Bottles - Rock City Falls,NY

My twin boys wouldn't take the sippy cup until they were 1 year old and now at 13 months they love it. I still give them milk in a bottle for bedtime and naptime, but water and juice are given in a sippy cup. give her a few more months, she'll get the hang of it. I too tried the cup at about 9 months and they wanted no part of it.

You are doing the right thing by introducing the sippy cup now so she can get used to the idea. I did the same with all three of my kids and they were off bottles by the time they were 15 months old. My littlest, who is 18 months, just started holding it on her own a month ago! So don't worry if she mostly plays with it for now or isn't sure how to hold it . . . she'll figure it out in time.

Hi Alison. My 12 month old has just started using a sippy cup consistently, even though I started introducing it at 7-8 months. He played with it for a long time, but I just kept giving it to him with a little bit of water in it. Then, suddenly, he figured it out. One day he just started drinking out of it, and now he consumes a fair amount of liquid with the cup. So my advice is just keep giving your daughter the cup - she'll begin using it soon.

I started my son on the Nuby sippy cups long before his first birthday, using them like a bottle. He was off the bottle before he was 1. These are much like the bottle nipple so it was an easy transition. After he was off the bottle I kept changing sippies and now he will drink out of any of them at 22 months. I know it often isn't that easy. Good luck.

I started our son on the "stages type" sippy cups (I forget what brand they were) around 10 months. They are the size and shape of a sippy cup, but you can use them first with a nipple first, then with a rubber "sippy" type top. It worked really well with our son.
Now he prefers sippy cups with the rubber "sippy", but will drink out of any of them.

My daughter was not really into sippy cups either at that age - and not for a bit after - she just couldn't quite 'get it'. I started her with a cup with a straw (tried the plastic ones, then switched to FOOGO - stainless steel - for 2 reasons - 1st - the plastic cups sippy or straw, leaked or broke after a short time, and 2nd - wanted to get away from plastic. Foogo are expensive - but worth it when you aren't replacing the others every other month or so). She did great with a straw cup - really started to intro it at about a year - she saw it a little before that - but I didn't rely on it until around 1 yr. She adapted to that, then quickly to sippy's also and we were totally away from bottles by 18mos. My philosphy - which worked great for my dgtr was this:

No lunch bottle - went to milk in straw cup with lunch - if she drank - great - if not, no big deal. - Kept the morning, afternoon and evening bottle

Once she started getting used to the straw cup - maybe a week or so - took the morning away and gave her the straw cup w/ milk and didn't push - if she drank - great (she was still getting enough throughout the day for her)

Within a couple days after that - we were onto only an afternoon bottle and straw cup with milk for each meal. The afternoon bottle lasted a few months until I realized I should give her a snack instead of a bottle and she did well without the bottle - asked for a few months every now and then - but was really ok without it.

Once she used sippy cups (and to this day) they were for water only. I was pretty lucky - she never liked juice that much so I didn't have to worry about that or too much of it. So her sippy's were/are for water only, and her straw cups were/are for milk only. She knew what to expect and didn't get alarmed with the cup expecting one thing and getting another! I know this for the few times I thought - oh what does it matter and switch the liquid into a cup I thought she'd like better - no go. She wants to know what's coming!!!

Don't forget too - kids are all different - if she's not ready - you're in for a fight - so go at her pace too and hopefully it will all work out. As long as she's not falling asleep with it and sucking on the bottle endlessly all day/night long - she's still ok to have it.

We started giving cups with the straw(munchkin) around 8 months,they did play with them in the begining but by 1 they both were drinking just fine. We took bottles away on the 1 st B-days. Was hard for couple days before bed, but it did not compare how hard it has been for some of my friends who have kids on the bottles at 18m -2 years.

I would skip the sippy altogether and go straight to a real cup -- start with Dixie cups as they are small, and move up to the cups everyone else in your house uses. Sippy cups can promote tooth decay and overconsumption of liquids. It may be a challenge at first, but you'll be surprised at how quickly even the smallest kids get the hang of this. And it's one less thing to buy, haul around, and wash!

You're doing a great job Alison. Our children learn by playing, experimenting, and having things modeled for them- so she should pick it up quickly! Definately keep a sippy cup filled with water available for her on those hot days and she'll have extra thirst incentive to use it.

We started sippys with all 3 of our kids at 6 months...half the time they threw them on the floor at that age, but it got them used to it. Start trying, and don't give up...And, NO juice (not even watered down)...start with good ol' plain water.

Our 14 1/2 month old uses her sippy for milk and water during the day, but she still gets 2 bottles a day (of Enfamil Next Step)...she loves her bottle! I have a feeling it will be a battle with her to give it up, but I guess if it is only at bed time and nap time, she should be fine...as long as she's over it by the time she's off to school, right? LOL!!

Best wishes to you!
J.

It sounds like your doing the right thing. My son started on the sippy at 6 mos and my daughter at 9 mos. I would just keep giving it to her. My daughter gets it with each meal either with juice or formula. She is just starting to hold it up high enough for her to get something out of it. She will be 1 at the end of the month. Just keep giving the cup. And then you can slowly phase out the bottle.

My 14 month old started a sippy cup (Nuby) at 9-10 months old. Just kept it out all the time/all day so he would get used to it. Now that's all he uses. I took away all daytime bottles in 2 days and his bedtime bottle was gone in the same time. He just wasn't drinking anything out of the bed-time bottle so I figured it was the perfect opportunity. My doc says the magic window to get rid of the bottle is by 15-16 months. After that you will have more of a fight.