Help with Cup Holding and Other Milestones....

Hi J.,

Enjoy the infant stages while they last! 6 1/2 mos. is too little to hold a sip cup. Average age for this is around 12-18 mos, which is after their need for breast milk/formula drops off. Do not worry about rolling. Babies have variable schedules and some skip certain "milestones". Crawling typically happens between 8-12 months. You have LOTS of time. Enjoy the fact that you can put her on the floor and she stays put while you go to the bathroom!

S.

I've read that when they are old enough to sit up on their own well you should introduce drinking from a cup. My son is almost 9 months and still doesn't use a sippy cup but he loves drinking from a regular cup! I took the piece out of the top (of the sippy) also so it flows easier. Just keep trying, they figure it out sooner or later.
My son doesn't roll over or crawl yet either. Just keep doing tummy time, it will happen when it happens.

Try not to underestimate the little one. She will figure out there is something to drink in there and she will not let herself go thirsty. Something you may try would be to give the cup at all times except bed time. Bedtime is a bottle.

Your doing the right thing with all! ;)
I started my son out at about 6 months, just the way you did with the sippy cup. I kept anything but formula in the sippy cut and only formula in the bottle. By the time he was one, and started on regular milk the bottles were gone. He took a couple months to figure out how to use the sippy or what it was for. If you pretend to drink out of it, she will do the same.
Rolling and crawling are done on their own but you can help. Tummy time is a great and wonderful thing! My son has a half brother who is 8 months old and he didn't roll on his own at all until he was 7 months old. We have since figured out that they keep him in bouncer seats, hold him or have him in the swing or car seat unless he is sleeping. If they are playing on the ground and are happy, even on their backs, leave them alone :) Allowing as much as an hour or more of tummy time in a day is wonderful. Soon she will learn that she can get to more on her tummy. Helping her roll...showing her how by moving her body parts and celebrating will help her. For crawling, putting her body into position will help. When she is on her tummy put her toys just far enough away that she can reach them but she has to work for them. She will figure out how to get them and it will help her!
Best wishes!

Like you mentioned, every baby is on their own schedule. We introduced my daughter to a sippy cup when she was about 6 months and within two tries she was drinking from it and holding it herself. However, I know MANY babies that prefer to just chew on the bottom of the cup instead. I would just hold it for her until she's used to it. It probably won't be long and she'll get the hang of it.

In response to rolling over and crawling- My daughter was almost 10 months before she rolled over onto her belly by herself! I was really worried (we had tummy time every day and encouraged her by placing toys just out of her reach), but she just wasn't interested in rolling over. She prefered to scoot around on her back to get where she wanted to be.

My daughter didn't crawl until she was almost walking by herself, unassisted. Some babies NEVER crawl. My nephew used to scoot on his butt and got around MUCH faster that way than any baby I've ever seen crawl! :-)

I'd say just keep working with her. It will happen. Good luck!

J.,

Congratulations on a beautiful, healthy baby girl! Now stop trying to push her, force her to grow up too fast, and let her be a baby! If she just bangs or throws her cup, it is just too early. If she is not rolling over, crawling, or winning a Nobel Peace Prize like somebody else's kid who is the same age, that's OK. She will get to things in her own time. Throw out that schedule in your head of "I want her to do this at this time" and just let her develop naturally.

Relax. It is not a race, nor a competition. Just enjoy your time while she is a baby, which seems like it last forever but is over in a flash.

Best wishes,
K.

Hi J.!

You're not neurotic! We have all these "experts" telling us what we should be doing and what our babies should be doing, it's enough to make any of us feel crazy and upset when our baby isn't exactly doing what he/she "should" be.

I gave my son a sippy cup at 6 months and he took it just fine. But I did some intense sippy cup shopping around! I ended up getting a sippy cup by Nuby. It has two handles on each side and a straw. The straw is wider and thicker than most sippy cups. I think that made it easier for my son to drink from it because it wasn't a huge difference from his bottle. It went right for the straw and started sucking.

I only find these cups at Wal-Mart and they're $3.96 per cup. Each cup has two colors on them (red/blue, green/red, yellow/green, blue/yellow, orange/yellow).

I'm not too sure about the crawling thing. The only thing I might suggest is putting her on her tummy on a ball (once of those big stability balls if you have one or one of those big children's ones). My son loved it, and still loves rolling on a ball at 14 months. Just a thought!

Good luck!

I tried to start my son around 7 months with a sippy cup (just because hes 5 weeks premie so that makes him 6 months at that age) and he really didnt want to try to hold it. he did what you said, just sat and banged it or threw it down. So I just let him have his bottle till he was really ready for it. I tried every now and then again with the Sippy cup. It wasnt untill he was 10 mo that he really wanted to drink from it. So at that point I just took all his bottles away and just used the sippy instead of the slow transition. It left me with 1 or 2 days of him fussing a bit when he had to drink from the sippy, but eventually he drank from it. hes been doing really great with it for nearly 2 months now ^^

as for the roll thing..
my son has GERD, so he constantly is throwing up.
the doctors kept inforcing the issue of "tummy time" with him and it was just painful for my nerves and for him to lay on his tummy. I think he was nearly 7 months before he wanted to try laying on his tummy.
just give her some time. if you are really concerned about her not wanting to be on her tummy or rolling over, speak with her doctor.

good luck ^^

J.,
6 1/2 is still fine to not be rolling. She is moving to her sides and sitting up so you know her muscles are develping. I was equally worried with my son. At 7 months and a few days he started rolling like crazy! Before that he had only rolled over one time each way. Now he is everywhere and even starting to crawl (8 1/2 months). I won't say don't worry too much, because I know I was a bit worried and how can we not as mom's? But...unless you think she is WAY behind I wouldn't be too upset.
I've been working on sippy cups too. For now I help him with it and he drinks, and plays with it, kind of like a little hamster. I did this with my daughter, Madeline (like yours!) and she was great with a sippy but a year when we switched to milk.
Good Luck!

Hello J.. I have an 8 1/2 month old. She can roll over, but doesn't do it b/c she wants to sit or stand not lay down. She can even roll over in her sleep, that is how I know she can really do it. With mine she got her first cup at 3 months old when she got her first bite off of a spoon. Now, it took several months before she would drink out of it and another month before she would drink out of it herself, but now she loves it. I don't give her juice, she drinks water and breastmilk. With my 4y/o who was formula fed she had formula in her cup also. My suggestion is to get her to take a drink from the cup w/o the lid on & you holding the cup. Once she sees that she likes what is in the cup she will get the hang of it really quick.
With crawling, enjoy the non-movement while you still have it :) I alos couldn't wait for my oldest to crawl, but once she started there was no stopping and I just wanted her to sit and play again. With my current baby, I keep telling her "oh now you don't need to be doing that" when she starts to crawl. It is funny how that works. Best of Luck!

For the sippy cup, I took the rubber valve out so that the beverage could flow and they did not have to learn to suck from the cup right away. Then I used milk in the cup - something tasty. I helped them with the cup at first until they realized that there was a drink in it. Once they learn that they can drink from it, I put the valve back in.

She will learn when she is ready. Most babies don't start crawling until they are closer to 8 months old, sometimes later, and sometimes not at all. Don't push all of this on her. As for the cup holding, 6 months is really soon. I think my daughter was closer to 8 or 9 months before she was interested in a cup of any sorts. Now, she has figured out how to unscrew the sippy cup lid lol. She is busy exploring and wanting her to hold a cup, roll on her back, and crawl is a lot to ask lol. Trust me, she will do all of this when she is ready. Whether you realize it or not, she is hitting milestones...the fact that she is banging her cup is actually one...she is learning cause and effect and figuring out sounds...just wait until she starts throwing things on the floor lol. My daughter didn't even crawl that much because I have hardwood floors. At around 10 months she just started holding on to things and now, at 13 months, she is walking everywhere, she basically skipped the whole crawling. Just try to enjoy things as they are now, because once she is mobile and independent, you'll long for those days that she wasn't lol.