Help! Transitioning baby from bottle to sippy cup?

[ImarriedGrumpy]

I take care of a 15 mo. old baby girl while her parents work, and I love my job! I'm good friends with the parents, and we see ourselves as a team in raising their DD. We're working on getting her to drink from a sippy cup instead of a bottle, but she's strongly resisting (to put it mildly), and we're wondering if anyone has any advice on the issue?

To give some more background, we give her milk in the bottles before nap and bedtime, and we snuggle her while she drinks. She gets water in the bottles for meal times when she's sitting in her high chair or booster seat. We've tried both milk and water in the sippy cups without otherwise changing the routine. She never has gone to sleep with her bottle, been given a bottle to play with, or otherwise had a bottle except for when she is being fed.

I've heard that some sippy cups work better for babies who were specifically bottle fed - any insight on that?

We're okay with this process taking a while, but we're not sure what to do to help the transition. Any ideas? Thanks!

 

[mjkacmom]

If she can drink out of a sippy cup, but chooses not to, don't offer any more bottles - thirst is a great motivator (and this advice was given to my by my pediatrician). I think she's old enough to give up the bottle, and not be soothed into a nap with a beverage.

 

[ilovejack02]

Ive heard the Nuby is a sippy with a soft tip and that some kids dont like hard tips. Its called a Nuby no spill sippy and not real expensive at all. I might just take some tough love to get her to do it. If im not insane I think sippy cups are usually introduced some where around 8 ish months, so if yall are just starting at 15 months, it may just take her a while to get with the program. She prob should be done with bottles totally and i would say at the most getting one at night before bed. My best friends little girl is 18 months and has been 'instructed" to ditch all bottles, she is still getting one at night but that is it. I have to say its nice to snuggle those last few mins with her, but then unfortunatly you have to get up and brush her teeth so it messes it up a bit.

 

[marshallandcartersmo]

Ah, I remember those days. It seems like so long ago!! What kind of sippy cup are you using? I remember there were some with softer spouts than others. I think Avent ones are pretty soft..........try that.
I would get rid of the bottles altogether though. She'll learn that a person can be cuddled with holding a sippy cup, just as easy as she can be cuddled while holding a bottle.
Good luck!!

 

[KikiFan]

They sell sippy cup type nipples that you can insert into a baby bottle instead of a regular nipple. Maybe that would help them transition to the cup?

 

[sugarpie]

I would take the bottle away as soon as possible, it sounds like an emotional attachment to the sucking. She's old enough to give it up, and the longer you wait the harder it is.

 

[famofsix]

Don't laugh but we put strawberry Quick in the milk in the sippy cup.
She like that a lot better than the milk in the bottle...
Once she took the sippy cup...we used less and less strawberry Quick. In about two weeks she had plain milk in the sippy and no bottles

Parenting is all about trickery people

 

[ilovejack02]

Don't laugh but we put strawberry Quick in the milk in the sippy cup.
She like that a lot better than the milk in the bottle...
Once she took the sippy cup...we used less and less strawberry Quick. In about two weeks she had plain milk in the sippy and no bottles

Parenting is all about trickery people

WE did the exact same thing, switched it up between the vanilla and the strawberry. Worked like a charm, we didnt cut it out quite as quick as you, but did eventually. It has lots of vitamins added so we didnt mind using it.
I had forgotten all about it lol!

 

[ImarriedGrumpy]

She's getting the bottles before nap and bedtime for nutrition, not comfort, and it's still the pediatrician's advice to keep her on this feeding schedule for now. She needs the milk before her naps and bedtime, so it's either in a bottle or a sippy cup, and we're still trying to get her to use the sippy cup instead of the bottle.

She is a little behind in most physical development because she's a very large baby. She's been off the charts in height, weight, and head size since she was 4 mo. old, and is finally on the charts as of her first birthday, but is still in the 90th% on height and head size. The Dr. is concerned because her weight gain isn't keeping pace with her growth in other areas, so that's part of why we need to keep her on the milk before bed and naps. She's also had a harder time with crawling and walking because of her size, and other physical milestones come about 1 - 2 mo. after "normal". Verbal, social, and other milestones are all at or before normal, so we're not worried about any of that.

So anyway, that's why the sippy cup thing is a little late. We did try her at 9 mo. with it, but she just couldn't do it so we waited until 12 mo., then tried again at 14 mo. We've been working on it all month now, and giving her the sippy cups to "explore", but she's not seeming to get that she can suck on the mouthpiece and get anything from it.

We'll have to try the sippy cups you all have mentioned. I think we're using a Gerber one right now, and she likes holding it but she just rubs the mouthpiece around her mouth or chews on it without sucking. She also likes throwing it, dropping it, banging it on the table, and whacking me with it if I get too close!

 

[ahutton]

Have you tried different temperatures for drinks? We found warming the milk slightly in the sippy helped. I used the nubby cup for a while but got tired of DS chewing on it and went to the disposable cups from First Years. Those have been great as they were not too hard to drink from (some of those valves are tough!) and DS adapted well.

Since calorie intake does not seem to be at issue you might try adding the flavorings mentioned above, or Ovaltine and see if that encourages drinking.

 

[ilovejack02]

She's getting the bottles before nap and bedtime for nutrition, not comfort, and it's still the pediatrician's advice to keep her on this feeding schedule for now. She needs the milk before her naps and bedtime, so it's either in a bottle or a sippy cup, and we're still trying to get her to use the sippy cup instead of the bottle.

She is a little behind in most physical development because she's a very large baby. She's been off the charts in height, weight, and head size since she was 4 mo. old, and is finally on the charts as of her first birthday, but is still in the 90th% on height and head size. The Dr. is concerned because her weight gain isn't keeping pace with her growth in other areas, so that's part of why we need to keep her on the milk before bed and naps. She's also had a harder time with crawling and walking because of her size, and other physical milestones come about 1 - 2 mo. after "normal". Verbal, social, and other milestones are all at or before normal, so we're not worried about any of that.

So anyway, that's why the sippy cup thing is a little late. We did try her at 9 mo. with it, but she just couldn't do it so we waited until 12 mo., then tried again at 14 mo. We've been working on it all month now, and giving her the sippy cups to "explore", but she's not seeming to get that she can suck on the mouthpiece and get anything from it.

We'll have to try the sippy cups you all have mentioned. I think we're using a Gerber one right now, and she likes holding it but she just rubs the mouthpiece around her mouth or chews on it without sucking. She also likes throwing it, dropping it, banging it on the table, and whacking me with it if I get too close!

Ask the Dr. if using Quick would be a problem and maybe let her try the sippy at first without the flow restricter maybe with you holding it so she wouldnt get a bunch at once, but that way she could see that something actually does come out of it. I also think some of the sippy's have different flows, some faster and some slower.

 

[TheOtherVillainess]

Parenting is all about trickery people

It's a shame your tag quota is filled.

And to the OP..good luck on the transition from a bottle to a sippy. I often wonder if we'll have that problem next time around (if there is a next time around). I don't have any advice for you because we didn't have that problem with DS. He has always wanted to drink like a big boy, so going from bottle to sippy was no problem. And now, at almost 3, unless we are out somewhere where drinking from a regular cup would be a problem, he doesn't use a sippy at all except for his nighttime milk right before bed. He's even drinking from straws now because that's what Mommy and Daddy do when we go out and he wants to be just like a grown up.

Wait..where did my baby go?

TOV

 

[ImarriedGrumpy]

Thanks, everyone! The Quick/Ovaltine trick sounds like a good one. I'll suggest that to her parents. They're headed out tomorrow night to look for different sippy cups, so I'll pass on the info from ya'll...

Isn't it funny how kids are all so different? I used to take care of a baby who liked sippy cups and hated bottles, so this child is a whole new adventure! I used to think that by the time I have kids of my own I'll be well equipped with all kinds of tricks...and now I'm convinced that my own kids will throw something totally new at me and I'll still be unprepared!

 

[ilovejack02]

I used to think that by the time I have kids of my own I'll be well equipped with all kinds of tricks...and now I'm convinced that my own kids will throw something totally new at me and I'll still be unprepared!

I think you are right about that! My baby is 4 now and I think im going to have to relearn everything lol. I was just looking at babiesrus.com yesterday ( thinking we are prego ) and goodness all the new stuff out is crazy, thank goodness i have alot of the big things ill just need a few small goodies.

 

[Thumpersmom]

My DD just turned 15 months today and she gave up the bottle when we just took it away at 1 year. I started the sippy early on though and we tried probably 5 or 6 before she found one that she liked.

She preferred the straw sippy cups first, then we went to the no spill models. Nuby is a great one for both straw and sippy only. Everyone is right that they are softer and they don't have that air valve thing that gets yucky! I buy them at Walgreen's......2 for $3!!!


Good Luck and don't worry she won't have the bottle when she gets married! ( my mom always tells me this! )

 

[skuttle]

The Nuby cup worked with us. DS's ped, at his 1 year old visit, told us to take a weekend and only offer drinks in a cup. She said when he'd get thirsty, he'd drink for the cup. It worked and DS actually didn't cry about it all that much.

 

[KirstenB]

Ive heard the Nuby is a sippy with a soft tip and that some kids dont like hard tips. Its called a Nuby no spill sippy and not real expensive at all. I might just take some tough love to get her to do it. If im not insane I think sippy cups are usually introduced some where around 8 ish months, so if yall are just starting at 15 months, it may just take her a while to get with the program. She prob should be done with bottles totally and i would say at the most getting one at night before bed. My best friends little girl is 18 months and has been 'instructed" to ditch all bottles, she is still getting one at night but that is it. I have to say its nice to snuggle those last few mins with her, but then unfortunatly you have to get up and brush her teeth so it messes it up a bit.

I second the Nuby sippy. I just transitioned our 16 mth old to this last month. No more bottles (I hope--if she gets sick I might cave in!)

 

[tw1nsmom]

A lot of speech therapists and doctors will say that you should go straight to cups with straws. Sippy cups aren't good for the mouth development needed for speech.

 

[EthansMom]

DD had a hard time with sippy cups. I found that she couldn't figure out how to suck properly on them. She figured out the purpose of a sippy cup pretty quickly when I took the valve off so that the milk would flow out anytime she had the cup tipped. Yes, she made a mess for a couple of weeks, but once DD was switched over to sippy cups (without valves), I was able to put the valves back in and she figured out how to suck strong enough to get the milk out.

 

[justhat]

My daughter never got the hang of sippy cups and we introduced them at 5 months old. At 11 months I decided to teacher her how to use a straw and she caught on fast (use something thick like a milkshake to keep the straw filled). A few months after that we taught her to use a regular cup, I think maybe 14 months, and she did fine with that.

So instead of sippys why not try straws or regular cups? There's no reason it has to be a sippy and some kids just don't like them much. Also, maybe try giving her the milk awhile before nap or bedtime instead of part of the routine. I can understand needing the milk for nutrition, but I think that part of her resistance is simply cause the bottle is part of the comforting routine. It might be for nutrition from the adult end but she sees at as comfort. If you can separate the bottle from the sleep routine (still give her the milk but just not right before putting her to bed) then the transition to a cup might be a lot easier.