switch from bottles to sippy cups

[sunlover13]

My DS (almost 13 months) will not drink milk from a sippy cup. He drinks water from a sippy cup, no problem. I'm trying to get rid of the bottle, but he refuses to drink milk from the sippy cup.

DD never had an issue.

We leave for Disney in less than 1 month and I was hoping to leave the bottles at home.

Any advice?

He drinks 3 bottles a day. I've been trying to eliminate the mid-day bottle and use a sippy cup, no luck.

I guess he loves his bottles.

 

[moonpie85]

Have you tried different kinds of sippys? I'm wondering if the milk is too thick for that particular cup and it's hard for him to get?

 

[4littleones]

Never figured this one out. My kids just gave up milk rather than drink it from a sippy. Stubborn little things, just like dad.

 

[Meshell2002]

Did you try the take and toss or nuby brand cups? they are a little more pliable like a bottle.....some kids just like the sucking action....I would start only using the cup for something they really like...for my kids they got their first cup experiences with juice....

 

[ejrj]

I'm having very similar issues. We had no issues moving our daughter from a bottle to sippy at 11 months. Now I have 14 month old twins who I cannot get to drink milk from a sippy. Just like you they will take milk & juice but when they are sleepy, they DEMAND (sorta joking) milk in bottles. We have tried 3 types of sippy cups - both hard spouts and soft. I'm so over washing bottles!!!

 

[MSSANDRA]

Well. I parented twice, 15 years apart and the first time I worried about being on the bottle after a year old, the second time I didn't. One year is no magic number. Some kids are ready, some are not. Reality is if they use a sippy cup much like a bottle, it really is no better for the teeth. We did take DS's bottle at two but that was a lot easier than one. I would just not stress over it. You really do not want him to refuse milk at one and that does happen a lot. I would just wait till after the trip and then try again. You may be very happy to have the bottle on vacation in a strange place with different routines! You can continue with formula or switch to whole milk in the bottle. If you have not made the switch to whole milk, it might help to wait till you are back from the trip and try putting whole milk in a cup. She might accept a different liquid better than her formula!

 

[sunlover13]

He's on whole milk already.

I've tried a couple of different sippy cups.

The doctor said just water and milk for now. She doesn't recommend any juice.

I think he's just stubborn. He'll start to drink it and then when he realizes it's milk, he throws it away. If it's water, he continues to drink.

I will then pour the milk in a bottle and give it to him and he drinks it all.

I guess I'll just keep trying and plan on packing bottles for Disney. BOO!

If that's my biggest concern, I guess I'm lucky.

Now I have to figure out how he's going to nap & sleep when we are all in the room together. This should be oh so fun!

 

[brymolmom]

I would just ditch the bottles. Eventually he'll drink from the sippy - or just skip the sippy and go right to cup (at least at the table). We did this at 12 months for both kids. They won't drink as much milk - but honestly they're not supposed to be drinking as much at this point because more of their nutrients are supposed to come from food. And if he doesn't drink it for a day or two or a few it won't be long term harmful.

 

[Sam'sMom0126]

We leave in 2 weeks and I have managed to drop the morning and afternoon bottles. Next week I'm going to try to drop the night bottle but I think it'll be rough. I totally agree with you about not packing bottles....that is my main motivation. I agree with the above posters who said just to try different cups. I tried 3 different kinds before I found one my DD liked. Good luck and have a great trip!

 

[AZMermaid]

I am with you! My son is 14 months and still on the bottle. To be fair, I have only half-heartedly tried because he was sick and then was teething hardcore. My plan is to drop it over Thanksgiving weekend, but I am not sure how it will go. The only sippy cups that have worked for us are the Take and Toss. He did just start drinking from a straw, but so far the straw cup has been hit and miss.

 

[scrapquitler]

My DS (almost 13 months) will not drink milk from a sippy cup. He drinks water from a sippy cup, no problem. I'm trying to get rid of the bottle, but he refuses to drink milk from the sippy cup.

DD never had an issue.

We leave for Disney in less than 1 month and I was hoping to leave the bottles at home.

Any advice?

He drinks 3 bottles a day. I've been trying to eliminate the mid-day bottle and use a sippy cup, no luck.

I guess he loves his bottles.

Try teaching him to use a regular straw in a cup with a cover (like from a fast food restaurant), or ajuice box. That's what I did with my kids, and they picked it up really quickly (at like 9-10 months old). I think that some of the sippy cups require a really strong sucking action from the kids, and teaching them with a regular straw is easier. Once I taught my kids to use the straw, they were able to switch to a sippy cup pretty quickly.

Here's a step by step guide how to teach him to use the straw:
http://www.ehow.com/how_2104272_teach-baby-use-straw.html

 

[GAGirlInVA]

Put milk only in a sippy and water only in the bottle.

He'll be stubborn for a bit, but soon enough he'll know where to go for the milk.

 

[luvmy2babies]

Which cup are you trying?

I'll recommend Nuby or Nuk. They sell them at Wal-Mart. The mouth piece is soft. Not quite as soft as a bottle's nipple, but soft. They are no spill and there's no valve. I had a horrible time gettind dd to make the switch until I tried these. Then it was instantaneous. Avent also has a soft spout for their cups, and this was what my son started with at 8 months when I started to give juice, but they are expensive and I like the Nuby and Nuk better. He started taking milk from the Nuby at 11 months. Now he'll drink out of anything.

My daughter even after she started did have issue with taking milk from it. For that I had a kit. It was a package with a regular bottle, but there were two additional transition tops for it. Wal-Mart has those too. My son didn't need that part. I know some people can go straight from a bottle to something like a Playtex sippy cup, but it didn't work here.

Not sure I'd try to switch for a trip, but only if you'd be switching anyway. My children changed daycare classes shortly after their first birthdays so it was better if they were off the daytime bottles.

A pp mentioned a straw option and my son loves to drink from a straw too and has since he was a year old. Nuby and Nuk make a straw cup as well that we use. They are easier for him to hold than restaurant cups with lids. He does pretty well with a little milk carton with a straw in it.

 

[fitgirl36]

My DD 14 months hated sippy cups (she still takes a bottle at night) I taught her to drink from a regular cup (no straw) with me holding it of course. It sure comes in handy when we are out and about.

 

[mjkacmom]

One of mine was like that. His pediatrician told me to offer up milk in a sippy as his only beverage option. He will get thirsty enough to drink. My ds used to throw his sippy cups at me when I tried to put milk in them! Anyway, it worked.

 

[Crystal824]

I never gave DD milk in a bottle only formula. She LOVED milk so she was willing to make the change to get it.

I also introduced the sippy at 6 months. It took her until about 10 months to really get the hang of it. She got it.

 

[debrapagliasotti]

My 2 oldest kids never had this problem, but my 2 youngest ones did.

We ended up trying a few different sippy cups w/ my now 3 year old before we found one he would use. Ended up being a sippy w/ a softer spout instead of the hard plastic ones. I think it was a Dr Browns sippy.

With my almost 2 year old, he would not use the Dr Browns sippy and we ended up having to use a different soft spout sippy...cant remember, but I think it was Nuk? It was smaller w/ handles and a soft weird shape spout. It worked great until he figured out how to bite it and rip it. I then purchased some Playtex sippy cups and EVENTUALLY he got those down.

Good luck, I know it can be tough!

 

[kt_mom]

I never had any problem with DD but we did with DS. He was so attached to his bottles. Even though the only thing he ever got in them was formula. At 15 months the Dr. said I needed to just take them away. At that point DS had little interest in milk at all. But he would drink plenty of water from a sippie cup.

So that weekend I just put all the bottles away. The first day was rough and he kept going to the counter where they used to be and crying and pointing. But the second day was a little better and the third day they were forgotten. Not he'll drink milk out of his sippie cup but he still doesn't drink a ton of it. He prefers water and the Dr. said thats better for him anyway.

 

[princessmom29]

Plain and simple: He's playing you. He KNOWS you will put it in a bottle if he refuses it. DON'T put it in a bottle. Eventually he WILL drink it from the cup.

 

[sunlover13]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions.

We have the Nuby cups from Walmart which he is drinking the water out of, not the milk.

We haven't tried a straw yet. I think I have 1 cup somewhere with a straw so I'll try that over the weekend.

If that still doesn't work, I'm going to try no bottles at all and hope he drinks the milk from the sippy cups.

I have a few weeks before the trip so let's hope I can get rid of the bottles before that.