Sippy cup drama

I'm posting here because I'm looking for advice from Mom's who've recent expereince with this and can help me with some advice.

Both my babies HATE the sippy...well, maybe they don't 'hate' it but they rather use it as a teething toy and are not interested in drinking out of it.

I started introducing the sippy at like 7 or 8 months but they'd cry when they saw it, so I put it away for a couple weeks. Then brought it back out at like 9 months and they tolerate it, but are more interested in biting on it than anything else. I put water in it, then tried water with juice and pure juice in the hopes they'd like the sweetness (which they hated). I haven't tried formula yet (I'm not breastfeeding).

I tried 2 different kinds; the playtex soft spouted and a silicone straw sippy.

My twins are 11 months and I'm thinking I better start to figure this out soon because I 'should' be bottle weening soon...right?? Doesn't that start at about 12 months? Do you bottle wean and switch to milk at the same time??

I'm not even sure what bottle weaning stategies are best...I can't remember it's been so long ago. Drop the afternoon bottle first right? Ugh!

I'm so confused!!!! Any help on sippies, bottle weaning would be greatly appreciated.

 

Mine never really liked sippies.. at best they were a novelty item that could be thrown on the floor. But I would offer them a few times a day starting at about 9 months with water, sometimes a splash of juice. They never took to them until I introduced cow's milk at 12 months.. I only introduced it in sippies and there's been no looking back. They liked it so much I quit bottles cold turkey the same day and they've been on sippies ever since. So maybe once you switch to milk, or you can try their formula in there instead of a bottle?

 

We waited. My girls wanted nothing to do with the sippy cup for a long while. We kept trying them with water for ages, then finally dropped them cold turkey around 18 months.

I'm not sure why the push to get babies off bottles so fast.

 

We dropped cold turkey at 15 mos because by that point they were only getting two 8 oz bottles anyway. They only fought for about 24 hours then they were sold on them because that is how they would be getting milk. I wouldn't worry too much about 12 months. It is just a guideline so you don't wait until 24 months...lol. Don't be too hard on yourself. It could potentially be harder the longer you wait, but you know your kids and you have a better sense than anyone. We were not ready at a year but by 15 mos it was an easy transition. I would have waited longer but the timing just seemed right.

 

I agree that 12 months isn't a magic #, but around 12 months is the easiest time. They are more "malleable" and less likely to protest a big change like switching from bottles to sippy cups.

We did the afternoon bottle first, I had already transitioned to milk but was warming it in their bottles, so when I switched to sippy cups (the munchkin soft spouts worked best for us, they are silicone nipples like their bottles, just shaped oval instead of round), I continued to warm their milk up. They still liked to be cuddled and let me hold the cup for a few weeks, but once they figured out how to hold it themselves and lay in my arms, they loved it! They were around 12.5-13 months when we started transitioning. We dropped the morning bottle next, then the nighttime bottle last around 14 months or so. I slowly weaned them off of warming it up by just warming it less and less, until they were taking it cold from the fridge.

Overall, it took about 2 weeks for their milk intake to increase back to what it should be, but now they drink about 16 oz on most days!

 

I would say to keep offering the sippy cup. I introduced the sippy around 6 months old, let them practice and play with it and eventually they did start to drink from it.
We did have really good luck with the straw cups.
12 months is what your pediatrician will recommend and it's probably the easiest time to make the switch. I did not do it until they were 15 months and what I did was drop a bottle a week. I started with the bottle that they would miss the least (the afternoon one), then the morning one the following week and then the last week was the bedtime one. Overall, my two did pretty decent with the change. Their milk intake went down a little and that's normal. You can supplement with other dairy products if you find that their milk intake has gone down while you are making the change from bottle to sippy. I also added a little tiny bit of strawberry syrup to their milk and also used Carnation Instant Breakfast to get additional calories in.
I know a lot of people have had success taking the bottles away cold turkey, it's really up to you how you do it. Just be consistent and good luck!

 

Ours didn't really take to the sippies until right around their birthday. One day, they just started drinking them and took off. I tried every kind out there and they still won't drink out of any kind but the Nuby cups with the soft spout. The shape is easy to hold and the spout has its own internal valve so they never get too much or too little. I also like them because there are less parts to clean. I still nurse morning and night, but when I switched to milk I just started offering it at every meal and then gave them a bottle later in the day if they didn't take very much. After about a week or two I was able to phase out the bottle.

I would recommend dropping the daytime bottles first, then the AM, and last the bedtime. Also, you may have to experiment with the milk. I had to warm it for a couple of weeks before they would take it cold from the cup. I find that offering with meals works because the mechanism of the cup is such that they don't want to just sit and drink till empty like they did with the bottles. I also think it helps that we keep sippies of water everywhere...in the playroom, in the car, in their room. They know they can just crawl over, grab it for a drink, and resume playing.

Erica: the push to get off bottles is for 2 reasons. The first is to prevent tooth decay from milk pooling around the teeth. The second is that as toddlers get older they choose transitional objects for security as they are learning independence and its much easier to get rid of a bottle before it becomes a transitional object. 18 month olds are much more stubborn than 12 month olds!

 

Have you thought of skipping the sippy altogether? Well, maybe not altogether but put it away for now and start them on an open cup? It's not hard to do. I did it with a boy I was a nanny for and with my own 3.

Start with a small cup. The mom of the boy I was a nanny for used a shot glass. It was a perfect size. Put a little water in the cup and with a towel under their chin, let them "drink" from the cup. It will take a few months or maybe shorter as your little ones are older than my kids were and the boy I took care of was. We started at 6 mos. By the time my oldest was a year old, he was drinking beautifully from an open cup!! I don't do as much with the twins but they can drink just fine from an open cup.

Oh, for a sippy that worked is similar to the tupperware sippy cup. I can't find the link to the site but the cups I bought were cheaper but just like the tupperware cups.