14 Months Old Switching to Sippy Cups

Hi C.,
I had my children off their bottles when they transferred from formula to milk. I also never gave them juice in their bottle, it only came through their sippy cups. Therefore, they knew in order to have juice they had to drink the sippy cup. So when they had milk for the first time it too was only available to them in the sippy cup. As with most children, once they taste the milk they never want formula again, and they'll know it's only going to come one way, in a sippy cup. It worked for both my children, my nephews and nieces. It doesn't take long before they completely get this, maybe a week or so, weening down bottles if you have to, to only bedtime and nap time. Good luck!!

I never made a cold "switch." I started keeping sippy cups, full of water, around the areas where she played. At 20 months, she still takes a bottle at night and sometimes in the afternoon. It just took her a while to get used to it. I wouldn't worry too much - if you baby is thirsty, they'll drink!

That might be something you wanna do now that the weather is getting warmer.. just introduce it during the day.

My kids were never really satisfied w/ the sippy cup. Ever try drinking from one? Its hard work & takes forever to get liquid out. We went straight to a straw cup during bottle transition at about 12-14 months. They figured it out very quickly & I didnt have to bother switching from bottle to sippy to straw cup. Just go straight to the straw!

I will never understand the hipe with sippy cups- children drink from sippy cups the same way they drink from bottles- I am a speech therapist and we have seen more children with lisps and some people believe it is due to the use of sippy cups- anyway, moving from a bottle to a sippy cup is not a big step up. Using a straw or an open cup is a real step up! Try moving to the cups that have straws in it- your child will pick it up eventually

I have two sets of twin girls, age 9 and 4. I switched them to sippy cups by one year because I couldn't stand washing the bottles. I started by giving them flavord milk in the sippy cup (choc, banana, whatever you want to add) or their juice, and got cups with their favorite character. At first they would only drink a little bit but gradually they got used to it and were back to their regular amount. I never offered them the bottle so as not to confuse them. It can be a little hard at first but if you stick with it your child will adapt and it will be much easier for you. Good luck.

Hi C.! I'm a 39yr old mom of two also...my son is almost 4 & my daughter is 16mths! I wouldn't worry too much about giving up the bottle until she's 15mths or so....but what I did, I actually weaned both of them off little by little...I gave up the mid-day bottle, then the morning & lastly the night bottle by 15mths. My daughter STILL doesn't drink too much milk out of the sippy, she actually likes the cup with the straw in it (maybe she feels like a "big girl"). I was also concerned that they wouldn't get enough calcium & my doctor assured me with some milk, cheese, yogurt, etc, that they would be getting enough. Hope this helps! Good luck!

My last 2 babies went from breast to cup...no bottle. My now 21month old never took a sippy cup...he doesn't like them, he uses the NUBBY straw cup and they are suprizing pretty spill proof...every once in a while I may find a small puddle but that in my expirence is the same for every cup left on it's side for a long period of time. As long as she still gets a bottle she will be less likely to take hold of the cup but I promise you she won't let herself starve, it'll take a day or so and she'll catch on. She's old enough to switch but unless you are just tired of bottles she doesn't have too...it's a personal choice...she's not going to be drinking out of a bottle forever...so unless you are getting ready for a new baby and need to switch, take her lead...they are only little once!

We transitioned off bottles at a year by only giving formula in bottles, milk and water in sippy cups. Once weened off formula they were soley on sippy cups. At this point you can transition one drink at a time so the child knows juice comes in a cup, milk in a bottle, etc. until they have the hang of it.

C.-
I switched my son when he turned 1yr. Mostly because all of our bottles began to leak. I did it all at once one day I just never gave him a bottle. I did have to try several brands before I found one that he could truly drink out of. I have found the only sippy cup that works for him and DOES NOT leak is made by Playtex. We started out with the ones with the handles and now he uses the same brand without handles. The avent sippy cups leaked no matter what we did and my son had a hard time in the begining getting anything out of it...the gerber brand doesn't leak but again was difficult in the beginning to get anything out of it.
I hope this helps.
J.

I switched my daughter at a year, but she didn't drink much out of sippy cups either. I think it was too much work for her. So I just bought cups with the same tops but no inserts and she drinks out of those. Sometimes can be messy, but since there is suck a small slit for liquid, only drips a few drops at a time if they accidentally drop it. Now it is great - she rarely spills anything.

Good luck!

i switch around that time. try the kind with a straw. my kids always had issues with tipping the cup upside down. not sure why. they also got a kick out of the straw, they felt like big kids

If you contiue to offer the bottle she'll take it. If you slowly weed it out, she'll take the sippy. My son wanted to drink what we were at 6 mos so I introduced the sippy then. By 1 he was off the bottle. My daughter really had no interest in the sippy, but I gave it to her anyway. She's been using it for a month or so now. She's 10 mos. She does still get her bottle too. But I hope to have her off it shortly after she turns 1 in July.

My oldest now 2 1/2 I switched at 12 months... but still took her bottle at night until about 15 months. My second now 10 months is on a sippy cup during the day and bottle at night. I can't wait to get rid of the bottles so she will be totally off by 12 months. It really is up to you and your child's comfort level. Personally I rather not have to deal with the bottles so I was lucky to get them off early.

Do you put milk in the sippy cup?? My kids would never take milk from a sippy cup (in the beginning anyway). I had to put something else in there. Eventually when they got used to using it they would drink milk also from there. Have you tried the playtex cups with a straw?? My youngest didn't want a sippy but loved drinking from a straw.

Good luck

I feel your pain- my son was the same way- I kept the morning and evening bottle and he eventually got used to the sippy cups and started drinking more in the day. He is now almost 22months- I just stopped the morning bottle two weeks ago and it took a week for him to get used to it. I plan to cut the evening bottle before his 2nd birthday. I didn't want to force the issue- a friend of mine did and she now has to give her child flavored sugared milk to get her to drink milk. I would rather have a bottle for a few months rather than a lifetime of sugar- by the way- you can probably tell- I don't give him juice.

Hello, my daughter is 16 months and I started using a sippy cup at 3 months. But I was lucky we ended a night time feeding at about 6-7 months, so before I new it she did not require that many bottles so we stopped before she was 1. But in the beginning (when we started just sippy cups) sometimes it seemed that she was not drinking enough fluids, I talked to our dr adn she said that she will drink when she is thristy. And she drinks everything now! She enough drinks from a straw.
I hope this helps..

I introduced our 3 kids to sippys (with water) at 6 months...just to start getting them used to it. They oldest 2 (now 5 and almost 4) took well..our baby, now 1, took a bit longer, probably 11 months or so til she got the hang of it. (BTW, baby still does a bottle at night and 1 during the day before a nap.)
You took a little longer to introdue the cup, so it may take her a bit longer to warm up to the idea.
Our ped. says cut the bottle out by 15 months...

Best wishes - they can be stubborn little buggers at times, can't they???! LOL!

J.

with my 4 year old i just kept giving her a sippy cup at each meal until she got the hang of it and gave up her bottle at 18 months. on the other hand, my almost 21 month old son loves his bottle. will drink sometimes from his sippy cup but he basically just chews on it. so my suggestion is, don't sweat it. keep introducing it and eventually you can wean her off of it. i think you still have plenty of time.

Hi, C.. I have this special cup that supposed to be great ofr kids who are going from bottle/breast to sippy. It's a cup with a nipple that sprouts out like a sippy, but it's not hard like the sippy. It's soft. My 8 month old started on it when he was about 6 1/2 or 7 months old and he loves it and he is a drinker. He loves to drink out of it and I clean it daily and it's great. God to the stores and m;y husband found it in Wal-Mart and checked all the bottles and that was the best. The only downfall is that it goes 5 oz and I hgaveto fill it up more after, but it's great for transitioning. If you ahve any more questions, e-mail me and I'll try to get back to you. Okay and let us know how you made out. I'll pray for you and your family.

Hi C.,
I tried at 1yr to stop giving my daughter bottles and had no luck...she would scream and cry at night for her bottle...so I gave in and gave it back to her...someone suggested I try the Nubbie sippie from Walmart...the actual part that they drink out of looks similar to a nipple...my daughter hated it...but your little one might benefit from it...I would give it to her and let her play with it at first to kind of get a feel for it...to this day my daughter will very rarely drink milk from her sippie..if we put it in a regular cup and give it to her she will drink it no problem....so needless to say she still drinks about 8 ounces of milk in a bottle when she wakes up and then when she goes to bed....I feel like if the bottle is the only way she will drink her milk then give it to her!!
Meg :)