Morning Routines with Cups

Hi,
J & D are 13.5 months old. They are drinking water out of a cup all day long and milk out of a cup in the middle of the day, usually with a snack. They are still having a bottle in the morning immediately upon waking (before breakfast) and before bed (after dinner) at night. This morning I tried to give them milk from a cup, they took a few sips but then got frustrated and wanted to play instead so I poured it into bottles and they lay back and drank them up.

I wondered if I should just remain patient and keep trying, or if the milk from the cup necessitates a new routine? Do your kids sit quietly drinking milk from a cup as soon as they wake the way they did with bottles? Or should I try giving them milk in a cup with breakfast and just cut out that initial bottle all together (which seems sad, they are so cute when they cuddle in the morning with their milk). That is what I had to do with the mid-day bottle, it became a cup with a meal or snack. But I am concerned they won't get all the milk they need without having at least two occassions where all they have is a cup of milk (and no food) to concentrate on.

Also - don't worry, I'm not going to rush them. Just wondering what you did/do!
Thanks so much

 

I dropped bottles when my two were 15 months. They were on 3 bottles a day at the time (AM, afternoon before nap, and before bedtime). I dropped the bottle they would miss the least during the first week (the before nap bottle), then the second one they would miss the least the following week (the morning one) and then the final week we dropped the bedtime one.
When we switched from bottles to cups, I did change up our morning routine a bit. They had their milk with breakfast in their feeding seats, rather then laying on their boppies and drinking a bottle. My two did not mind the change in venue. A lot of kids during the switch from bottles to sippies will reduce their milk intake and you can supplement with other dairy products at that time (yogurt, pudding, cheese, cottage cheese, etc.) and also I added Carnation Instant Breakfast to their milk sippies because my two needed the extra calories and flavored it with a tiny bit of strawberry syrup to encourage them to drink the milk. That's something else you could try if you notice they aren't drinking the milk during the transition. Good luck!

 

Milk becomes less important as kids get older; they get calories, fat and calcium from other sources as well as the milk. So if you switch to sippies and their milk intake reduces, don't worry! We were dealing with a severe bottle-aversion with Nate, and I was soooo ready to ditch bottles that I went to sippies on their birthday. :lol: I did keep a bedtime bottle for Jack (Nate was still nursing), but I changed that to a sippy at about 13 months.

We just started offering sippies at meals starting at 12 months (at first mixed with formula, gradually going to all milk). My guys never learned to hold their bottles, so we had to teach them how to use sippies, but it only took about a week of helping them tip the cups back for them to get it. Since they turned 1 they only get milk with meals (except on the occasional weekend morning when we let them run around with them while we cook a big breakfast).

I decided that milk meant a new routine, but you need to decide what works best for you and your LOs. Good luck!

 

When we went to sippy cups we also switched the routine up, they'd get milk with their meals and their snack. And it took about 2 weeks for their milk intake to increase back up. They only need 16-20 oz of milk a day at around a year old, and that amount decreases as they begin eating more and more "people" food.

Right now they drink maybe 8-10 oz of milk a day. They get it with their meals and sometimes before bed. But they get lots of cheese/yogurt to help with that daily dairy intake.