How Do I Switch My Son to a Sippy Cup/

A..
My son (he's now 11) would never use a sippy cup and I tried everything. He just found it frustrating and wouldn't do it. Instead we got him to use a cup with a lid and a straw. He took to that right away, maybe because a straw responds to the same sucking motion that the bottle does. I hope this helps.

I would also try a straw cup instead. Or a cup with a straw in it? We use the First Years straw cups you can get at Target. Our son prefers them to a sippy cup.

S.

Hi A.,

Have you tried cups with straws? You probably already know this, but some cups come with pop up straws, or you could try a regular cup and straw. My son had some trouble transitioning to a sippy too and this seemed to help him. Good luck. I know this can be frustrating. :)

My DD learned to drink from straws first. She used my water bottle at 6 months old. We only had 2 sippy cups....she did okay with them. Was more interested in sippys if her friends were using them (another idea....see if he's more interested in his friend's at a playdate and pull one out.)

All our "sippys" are straw sippys now. No biggie.

Oh, and the kid's sippy cups...they have really cool straws that cover up so they can travel and not spill. I find them overall LESS messy than sippys. Nuby brand tends to leak! Our nuby is now only for water! Playtex and Munchkin are awesome. The straws are washable, and the go inside the lid. The new playtex also have a seal at the top of the straw so it doesn't leak.

A., the coordination and change will just take time. Before you know it, he will be done with that bottle and on to the sippys. Try enlarging the hole in the bottle's nipple. That will make the bottle less desireable...hopefully. As mentioned already, try straws, or try just drinking out of a cup with no lid, let him explore a little.

Your son knows the bottles still exist in the house. Once they are gone (even if you put them in a bag in the closet) and he cannot see them, he will use a sippy. I had the same problem with my son until I just ook them away completely.

My oldest son was like that. lol... He would refuse it I finally had him throw it away watch the trash man take it and make him go cold turkey it took him about 2 days but he gave it and drank .. IT may be hard cause he will cry but it you are determined it is worth it..

How about a water bottle instead, or maybe a cup with a straw.

I had the same problem with my daughter. What worked for me was teaching her to drink out of a regular straw. She thought it was sooo cool because she was drinking like everyone around her. Then I got the sippy cups with the straws attached and I had no problem after that.

To teach her to drink from a straw, I made an exception and let her taste a little Sprite. I then put the straw in the Sprite, and put my finger on the other end to trap some inside the straw. I gave her the end with the Sprite, and she started sucking until she got it. Then I put the straw back in the cup, and she kept sucking on the straw until she finally got the hang of it, and then converting her to her sippy was no problem.
Hope this helps....

I had a similar problem...my son LOVED his bottle...and wouldn't drink from his sippy cup. So, we transitioned to a straw cup between bottle and sippy cup. He loved the straw and it's uniqueness. They sell these anywhere they sell sippy cups, they are also plastic and have flip up straws. We used this for a couple weeks later, he would use his sippy cup. I went down to only a bottle at night and in the morning when he woke up. then, only at night. then, not at all. He's been fine with the sippy cup ever since. I would just suggest keeping the bottle out of sight as much as possible. Hope this helps some.

I know that you said you've tried most sippy cups but I would offer that you try a sippy sup with a soft lid. It has the shape of a sippy cup but the texture of a bottle nipple it would help the transition go a little easier. Also you could try some of the spill proof straw cups that force the strong sucking motion.

Hi A.!
My kids all started a sippy fairly young(about 4-6months). at first I would just let them discover the sippy. See how it felt, what it was, how it worked, etc. I would take a pretend drink with a mmm yum yum!! they loved it!! I would put water in the sippy so it didn't spoil or make a mess. Mine all love water, so it wasn't a problem for them, then I would just let them keep it. Soon they were comfortable with it, and drinking from a sippy was not a problen. My oldest and youngest were both off the bottle by 8 months. I think a big part of new things is getting comfortable with the change (it's that way for adults too!!) So just letting new things be a part of their routine play introduces them into the child's atmosphere.
Best wishes with a growing boy!!

A., will he drink from a traditional straw?

Hello,

Even though both of my children went from breastfeeding right to the sippy, this idea came to mind while I was reading your letter. I do know that children can be very stubborn and they learn, very quickly, the things they need to do to get their way. Both of my children (especially my younger one) are this way. Instead of fighting with your son to completely switch, try a little postive weaning. Put only water, or whatever his least favorite liquid is, into the bottle. Put his more favorite liquids in his sippy. This will take a little time for him to see the difference, but it might help in getting him to switch. Also, give him lots of attention and positive reinforcement whenever he is using the sippy. When you give him the bottle, give him minimal attention. I am not sure if this will help, but it is only one possible solution among many. Good luck!

A. K.

My son did the same thing and I couldn't figure out why to the life of me. So my mom told me to use a straw and to show him how to use it. So I ended up showing him and after that all he will take to is the straw. So try using the straw cups and see. I agree with the one mom saying go to Target to get one.

Maybe try to use the ones with the straws or just an open cup, I know that both of those worked for my friend, unfortunatley the open cup isn't as neat and clean but her daughter drank out of it fine.

Instead of a sippy try a cup with a lid and straw. My husband taught our daughter how to use a straw with a slurpee. It took about 10 minutes and she drank the entire slurpee after she got the hang of it.

Only offer him juice in a sippy cup. I did this with my daughter when she was at that age (and because my Docotor told me not to give her anything sweet in her bottle) and the day after her 1st birthday party I gave her a sippy cup with milk (her first taste of cows milk) and I never had to look back. Just start with his favorit juice (watch out for OJ with pulp becuase it will get stuck). If that doesn't seem to work try cups with no lids (but only while he is at the table or in his high chair due to clean up reasons!) Good luck!

My advice is to only offer water in the bottle. The good stuff, life juice is offered in the sippy cup. Eventually, he will get bored of water. If you need to pull out the big guns, (like I did) Start offering chocolate milk in a sippy cup. That was the turning point for all three of my kids. Good luck!

In my experience the only way to take a baby off the bottle is to do it cold turkey. It took my daughter three days of crying and screaming but than she never asked for it again. My son was born 4 months later and I was worried that she would see the bottles and want them but she had no interest in them. I would give your son some foods that will help with the constipation until he starts using the sippy cup. When my daughter is constipated I give her Fiber One Honey Clusters cereal. It tastes good - not like other fiber cereals. She is a VERY picky eater but loves that cereal. Good luck!!

I threw away all my bottles while my son was watching. Neither one of us could go back. It was a tough day and a half but after it was over, I was glad I had done it.

I would try two things. The first is to offer your son something different in the sippy cup that might catch his attention. For example, if you usually give him milk in the bottle, put juice in the sippy cup. Don't put any of the "good stuff" in his bottle. He may find that using the sippy cup is worth it to get the fun drinks. The second thing I would try is perhaps skip the sippy cup. It takes more time and effort on your part, but some kids do just fine switching straight to a regular cup. You just need to give him drinks while you hold the cup until he is old enough to do it for himself. To share my honest opinion, I think sippy cups are over-used, anyway. Good luck!

Have you tried maybe a funny cartoon style straw of some kind, that might fit in the slit of the cup. They also make the sippy cups that don't spill even when they are turned upside down. Just a suggestion. Also have him help to make his own drink in the cup. Might get a little messy, but he might want to drink it if he can help make it.

LW

start making the bottle the bad guy and the sippy the good guy. water down the milk, or give him something he doesn't like in the bottle - put yummy drinks in the sippy.

My youngest is 19 months and has never had a sippy. When he was old enough for drinks we just helped him drink out of an adult cup. Now that he wants to do it on his own we give him things in a plastic cup with a straw (they sell them at the store in really bright, fun colors). He has been using them for a few months so I bet your little guy will be able to also.

Open cups aren't easy if you are wanting something for him to carry all over the house but if you offer it to him frequently then he should get enough liquids.

Dentists are now saying that juice in certain sippy cups are really bad for teeth too. So if you do juice you may want to put it in an open cup and help him with it.

If you are really wanting him off the bottle.... hang in there. Offer him "jucier" foods like applesauce, pears, and soup (you may need to help him more) to keep him from getting constipated. My oldest daughter did the same thing. She eventually drank from the sippy, everything but milk. To this day she won't drink milk. Loved it from the bottle... won't touch now and she is 7. Our other two did fine coming off of it, but we waited a little longer (around 20 months) to cut off the bottle completly. In the end we only gave it to them at nap and bed, sippy rest of the time.

I hope this helps. Our little blessings give us many challenges, big and small. Before you know it this will be a blurry memory as you take on the challenges of "The 2's".

Good luck!

I had a friend who made it a party. Let him pick out a cup to use (does it need to be sippy? Some prefer open cups). Have a party and say goodbye to the bottles and throw them away. You can retrieve the bottles later, but make sure he doesn't know about it. It worked for her with 3 kids.

I bought a new nipple for my sons bottle - he didn't like it and after a day or two happily took the sippy cup.

Might work for you!

K.

I would try a water bottle not the one with the caps but the other kind with the spout thingy on it. And to dress it up you can let your son put his favorite stickers on it.

Try a regular cup. I really believe sippy cups are for us lazy parents who don't want a mess. But growing is not neat and so you have to clean up a few messes, so what? Just wait until potty training, it gets messier. My daughter was in a montessori since she was 7 months and they started out with Shot glasses at 12 months. She didn't use a sippy cup after that. She is 3 now and I have a 18 month old who only used a sippy cup shortly after the bottle at 12 months and is perfectly fine using a regular cup now. I think she could have used it sooner, but like I said, lazy mom....Try it. Good luck.

My middle daugher was the same way. At her 18 month appointment her pediatrician suggested I start diluting the milk in her bottle and giving her the whole milk in the sippy cup. He said to dilute it in her bottle a little more every couple of days so she would prefer the taste of the milk in her sippy cup. She wouldn't take the sippy cup at all at 15 months, then at 18 months when her pediatrician suggested this, she finally started taking the sippy cup and was off the bottle completely within a couple of weeks.

My son had a hard time with the sippy cup also. The first thing I tried was removing the little rubber stopper that controls the flow. I found he got mad at the cup because he couldn't get enough liquid as quickly as he could with a bottle. This meant he was able to spill the liquid easier also.
However, we soon took the sippy cups away altogether and gave him regular cups to drink from. We also supplied cups with straws - which he really likes. We still have to watch him closely so he doesn't spill - but using regular cups makes him feel like a big boy and he's improving on not spilling.

Sippy Sippy Sippy I know it sounds dumb but it helped me so much.. Make a song.. big celebrations with the few sips... a game he will see your excitement and do it again.. giggle have fun..
also a little trick is a very very diluted juice we are not juice people by far the sugar however when we had the same problem I did 1/3 juice and 3/4s water and it helped.
another great idea is you use one.. and offer a straw too.. all the fun.. making it interesting it is a cool toy too.. to bang so don't let that fustrate you..

Hope this helps

Linda P.
Stayin Home and Lovin It!
www.stayinhomeandlovinit.com/mom