Transitioning from Bottles to Sippy Cups

Hi K.

I recommend you get rid of the bottles and wait for her to drink. Try one of the bottles with the built in straw versus a sippy cup. Good luck and keep us posted.

We tried various cups, and the one our daughter likes the best is a "green sprouts" cup with a little hard spout - it is "3 mo and up." I think she likes it because it doesn't involve as much sucking. She also likes to drink out of water bottles (like a poland spring bottle) or out of regular cups (with me holding it). Sippy cups with soft spouts did nothing for her, and she hasn't figured out a straw yet.

My son (now 11 months) had a hard time figuring out the sippy cup, too. We eventually found the ThinkBaby training cup, which he took toi very quickly. The spout is much more like a nipple than any other sippy cup I've tried. Good luck!

Do you give her a bottle if she doesn't drink from the cup? If so, she knows that. And that's why she won't drink from the cup. Stop doing that. She will eventually drink from the cup. And she will not be hurt in any way if she doesn't! Children will not dehydrate because they missed a few bottles. You will be surprised but she may even eat better if she doesn't have a bottle at meals. At 11 months it's almost time for her to give up the bottle completely anyway. Most doctors tell parents to get rid of the bottle when the child reaches a year old.

My daughter really didn't seem to understand the purpose of the sippy cup until I tried the Take n Toss cups. (They look like Gladware and come in 4-packs.) Then she was like a duck to water. As soon as I gave her one of those it went up to her lips and we've not turned back since.

Hi K.- think im a little late but figured id put my 2 cents in just incase you were still trying- my daughter was breastfed and didnt take a bottle or cup at all - the only thing we got her to take was the nuk, (you said you tried gerber but not sure if you had tried this gerber one) - anyways worked for us, i attached the linke below- they are at walmart, cvs, etc....

another thing we did is try something different in her cup than she normalyl drinks in her bottle, when we transitioned my little girl she was used to breastmilk so at first thats exactly what she got in her cup- no such luck,
when i woudl try water, juice, and as she got older vitamin d milk she would drink it,
it was something along the lines of she expected my milk to come in usual form btu because juice and water were new to her she would accept them however they came:)

http://www.drugstore.com/products/prod.asp?pid=165750&amp...

She is 11 months. Why does she absolutely need to use
the sippy cup. IMO what is the difference between
walking around with a sippy vs. a bottle. If she enjoys
her bottle, let her have it. It is probably a source of
comfort for her. She is still a baby.

there is a sippy cup that looks like a bottle.. It is a sports cup.. I got it at babies r us. I forgot the name but, i gave it to my daughter and she took it right away.. Then I switched to a sippy cup w/out that nipple...

i tried dozens of cups. the only one my son would drink from is the Nuby sippy cup. it has a softer spout and is valveless.

Practice practice practice. It sounds like you are doing everything right. 11 months is still pretty young. I have found that for every parent who says "My child took the cup with no problems at 10 months" there are at least one if not two who were pulling their hair out wondering why their child is giving them so many problems!
My son was the exact same way and around 12 months he just kind of got it. We were consistent about what mealtimes were bottles and what were sippys and he kind of fell into line. It happened right around the time that he ate a more normal solid food diet and we became less concerned about him drinking 3 cups of milk/ formula a day. By 12-14 months they really don't need that much milk and it can just fill up their little tummies anyhow.
Just keep going with it and meditate on this because it will not be the last thing that seems to not work and not work and not work before suddenly one day it does.
Good Luck!

Have you thought to try a regular cup? They are supposed to be best for oral motor development. I would give my children just an ounce or two at a time at meals or even in between. It took some time but they got the hang of it fairly quickly. It is a little bit messier at first but a good bib and high chair tray catch most of the dribbles! I also used a cup with a straw for traveling.