When did your kids get....Holding bottle or sippy at an angle to get milk out?

Ours still don't get this (13 months) and I don't know if it is a concern. Then again, we haven't tried making them. The last time we had breakfast with them, they kinda held the bottles but we had to hold them at an angle up for them, one of the boys threw his head back ALL the way back and held his bottle himself. Is this something they are supposed to just get naturally, or are parents supposed to help them?

So.... is this normal that they don't get it yet, considering we usually just re-position them so it's easier for them to drink?

We have just started trying with the sippy cups. One gets it OK... lying down, but the other doesn't get it. We end up with soaked babies. One of the boys spits at least half of the milk out instead of swallowing it.

 

My girls knew how to drink from sippy cups just before they were a year old and they pretty much figured it out by themselves. It depends on how long you've been doing it, I guess. We had a very easy transition from the bottle to sippy cup so I'm afraid I can't offer much advice. I will say that I think that it's natural for them to know how to tilt it back to get more out. I'm almost positive we didn't have to teach that to the girls. However, when they still got a bottle, we used to put their high chairs at a slight recline.

 

We introduced sippy cups around 6 months. They figured it out within a month. However, they would not hold their own bottles until around 9 months. Part of that was my fault because I didn't want them wasting my BM. :laughing: So I held them longer than I should have I guess. They will get it eventually! Straw cups took us awhile to master. They kept wanting to tip them up. But we finally have that down.

 

Per the advice of their pedi, I introduced sippies around 6 months with water. It was not until 11 months before they really got it and that's when we dropped bottles. What helped out was using the sippies with the handles.

Then, around a year old, I was told by EI they should not be using spout sippies because it could possibly promote speech problems. :unknw: So then we switched to straw sippies and that took another month or two for them to figure out not to tip it.

Just keep giving it to them and they will eventually figure it out. Now I'm being told at 23 months they should only be drinking out of a regular cup!! :grr: Sure....you wanna come over to my house on a daily basis and clean up spilled milk and water all day long. :gah:

 

I tried sippies before the boys turned 1, but they never really got it and I didn't force the issue. When I started them on cow's milk, I transitioned to sippies within a few days and never offered cow's milk in a bottle. Jack got it pretty quickly, but I had to tip the sippy up for Nate for a week or so. Then he figured it out.

My guys always had bottles when I was at work, but they never learned to hold the bottles themselves, and only got sippies when we went "cold turkey".

 

One DS started holding his own bottle about a month a go and the other just started this week. I kept encouraging them to hold it and they eventually got it. I tried the sippy but they don't do well with it. They actually drink fairly well from a regular cup but are no where near holding it on their own.

 

When I first tried them on sippies which was probably close to a year old. They didn't take to them right away. They learned how to use the ones you tip, but they just didn't like it. They'd drink for a little while, but then play with them. If I held it for them, they'd get mad. So my pedi suggested I used to ones with straws. They took to those easily and love those. I've tried to reintroduce the ones with the mouth pieces, but they just don't like them, nor remember how to use them. They are 17 months now and are still using the straws. Their pedi doesn't see this as a problem. I am slowly introducing them to cups. Kiefer kind of gets it. Cameron is working on it, but Kiefer will at least hold the cup to his face and drink. He has a hard time bringing the cup to his face without spilling the water on his lap. Cameron only recently got the idea that it's not just about putting his mouth on the cup's rim, it's also about sipping the water. He does a good job, but he has trouble holding the cup to his face still. He has drive to learn though which is great to see!

 

I wouldn't worry just yet, but you can always call your doctor and see what they say. My two didn't start tilting thier sippy until around 14 months. They wouldn't hold their own bottles until 13 months. I was worried as well but it came to them. :hug:

 

Our pedi had them start sippies at 6 months. We started off with the Nuby soft spout that had the handles on both sides. That really helped them learn how to hold and drink from the sippy. DH and I would also show them how to do it. Sometimes we would gently hold the bottom of the sippy while they held the sides and tilted their head back a little bit. It took them about 2 months to get the hang of it. After those, we moved to the Munchkin straw cups.
I would say if it continues to be a concern, you can always discuss it with your pedi, he/she might have some other suggestions. Good luck!

 

I just wanted to say that all of your post could be mine (my boys are about the same age). Thanks

 

I introduced sippies at around 7 months but with water and they got it pretty quickly. I´d sit them in thier highchairs and put the cup in front of them. They´d pick it up and I would tip it up for them to show them. I did the same with their bottles, at around 8 months, and they got it though DS was quicker at learning this than DD. Both dropped their bottles at around 10.5 months (they chose to) so we had a smooth transition to a cup. I suggest practising with water in-between meals in their highchairs and see how you go. GL!

 

You know my boys figured out how to hold their own bottle really young like 3 or 4 months old (with a little help). However, they absolutely refused to tilt a classic sippy cup or hold it properly or suck out of it. We have a sippy cup graveyard from all of the brands they wouldn't take. I just gave them straw cups, and they got it. Go figure!! They even know you have to tilt a regular cup, but for some reason those old school sippy cups didn't go over at all in this house.

 

Mine got tipping their sippies at 8 months but didn't want to hold their own bottle till 11 months. They will figure it out soon enough.

 

When I was teaching mine how to hold their bottles I'd put them in their infant car seats, tip them back at a small angle and roll up a cloth to put underneath the bottle. I had this conversation with my mom around then also and she said that she used to put me on my side with a pillow and I'd drink that way. So I tried this by putting a pillow on the floor and [pop in a video they like] and put the bottle in their mouth. My DD1 [Rose] really liked this, but you'd have to be careful cause if they lay flat while drinking it can cause an ear infection.

 

We gave them sippies pretty early but they didn't get the hang of them until about 11 months old. One thing we had to do was give them water or juice (a treat since they have probably only had juice about four times in their lives) in the cup and take the valve out and once they got the hang of tipping it up and really wanting what was in there we put the valve back in. We went cold turkey, no bottles at about a year old, and now I don't even know what I was worrying about because they do it so well - I think they just learn it when they have to!

 

Fossie's post reminded me of something. Being a first time parent and first time anything with kids/babies I didn't know what the little stoppers were for. At first I thought they were part of the 'shipping' packaging So water would just stream out of the sippies and I thought that's how they were. I would always make sure they were in their high chairs when they had em' and I always thought to myself 'how the heck am I supposed to let them walk around with the sippies and spill stuff everywhere?! It took mine about 3 wks worth of tossing the cup around for them to get it and about 2 wks after they got the hang of using them it hit me. I realized what the white plastic things were for! It took them less than a day to figure it out and have done well ever since.

Thought I'd share that story with someone.. cause I haven't told anyone that.. until now :lol: