When to start using sippy cups and get rid of bottles?

Jeri - posted on 03/16/2010

as soon as possible, i would take it away now.. my little girl hasnt had a bottle for months and she will be 18 months next month..

Kelly - posted on 03/16/2010

I agree with Betty Jean. I don't plan to just rip the bottle from my baby. It is actually a comfort. I don't want to just take it from him. I don't think just taking something from a child is very mentally stable. You have to gradually warm them up to the idea of a switch. Try to find a sippy cup that she really enjoys. Let her have the sippy during the day if she wants. I would gradually give her the bottle at night less and less until she doesn't take it at all. It could take a few days or even a few weeks. How is that going to hurt any? Her teeth wont suffer that fast. No harm will be done. -- but this is just a suggestion. You don't have to agree with my opinion at all :)

Honestly, though, it is up to you. You are her mother -- you know what is best for her. Don't let what I or anyone else think make up your decision. All decisions should be made solely on your daughter alone and what you as a parent think is best for her. Whatever you choose will be the right answer because she is your daughter :)

Betty - posted on 03/15/2010

Just try a night or two with a sippy cup and see how it goes. Your daughter will let you know when she is ready to give up the bottles for good.

Lynsey - posted on 03/15/2010

if she already drinks from a cup it should make it alot easier to get rid of the bottles completely, i would say around 1 year is best, and i just got it down to one bottle at night for a week then threw all the bottles away so i couldnt give in.

Danielle - posted on 03/14/2010

hello andrea my 2 boys started drinkin out of sippy cups when they were 6 months old only 4 water though they still had there bottles 4 milk i took there bottle away though when they started walikin so at 10 half months and at 11 months then by the time i did that my boys knew how 2 drink out of a cup so it was no problem for me gettin to to drink from there cup. i decided to stop there bottles as soon as they stared walkin only because i didnt wont my boys walkin around with bottles in there hands let me knw how u go and good luck

Katie - posted on 03/11/2010

Doctors always recommend getting rid of the bottles all together by the time they're one, and she probably shouldn't go to bed with a bottle either. It's bad for their teeth. So, I would say to encourage her to use her big girl cups all the time, and skip the bottle all together. She should be past the point of needing like...a bottle before bed at this point. Let her drink her milk, out of her cup, until she's ready to go to bed, then brush her teeth, read a book, whatever your nightly routine is, and she should be just fine. Sometimes kids just need us to let them be big kids. :)

Andrea - posted on 02/24/2010

I switched my DD over to sippy cups when she was 14 1/2 months old... It took about 5 days to do it and about 5 diffrent kind of sippy cups!!! She like the disposable sippys!!! she is now down to 3 sippys a day and the rest of the time she uses cups!!!

Amy - posted on 02/24/2010

At a year our dr reccomended to switch to sippy cup. We waited till he was 13 as he was on a airplain trip and didn't take to the nuck at all. When we switched we washed and hid ALL bottles. It took a few days of him wining because he wanted his bottle, but he's just fine now. He isn't going to a cup yet because he likes to "play" by dumping it out and playing with the liquid.

Amanda - posted on 02/24/2010

my son was completely off the bottle at 10 months. i started putting his formula in a sippy cup, and would give him maybe one bottle a day untill he got used to the sippy cup.

Vanessa - posted on 02/24/2010

In my experience we never used sippy cups. My daughter went straight from bottles to regular cups. She did however use straws also and I think thats what helped the easy transition. At this point you probably don't want to give her a bottle or sippy cup when sleeping or napping. If I were you since she drinks through straws I'd get a few of those flexistraw cups they're leakproof for the car. It might be time to start weaning at night since she probably will if she doesnt already start getting her teeth. When you give a child a bottle at night the milk leftover in the child's back teeth turns to sugar and can rot their teeth.