Switching from Bottle to Sippy Cup - Pompano Beach,FL

I cut the nipples of the bottles to increase the flow. and introduced the sippies as an alteritive to the bottle. The flow got to be too fast so my son picked the sippy over the bottle on "his own". good luck!

There are sippy cups with a "nipple" like mouthpiece that makes the transition easier. Really just about any soft mouthpiece will work. Good luck!

Hi M.,

I have a 22 month old and she was very hooked on her bottles but what worked for her was the Nuby sippy cups, they have a soft spout that sort of resembles a nipple on a bottle. It took a little bit of time but I hid all the bottles and she transitioned very well.

Good luck,
D.

Hi M.,

My dd just turned 1 yesterday. She has been using a sippy then a straw sippy cup for about 3/4 months. I started by giving her the sippy with her juice or water in it. I actually chnged her on to the straw sippy before introducing her milk into the cup on the recommendation of a friend who is a pediatrician. They recommend them using the straw cups rather then the normal sippy as the liquid doesn't gather behind their teeth.

Once she then got used to drinking from the cup with that in it I then switched out her 2nd bottle of the day for the sippy cup, it took about 3/4 days for her to accept it but eventually she drank her milk from it. Then once she was happy with that I switched out the morning bottle but kept her evening milk in the bottle up until about 8 weeks ago. She now has all of her milk and juice from a straw sippy cup.

Good luck hunny, it takes time you just have to keep at it.

Hi M.,
I think you are starting you transition at just the right time. Though there's is not rush, it is much easier to do at 1, when they are able to drink from a sippy, but aren't attached to their bottle.
What I did was to give my son a sippy at meal times, and only give formula in the bottle. Once he was off of formula, he was off of bottles. I never gave him milk or juice in a bottle. By almost one, he was eating 3 small meals a day and had his morning bottle when he got up and a bottle before he went to bed. I dropped the morning bottle first and started feeding him breakfast earlier, then I dropped the evening bottle and replaced it with some extra story time.
So if you haven't starting dropping the day time bottles, do so now and then move to the morning and evening one. I think we dropped about a bottle/week, but it's really up to you--like you said, you don't have to rush it and you don't have to stop bottles exactly on his birthday....
As far as getting him to want to drink from a sippy? He'll get the hang of it--especially when he is thirsty and there are no other options. Since he is almost one, he should be getting his primary source of nutrition from solid foods, so dropping the bottles won't be a problem. Try out a few different kinds too and see if he prefers one over the other. I had to get my son the kind without handles because he would just bang the ones with handles around like a rattle. I still use them--they are great (Platex makes them).

Hi, M.. Well, I don't think that anyone ought to rush a child to give up the bottle. He's not yet 1 year old. I don't understand why the daycare wants to shove him together with 2 or 3 year olds yet; these kids can be tough. Two-year-olds can exhibit some really foul behavior (the terrible twos), and when younger kids are exposed to their tantrums and other radical behavior, they start copying them.

It doesn't make sense to me that they are going to put this undue pressure on your son.

Obviously, your boy isn't ready for the sippy cup or he wouldn't throw it down. He's used to the bottle not spilling when he throws it, and he's not ready to understand the concept of not spilling things yet. So he's not a good candidate. If you really feel that you MUST rush him, then try drinking things out of a sippy cup yourself -- have your husband do it, too, and explain that that's what ALL the big boys do. Maybe he'll want to do it then, but he's still getting too much pleasure out of sucking.

Remember that breast-fed children naturally nurse well beyond a year, and it doesn't hurt them or their moms. Babies were not necessarily meant to give up the sucking urge at the 1-year mark. If you do take away his good source of sucking satisfaction, he's going to put a whole bunch of other things in his mouth -- like his thumb, which ISN'T good for him to do for very long if he's got his front teeth.

The bottle isn't hurting him, so why make him give it up too soon?

Peace,
Syl

M., this can be a fun time. Do not make it a chore or attach negative consequences to what you want him to do. Appeal to his desire to imitate adult behavior. Try putting your own beverage and your husband's beverage in a sippy cup, especially if it is one that he knows is his. Be nonchalant about it. He won't be able to stand it. He will want the cup for himself. Trust me this works and it won't take long at all!

You said it yourself; his getting enough nutrition is a priority. If he quits his bottle now, he obviously won't drink enough milk. Besides, does he HAVE TO drink from the sippy cup in order to be at the toddler room? If so, try the sippy cup with drinks he loves, juices or water. Or when he is SO wanting his formula he can't resist the cup.I believe you are in the right track, no scolding or rushing, you'll be surprised how much you'll accomplish in one month. Good luck!

Hi there,

When my son was about 6 months, I had a sippy cup with water in it out all the time, he ignored it for a while then eventually picked it up and started using it. We were totally in cups before I switched to milk and I think that was a good thing for us! So my advice is, just have cups around so he can try when he's ready. I do agree the older they are, the harder it is to get rid of bottles -we started early and the bottles were gone before 1 but I have seen others struggle at 2 and even older to get rid of the nighttime bottle.

One other piece of advice comes to mind, they drink more than they 'need' from bottles since it comes out so easily. Now that we're trying to get away from sippy cups and into big boy cups all the time, I have noticed the same is true -they drink much more from sippies than real cups because it comes out faster.

I am all for their bottles disappearing -or having a party to say goodbye to them but I think he needs to be somewhat used to cups first. You will know when it's time -good luck!!!

We use a sippy cup with a soft tip as well. I think walmart carries a playtex one with a soft tip. It was important with my daughter to make sure the cup had handles as well. As for the transition factor, maybe give him watered down juice (or the baby juice) in the sippy cup and only formula in the bottle. This way he'll associate juice with the sippy cup and it might be more appealing~

three words... just do it. i have 19 month old twins and a 3 year old... we did the same thing with all of them per their pediatrician... at one year we took away bottle... bought a handful of sippy cups... from nubies to hard tips for older children. just gave them sippy cups with milk. no bottle. with my three year old it was easy... he found the cup he liked (hard tip for older children) and never had a bottle after that. the twins it took a couple of days. we would put four different cups out with milk and leave it there for a while... did not give them a bottle. they were still eating. it took a couple days of only small amounts before they realized this was it. no problem since. was it easy? no. BUT so worth it... good luck!

Hi M.,
My oldest is 18. When she was a baby, my pediatrician recommended that we give juice in a sippy cup. He said if you ever put juice in a bottle, you'd never get them off the bottle. The juice is sweet and they like it, so they will learn to drink from the sippy cup. I've done that with all my babies - I have 4 - and I've never had a problem switching from breast/bottle to sippy cup. I also use the Tupper Ware cups that spill when you drop them. Yes, it's a mess, but it's more like a regular cup. My youngest is 13 months old and she is very comfortable with her sippy cup.

Born Free makes a soft spout sippy cup. It's not as difficult as a regular sippy cup, so it makes it easier for them to transition. I would try that. My son is 9 months and he uses it.

I breastfed daughter #1 and daughter #2...I "introduced" the sippy cup at 6 months by putting water or diluted juice in the cup. Neither of my daughters were ever on a bottle. Now, baby #3 was breastfed but I had to supplement with formula. I used the Avent bottles but introduced the soft sippy spout at 6 months also. By the time he was a year old, I used only sippy spouts with the bottles. You just have to keep giving him the sippy cup. Once you know he can successfully get something from the sippy cup, which it sounds like he can, then make the switch and don't go back. Be patient...but keep offering.

How about, try putting a beverage he really likes, such as apple juice or whatever, in the sippy cup? He'll probably finish it. Also keep complimenting him on being a 'big boy'. Often children have emotional attachments to first foods such as formula, and don't like changes with it.

Also, my rule of thumb with my children was to keep holding them and the bottle as long as I would have breastfed (where they would be held as a matter of course), and weaning them from the bottle and pacifier when I stopped feeding them formula. I believe at about one year the child is eating enough to be nutrionally able to take whole milk instead of formula. That's when I introduced the sippy cup.

In fact, my pediatrician said that to feed them both food and formula could lead to their being overweight. When they started being picky eaters I used vitamins.

Hi Michele,
I'm a mother of an almost 16 month old little boy. I have a few suggestions, maybe one will work:) Try putting water or juice in the sippy cup and see if he likes that. I'm not sure if you have introduced those items to him yet. Maybe he'll like regular milk better. Don't get discouraged, keep trying. He'll eventually start liking the sippy cup better. My son is still not 100% of a bottle. He has a bottle at night, and once in a while a bottle for breakfast. The rest of the time, I give him water, and sometimes juice in a sippy up. I hope my I was able to help.

Sincerely,
R.

I think you should try different cups. For my son it was easy getting him to drink water and juice from the sippy cup and milk too until we stop offering the bottle. He did not like the same cup with the handles, but he drinks his milk when he gets it in the gerber tossable cups. I don't know why?? He was on a sippy cup since he could sit up though. Good luck. my son will be 10 months tomorrow.

Hi Michele- NUBY makes a sippy/bottle style cup that is great for transition. They are NOT completely spill proof though, like a bottle they can drip. The container part is tall and contoured like a bottle and the top is one piece, shaped like a sippy, but latex like a nipple. One warning, unless they have changed the design since my son used them a year ago, they topple over easily. But if you can put up with that for a month or so, he'll go right to the sippy cups with the softer tops. Recruit the help of an older child in his life if possible. They always want to copy the older kids.

wow! you've been getting so many responses ranging from 'just do it'
to 'why do you need to do it?"

I personally think our society is WAY too hung up on sucking! there's nothing wrong with a baby, yes a toddler up 3 is a baby to me, needing to SUCK.

I applaud you for researching this!
Read all you can & listen to your heart and make your OWN decision.

I introduced a sippy at about 6 months- just water w/ an ice cube to make it 'fun' (baby could jiggle and shake the cup). by maybe 9 or 10 months I started w/ a straw cup like the Nuby flip cup. at 12 months I was still breastfeeding 2x a day- that would be like a bottle 1st thing in the am & one at night. at 15 months he was drinking milk from a nuby soft spout (so no 'sippy,' which is basically a bottle, until 15 months). One day at 2 years I was elsewhere and didn't have the Nuby, just a 'take n' toss' hard spout cup. he drank his milk fine. so that was the end of soft spouts/bottles. This baby has a much less NEED to suck. now my oldest, well he kept a pacifier until he was 3 & 1/2. He's 5 now & fine w/o any dental problems.

good luck :-)

I had that same dilemma with my son. I gave him water in a regular sippy cup and then gave him his milk in the Nubby Cup with Flexible Straw. They have been great. They are a great transition cup. They are available at Super Target and Babys R Us! I hope these work. I introduced these cups at 10 months. Good Luck! R. :)

When I was taking our son from the bottle into the zippy cup, we did the it little by little. We started by switching the juice bottle for a zippy cup; he did very good on that one. Then, we replace the morning milk bottle with the zippy cup and he took it llike a champ!. We are still working on his bedtime milk bottle. Not becuase he doesn't want it but just because we get to cuddle with him right before he goes to bed.

I hope this helps.

Have you just tried one type of sippy cup? When I was trying to get my son used to the sippy cup, I went through a few until I found one that was to his liking. One of them, you had to suck way too hard and he just did not get the whole idea. I even tried it out and would not want to drink from it having to suck that hard. It was a Baby Einstein one made by Playtex I believe. I did try the Nuby but like was mentioned before it does leak, especially when tossed over and over onto the floor. I found a Gerber one that works great. I can't remember the name of it but it says 7+ months on the package and has handles. Good luck and don't feel pressured to switch. Your son will take to it when he is ready.

Chacolate milk in the sippy cup. He will love it.

I would love to hear your response....I too am tryinf the same thing and need advice. My daughter likes to chew on the sippy cup after a couple sips because of her teeth coming in. She drinks all of the bottle but will drink a few sips from the sippy

I never put formula in a sippy cup, only in a bottle... I only put water or watered down juice in a sippy cup (and started that around 9 or 10 months.) When you're ready to transition to milk, do it slowly using a sippy cup... after DS has mastered one. DON'T use a bottle for milk. Cut one feeding at a time, starting with the daytime one, and leaving the most "cuddly" or favorite feeding until last. (Warm the milk slightly at first and work up to fridge temperature slowly.)
I have a 10.5 month old son and haven't been told at daycare that he has to make any transitions before they move him to the next room. Take your time and work on your schedule. Since I'm a teacher, I am going to wait until December holidays to completely wean my son from bottles and formula. (I'll have time during that two weeks to change routines. He'll be 13 months old then.)
Good luck!
T. B, Mom to Katie almost 3 and Mattie, almost 11 months.

Try this... take the valve out of the sippy cup the first time or two he uses it. You'll have to hold it for him so he doesn't make a mess, but that will teach him that he can get the milk out of it. After he figures that out, you can put the valve back in. I got both of my kids switched over to sippy cups at 8 months this way. After my oldest drank his milk from a cup the first time, I told him that there were no more bottles. It took him a few days to really like the idea, but it worked out fine.

Hi, what cup have you tried? Both of my kids switched to the Nuby brand sippy cups (the inexpensive ones....they are between 1 and 2 dollars each at Walmart). The cups have spouts that are made of silicone which feels the same as bottle nipples. Neither of my kids seemed to notice the difference. Good luck to you!

My son has never used any other kind of sippy cup except the kind with a straw. I got him used to drinking water out of it, then his first birthday came and all the bottles left the house. If you get rid of the bottles right away, it will be much easier in the long run. The older they are, the more they get attatched to their bottles. I like the straw kinds (I bought a few until I figured out which one I liked best) because once they figure out how to drink out of a straw you don't have to freak out when you go to a restaurant and realize you forgot the sippy cup!

Hi M.,
Maybe it's just me, or maybe there is a good reason for it that I just don't know about, but I don't see much of a difference between a sippy cup and a bottle, it's just a different "nipple". So I don't understand the big push to get toddlers off one bottle and attached to another.

Here's my suggestion, and what I did with my boys. Train him to drink from a regular cup. Both my boys were able to dink from a regular cup by 14 months, and only used the bottle at home in the evening for that extra boost of whole milk. We started practicing at about 10 months (bath time is a good time to start). Yes, the process can be quite messy, but they do get the hang of it. I would continue to give him his formula or milk in a bottle to make sure he is getting enough, and so you don't waste it when he dumps it (which he will), and use water to train him on the cup. How long were you planning on keeping him on the sippy cup anyway? I would suggest keeping him on the bottle as long as he needs it to get his full requirement of formula/milk, and use a regular cup for milk/water/juice at meal times and snack times. With my three year old, we then went cold turkey on the bottle at age two, when he no longer required 16 ounces a day of milk, and he already easily drank from a regular cup as he had been doing for quite some time with meals and snacks, so there was no issue with "transition". My younger is now 20 months and drinks from a regular cup at meal times and snack times, and has an 8oz. bottle of milk in the evening after bath, which we will eliminate when he turns two.

At my son's day care they use regular disposable cups in the one year old room, and only use sippy cups for those parents that request it (in other words, a sippy is not a requirement at that age). They encourage drinking from a regular cup instead of a sippy, and train all the kids to have that skill, and all the kids do very well with it. Their goal is to eliminate sippies from all the kids by the time they get to the two year old room. Of course there are parents who still want their child to use a sippy in the two year old room, but that is the rarity, rather than the norm. Maybe ask your day care how they handle that particular skill, and will they work with him on drinking from a cup? They (like my day care) may actually prefer him not to have a sippy cup.

Something to think about anyway.