Sippy Cups

I am beginning to think maybe I should go cold turkey with the bottle to sippy cup shortly after they turn 1 year. Anyone else take this approach? If so, how did it go? If not, any tips/tricks. I have tried just about every sippy cup there is and my kids hate it.

 

Yes, I did this approach. It was a hit. My guys were completely off the bottle and on sippies at 1 year and a week.

 

We went cold turkey sort of. Our girls were on the Dr.s Foster and Brown bottles for acid reflux. The reflux went away at around 9 months but we didn't switch the bottles. When they were switched to milk at one year we offered new bottles and gave the milk cold from fridge vs. room temp mixed formula. The combination of those two things made them not want the bottle anymore. They had been using the sippies on/off since about 6 months so were pretty familiar with them at this point. Another thing that I believe helped enormously with this transition was that my gilrs (all 3) never held their own bottles. They did hold the sippy since most have handles.

HTH! Good Luck!

 

Like my pedi said.....it's no big deal for one year olds to still be on bottles. There's no milestone hit if you force your kids to take sippy cups vs. their bottle. Why put your kids through the drama of taking away their bottles? They'll gravitate more and more solids vs. bottles in time. Just take their cues and drop each scheduled bottle accordingly. My kids (as most) just dropped their night time bottle just after their second birthday and we didn't even have to replace it with a sippy. They simply go to bed when it's time to go to bed. They go in their cribs (and they'll stay in those for as long as we can keep them in them too), we turn their glo-bears on, music on, lights out, kiss nite nite, and close the door. Point is, I think it worked out as easy as it did because we weren't so rushed to "force" them on or off something they may have not been 100% ready for.

 

QUOTE
Like my pedi said.....it's no big deal for one year olds to still be on bottles. There's no milestone hit if you force your kids to take sippy cups vs. their bottle. Why put your kids through the drama of taking away their bottles?


It is important to eliminate all bottles by one year of age, at the latest 18 months. After one year, the bottle is more of a comfort item and can cause damage to the teeth.

 

QUOTE(KYsweetheart @ Jun 12 2007, 08:02 PM) [snapback]289588[/snapback]
It is important to eliminate all bottles by one year of age, at the latest 18 months. After one year, the bottle is more of a comfort item and can cause damage to the teeth.



That is exactly what my pedi said....it will become a major comfort item and to go ahead and make the switch now - not to mention it possibly damaging their teeth or their alignment...

We did it last week cold turkey - we were soooo nervous about it!! But, of course, it was so much easier than expected!! They did fuss a little during breakfast (they usually would get a bottle and their solid foods, but instead we just gave them a sippy cup and their solid foods). After breakfast, they really didn't put up much of a fuss for the rest of their meals, and we haven't looked back since.

They do get a sippy cup of milk at bedtime and sometimes they finish it and sometimes they don't.

I really think that cold turkey is the way to go!! Good luck!!

 

What damage is a bottle going to cause to teeth that a sippy cup isn't? I'm only aware of "bottle rot" in which a child is allowed to sip/nurse a bottle over the course of an hour or 2 or even more. A lot of parents allow a child to do the same thing with a sippy cup. There is no difference. I do agree somewhat that a bottle is a "comfort" item; but it is at that age what most kids still feel comfortable taking and not a sippy...for their milk. Which takes me back to my original point of why not let kids be kids? Drinking a bottle for a few minutes until either done or gone is no different than drinking a sipping cup of milk for the same few minutes....or even longer. And then you brush their teeth (or gums if they still don't have any). Bottle or not, it's more important to me to develop a good teeth brushing habit rather than lose sleep over whether they are still on a bottle or not. It really does boil down to school of thought. As with most things the medical profession has people on both sides of the fence. Some say exactly what I'm saying now and some say otherwise, but NOT so much for the teeth aspect because, again, teeth can rot just as easily from milk out of a bottle as they can from a sippy....especially if the child is put to bed with it. Makes no difference at that point, the same milk causes the potential for tooth decay regardless of the vehicle it's delivered in. The biggest concerns I've read is simply that 2 year olds tend to be a bit stubborn and the older they get, the more of an attachment that is developed and is harder to get them off. Most of what I've read says that they should be finished with them all together by the age of 2 and from all of the folks that I've talked to, I've met very few that haven't had a night time bottle still to get rid of close to or at age 2. So, as I stated before. There really is no written "law" that says babies MUST be off bottles by age 1 like there is the developmental milestones that say, yes, they really should be talking X amount by age 18 months. The transition to sippy will happen when they are 100% comfortable and ready.

I have to add, no one here is worried about a bottle being a comfort item, but yet allow their child to suck a pacifier? Or make teeth a reason for forcing kids off of bottles, but allow pacifiers?

 

I first introduced the sippy at 6 months, then at 9 months, I changed bottle 1 into a cup ... etc. At 12 months all bottles were gone.

Honestly, I know very very few babies / kids who weren't off the bottle by 18 months, including night time. I think it looks strange as well ... a walking child sipping a bottle, but maybe that's just me. In my opinion, the sooner you get it over with, the easier ... the longer you wait the more stubborn they become.

 

QUOTE(KYsweetheart @ Jun 12 2007, 08:02 PM) [snapback]289588[/snapback]
It is important to eliminate all bottles by one year of age, at the latest 18 months. After one year, the bottle is more of a comfort item and can cause damage to the teeth.


My pedi says this isn't true.

ETA: It's no more damaging than sippies, and babies will find comfort items no matter what. There's no real reason to get them off by 12 months. They'll let you know when they're ready; some earlier and some later than one year.

 

Mine didn't understand how to use it and so I just let them play with it and said suck and made sucking noises kind of like they make with their bottle. When one got it, it didn't take long for the second one to get it by copying. We haven't dropped bottles all together yet. We do bottles at bed/nap time and sippies for snack and drink time. Also, the sippies they figured out first were the soft nub ones where even if you just chew some dribbles out.

 

I did it and it was fine. I gave them one last bottle on the night of their birthday to settle them down and then all their Avent bottles magically turned into sippies and they never were the wiser!! Good luck! It's really up to you. They will follow your lead!