Sippy Cup Weaning.

Replace the bedtime routine with a new routine of book time reading/ reading time with cuppy. Find a special place to put cuppy before you put daughter in her bed. If necessary, replace cuppy of milk with cuppy of water and explain that this new cuppy needs to go with her and the other special cuppy needs to go in special place with the books. After one victory, a child can begin a new routine. Soon, the books with mom or dad or caregiver will replace the the security that the cuppy gives. After a new routine is established, figure out how to fit in teeth brushing after milk. Perhaps this is could be the special place to put milk cup...beside the toothbrush? Make teethbrushing and book reading a special time...soon, God willing, cuppy won't be "missed".
I wish you the best.

Hi, my son was also attached to his sippy cup when he was younger. He wouldn't drink milk, only apple juice. He had a sippy cup with him until 3 or 4. I didn't pursue getting rid of it and he eventually let it go. He never had any tooth decay from it as a result, although each child's teeth are different. But, I would recommend asking your dentist how crucial it is. Because of the stress, for me it was worth letting go, and he was fine.

I agree that you should get rid of the sippy cup as soon as possible. I understand the peace that comes from letting her keep it (I let my eldest use one and a bottle longer than recommended for that reason, even though I knew better as a speech therapist). However, not only can this increase the chances she'll develop tooth decay, unless only water is used, but her use of the sippy cup can also delay her developing a mature swallow pattern. The result is called tongue thrust, and can contribute to speech problems such as what is commonly known as a lisp. While babies swallow by pushing their tongue forward, a mature swallow is done by placing the tongue tip in the alveolar (bumpy) ridge right behind the upper front teeth and keeping it there while the rest of the tongue pushes up, in effect pushing the food/drink backwards. Sippy cups can keep the child pushing her tongue forward to swallow. While using a regular cup is best, if you are worried about the mess, I would recommend you using the spill proof cups with straws instead, and make sure that she is sipping with her lips instead of placing the straw between her tongue and upper lip. Sipping with straws correctly, using her lips is a great excercise too for developing control of the muscles of her mouth and breathing coordination.

Another thing, letting your child lie down with the sippy cup also increases the chances of developing ear infections, so be careful about that.
Hope this helps,
C.

she is only two, I wouldn't worry at all about taking the cup away. The big worry is that it has to be water in it! Tooth decay is a big worry if she is falling asleep to milk. My 3 year old son still has a sippy before bed, but it only has water in it since the day he turned 1. After bath, I announce that it is water time and that is it. two years ago we would have battles about it, but he never won, so it isn't questioned anymore. Before bath I had him his juice or milk and tell him if he wants some, he needs to drink it now because after his bath it is water time. This won't be easy, but talk to her all day long about it and give her plenty of warning before the time cut off for anything but water. You are going to have some fits on your hands, but it has to be done! I JUST got my son to let us brush his teeth a couple of months ago. Before that, the fact that he only got water is what made me not stress about it, though he did start seeing the dentist at age 2 as well. This rule holds true for nap time as well. Good luck!

My first thought before I finished your letter was to give her only things which would not cause tiith decay in her sippy cup but then I read the rest of your note. Though it would not answer the bedtime cup problem for the day cups maybe you could only give her the cup if she agreed to brush her teeth after drinking it.
Guess you are just going to have to perservere on the bed time one unless someone can come up with a good answer for that one.

S.

wean her just like a bottle. she will cry for the cup just continue to explain that she is a big girl. do it now because denist bills are a lot more than a 6.00 cup

My daughter is 3 and will certainly drink from a regular cup when given one, but I still offer the sippy more often. It is just less messy and makes far less work for me. I know she won't still be drinking from a sippy when she leavs for college so I'm not worried nor rushed LOL! Why is it that you don't want her to have a sippy cup?

If you really want her to not drink from a sippy, just don't offer... or start slow with getting some small super exciting cups for her so she will probably want to drink from them. She will likely be fine with daytime drinks from the cup. I suggest limiting it to water for the cup for a while...tha way if it spills its ok. Keep in mind that with a young 2 yr old, there will me MANY messes to clean up. Most of my daughters friends still use sippy cups when not sitting at the meal table, quietly.

If your concern is the tooth decay, then I would give her the final bedtime drink while in the kitchen, before she brushes her teeth, washes up and climbs into bed. It can be a sippy, cup or whatever, as long as you get to brush afterwards.

Are you saying that she drinks nothing other than cow milk? This is not good. Too much cow milk is not recommended. I think the maximum for a toddler is around 24 oz a day, and some will say that is waaayyyyy too much. Make sure she is drinking only organic, which is hormone and antibiotic free (which is soooo important for a little girl!). I would definately start integrating lots of water drinks thoughout the day and even watering down the milk. Good luck in finding a happy medium with everything!

She is at the age where a sippy cup is appropriate , I wouldn't worry about it yet.