Sippy Cup Woes

WriterMama924 · January 2014

So DS turned one, and the pedi wanted us to wean him (he's formula fed). She recommended going cold turkey to cow's milk + sippy 3x a day, with meals. That did not go well. I took a step back and decided to do it in stages. So now he's on cow's milk & solids, 3 meals a day, and he usually wakes one time at night and we give him some water. All of this is with a bottle.

My son hates sippy cups--I'm talking violent hatred. He will throw himself backwards to get away from them. I've already tried all of the advice I've gotten...different cups, letting him choose, putting something yummy in the sippy, letting him hold and play with it (which he will do, as long as it comes nowhere near his mouth). Occasionally, he'll have a day when he'll use it if I help him, but then he goes right back to violent protests. Even the sight of the sippy cup makes him angry. I really want him to learn to use one so that he can have water throughout the day...does anyone have anything not already mentioned that worked to introduce a sippy?

minervacullen · January 2014

Just leave one or two out with water and let him get comfortable with them. That's what I'd try.

WriterMama924 · January 2014

We have them sitting all over the house. LOL, it's like the movie SIGNS. My SIL told me to calm down, that he wouldn't be drinking milk in a bottle in high school and he'd get it eventually...but I feel bad that he's so thirsty sometimes and I want him to be able to just take a drink when he wants.

jennyelf · January 2014

Mine really liked a camelbak water bottle because that's what he saw me drinking from all the time. They're shatter proof and straw based so I got one his size and that has ended up working really well for us. Perhaps seeing you use his sippy cups (I know that feels silly) might make him more amenable to the idea of them?

WriterMama924 · January 2014

I've tried showing him how I use the sippy, and sometimes it works but not often. The Camelback might be worth trying. If I gave him something that didn't look like a sippy, he might take it. Is the straw soft?

emberlee3 · January 2014

Try a straw cup or a regular cup. He doesn't need to use a sippy. They are convenient, but there are other options.

WriterMama924 · January 2014

We've tried just about every kind that's out there. He likes the straws sometimes, but he just chews on it. He doesn't really know how to suck on it.

oliversmommy32912 · January 2014

We didn't drop bottles until about 15 months. It doesn't seem to have done any permanent damage. Maybe take a break for a few weeks and have sippy cups available all the time but don't force the issue. DS never did actually take a traditional sippy cup but he did end up taking straw cups without too much of a fight. We used Zoli Bot cups first. The straw is weighted so he could drink it lying on his back like a bottle. Once he took it well he would take any straw cup.

twinkletoes3126 · January 2014

We just finally got rid of bottles a couple weeks ago at 16 months. We did an extremely slow transition and it worked well. We offered only water in a sippy until he was a year. Then we started offering cows milk at all meals in a sippy but continued the bottles. He rarely drank anything out of the sippys but eventually drank 2 oz a day, then 4 oz, etc. He was getting 5 bottles at a year and every few weeks or month we dropped one. Like you, I was so worried because he hated sippys and I didn't want him to have bottles past a year. In the end, it all worked out and I wish I would have stressed less.

ashiscute · January 2014

kristenhdavis said:

We've tried just about every kind that's out there. He likes the straws sometimes, but he just chews on it. He doesn't really know how to suck on it.

Get the take n toss cups like LalaMama81 suggested and use a regular straw. They are much easier to drink out of than a straw sippy cup. Some of those spill proof cups are very difficult to drink from. Then drink out of a similar straw so he sees you use it. He'll figure it out and it's no big deal if he chews if you're going to toss the straw.

MrsT1108 · January 2014

Sippy cups have no developmental advantage, it's all convenience. My son is currently in EI and they told us to completely avoid sippy cups and go straight to either a straw or open cup.
So we went with a straw cup. MH showed him how to drink from it and after a bit he caught right on. Now he won't drink from anything else but a straw cup (sippy, etc., open cup he'll give a whirl but spills it all over himself still).

I will tell you though, just about all of the straw cups we've bought are NOT leak proof. So far the only brand we haven't had a terrible issue with are the Tommie Tippie ones. Playtex are THE WORST.

pjo79 · January 2014

My son will be turning 15 months in 2 weeks and he just started drinking his milk from his sippy cup.. He had been drinking water/juice in sippy cup since around 6 mths and milk in the bottle.

Dr told us the same thing and I tried it. My son did the same thing he would throw the cup as soon as he realized it was milk and would scream and cry until i put it in the bottle... So I just decided to wait... Then I introduced it again to him about 2 weeks ago... At 1st he didnt want to hear it, but then I tried again and he was fine. Hasnt had the bottle since.

Good luck... He may just need a little more time. Keep introducing it.

WriterMama924 · January 2014

The doc wanted him to use sippys to help reduce the amount of milk he drank and increase solids, but we did baby-led weaning, so he loves eating solids. I'll just keep doing what I'm doing and not worry about it so much.

I did go out and get a camelbak bottle today, and he likes it, but he'll still only take tiny sips and only if I offer it. Better than nothing I guess.

hollygb22 · January 2014

we use the zoli straw cups. we started to give it to her with water around 6 months. She just chewed the straw played with it etc.

We transitioned from BF to milk at 12 months. She threw nuclear tantrums and refused milk out of the sippy. We just cold turkey quit bottles and it took her maybe 2-3 days and she was fine.

The zoli's do leak once in a while. I've tried a couple others that leak worse. Most of the leaks we have are from the milk coming up through the straw. I read online that when the top is screwed on too tightly it causes too much pressure and the liquid will come up through the straw. I've tried not screwing it on as tight...and have noticed a big difference.

kerbear135 · January 2014

There are training straw cups by playtex (like this) that you can squeeze the bottom of to help them learn to drink from a straw. It only took 1-2 times of showing DD before she got the hang of it. She much prefers straw cups to sippy cups, so maybe give one of those a try.

MomToNeeners · January 2014

My DD loved the sippy cups where they're soft spouts so it functions more like a bottle and you just gradually change it over to the next stage when he's ready. It's by Nuby and they're super cheap.

JessAnnJ · January 2014

We were struggling and finally decided to just not use bottles all day. If she refused it at first we would wait and offer a little while later. We did not give in and it worked. By the end of the week even the night bottle was gone. We would hold her like we did when giving the bottle at first.

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