Any Tips for Starting a 12 Month Old on a Sippy Cup?

Updated on September 13, 2009
T.E. asks from Troy, MI
12 answers

Hi Moms,

My daughter just turned one on Monday and I have been trying to get her off of the bottle and drinking from a sippy cup. I started trying a few months ago, and she started off well. However, I didn't keep on it and now she gets very frustrated if I put her formula in the sippy cup. She basically just chews on it and can't get anything out. I have tried all different brands/kinds and nothing seems to work! I would really appreciate any advice!

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So What Happened?

Thank you all for the great ideas! It took a while, but my little monster is doing GREAT with her sippy cups! I ended up buying a couple of those Nuby cups because they seemed the most like a bottle. Once she got the hang of that cup, she would use any cup. She responded really well to juice and her favorite...chocolate milk. Someone had also suggested having me drink out of a sippy cup and show her how to do it, which also seemed to work. Thanks again!

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M.W.

answers from Kalamazoo on

Throw all the bottles away. Have some solid foods to feed her if she freaks out and won't eat. My daughter needed a banana first and then she'd settled down enough to drink from the sippy.

What type do you have? We used the nuby soft spouts and they were similar enough to the bottle that it wasn't a major struggle. She'd used the sippy for a few months with water, but didn't want formula in it, so it was a little challenge, but honestly it didn't take too long to transition.

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S.B.

answers from Grand Rapids on

Have you tried the Avent Step one? It is pretty similar to a nipple and worked very easy for my son. He couldn't figure out the other ones.

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D.H.

answers from Detroit on

T. ~
I agree with the other 2 responses you have so far. Try milk, juice or water in the cup, not formula (it's about time to switch to milk anyways). You can also give her some water to drink while in the tub if you're worried about a mess. My son was almost completely off the bottle by 12 months...I gave him a sippy cup every time he had a meal, and the bottle before bed. Although I stopped that by 14 months. It's much easier at this age...they use the bottle for nutrition at this point, where at 2 yrs they are more emotionally attached to it.
Good luck, and don't give up, she'll get it!
D.

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L.O.

answers from Detroit on

be patient... she will get it ...

try juice in the cup.. if she likes juice that might work.

the nuby cups are good adn they have a soft spout...

my son likes straw cups.. and I never had to teach him to use a straw.. he knew how.. my daughter had to be taught like 10 times to use a straw..

but sooner or later they all get it..

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M.M.

answers from Detroit on

Hi T.,
With my son, who was very tenacious and wanted to do things his way when he wanted, we just kept trying. We put his juice in a sippy cup, but his cow's milk in a bottle around age one (right after I stopped nursing him which was another struggle). I remember being frustrated with the fact that he wouldn't take it but kept trying. Our ped's office wants them off the bottle generally by 18 months, but one of the docs there said that there was no real harm until near 2 years old. So, I let him do his thing. Right around 16 months, he just decided that he wanted the cup and not the bottle.
We also have a similar situation with my 11 month old. I am trying to wean him to a sippy cup or bottle so that he will be able to stop nursing soon. He doesn't like either, but I will keep trying. I talked to a lactation consultant, and she mentioned that it was possibly a developmental thing. Once he is ready she said, he will just want to do "older" things.

Good luck!

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T.B.

answers from Lansing on

We swtiched to sippy cups overnight cold turkey
right at my daugher's first birthday. She had a lot of teeth and I was worried about bottle
rot. She had drank out of sippy cups before, but we never ever put formula in a sippy cup. She knew the difference between formula and everything else and she was used to drinking formula from a bottle. Needless to say we also stopped formula as soon as she turned one. Before the actual switch we only put juice, mostly apple (diluted with water) in her sippy cups. We also took the training mechanism out of the cup. This keeps the cup from having a free flow. When you take it out it gives the child a chance to learn that that drink comes from it. After a week we put Thales training mechanism back in and we were done with bottles!!!

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J.A.

answers from Detroit on

T.,
I also have a 1-year-old and had the same problem. I started to give him a sippy cup to play with at mealtime a couple of months ago and he would do the same thing your daughter is doing...just chewed on it. He figured it out how to use the cup eventually and now is able to down a cup of juice in a short amount of time. I have been using Avent cups with him because of the flat/longer spout. He also uses any sippy cup that I give him now that he has figured it out. Hang in there. She will eventually figure it out. Blessings! J.

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C.B.

answers from Detroit on

You might try using one yourself and sit down with her when she eats. This would be learning by example. Just long enough to get her to use it and comprehend it's part of the process (not really be THAT smart yet, but after a while get a grip that a sippy is part of her eating time)(a habit)

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D.B.

answers from Detroit on

Hi T.!

I had the same problem with all my kids. For some reason none of them ever liked sippy cups. I bought many brands and wasted lots of money. The only cup I could get them to use was the Nuby soft spout. Then one day I just tried a straw with my first daughter at 11 months and she loved it. She figured it out instantly and never used a sippy afterwards. My son took a few times and only drinks from straw cups as well now since one year. To start him out I had to take a bit of liquid in the straw then hold and cover one end with my finger and put the other end in his mouth. Let go and he will obviously get the liquid. Then I put the staw back in the cup and he just went for it and figured it out. I found that was the best for my children so maybe it's something you could try. Good luck!

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E.M.

answers from Kalamazoo on

Hi T.,
My oldest daughter was confused when I put formula in her cup, but as soon as I put milk in she loved her sippy cups! I stopped her on the bottle and formula cold turkey right around her first birthday. She was perfectly fine with milk in the sippy (I didn't introduce juice for a while with her). My 10 month old thinks she doesn't need the bottle anymore. She loves cold milk in a sippy. Keep on it and your daughter will get it.

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S.B.

answers from Detroit on

Our children share the same bday. My son is 1 now and he did not like the sippy either. I use the Nuby Sport nipple and he adjusted well. Keep at it!

A.W.

answers from Kalamazoo on

Don't put formula in it right now. Put water or watered down juice or milk. Take the little plastic spill proof part off of the inside of the lid, so that way she can more or less just pour the liquid out. Only give her alittle bit of liquid in it at a time, so she can't make too much of a mess. Offer it anytime she is in her high chair for meals and/or snacks.

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