My son just turned one yesterday, and I'm having trouble getting him to drink from a sippy cup. He doesn't understand to suck from it. He only wants to chew on it. He will take liquid from it with the sippy top off, but still wants to chew on the cup. He will take liquid from a straw when I hold the top of the straw and put the bottom end in his mouth and then let the liquid out but he won't suck on a straw, either. He only seems to understand sucking on a bottle.
I've had various kinds of advice. Some people say they only gave their kids milk or formula from a bottle and anything else had to go in a sippy cup, so if they wanted juice, for example, they had to take the cup.
His doctor said to start only putting water in the bottle so it's not so appealing and formula or milk or juice in the sippy cup.
Unfortunately, the first day we tried that, he refused to drink much of anything. She said he should be getting a total of 30 oz of fluid a day, and he's been constipated a bit lately, so we can't afford for him not to get enough fluids.
I guess my main question is, how did your kids learn to start drinking from a sippy cup? and how long did they continue to take a bottle?
Thank you all for the great advice. I don't know why I let things like this stress me out when I know it is just part of his development and he will master it eventually.
I have been trying the sippy cup at least once a day for months already, and was using the take and toss ones that have no valve, so liquid came out even when he just chewed on it. But he still didn't seem to want it, and wouldn't suck on it.
As fate would have it, at dinner tonight, right after I posted the request, he started sucking for the first time. He drank almost an entire sippy cup at dinner, and in the past he hasn't even finished one after a whole day working on it.
Thanks again for the help. I especially appreciate hearing the advice to take away one bottle at a time and progress more slowly. That was what my gut said, and it's so helpful to know other moms feel the same way.
I haven't read any of the responses, but have you tried a straw in a cup (you hold the cup and the child drinks through the straw). It helped us in the transition between bottle and sippy.
Rebbeca,
My 4 daughters went from the breast to a regular juice sized glass starting at about 8 months old. I don't like plastic, with all the chemicals they finding traces of in them. Just start with small amounts of whatever it is. Kids learn really fast. We so underestimate what they are capable of! They love to imitate adults, so make a big deal over a big girl cup and the successes, and keep a wash cloth around for the spills. Good luck.
We started putting formula/milk in the sippy cup and the bottle, then putting both on the tray at mealtimes. At age 1, we just stopped putting the bottle out and it was like he had gotten used to it and didn't miss a beat. Keep offering both, then remove one when you think he's ready.
I started to give my son a sippy cup at 4 month. I gave him one that had the soft top and it was resimilar to a bottle and as he got a little older it had different tops on it to help him switch to a "real" sippy cup. By the time he was 9 months he was drinking everything but formula from his sippy cup and by the time he was 11 months old, we got rid of the bottle. So I suggest start w/ the soft top sippy cups and gradually move up to the sippy cups w/ the hard tops. That is what worked for my lil boy who is now about to turn 2.
There is a sippy cup called Nuby at Target. It's kind of between a bottle and a sippy. It helped my son transition. We threw out our bottles at 1 year per the pediatrician, so we started trying the sippy cups a couple weeks prior. The Nuby was the first one he could really get to work, so that was our milk sippy cup. Then we kept giving him the juice/water mix in other sippy cups with a little rubbed on the nozzle so he could taste what he was trying to get out of the cup. It took at least a week and he did a lot of chewing on the nozzles before success. So just keep trying!
We had the same problem with our daughter when we started sippy cups, but we found one that worked. It is the soft cover Nuby. The child has to bite the spout to make the liquid come out. Once your son gets the hang of it you can try to transfer to a different style cup. My daughter did very well with them and once she mastered the cup we moved her on to the kinds with valves.
The way that I did it was to tell him to give the straw or the cup lid kisses. and before I knew it he was doing it. I went straight from the bottle to the cup....meaning that once he started using it (a few days maybe a week) I threw out the bottles.
Hope this helps
You have to TEACH him "no bite". Stick with the sippy cup. He may go 1-2 days with not much fluid but he'll catch up as his body needs it. It's confusing to train bottle for one thing and cup for another. These are just little children. Get rid of the bottles, let him help say byebye in the garbage can. He'll get use to the new method of drinking. p.s. keep the lid on; less headache for you with cleanup.
When I first bought the sippy cups for my kids, they didn't get them either. I bought the travel cups-they come in a pack of 4 with a slit in the lid (no stopper). They leak but not at a point that fluids come out quickly. After about 2 weeks, they started to get it and I slowly gave them the sippy cups. I know others have responded to similar requests that sippy cups are horrible and you should use a reglar galss or shot galss but for me, this was the best solution. When I start my daughter on it, I plan to do the same. I know you can buy the cups at Toy R Us and Babies R Us. Maybe Target also.
Honestly, although this sounds mean. Take away the bottle. He will get thirsty enough that he will figure out how to drink from the sippy cup. Also, sometimes, even though it's messier a regular cheap sippy cup is easier than a spill proof one that he has to suck on. Give it a try.
Jen
Hi R.,
I had a similar situation with my son at one. He's now almost 15 months. I just gave him many opportunities to drink from a sippy cup. He chewed on it a lot, but eventually, he got the hang of it. He has no problems with it anymore! I don't think it matters what you put in it as long as you give him the opportunities to figure out how it works. He'll get there! Good luck. :)
R.,
I started the sippy cup much earlier - like 5 months old - with just water - he didn't get the hang of it for months - but I just kept giving it to him. By the time he was a year, he knew how to use it just fine. He transitioned from bottle to sippy cup without any problems - but I don't think we really made the transition until 14 months old. My cousins, who all have kids in middle/high school now - kept telling me that the doctors are wrong - you can give your kids bottles for as long as you want - she gave bottles until her kids were 2 and they transitioned right to regular cups. She even put her kids to bed with bottles!! I was too afraid of my doctor yelling at me - so I followed orders - but just know that there are other ways.... (btw - all six kids of my cousins have PERFECT teeth - no cavities - no braces!!)
I have seen sippy cups with straws instead of a spout.I would try one of those!!!! Good Luck
Have you tried the Nuby brand sippy cup? They manufacture styles with a soft silicone spout, more similar to the bottle nipples. My 9 month olds are practicing on this type of cup as they too only chew on the hard plastic tops. Good luck!
You can take the stopper out for a sec - show him that liquid comes from there - then put the stopper back in - and keep repeating. It is a pain in the butt - but it does work. Good luck :)
I started giving them a sippy cup as soon as they could sit in a high chair. It takes a lot of practice. It is normal that they don't get that they need to suck. He will eventually get it but in the beginning I used sippy cups with out the non spill mechanism in them. This way the child figured out that he can get something out of it. Also I would cut out one bottle at a time. Starting with the least important one and moving towards the most. I would go two to three days at a time before taking another one away. I wouldn't start taking the bottles away until he is confident in drinking from the cup. I suggest at each meal giving him a sippy cup to practice. Because my kids had been practicing since about 5 months, I starting takig the bottles away when they turned a year old. It took about two weeks to be bottle free, maybe three.
Keep trying...it took my guys about a week to really understand what to do with the sippy cup. I have twins and they did the same thing...chew on it. Your son will get it sooner or later. What you can do (and it might get messy) is to take out the spill proof piece then the contents will spill into his mouth allowing him to understand what is in the cup. Then he might start to suck the sippy instead of biting it. Then pop the spill proof piece back in. I also tried a few different sippies to see which one they liked better...ones with handles, ones without handles, ones that were soft and rubbery on top and then some that were hard topped. They ended up liking the no handles hard tops the best and still use them now.
