My Baby Won't Take a Cup

I am not understanding the rush for getting your daughter off of the cup. I introduced my son to several sippy cups around 11 months. He was NOT interested and didn't really start drinking from a sippy cup until around 14 months. Every child does things in their own time. I would just fill it up with half juice and half water and let him carry it around, and just made it available if he wanted to try. She'll eventually take to it, you'll see!

When I took my children off the bottle. I put water in the bottle and other drinks in the cups. When they realized that water was all they got in the bottle all they wanted was a cup. Its also very hard to get them to drink out of a regular cup when they get older. Sippy cup is not good for there teeth. Try that. Hope it will work for you. GOOD LUCK!

i have 13 month old girl and i found that she didn't like sippy cups either. So i found a no-spill cup that has a straw. She took that a lot better and then the trasition to the cup was a lot eaiser. Don't know if you have already tried it, but it helped me. Although i still give my girl a bottle before she goes to bed...its a comfort thing...for both of us to sit together and cuddle before bed. she will let you know when she is ready.
good luck
amdand

some find this method harsh but in my eyes it is the only way to get it done with less stress (this was shown on SuperNanny too). Just take all bottles out of the house and only have sippy cups (or normal ones, age 2 is when you get off sippy) and they will throw fits but eventually give in.
Also get her around others near her age that are on sippy cups. Nothing helps better than having other kids do it too. LoL
Also My son was off the sippy cup at age 2 because the daycare we went to said that is what they do. So instead of him taking a normal cup and turning it upside, within a few weeks BECAUSE of watching others, he drank out of a normal cup with no issues at all. Didnt pack a sippy cup so wasnt an issue with this or that, sorta like when you have nipple confusion, you have one and not the other one.

All I can say is don't worry. Don't listen to the doctor all the time. I mean I know they know what they are talking about but some children just need to do stuff on their own time. My girls were 13 months before they would take a sippy cup. I just would show them one every day and try to see if they would take it but I wouldn't push it. Then one day they just decided ok. Also, I wouldn't buy anymore bottles so the holes in the bottles got so big they couldn't drink out of them anymore without getting soaked so they just took the sippy cups. Try just leaving a sippy cup on the counter all day, she'll get used to seeing it. Tell her it's a big girl cup. But the main thing to remember is be patient and don't let the doctor intimidate you. She will get it on her own.

My daughter is 10 months and I feel your pain. I cannot get her to drink from her sippy cup either! I tried the nuby type and the regular hard one with the two handles. She could care less.. she pushes it off the high chair and turns her head when I try to get her to use it. But.. here is the funny part - she will drink from a straw from MY cup. So I think I am going to try that option as someone else suggested and give her a sippy cup with a straw type instead of the regular ones. Maybe your daughter is also this way.

Have you tried a cup with a straw? I know they are supposed to be harder to drink from, but my niece never liked a regular sippy cup but loves to drink from the ones with straws. Good luck!

Am I understanding that your pediatrician wants your daugher off the bottle completely by 12 months old. Some children take longer to take off othe bottle. Just stay consistent and be persistent about giving her a cup. Try to have her take a cup when she eats her meals of baby food with a spoon. But still allow her to have a bottle before you put her to bed, when she wakes up at ni ght, and in the morning or before nap time. Alot of times children want their bottle as a security thing. And some children just mature quicker than others and will want their bottle longer. As long as you don't allow your daughter to lay down in her bed/crib with a bottle (I ahve always been told that was bad for the ears, that the liquid settles and also I've been told it is bad for their teeth to sleep with a bottle). I would continue to allow her to have her bottle at designated times and push the cup at meal time.
L.

The more you push her to take it, the more she will refuse. Let her go at her own pace. I'm not really sure, like said before, why your doctor is so anxious to get off the cup by 12 months. She isn't gonna be on it forever, and eventually, she'll see all the grown ups using regular cups, and want to do it, too.
Try letting her use a sippy cup with the straw, since it is a little different. Lots of kids love using those, and they don't feel like they're being forced to give up something, just graduated to something really neat!
I'm really against forcing babies/children to do what will eventually come naturally to them. I think that creates more problems, and it's just added stress for mom and baby! The way I see it is, you can either fight and fight and fight to get your baby to do something, or you can just let him/her do it at his own pace. Your child won't do it any faster by being forced, so you might as well relax and enjoy your baby!

Our ped doctor said to try and get boys off the bottle around 1yr. But he also said not to force. We put water in the bottle and put milk and juice in the sippy cup. And if they still didn't want to drink out of the sippy cup, we didn't let them win. When they were thristy enough they did finally go to the sippy cup. You just can't stress to much over it. But I would def pack up all the bottles and put them away.
My 2 boys are 4 and 2. All they drink out of is the sippy cups. Every once in awhile they will drink alittle something out of a reg cup. So no worries here with them and a reg cup.
Also no harm with the sippy cup and their teeth. You run into problems with their teeth if you put them to bed with a bottle or sippy cup.
But the sippy cup will not harm their teeth. I also talked to my 4yr old's dentist about that and he said not to worry.

Hi K.,

My daughter would not do a sippy cup either. Try the cups with a sraw. My baby girl will only drink from the cups that have a straw (get the "disposable" kind), she cried and threw the sippy cups down on the ground. Becca turned 1 in Sept and I know exactly what you are going through. My dr. said the same thing and we just tried everything and this seemed to be what she wanted. She started drinking out of them around 8 months or so. Let me know if this helps you any.

A.

HI...
MY NAME IS L. C. MY SON, NOW 13MONTHS WOULD NOT TAKE A SIPPY CUP AT 11 MONTHS. WE WERE IN WALMZRT ONE DAY AND SAY SOME WITH SILICON NIPPLES, JUST LIKE ON A BOTTLE (SOFT AND PLIABLE). BOUGHT ONE FOR $1, JUST IN CASE HE STILL DIDNT WANT IT. HE LOVED IT. HI IS NOW 13 MONTHS AND JUST NOW ACCEPTING A "HARD OPENING REGULAR" SIPPY CUP.

YOU MIGHT ALSO TRY A REGULAR ADULT CUP ONCE, USING A STRAW...MY SON LOVED THIS. PUT LIQUID IN THE STRAW AND HOLD THE TOP OF THE STRAW CLOSED...CAUSING HIM TO SUCK THE LIQUID OUT OF THE STRAW AND THEN HAND HIM A "SIPPY" WITH A STRAW AFTER HE CATCHES ON.

GOOD LUCK

Hi K.,

The best advice I can give you is to not stress too much about this. I have found with my two girls that they will do things in their own time, when THEY are ready. My 3 year old had a hard time adjusting to a sippy cup but my 1 year old loves hers and took right to it.

Hang in there!

P.

Every child is different and sometimes what the Dr. says is a "suggestion" or something they would "like" to see happen, doesn't mean it will. We have five children and all took to a cup differently. We have twins, while one took right to the sippy the other said "NO, NO". I let the one twin just play with the sippy cup with some spoons and plastic bowls and still introduced it at meals and snacks. It took about two weeks of this and he was using the cup. I did breastfeed (sometimes a bottle of pumped milk though) them but if you are using a bottle it might be confusing for your daughter. Try putting her in her highchair then pouring the juice/milk from the bottle into the cup and serve it to her that way, letting her see you making the transfer. Maybe she just needs to understand the concept of it all. Good Luck!

My daughter and I packed up all her bottles in a big box, everything we did not even leave one out. And then we said goodbye to the bottles and went and tossed them in the trash. to her they were gone, although later when she was napping I went out and put them in the attic in case we needed them later on, but she never knew that. this way she knows they are not in the house and that if she is thirsty she needs to take the sippy. The ritual of throwing them away and saying goodbye worked great for us. And she never asked for one again after that. I hope this helps.

It took me 1 day with my son. He refused at first, but eventually got so hungry/ thirsty, that he finally gave in. I never gave him a bottle again. I KNOW this sounds cruel, but if you wait too long and she is old enough to remember and ask, your battle will be harder. I did wait until my son was 12 months though. This may be the key. Since she is crying to just the site of the cup, take it away for a week or two. Maybe she will forget about it and see it as a new object when you re-introduce it. Good Luck!!!

Mine is 16 months and ive tried everything from taking his bottle, putting only water in the bottle, putting the milk in the cup, leaving the cup around the house etc. he doesnt want to get the cup. i remember when i was in preschool that every morning my mom gave me a bottle of chocolate milk and i was 3 years old! eventually i learned that the bottle was not for me anymore so, i know my baby is going to do the same thing some day.

like other mothers said, i dont know why people are trying so much to force something that will eventually come. other mothers brag about how early their babies took the cup, and maybe thats why people are pushing it so much, because they think that the baby is going to be left behind or something.

my baby started crawling at 9 months...and started walking at 15 month, and i was always worried because i saw other babies crawling or walking and mine wasnt...not anymore, im not going to worry about any of that. he's gonna get it when is the right time. every baby has its own pace. so good luck.

I wouldn't worry about it. I would jsut start her on a regular cup. If she knows there is an alternative (such as a bottle) then she will scream until she gets it. Get rid of the bottles and she will take the cup because it's her only option. She won't starve in the process. But my mom had us on regular cups at 1 year and my son's school doesn't use sippy cups. What did women do before them? She has to know that it's not her choice whether or not she takes the cup. You are the boss and you make the rules. Good luck!

I have an 11 month old also, I introduced the sippy cup by putting his formula in it. I tried this at 8 mos old and he went for it, but only the nubby cups. Now at 11 mos he'll drink outta sippy cups but only with the softer nipples. I've also tried the cups w/ the 2 handles that have the hard spout and he won't go for it. I think your child will come around when she is ready. I wouldn't stress over it. Good luck to you.

My daughter is 20 months and I just took her off the bottle. I personally think it is mom's decision. You can't force a child to do certain things...you can lead a horse to water, but can't make them drink...you can give your daughter a sippie cup, but you can't make her drink it... I think that sometimes doctors are a little too harsh with our children when we are the ones who have to take care of their every need and want...I hope things work out for you.
N.