping with the bottle. He understood the concept of sucking on the straw, and did fine if you held the cup. But if he held it himself he would try to tip it like a bottle and then get frustrated when nothing would come out. I agree with the other posts that he will take to a sippy when he is ready.

Heidi - posted on 12/02/2009

Why is your doctor invested in your son starting a sippy cup so young? My 7 1/2 month old daughter is still nursing and I don't plan on taking that away from her for a long time to come. Take what your doctor says with a grain of salt and don't let him or her make these types of decisions for you! My advice is to start a sippy cup when both you and your son are ready. It sounds like he's not yet, so I would give it a break and try again in a few months.

Theresa - posted on 12/02/2009

I just put water in it at that point and always put it on my daughter's high chair tray at feeding time. She mostly played with it at first too, but as time went on she would start taking some drinks out of it. At about a year I started putting milk in it. By then she was used to the cup and, I think, liked that there was something more tasty then just water in it. At that point we got rid of the bottles. At the age your son is it's more important to just get him used to wht it is and does than have him really using one a lot.

Kierstan - posted on 12/02/2009

Everyone has different opinions on this and you happen to have a doctor who believes that you need to switch to sippy cups. At this point you sound frustrated and you don't have to be. He's not ready yet and he let you know that. I would give it a break because you don't want him to hate the sippy cup and then give it to him for fun along with his bottle. Relax...... he will not drink from the bottle forever. As he gets older he will see you drinking from a cup and want to do what mommy's doing as long as you don't push it on him. Also, if you leave him with friends and family or babysitters... allowing them to introduce it to him would be good. Sometimes our babies will respond better, in these cases, to people that aren't their parents.

Amanda - posted on 12/02/2009

how about tryin one of those sippies that has a straw he can suck on it like a bottle but he would have to hold it like a cup to drink or else he wouldn't get nothing out of it my daughter loved those until i got her the other kind of cup she wouldnt suck her bottles anymore at 8 months so i had to get her one with a straw and then to a cup but hope it helps

Jennifer - posted on 12/02/2009

My daughter is 18mo. She was BF for a yr, then got whole milk in a bottle after I stopped nursing. She had a hard time adjusting to milk in a sippy.
Always took water or juice, but only associated milk w/a bottle. We then began giving her milk in one sippy & water/juice in a totally different sippy. Just quit giving her a bottle cold turkey & told her milk is in a cup now. No problems after that! Good luck!

Melissa - posted on 12/02/2009

Hi Lori, My daughter took to the sippy cup around 8 or 9 months, but one of my best friend's daughters didn't start it until she was about 1. All kids are different. The way I got my daughter use to something else besides a bottle was a compromise. Nuby and other brands have these cups with straws at the top. Some are easier so I'd test them first. Something that he can easily just suck on will be better. Also, I know its funny but, juice boxes. Abigail, my daughter, was thirsty one day and all we had was a juice box. As long as we held it at first, she went for it and was a champ! Also, start to differentiate the bottle from the cup. Juice and water comes in a cup, milk comes in a bottle. That way, if he wants juice, he has little choice but to use the cup, try that for a few days and see how he does. I found, that using the cheaper almost disposable cups at first were the best. Positive reinforcement. Abigail got kisses and clapping whenever she held the bottle right. It got to the point where she expected it because she associated her doing it right with praise :) Hope that helps! Good luck, and remember that he will do it at his own pace. Abigail is 14 months and even though the doctor wants her off the bottle, she isn't exactly ready for that yet. You'll know when they are ready for the next steps! Good Luck!

Gwen - posted on 12/02/2009

i didn't even start thinking about sippy cups until around 12mo. then tried a few different ones and just let her play with them. it took a few months to completely switch to the cup. i don't know why at 8 1/2 mo. the doctor would even be worrying about something like that.

Amy - posted on 12/02/2009

i have found when transitioning my son who hated change a sippy cup with bottle like top with interchangable top so first we had the bottle top then when he got used to it i could use the same cupand just put the normal sippy top to it. i found it in the baby section at the local pharmacy. hope that helps the battle.

Nicole - posted on 12/02/2009

Have you tried ones with straws? The sucking action is similar to sucking on a bottle nipple, he might do better with that. My son uses the cups with straws, I don't know if he knows how to use the other ones. Put whatever in his cup and squeeze it so a little liquid comes out of the straw while it's in his mouth and he'll hopefully get the idea! My son got it right away. Good luck!

Iysha - posted on 12/02/2009

Have you tried the sippy cups with an attached straw? I am not sure if an 8 month old can physically use a straw, but I introduced it to my 5 month old and she grasps the concept of the straw goes in the mouth...but she can't suck on it. lol...she's too youung, but we like to have her play with it.



I would say if it isn't working, keep at it....you don't want him to go too long on a bottle. I work in oral surgery and I feel so bad for little ones who have to come in and get teeth removed because of tooth decay. If your son's pediatrician told you to start, maybe the sippy was introduced a little early at 6 months and he won't get it for a while...I mean, the doctor did say to TRY now, not that he should be drinking out of one now, at 8 months...Right? Maybe give it to him every day once or twice and see what happens over the course of a few weeks.

Ashley - posted on 12/02/2009

i would say keep trying but that is just my opionon maybe try just letting him play with it like just give him the the cup with nuthing in it or maybe just a little water it takes time sometimes babies get very used to what they no. thye also have these sippy cups by gerber that are for beginners they have little handels on them an they have a soft hard spout if that makes any since there like seven bucks at walmart i found that for my son those work the best

Ashley - posted on 12/02/2009

Just try putting a little water or juice in the cup and just give it to your son and let him play around with it. I would not force it on him though. I started my son on the sippy when he was abt 7 months. He took the the Nuby ones right away (the one's with a soft spout). At his 9 month appt his doctor said I could start weaning him off of his bottle! I thought it was just too soon! He's nearly 11 months now, and I'm fixing to start weaning him off of his bottle.



But I certainly would not force the cup on him. There's no certain age for them to start on a sippy. I would not rush it! Good Luck!