My 9 month old went to a feeding specialist after having six days of not wanting a bottle. The specialist had concluded that my 9 month old weaned herself off bottles. However, she is having a rough time with sippy cups, cups and straws. I'm guessing that she barely is taking in 3 ounces a day. She eats earths best jarred baby food and yomama yogurt. I am constantly checking for 3 wet diapers a day and sometimes it's hard to tell because those things absorb so much liquid. I don't know what else to do in order to get these three wet diapers she needs. Does anyone else have any ideas? Or has anyone else gone through something similar?
Hi S.,
Actually, my son did this at 6 months! It was acutally Awesome!!! We got the ones at Walmart, they are called... It starts with a N... I think they are like 1.50 each however,,, I think it is spelled nuki?? They have soft tops just like bottles, however it is a sippy cup... That is what we bought,,, it was awesome,, hope it helps
N. :)
I went through the same thing when my youngest was that age. We just kept offering him every single type of cup out there and left them with him all the time. Don't worry they were filled with water. Eventually he figured it out, even though we never got to see him successfully drink out of a cup for the first few months but we knew he was getting liquids due to the drinks being gone AND the wet diapers. Try everything you can and offer whatever you would normally and hopefully she'll pick up on it.
I would switch to cloth diapers, its much easier to tell when they are wet! I would also stick with one type of cup, sippy or regular. Have you tried giving her the drinkable baby yogurt? My kids loved that stuff.
Try to teach her straws! Start by giving a little juice so she will be interested enough to try. If that doesn't interest her enough, try a little 7up (it won't hurt her to have just a little). Plug the top of the straw so it holds some liquid in the straw then put the other end in her mouth. While keeping it plugged, it will drip in her mouth, and if she likes it enough, she'll eventually figure out that it comes out faster if she sucks on it. It should take a very short time to teach her how to work a straw, and my kids were able to learn as early as 4 months.
once she figures out straws, there is a wide variety of straw cups to choose which ones get her excited.
I agree with the other moms about sticking with the same cup. But I would try the sippy cup out first yourself. I know it may sound weird, but some of those sucker, haha, are really hard to get liquid out of. I did that when my twins seem to be having trouble. Then I tried it myself and realized they it was really hard to get something to come out. Good luck.
When my baby was sick and would not nurse enough to stay hydrated, we gave him water through a medicine syringe. If I were you I would get a Gerber cup with handles on both sides that has a soft tip. My eleven month old drinks easily out of these. Then if your little one still seems dehydrated maybe squirt some formula or water in her mouth. Also you can take a regular cup or water bottle and help her drink sips out of it by pouring small amounts at a time into her mouth. Good luck!
Dear S.,
I'm a SAHM of twin girls. I got them started on sippy cups when they were about 7 months. They too didn't drink a lot out of them for 2 months following. But it was okay because I was giving them rice cereal and/or oatmeal with formula in it and that contained about 2 oz. of liquid to help supplement the lack of liquid they were getting. Don't feel discouraged. You're doing a great job. Continue to let them drink at their leasure. I let my girls have their sippy cups when their playing so they can take little sips out of it when they want. I hope this helps.
While she's learning to use a cup, be sure to include juicy fruits in her diet (melon, peaches, etc), and popscicles made with pureed fruit or yogurt.
I don't have much good advice on getting your baby to drink - when we were having issues getting my daughter to take in anything (at all) during a trip last year, we tried everything including spooning in milk and water, and 'injecting' some with a medical syringe. Eventually she started using the sippy cup, but, it was tense for a while there.
As for checking for a wet diaper - you could put a diaper liner in your baby's diaper (a cloth or paper one that would feel wet even if the disposable absorbed a lot), or you could use cotton diapers for a while, because those don't absorb so much. Or, you could put on 'big girl pants' under the diaper - again, same principal - the cloth will feel wet even if most of the liquid is soaked up.
My 9 month old is having trouble with sippy cups too. She does however LOVE to take sips of water from a regular cup so you may get something in your little one by trying that. The sippy cup I bought interchanges with her bottle so I took the handle off the sippy cup and put it on her bottle and she was more interested in the bottle that way and could drink out of it. I wish you luck, I know it can be stressful worrying about your little one.
