If you dropped bottles cold turkey...

ladychicago · June 2011

If you took the cold turkey approach to the transition from bottles to sippy cups with WCM.... How long did it take for your LO to catch on and start taking a reasonable amount of milk again?

we decided to go cold turkey today after DD would just refuse the sippy and wait for the next bottle if we went that route. So far today, she hasn't swallowed any milk (and she usually gets 4-6oz first thing in the morning). She hasn't let a milk sippy anywhere close to her mouth, actually. Sigh. I know it isn't the sippy (she happily guzzles water from them), and I know it isn't the WCM (she drinks it no problem from bottles), so I am hoping it is just a matter of her realizing bottles aren't coming back... But all of this refusing is killing me! Just curious how long it took others to adjust (or how long I should wait before rethinking my plan...).

emmyloustu · June 2011

We went cold turkey around 15mo because of a bad cold and ear infection and it took us that long because of WCM sippy refusal. I originally tried all types of sippys, straw cups, regular cups, etc...she just wasn't interested. It did not get any better when we went cold turkey. She just wasn't drinking milk.She went from 16ox a day to nada.

I refused to offer chocolate milk just to get her to drink it, but I was convinced she just didn't like WCM. CMM05 (I think that is her s/n) suggested adding Kefir to her milk to flavor it in a very healthy way. It has been the only thing that has worked. I buy the whole milk, full fat Kefir and add an oz to a cup of milk and she LOVES it. She asks for it and drinks plenty now.

I would still give it a bit to see if she warms up, I have heard it can take awhile, but if not, give the kefir a try!

mrsolsenk12 · June 2011

It can take few days or up to a week or so for them to realize that bottles aren't coming back. Just make sure she is getting calcium from other sources (yogurt is a good one). They don't need a lot of milk after age 1 (12-16oz a day) but I would try not to worry if she doesn't get much or any for the next few days.

muppet.fan · June 2011

It took about a week. And it wasn't just Elizabeth who had to adjust -- it was me too! I was used to her drinking three 5-ounce bottles at daycare (and nursing twice at home, which we continued). But with sippys, she never took 15 ounces a day or 5 ounces at a sitting and never has. The milk becomes much more just a "drink" than a "food source," if that makes sense.

After the first week, she was probably drinking maybe 8-10 ounces a day and then eating plenty of yogurt/cheese.

pinkcallalily · June 2011

I think it took 2-3 weeks before my son willingly drank milk from a sippy and even then he didn't drink very much. He has no problem drinking water from a sippy. It wasn't until we switched to a straw that he decided he loved milk. Before that he would drink mostly water during the day and nurse at night & in the morning. Since he is very small and his pedi wants him drinking more milk we only give milk in a straw sippy and water in a regular sippy. He will now drink more milk than water and I think it's because he thinks the straw is fun.

We didn't have a problem ditching the bottle because he always hated the bottle and would drink just enough to get by at daycare and then nurse all night. During his refusal to drink milk from the sippy I just tried to offer him a lot of yogurt, cheese, etc and made sure he was drinking plenty of water to stay hydrated.

ETA: I only offered milk at meals and when he was done eating I would offer him water (since I was worried about him becoming dehydrated). This forced him to at least try the milk if he was thirsty while eating.

laura1 · June 2011

We just got rid of bottles with my DD about 2 weeks ago - and she still doesn't drink much. I pour her a sippy first thing in the am, and she will maybe drink it all by the end of the day (so 8 oz total for the day). I also tried all different sippys, but didn't find one she really liked for milk (my DS would only drink milk out of a Born Free sippy cup).

The first weekend, we only offered milk in the sippy all day - meals, snacks, etc. She drank maybe a few sips the first day, and into the second day. I think I did give her some water because I was worried about her getting dehydrated, but not a lot. By dinner on the second day, she drank 2+full cups of milk (she was SO thirsty, I guess!).

She still doesn't drink a ton, but she will drink it - she usually does best in the morning. Everyday she gets yogurt, cheese, etc to make up for what she is not taking!

Good luck!

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