Help with Getting 9 Month Old to Use a Cup and Finger Foods

I have a 5 year old daughter. When she was about 7 months old I started her with a sippy cup. I bought the one with that came with a couple different tops, I think it was by the Parent's Choice at Wal Mart. I have no idea if they still make it, but she did not go to only a cup until after her first birthday. With her feeding herself, I would sit her in her highchair and give her Cheerios while I cooked or while we watched tv together. I don't know if that helps or not, but she has also been incrediblely independant since she was about 3 weeks old which helped.

Don't rush it. He will let you know when he is ready. He will start showing interest in what you are eating and drinking. Try to eat together. Children like to emulate their caretakers. If you try to early it could actually take longer. My son was about 13 to 14 months when he decided he was ready and now at 18 months people always comment on how well he can feed himself.

ALTHOUGH YOU ARE TRYING TO WING HIM FROM THE BOTTLE NOW. HE REALLY NEEDS TO CONTINUE DRINKING THE MILK UNTIL HE IS ONE. ARE YOU BREASTFEEDING. ALSO IF YOU MUST WING HIM NOW YOU CAN GIVE HIM THE SIPPING CUP. THEY HAVE SOME THAT ARE VERY SIMILIAR TO BOTTLES BUT THE ARE SIPPING CUPS. THEY REALLY DONT HAVE MUCH DIFFERENCE BECAUSE THEY ARE SIPPING FROM BOTH. AS FAR AS FINGER FOODS YOU CAN JUST PUT THEM IN FRONT OF THEM. BABIES LIKE TO EXPLORE SO ONCE HE REALIZES WHAT IT IS AND WHAT IT IS FOR YOU WILL HAVE NO PROBLEM WITH IT AT ALL.

BASED ON EXPERIENCE. I TOOK MY OLDEST CHILD OFF OF THE BOTTLE AT 12 MONTHS AND SHE STARTED SUCKING HER THUMB AND NOW SHE IS NINE AND CONTINUES TO.

I'm sure you have already tried this, but here goes... Before giving a bottle place your son in the high chair with some of his favorite foods cut up in bite sized pieces and a favorite toy. Let him hang out there and play with his toy and food, but watch him carefully. Evertime you see a piece of the food go into the mouth (whether it is swallowed or not) make a really big deal of it! Clap, say yeah!, and smile really big for him. As for getting rid of the bottle, I have to admit that personally it seems a little bit early to me; however, we have started exposing our DD to a variety of other drinking methods including a glass, a sippy cup, and a straw. She enjoys the new experience, but we don't force it on her and withdraw the bottle. She just seems to prefer the other methods at times.

hi M., my name is V. i am also 25 and a mother of 3. Two girls ages 8 and 6 and my son who is 2. One thing i did when my kids were small,i bought both of us a cute plate, you know one that has a design at the bottom of the plate and 2 sippy cups, one for them and one for me. i would have finger foods cut into little pieces, like for example some things my kids loved was bananas,peas,and carrots. i would also buy them the gerber snacks..i forgot what is the name of the snacks it has been so long but it is in tube like thing, the snack resembles cereal. well i would sit with them at feeding time with both our plates in front of us and our sippy cups filled with milk or juice and we would play a game. i would arrange the snacks to where they could see the picture at the bottom of the plate and would point and say lets eat this....1....2....3 and put some food in our mouths and as we ate one i would point to the picture on the bottom of the plate wich was showin more and say..wow look at the kittys eye and giggle. then continue to say lets look at the other eye and eat more snacks... it did not take long for them to catch on...i would also do the same with the sippy cups..they turned out to love it.

M.,
My two cents is the same as everyone elses. We first switched to milk in a nubby sippy cup. But didn't start the process till after his 1st birthday. I don't think you are suppose to introduce cows milk b/4 12 months. It took a while for him to adjust from formula to milk...we actually sweetned it with a bit of sugar to help for about 2 weeks. On the self feeding, just put the Gerber fruit puffs or gram crackers, soft carrotts, peas, etc in front of him and let him develop the interest. 9 months old might be a little early to have high expectations on these milestones. Take care...D.

Honestly the best thing you can do is continue to offer the food and sippy cups, and eventually he will learn how to do it. You will be surprised one day when he just gets it, and then it wont stop:) Both of my girls were off of the bottle at 12 months so it can be done, but they werent great about sippy cups until about 11 months. Just keep trying:)

I started offering a cup to each of my kids around 8 or 9 months and neither of them caught on until 11 months. You could just keep offering it at the same time every day, or give it a rest for a month and try again.

On self-feeding, if he isn't interested in picking up food and putting it in his mouth, you can't really force it. He'll get it eventually. Also, I wouldn't expect a baby his age to exclusively get his meals from self-feeding. Try offering graham crackers or those puffy stars (from Gerber), but if he's still not getting it, I'd stop pushing it and try again at 10 months. I have friends whose babies would self-feed at 7 months, and others whose kids' didn't self-feed until 12 or 14 months. He'll do it in his own time!

We did exactly what Nicola did with no problem. The Nuby's are great. They travel easy with very little spilling if any. We still use them when going in the car. Wait until 12 months to transition from a bottle.

Self Feeding I also think you are way early. Give him some time. Unless there are other developmental stages he has not achieved, it will all come together over the next few months.

Sit back and enjoy your baby and remember he is just a baby.

Just keep offering the milk in a cup without giving up and giving him the bottle. He'll eventually get it that he will be thirsty unless he picks up the cup. Same goes with the finger foods.

Try getting those juicy juice, juice boxes and put the straw in his mouth and squeeze so that he will learn how to drink from a straw and then try the cup.

It seems so early to me. My kids picked up the sippy by 13-14 months and started finger foods around 9 months, but wen't totally independent eaters until around 15 months. My personal opinion is that there is really nothing to gain by pushing them to do either before they are ready. They will get to both, but it just might be too soon. My kids dramatically reduced their milk consumption once they went to sippy cups and at 9 months, your child should probably still be getting a lot of his nutrition from milk. I hate to call up the stereotype, but my son picked up all of that later than my daughter. While I certainly don't think kids should be using bottles at 18 months, 9 months just seems to early to make them be toddlers. Just a thought. Do what is right for you.

To get my daughter to want the sippy I would put her milk/juice in the cup and only offer water in the bottle. It did not take long for her to switch.

Kids are funny. My eight month old is at times refusing baby food/ nursing due to wanting to self feed...wish I could help ya, but I have the opposite problem.

K.

I used the Nuby sippy cups to start with and then switched to regular sippy cups at around 14 months. I think that it is too much of a change to go from a soft nipple to a rock hard spout. I also did not give the Nuby until his was 12 months. The day after his birthday I went cold turkey with the Nuby. Did it this way with both boys and had no problems.