Breaking the Sippy-cup Habit

I agree with everyone about the dental issues. This needs to be broken now. The sippy cup fairy is a great idea. We do this with Halloween candy. Put all the sippy cups on the front porch, tell him the sippy cup fairy will come and take them to all the other little kids who need them, in exchange, she will leave a small gift. At Halloween, we put all the excess candy in a bag on the porch and the Good Halloween witch comes and trades it for a small present too. My son thought this was a great idea. You could also tell him that he is so big he has gotten too big for the sippy cups and then switch to the character paper cups with water. Make something up about the water for only big boys, babies drink milk at bed, he's not a baby now. Maybe get him something new to be a soother, a stuffed animal, etc.. Good Luck.

J.,

With my daughter I gave her a new cup with the straw on it and than would give her one drink at night before bed and if she was thirsty again she had to get out of bed and go to the kitchen to get her drink and she got sick of doing that so she just gave up on the sippie cup.

Good luck,
O.

do you take his sippy cup away after he goes into a deep sleep? Try that and them slowly start just maybe giving him a drink before bed as you do this. my e-mail address is ____@____.com if you have any more questions.

I would give him a drink of milk from a "big-boy" cup before brushing teeth, and then only water afterward. I don't see the problem in letting your son sleep w/ a sippy cup of water. My soon-to-be 5 yo & 2 yo go to bed w/ a sippy cup water. Unfortunately, we don't have bedside tables, or low dressers to set a "big-girl" cup on, so that's why they get a sippy at bed. We also need them for parent's day out, and, let's face it, kids spill, why wear yourself out cleaning up messes all day long? As long as your child is capable of drinking out of a regular cup, don't worry about getting rid of the sippy until you need/want to. Just don't give in to a sippy cup of milk at bed, you don't need those potential problems.

I never gave my kids or grandson a sippy cup in the bed. I bought the 3 oz paper cups with characters on them for the bathroom and I took it from there to their bedroom at bedtime, after brushing their teeth and they got a few sips of water while we were reading a book and then a sip before lights out. My grandson wanted his "juice" that his mommy and nanna always gave him in the bed (in a sippy cup)but I just told him we don't do that here because big boy cups leak and big boys drink from big boy cups and I also didn't give him any other drinks from sippy cups, I used the childrens cups that come with straws or small sportscups or small plastic cups with a handle. I taught him to keep his cup in a certain place while playing and go and get a drink when he needed one...not allowing drinking in the living room. I don't think letting them cry it out is necessarily a good idea. They think you are punishing them and they don't understand why. You will be surprised if you explain to them or give them a reason why it is not a good idea in the bed or give them another alternative to getting a drink at bedtome. Praise them for being so big and not a baby anymore. Just my opinion.

As a mom who let her oldest have a sippy cup at bed time.....please don't let me do this anymore, or if you have to give him a cup insist on water. My oldest son had to get major teeth work done and the dentist said that they see it all the time in kids who took milk or juice to bed. I would also suggest a trip to the dentist. Maybe have the dentist tell him no more cups, then each night remind him that the dentist said no more cups....then you aren't the bad guy. Best of luck. It took my son about three days to adjust to the change, but it stopped any further tooth problems. C.

I would say the same as some of the other moms. It doesn't hurt your son to cry. It just hurst us!! Besides, I know a friend who's son also took a sippy cup of milk to bed with him and then he had 2 root canals and 4 cavities by the time he was 4. That is much more painful and long lasting then a few nights of crying.

one step at a time slowly back him off. ex. half cup tonight and maybe this week let see how that goes then next week cut him back to 1/4 sippy cup for maybe a week and see again. then who knows maybe the following week you wont have to give him any thing. the other option is see if he will sttle with water, or even progressivly cut his milk with water till it's all water.

Let him scream it out a few nights and he will stop. It will be annoying but do it over a weekend and by Monday he'll probably be okay.

Or if you don't think that will work fill the sippy cup with water instead of milk and see if he discards it on his own.

i have to say i agree with the sippy cup fairy idea but with both of my children they did not want to lose the sippy. they took water to bed but i didnt not like the idea cause they would chew and drink in their sleep. i finally broke down one day and said this is it this is the last time you will have the sippy tomorrow it is big kid cups and switched them to small cups. they cried and screamed and threatened to not go to bed for a few nights but they got tired and went to sleep i just continued to remind them every 10-15 minutes that i was still around and i still loved them but i put a gate in their doorway so they had to stay in their room. the third night i removed the gate and said i know you are a big kid now so we dont have to make you stay in here cause you know itis bed time and you knwo if you dont go to bed then you dont get to play with or watch XXXXXX tomorrow, and we would write a not on the fridge to remind them. they wouold see the note and ask what it was and i would tell them thats is the note that says no XXXXX cause you didnt go to bed like a big kid....after about a week i had no issues with the cup and they were going to bed with our usual routine no problems. hope this helps some and good luck

let him scream himslef to sleep. check in on him every 10 minutes or so......... but he will learn that you aren't playing that game anymore after a couple of weeks.........you are the adult here...... you are in charge not him........

The easiest way I'v found to break my son of any habit is to make a trade. "If I let you sleep with this cool new toy than you can't have your sippy at bed time." If that doesn't work than you might have to just simply let him cry it out a few times. As long as you are still keeping an eye on him it doesn't hurt to stick to your guns and let him cry it out.

I'm trying to break my daughter of the sippy cup and I bought a special Dora cup for her and she is eager to use it since she thinks she's a "big girl" now. We take it everywhere with us and we call it her special cup. About the bedtime thing, I have never let her take a drink to bed for fear of her choking. I'm just anal retentive like that. But when we broke her of the binky habit, we had to do it cold turkey and let her cry it out. You just have to be strong like you were with getting him to do anything new when all they wanted was to cry...like sleep in their bed...etc...Maybe you could give him a special stuffed animal in place of the milk, and let him pick a new one out at the store...or use incentives, like..."Do you want to go to the park tomorrow (that's my daughters' favorite place and this works for us a lot)?" Then you say, "Okay, if you want to go to the park tomorrow, you need to get through the night without your milk..." Or use whatever else...stickers or popsicles when they wake up...something out of the norm, but probably not the same thing every time, so you don't have to give into the same thing every day. Then you should make a big deal of praising him in the morning for getting through the night before. After a while, you can just say he's a big boy now and doesn't need it. Hope this helps!

If you think it is hard to do now wait until number 2 comes along :) You just have to take it away. Either it disappears or have him throw it away and tell him it is so that he can become a big boy. Now that his baby brother is coming he is going to be a big boy and a big brother. He of course will be upset in the beginning but he will get over it and it will not be easy the first few nights I am sure. You could change it to water (PLEASE DO NOT EVER GIVE HIM JUICE TO GO TO SLEEP WITH!!) for a week and then take it away for good or try giving him a cup of milk to drink before he goes to bed. Just some sugggestions good luck with this and the new addition!! S.

I agree with the other Moms too! Let him cry it out! I am getting ready to break my son of the habit as well. Sometimes he already goes to bed without it! Good Luck!

My son had the same problem. It won't hurt you or him to let him cry. You can give him water in his cup and yes he will freak out, but you have to do it. He can develope cavities with that milk being all over his teeth everynight. It will take patience and maybe a week. Consistancy is the key. You are the mom.

Three simple words... let him cry.

Believe me, he will get over it.

=] K.

I agree that the crying would only be 2-3 nights, and less each time as long as you held firm. Once you give in though, he knows that's how long he has to cry to get what he wants and he'll do it again the next night.

That said, I was never able to go cold turkey when breaking my kid's habits, so I personally would 'help' him kick the habit by:
1) buy a leak-proof sippy cup. That way the cup itself won't spill.
2) For the drooling, consider covering his bed with a thick blanket or something so all you have to wash each day is a pillow case and the blanket. Much easier than those fitted sheets!
3) If he screams over the water in the cup, then dilute the milk bit by bit with water so he'll stop drinking it because it doesn't taste as good. Or just fill it with skim or 1% milk - same effect :-)

Good luck!
J. - mother of 5-year old.

How about having the sippy-cup fairy come? We had the binky fairy at our house. I told them that when they were ready, they would leave all their binkies out and the binky fairy would come and take them and leave them a surprise.

I read about this recently and they suggested decreasing the amount of milk by 1/2 an ounce every day or two until the bottle is non existant. It also said to replace it with water which others have suggested. Good luck!!