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Weaning from bottle to sippy cup - Help!

hattrk10hattrk10 member
in Toddlers: 12 - 24 Months
My daughter is 16 months and has always done great drinking from her bottle.  At one her doctor said we should be transitioning from a bottle to sippy.  4 months later and we are still on the bottle.  I will admit we have not really tried very hard.  We have tried maybe once a month putting her milk in a sippy cup and all she does is scream and push the cup off her tray and absolutely refuse.  We have given in up until now as she is a good eater and we didn't want to push it and force her to do it if she didn't want to.  I think it is time to show some tough love.  This morning she has absolutely refused milk from a sippy so we just skipped it and went on with breakfast. 

Has anyone tried this "tough love" approach of saying you get your milk in a sippy or no milk at all?  I was told by her doctor and therapist that she is smart and will learn fast that if she doesn't drink it from the cup she won't get any at all and will learn in a day or two if I am consistent or don't give in.  They said her weight is fine and she is eating enough solids that not having milk for a couple of days won't harm her.  I guess my fear is that this will become a habit and she will just say I won't ever drink milk then.  Thoughts?

Any other approaches that have worked for people?  Or do you strongly feel like she will just "grow out of the bottle" on her own?  She won't drink juice from a sippy either though I am not going to force that.  She will only drink milk from a sippy and only drink milk from a bottle.  TIA!
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Re: Weaning from bottle to sippy cup - Help!

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    TrueBeliever925TrueBeliever925 member
    I have no super, concrete advice as we introduced the sippy cup early and made sure he was accustom to it because I was dreading the exact situation you are in. FX this passes quickly for you! 

    I would just try and make sure you're consistent with trying in the sippy cup. Give it at every meal and maybe make sure you have water available all day too so he can give it a try. Do that for a day or two and if he shows interest in the cup, try the tough love approach. Once he starts taking anything from the sippy cup (try different kinds too! soft spout, straw, hard spout) pick a day and don't look back on the bottles. While it may be a struggle and you'll want to bust them back out, just do it. 

    Good luck, mama!  



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    BelhurstBrideBelhurstBride member
    theresat858 said:
    Given that milk isn't required at all after 1 year, I would just take away the bottles.  Seriously.  No, a day or two without milk won't harm your child...a YEAR or ten without milk will not harm your child, assuming you are feeding a varied diet and your kid drinks water.
    Agreed. She can have milk out of a sippy or no milk at all. She'll live if she chooses no milk at all.
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    hattrk10hattrk10 member
    Yeah, she does water out of a sippy fine.  Just won't drink anything besides water from a sippy - no juice or milk.  So, it isn't like she can't use a sippy cup.  We have several types she drinks water from - spout and straw.  We are on meal two of refusing milk.  She eats her meal fine though.  I thought milk was more vital to their diet and that they need 16-20 oz at this age.
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    hattrk10hattrk10 member
    She does have a yogurt every morning for breakfast and cottage cheese at some point during the day
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    DawnJM25DawnJM25 member

    I agree with PPs.  Going a couple of days without milk during this transition won't harm your DD.  The older she gets, the harder it's going to be to wean off bottles.  I would quit giving her bottles all together. 

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    tig594tig594 member
    Agree with PPs. Throw the bottles away, donate them, sell them on Craigslist, but get them out of your house. No more bottles, no more giving in.
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    ggatlantaggatlanta member
    For us it was one of two ways: doing it so gradually she wouldn't notice (failed, she noticed) or simply cutting her off. We cut her off. She took the sippy cup after a day or two. Does great now.
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    [Deleted User][Deleted User] member
    Have you tried a straw cup?

    This was our progression from bottle to sippy which took 4 months.

    We started with a straw cup for water between his usual bottles. Then switched to having milk in the straw cup at lunch and dinner. Then switched the breakfast bottle to straw cup.

    Just like with the straw cup, we switched out each meal with a sippy. The 1st sippy we used was the Nuby cup. Your LO really needs to do a sucking motion to get the liquid out. We now use a combination of the Nuby sippy and the Playtex sippys. LO does great with all of them and shows no preference.

    We still give LO's bedtime milk in a bottle.
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