Help with the transition from bottle to sippy cup?

So they hit 1 year old yesterday! Yay! And I'm anxious to get them on milk, and move them off the bottles.

I'm reading they should drink approximately 16 oz. of whole milk per day - is that correct?

And, we've introduced sippy cups a couple months ago, a few different types. They seem to do well with one type of sippy cup, which is fine, but they don't get anywhere near 6 oz. I don't mind carrying around the sippy cup when they are home and letting them take a few sips in the playroom whenever I can grab them - - but they are in day care 4 days a week and I think they are only offered drink at meal/snacktime.

Will they continue to get more proficient with the sippies? Or start drinking more milk naturally? We are supplementing 2 oz of formula in each bottle right now (2 oz formula + 4 oz milk - just until we see the ped on Thursday). Any advice would be welcome!

 

:birthday: to your little ones!

It took a while for my girls to get used to the sippys. They're still having a bottle in the morning and one at bedtime, but next week, we're going to only a bottle at bedtime with sippys at breakfast and lunch. At first, I couldn't get them to drink six oz at all. If find that splitting it up helps. Right now, I give them 3 oz of formula while I'm making their lunch. Then, after the main part of the meal, I give them 3 oz of milk to drink with their fruit. It's been working out fairly well. They don't always finish the second 3 oz, but it's definitely better than when I gave it to them all at once.

I also found that the Take n Toss sippy cups work really well. For the most part, we use Nuby, but the girls seem to prefer water and juice out of the Take n Toss.

 

We made the sippy switch around 10 months and they got all their formula in the sippy while they would lay on the floor and hold it themselves. Then when they turned one we started trying to teach them to hold sippy cup while they were sitting and it just never worked. We eventually found the straw sippies and they worked like a charm. When we started the milk transition we mixed half milk and half formula for a week ot two and then decreased the amount of formul until they were on just milk. It took about three weeks. They only need 8-16 ounces of milk a day, and that can include cheese and other dairy products. So if they are yogurt eaters or cheese eaters they will be getting enough even if they are not drinking all their milk at the beginning. It took about a month or so for them to really drink 8 ounces a day. At 22 months we still have days where they will only drink around 8 ounces. If you are worried about them not getting the nutirents they need you can add a vitamin to their daily routine. We had to do that for a while too.

 

Our boys get around 12-14 oz. most days, but I offer them 16 oz. They get a sippy of milk with each meal and at bedtime - they actually drink more at bedtime than any other time. I usually don't worry about it too much because our guys are 75th and 50th percentile, so I let them drink what they will. Unless your pedi says you really need to push the milk because of weight issues or whatever, I'd let them drink what they want. Our pedi said not to let Michael have more than 16 oz. a day because he is a big boy anyway and doesn't need the extra calories. They have access to water in between meals, and we also do no juice because of the sugar and empty calories (again, pedi's advice).

They will get better with the cups as time goes on, and some days they will drink more than others. And like a pp said, there are other sources of dairy, too, that you can also take into account. So don't stress (I know, I know, easier said than done!).

 

We just went through this exact thing. My one daughter got the hang of it right away and the other had me worried. She would only drink a few ounce during an entire day initially. It took a good month for her intake to increase to what she was normally taking out of a bottle. Mine were drinking 16 oz pre-sippy, now somewhere between 12-16 a day. I have them drink their sippys of milk like they used to have their bottle, 3xday. With meals they get water and any other times during the day water is available. My Dr. told me during the adjustment to not be too worried, she was fully capable to drink out of the sippy, she would just stop after 2 oz. He said to make sure they were getting calcium through yogurt etc. and to make sure they were having fruit and veggies which contain water. He told me they would eventually figure it out and they did

 

The straw sippies worked well for mine too. I also added Carnation Instant Breakfast to their milk and with a little hint of strawberry syrup to encourage them to drink it. I used the Carnation because my two were skinny minnies and needed the extra calories. I also agree with the poster who suggested to supplement with foods that contain calcium & other dairy products. They will get it and eventually start drinking more. Good luck!