Transitioning from Bottle to Sippy

We started my daughter on Nuby cups at 4 months. (She never liked bottles.) She was able to get the milk out without issue. They do not have a valve, so they do leak a bit if you hold it upside down. But maybe thats what you need right now. At about 9 months we switched over to Playtex cups. Good luck, I'm sure it will just take a little time for him to get used to it :)

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I have raised four loving children. My oldest is 21, and my youngest is 7. The best way to go from bottle to sippy cup is to throw all the bottles away in the house. I know it is hard when your child crys for the bottle. You will survive and so will they. If you dont throw the bottles away you will break down and give them the bottle. They will catch on to this and then they know if I just keep this up a little longer mom will give me my bottle back. So, throw them away. Then you can say, "We have no bottles in the house, this is all that is left." I have even showed them the cabnets in the kitchen to prove to them, no bottles. I remember one really bad day with this transition. It will be ok, just keep reminding yourself of that. It only going to be like this for a little while. Just like that song by Darelle Ruckes. Not sure if that is the proper spelling. Best wishes to you.

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We used the Nuby, but it was still a bit much for our son when he first started. The Gerber Nuk Learner Cup was the best. And it's still his favorite cup especially when he's sleepy! They are almost $6 each, but well worth it. Here's a link http://www.gerber.com/products/NUK_Learner_Cup.aspx And they are mess free. We started our son on sippy cups occassionally and then eliminated the bottles all together at his 1st birthday.

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I always took the valves out. Yeah, it might be a little messier, but our son had better success without the little contraptions. It was easier for him with something that flowed a little more freely.

I've gotten the best advice here for my daughter. She was drinking water from a Gerber 9oz hard sippy but would not drink milk from it. The advice was to try a Nuby Sport Cup; it has a soft tip that looks like a straw. I went out and got a two pack and crossed my fingers. She took to it right away no problem. After 2 weeks we are using all Gerber 9oz hard sippy cups without the valve. Each little step was a process but well worth it to be rid of the bottles

We are still using the Nuby sippers or a straw cup at 17 mos. They will leak if they get banged on the tray or ground but they are his favorites and it allows me to keep him hydrated so I don't really care. We have to buy new tops sometimes as the spout will get a tear and liquid will be able to pour out. (BTW the only place I have found the replacement spouts is BRU.) All 4 of my kids have taken to cups a bit differently. My 2nd wasn't able to give up the bottle until age 2 but I didn't care. I have yet to see a kindergartener pack one in his lunch box so I was not concerned.

I also used/use the born free sippy and had the same problem. I just ended up taking a steak knife and making the hole a little wider. Worked like a charm!

We transitioned at 9-10 months too and used the Nuby's. They were great and reasonably priced. Just be patient and keep introducing it. You're doing great mama!

Nubys are great! They have a lot of different ones out there. Try the Nuby transition sippy cup because it has a soft top similar to a bottle.

We just went through this with my almost-11-month-old. She loves the Nuby, and another brand (can't remember) that has a similar soft silicone "nipple". To get her to drink out of the harder tops, I usually start with juice in the cup (which is a huge treat that we never give her) and take out the suction device so it comes out easily. Then I put the suction device back in (once she realizes it has juice and she wants it), and then she'll suck it out. But so far as soon as I try to give her formula in the hard tops she is no longer interested. So we're just sticking with the soft tops for now. Good luck!

My son really liked the Dr. Browns Sippys when we first transitioned (he still uses these at 16 months old). They have one called a Training Cup that lets the liquid flow through easier, but it is still leak proof. The idea is that it teaches them to drink from a regular cup instead of having to do the suckling thing. We did try the Nuby's once and I thought they leaked pretty bad. I ended up throwing them out.

KC, I would wait. He's a little young. My doc said as long as my daughter was off by 2 no big deal!

I transitioned my daughter around the same time and I used the nuby. She loved it. We actually only gave her a bottle first thing in the morning, one at night and the nuby throughtout the day. After a month she only had one bottle at night and then right after her first birthday we put ALL the bottles away! It was great. Good Luck!

At 12 months, my little boy did 4 bottles per day. We just started replacing the bottles with a "Munchkin" flexible straw cup (available at W*lmart or B*biesRus) - filled with 3/4 formula and 1/4 whole milk. (At the advice of his Dr. we kept the evening time bottle but did the milk/formula mix) we did this, and kept increasing the milk, decreasing the formula until it was all whole milk and he never complained. He really likes the straw cups!

3 months later--we still have the evening bottle (advice of our pediatrician, since our son is adopted and has only been 'home' for 5 months, and recently had a medical procedure...the doc felt we should go slow phasing the evening bottle out since it's such a comfort thing--and with all the change/transition an adopted child goes through, and the recovery from the minor surgery, he felt it important to let him have this one thing for awhile).

We are about to phase out this evening bottle...Have heard one way is to start watering the milk down, until it is all water...then just replace the bottle with a straw/sippy cup of water-only before story time/bed time...or just immediately switch to straw cup of water and see how it goes...I think I'm going to go with the milk/water gradual plan...lol.

Good luck!

We had sippy cups from everyone but it seemed that with both of my boys they did best with the Nuby cups when they were first transitioning. My 12 month old as been using sippy cups since around 7 months but has just really mastered using all types in the last 2 months. Good luck.

K C,
It's a little early, give him a few more months. It took awhile for my children to completely switch to sippy cup. They almost fought me on it.

All the Best!

When you first introduce the sippy my Doc said to use a sippy without the valve. I got some of those take and toss ones to start with and my son did pretty well.

Gerber works great too. I'd suggest letting him drink right from the cup sometimes too. Works different mouth muscles.

We love our Nuby cups! We use both the sippy and straw cups and my daughter likes both.

Why are you transitioning so soon? I can see where you might not want to put him to nap with a bottle to protect teeth but children need that sucking motion.it is a comfort to them at such a young age...

My son is almost 11 months and we also use Born Free. I had tried him on their sippy cup a couple of times and he had the same frustration, drinking less than an ounce. Last night, I cut the opening a little wider and he drank the whole bottle.

My daughter's first sippy was a Nuby. It was the one with the soft drinking spout, and ever since the first time using it, she has never had a bottle again. She is now 19 months old and is learning to drink from a regular "big girl" cup.