Going from Bottle to Sippy Cup - Belleville,IL

Most infants still have a strong need/desire to suck until about 18 months, whether by breast or bottle.
I introduced the cup at around a year old, with water in it. My kids mostly just played with it at first but over time they got the hang of it. Because it was just water, and only at the table, messes weren't really an issue.
Cups are like forks and spoons, something that should be introduced when the child is actually capable of using it properly :-)

Skip the sippy and go to a straw cup ... Different kind of oral movement development for them.

My kids played with their sippy cups, too. I realized they didn't know what to do with it. I had Gerber and Playtex sippies that had the valve in them. My SIL suggested taking the valve out, so they would understand. It absolutely worked! Once they understood (hey, there's milk in here), I put the valves back in. Only took them half an hour or so. They've been fine ever since.

We introduced the sippy cup during bathtime, and with the valve out. That way he could get used to the idea without making a mess of things. We introduced it at around 10 months old. Just shy of his 1st birthday, he started refusing bottles, and wanted nothing but the sippy.

Hubs and I field tested several, we found them very difficult to drink out of, so we weren't going to impose them on DS. The playtex, insulated, twist and lock were what we decided on. They are available in most pharmacies.

Good luck to you and yours,
F. B.

We did not switch until our daughter was a year old.. Actually that very morning.. No problems.. She held the cup and drank by herself...

We lead up to it, by talking about how on her birthday the bottles would all be gone... We treated it very matter of fact...

We had a couple of choices.. She picked one style, I picked a different style.. Then for her birthday, she was given quite a few.. Each morning I would give her a choice of 2 different cups..

Every kid is different. My daugther trasnsitioned to sippy cups easier than my son, but she was on the bottle longer in the evening. My son nursed better, wich might be why it was harder for him to get used to the sippy. My daughter never took to nursing, so I pumped and gave her BM in a bottle. So your son is experimenting. It is just a transiton.. you can try differnt styles because like every baby likes a different bottle, each kid likes a differnt sippy.

Good luck

I just think of everything before 12 months as practice. Around 12 months (once they start drinking milk) that's when I push the sippy cups more. Especially right after meals.

My favorite though is the straw sippy cups...once they figure out how to suck through them, I find they work so much better. For 1, the kid doesn't have to be laying down or tip their head way back. And for 2, it helps with oral muscle development more than the traditional sippys.

Just keep letting him try from a sippy when you think about it. But I wouldn't worry about it quite yet (ALOT can happen in the next 3 months!)

I guess I did things a bit differently. My babies stayed with milk in a bottle until about 18 months (one till closer till 2, but never slept with them). Sippies were introduced along with solid foods with watered down juice. My kids never drank milk from a sippy....only a bottle then they really didn't drink a lot of milk so it came during meals in a real cup.

Why are you making the switch?

Since he's really young that's probably why he's having problems. He is supposed to be getting a lot of formula throughout his day and a sippy cup isn't going to help him get the nutrition he needs if he won't drink from it and is fighting it. He needs 24-36 oz. of formula still.

He can start this now but he still must have a lot of formula until he's 1. Then as he transitions to milk that's a great time for him to be starting a tippy cup.

He doesn't have to be off the bottle for months and months, if not a year or so.

I congratulate you for starting the transition early! As long as your son is developmentally able, there us no reason you can't introduce the cup at this age (I've seen children as young as 6 months using a sippy cup without problems--it's just the transition that is hard). It it's important to remember to give bottles a few times a day until he becomes more proficient at using the cup, so he gets enough formula; it's important to note, though, that his formula needs decrease as he eats more solid foods, so it may not be too often that you'll still need the bottle.

As far as the type of cup, I've personally had better luck teaching to use a straw-type cup (and they seem to me to drink more/faster with these); however, as far as more traditional sippy cups go, I usually recommend the hard-topped ones for tooth development, but the valves can make it tricky to learn using them. (I like the idea of trying without the valve, outside or in the bathtub.)

No matter how you go about it, keep on offering the cup and praising him for doing a good job (as appropriate). You are doing a great job by working on this transition before it becomes an emotional battle and takes on a life of its own! Feel free to message me if you'd like.

look at some of the stiff/hard plastic sippy cups. Tommee Tippee cups are good for this, I actually prefer their valves....easier to wash. It's a new thing, so he's experimenting with it.