Help with Sippie Cup Problem

I personally LOVE sippie cups. I don't think that you have to ween kids from sippie cups because they ween themselves. They are great to use for road trips or when we are out doing errands. I use mine for water only because I believe most kids don't drink enough. Then you don't have to worry about if they spill, or get lost for a couple days. They get milk or juice at the table only. I don't think there is an age that kids have to stop using sippie cups, as long as they can drink out of other types of cups too.

So... just keep trying and she'll get it. Just like kids eventually get how to suck out of a straw. Just try again in a couple weeks or days.

Maybe try one with a straw. My little boy liked it cause he was still sucking. It took him a while to get used to a regular sippy cup.

I agree with Carrie P. I have a 6 mo old and I just took her in for her check up and the Dr actually told me I could start her on one if I wanted to, to get her used to the transition. I was just told to not put formula in it though as it could really confuse them. Again like Carrie said, don't get discouraged. They will go through their phases but it'll all work out. It happened to me with potty training my older 2 and one that I'm trying to potty train right now. They really get into something before you really start trying, then when you start trying they won't cooperate. I will wait however, to start her on the sippy. I just thought I would share with you it's not too soon as long as you are still giving her the bottle up to a year old at least. Just be patient and hang in there.

I wouldn't make a big deal about it or push it. Continue to offer it and if she doesn't take it, no big deal. Let her know it is up to her. She will want it eventually. She might just be asserting her independence right now, in which case the more you push it, the more she will resist. That's true of a lot eating issues- don't turn them into power struggles!

My kids never did take a bottle, so we introduced sippy cups early. Make sure you use a "training" sippy with a soft spout, not the hard ones. The ones that are no spill also take more skill to use. Transition using sippy with meals.

Hi S.-
You're absolutely in the right here, I think...never too soon to start a sippy because you can wait too long to leave a bottle behind. Kids who get 'too old' get hooked on all liquids coming in their bottle and their teeth can definitely suffer. What we did with my daughter, right around 8/9 mos, was try a multitude of types of sippy cup. I think I bought 5-6 kinds. We gave her water in them because she was still breastfeeding, and so there was no problem leaving sippys all over the place/all day long. Eventually after a month or so, she took to the Nuby one and another disposable one-can't think of the brand-comes in a multicolored 5 pk. It wasn't a struggle because she didn't have to do it...just had fun trying them out. Hope this can help!

Ditch the sippy cups. The sooner they learn to use a cup the better. My 2 girls 4 and 2 started at 9 months with a shot glass. Of course it was messy but we absolutely bypassed the sippy cups and went strait to regular cups after they got the hang of it. I now have a 5 month old son who will also learn to drink like his sisters. We have to ween them from the sippy cups so why start. Try the shot glass. It maybe messy for awhile but she'll get the hang of it quickly. She is not to young to start learning this skill.

They're not nearly as good at not leaking, but I had a lot of success with the Take and Toss cups. They're really cheap - 7 for $4 or so. I've seen them at baby retailers but also at the grocery/drug store. Designed to use and then recycle or not freak out of you lose one! We use them around the house and use more serious ones out and about. Since they don't have a valve or anything, they're a bit easier to drink from. Might be worth a try, and it's not a big investment if they don't work.

Hi S. - I introduced a sippy cup to my son around your daughter's age. It took about 2-3 months to fully intergrate one and get him off of the bottle. He was breastfed 100% until his b'day, but he has been in a daycare since three months. I tried the Avent cup and then the Born Free soft sippy cups. He hated the Avent cup but took to the Born Free ones because of the easier handles and the soft spout. We started sending the sippy cups to his daycare with him at 10 months but alternated bottles if we didn't have clean ones. :) The daycare started using our Born Free sippy cups with him exclusively at the one-year mark, but they are now using the take and toss variety for him from their kitchen. Now that he's super adept at most sippy cups (and is almost 17-months), I'm introducing a hard sippy cup to him that is BPA-free and spill-proof. I just bought a 2-pack of them at Target. They have cookie monster and elmo on them, so they captivate him a bit more.

Best of luck to you and just remember it takes time....

I would just offer her the sippy every day, whether or not she takes it. Just get her used to it being there. If she's getting closer to 1 yr & you really want to wean her off of a bottle & onto a sippy for good, just offer her a sippy in place of one bottle on day 1. Then 2 bottles on day 2, etc. Eventually, she will be thirsty & take what you give her. But I wouldn't worry about taking those measures yet. She's fine with a bottle until she's about 1 year old. Good luck!

It did take a while with my DD as I recall, to get her on the sippy. Months. The same with many of the other kids in her daycare--it took a while! So be patient, it's one of those challenges! I started around 10 months, just offering, but didn't really get serious (and neither did she!) about the sippy until she was 12 months. And even then she had a morning bottle. Now she is 15 months and all she does is the sippy. It's the Target take-n-toss, the cheap plastic ones with no valves. We tried a bunch, as these ladies have recommended, so it depends on what your child prefers.

S.,

I am also at the sippy cup stage. I have purchased 4-5 different types (one with the straw) and put water in them. I put them around my son's play area. Sometimes he grabs them, sometimes he doesn't. I also let him drink my water from a straw and have tried straight cups and bottles. The hardest part with real cups and water bottles is the speed of the water coming at him. I make it just a part of whatever we are doing and not an event. I'm trying to let him decide when he is truly ready, but have everything available for him.

Don't try to replace her bottles with sippy cups just yet, she will probably be happier to take sippy cups if they are just occasional for now. Also, my babies loved the nubby sippy cups that you can buy at Wal Mart. They have a soft top like a bottle, my babies liked them even though they never likes bottles! But really, 9 months old seems way too young to wean her off of bottles completely.

We had great success with soft-top brands especially when the small teeth came in as the gums are sensitive. We started on the hard-top types and my daughter hated them but immediately took to the soft-top ones. Gerber has some great soft-top ones that has two handles with a clear cup (this is a nice feature so you can easily see what is in them) that makes it easy for the little one to lift and control and even chew on as needed!
Best of luck!

My kids all started using sippie cups when they were young. They go through different phases though. Just give it time and do not get discouraged. I always got my kids the sippie cups that have the valves in them so the child will suck on them like a bottle and this makes the transition easier. She will use it over time. Just remember that when you get stressed with her milestones she can feel it.

While it's good to still use a bottle as her major source of milk for now, you want to teach her to use something else too. Bottle should be phased out once a baby is 1, and they shouldn't be used for anything but formula and water (both are to avoid tooth rot).

I agree with the moms who said skip the sippy. I started teaching my daughter how to drink from a cup when she was 8 months old, and my boys started learning when they were 6 months old. Messy at first, yes, but they learned pretty quickly and were fairly independent by about 18 months (if I recall correctly). We also have a rule that they drink at the table, so spills are minimized. The best thing was, I didn't have to wean them a second time, from the sippy cup.

Dear S.,
I took the stopper out of the top of the cup. That way she has instant gratification without having to work for it. After that we used a sippy cup with a straw and that seems to be working out pretty well but she is 17 mos. old now. So, I think you are doing really good. I think it also helped to pack only her sippy no bottle when we were out of the house. Hope that helps, K. K.

we tried all kinds of sippy cups when my daughter was around 8 or 9 mos old (she never would take a bottle and when I went back to work around that time we were desperate to find a way for her to get milk... aside from getting it from me). anyway, all the more expensive kinds with the different valves, etc. none were acceptable... until we tried the disposable gerber kind (they are plastic and come is rainbow colors... I think they are caled "take and toss"??? anyway, later on we switched to a sippy with more spil control, but the disposible one worked great... and they are inexpensive to try.

My daughter never liked the sippy cup. She just went straight from the bottle to a regular cup at that same age. I don't know what it was about the sippy cup but she hated them.

Maybe just try a different brand. I don't know what kind you are using, but our daughter liked the Nuk soft top kind. Good luck!