Baby Won't Take Sippy Cup and Never Took Own Bottle

My friend went through this. Her son went on a total drinking strike when she introduced the sippy cup. He refused to drink for FOUR days, which scared the heck out of her! But he finally gave in, when he got thirsty enough. And now he's a sippy cup man, through and through! :)

Also, I would try one skill at a time. First get her to drink out of the cup, and then work on her holding it by herself. Two skills at once is just too overwhelming!

Your daughter sounds like a pistol! Those smart, feisty girls are so much fun!

PS My son refused the sippy cup at first too, but then had no trouble when I introduced the "Nuby" brand. That's kind of halfway between bottle and sippy cup. (A little softer spout.) Now he only drinks out of the Born Free sippy cups, and just loves them. Holds them by himself and everything! Those two brands are just a little easier to get the milk out of, and don't have the same strong vacuum. Better for the ears, too!

Really, she will. Stop doing it for her. A few days without milk won't harm her, especially if she's supplementing dairy with yogurt and cheese. Take the bottle away entirely and only give her sippy cups. Try the ones with handles, maybe she's not comfortable holding the cup that way. She'll get over it and start holding her own cup, I promise.

hi N.
i wouldnt stress over it if she is thirsty she will eventually drink either from the bottle or cup on her own just leave it out for her in her reach and i am sure she will do it if she is getting other dairy like cheese and yogurt is is ok to miss some milk for a few days there is nothing wrong dont worry it may take anothere few weeks but she will be doing it shortly
good luck

There is a great new product on ebay called KiddieCooler made of neoprene that goes over the sippy cup type "sippy cups" its the first product on the list. or type "KiddieCooler". You can get them on www.KiddieCooler.com as well for retail price.

My son is now 2 and he never held his own bottle. He even started to refuse to drink his formula at about 8 months. I had to feed him cereal 3 times a day for him to get his formula. So when it was time for milk he refused that too. I tried sippy cups and he would not hold them up to drink out of them. What I finally used that worked was cups with straws. Playtex makes them. They are still the only cups he uses. I don't know if it has something to do with the sucking on a bottle or sippy cup that he didn't like. Don't worry my son still drinks no milk but, is a very healthy boy in the 90th%. Give a straw cup a try your baby might love it!!

FWIW, my daughter never used a baby's bottle or sippy cup. She drank straight from a sake cup when she was 2-3 weeks old and I wasn't there and dad had to feed her. At 6 months she was independently drinking from a small tea cup. Once she passed the 1 year mark, the only spills she had were the intentional ones ;-)

Try giving your daughter a normal cup (not sippy) with just a little water in it. Keep a cup of water available for her to experiment with--especially during family meals when she has a good chance to imitate others at the table. She will spill it in the beginning, but will get the hang of it pretty quickly. Once she gets the hang of using a cup with water, you can start putting other liquids in if you want, but water is much easier to clean up in the beginning.

Good luck.

realx she wil get it, i have the same strong minded little girl she wouldnt drink out of a sippy cup either, then i withheld the bottle, and kept sippy cups out in her reach on the floor etc... i did find she liked to drink from straws and the sports bottle tops on the water..... eventually she did drink from the cups.... and then i got rid of the bottle....
keep your head up she will do it.... my daughter was 18months