Introducing Sippy Cups, taking away bottles..

I definitely think I have a tough pediatrician. At her most recent visit, 9 months, he was asking about the sippy cup and to continue with it and esp ones with straws-for vocab and speaking skills.

Okay, Im like...uh, she dosent know how to suck through a straw yet.

He also is a doc that feels by age 1....no more bottles. I know this since my niece is 1 and he already addressed it and its been very difficult for my sister to get her away from it.

Is that normal timing for things like that?

I give DD a sippy cup but she looks at me like I have 10 heads and the look of, What do I do with that mommy?

and well, a milestone yesterday, she sucked some juice through the straw!

So, im getting somewhere but Im like...whoa...no bottles soon!
Just crazy.

Hey, my mom does daycare and a 3yr old she cares for is still on the bottle.

Message edited 2/1/2008 3:40:53 PM.

Re: Introducing Sippy Cups, taking away bottles..

My ped said 1 yr too for no more bottles. And we did. I started around 9 months to introduce them here and there. At 18 months he just learned to use a straw so I don't get the straw part. That seems way to early.

Re: Introducing Sippy Cups, taking away bottles..

My ped was the same way. We got rid of the bottle with DS at around that same age and with DD at around 5-6 months (believe it or not..we started her on the sippy at that age and it went so well that we just got rid of the bottle all together).

ETA that my kids know how to drink from the straw sippies but I have yet to find one that doesn't spill or make a mess, so I just stick to cups lol

Message edited 2/1/2008 3:44:29 PM.

Re: Introducing Sippy Cups, taking away bottles..

dd is 10.5 months, ped did not say anything about introducing the sippy but I have been trying to and just lately, she kinda has it down. I gave her some watered down apple juice yesterday and she sucked it down like a champ

I am going to keep offering it to her every day when I give water or juice ( I DO NOT put these things in the bottle)

If she is thirsty, she will learn how to use the sippy

I hope to have dd off the bottle by 15 months, the latest

Re: Introducing Sippy Cups, taking away bottles..

I wouldn't be in a rush to get rid of bottles by age 1--that's when I started weaning. She was completely off of them by 15 mos. and my pediatrician suggested that since baby #2 was on the way.

Abby's almost 9 mos. and I've been putting a sippy on her high chair since 7 mos., but she hasn't really drank anything from it yet. Again, not in a rush.

Re: Introducing Sippy Cups, taking away bottles..

DS has been drinking through the straw sippy cups since 10 months...He still has a bottle in the morning and at night, and we are trying to eliminate his morning bottle. Ant LOVES his bottles, so this has been difficult. But I am happy with him drinking through his sippy straw sup throughout the day~

Re: Introducing Sippy Cups, taking away bottles..

My ped never said anything about when to stop the bottles. I started to introduce the sippy cup at 6 months old with no luck, again at 9 months old with no luck and then again at 13 months old and he finally took to it. Now at almost 18 months old, he does not know how to drink from a straw.

Re: Introducing Sippy Cups, taking away bottles..

Logan is almost 9 months and he also give me the ten-headed-mommy look when I try to give him the sippy.

I'm trying to transition from the 2nd morning bottle so we would only be down to 3 bottles and 3 meals instead of 4 bottles and 2 meals.

But I feel like he's going to dehydrate because he refuses the sippy.

Are there ones you guys use that you feel are easier for them to "get"?

Re: Introducing Sippy Cups, taking away bottles..

what happens if you don't meet the ped's deadlines? Do the parents get a time out? I'm teasing of course

My ped is more laid back about bottles and pacifiers.

It does make life easier for you if he gets rid of the bottle earlier than later...sippy cups are easier to clean than bottle

Re: Introducing Sippy Cups, taking away bottles..

My ped never told me when to take her off the bottle. I, on the other hand wanted her off of a bottle the day she turned 1. So that's what I did. I threw every bottle out in the garbage. She took it well so it was easy for me. She was already using a sippy cup from when she was 8 months. Plus she went to day care and they totally encouraged sippy cups. It worked out like hand and glove.

Don't ask me what I am going to do with DD # 2 b/c when she turns 1, she is still going to be seeing her baby sister drink from a bottle. It's kind of in her face, ya know. So I am undecided on what I am going to do. Play it by ear I guess.

There is no right or wrong time to take away the bottle. It's when you are ready to. Some peds push for 1, some say who cares and they'll get off when they are ready.

Message edited 2/1/2008 4:20:43 PM.

Re: Introducing Sippy Cups, taking away bottles..

DD's almost 15 months and she stopped taking the bottles a few weeks ago. It took me a long time to get her to drink from a sippy cup. I tried all different kinds and finally found one that worked for her. I used to give her a bottle before each nap and before she went to bed at night and was freaked out by the idea of no bottle. I wondered how I would get her to go to sleep, but I tried putting her down without giving her a bottle before and it worked great. So stopping the bottle was so much easier than I expected.

ETA: I haven't tried the straw yet. That's my next hurdle.

Message edited 2/1/2008 4:25:29 PM.

Re: Introducing Sippy Cups, taking away bottles..

Nikolas took awile to get used to drinking from a sippy cup (I introduced it around 6 months but he played with it until about 10 months).. now he drinks great from it.. but ONLY his water or juice.. won't drink milk from it at all.

So at nearly 16 months old, we still do a morning and evening milk bottle.. which I am personally "ok" with and so is my pediatrician, but I realize that others feel differently..

As for straws and straw cups.. he's not having it . He plays, tries, but just can't 'get it'. I'm sure he'll get the hang of it soon, but again I'm not too concerned as he is a champ at drinking from his regular cups -

Re: Introducing Sippy Cups, taking away bottles..

Re: Introducing Sippy Cups, taking away bottles..

I started giving DS a Born Free trainer cup when he was about 5 months old, to play with. (They have a soft spout, like a bottle.) He knows how to hold it and put the spout in his mouth, but he doesn't really drink from it. A couple of weeks ago I started tilting him back in his high chair so he actually gets some of the water in it. I also send it to daycare so that they can work with him on it.

My DS is BFed when we are together, so I think that he's really more attached to the boob than he is to his bottle.

Re: Introducing Sippy Cups, taking away bottles..

My ped told me to start exposing DD to the sippy cup at 6 months. We tried but she was very much like your DD....looking at me like, "Huh?" Between 6 and 8 months she just played with it. Then at 9-10 months she started drinking from it and at 11 months we had her transitioned off of the bottle. I was in shock that she took to it so quickly so I just went with it.

Re: Introducing Sippy Cups, taking away bottles..

My ped is big on getting rid of the bottle by one also, but has never said anything about introducing a straw cup that early They do say straw cups help with the mucles in the childrens mouth which help with speaking but 1yrs old seems early if you ask me. My son was a little over 10mos when I took the bottle away and that's only because he did so well with the Nuby sippy cup and I figured why not. However if he gave me a hard time I would of deff let him have the bottle.

Re: Introducing Sippy Cups, taking away bottles..

I gave my kids the sippy cup around 6 months. At first, they played with it and threw it around. The more they have it, they begin to learn to use it. Both my kids could use a sippy by 10 months and the bottles were gone by their first birthday.

Re: Introducing Sippy Cups, taking away bottles..

Don't flame me but IMHO I think 6 months is way too young for a sippy cup. I will try to start DD on a sippy cup at around 10-12 months. My niece is 8 months old and I can't picture her holding a sippy cup...she's still such a baby. I don't want DD to grow up too fast so I'm in no rush.

Re: Introducing Sippy Cups, taking away bottles..

DD drinks from a sippy cup but not the straw kind, a regular one i guess, but a bottle as well...........

Re: Introducing Sippy Cups, taking away bottles..

My dr said at one year NO Bottle!

I have started giving Chris the sippy cup since age 8 months, but he does the same thing...look at me like i am crazy and throw it on the floor

I will continue to try....so right now I have tried the Nuby, the Avent and the Dr Brown....we should try one with a straw? are those better?

Re: Introducing Sippy Cups, taking away bottles..

umm hannah is 20 mos and still gets a morning and night bottle. she refuses to drink milk from a sippy. she is just starting to take sips but i have to flavor the milk with strawberry syrup. she actually does very well with straws. she loves to drink from "adult" cups with straws. but not milk!

Re: Introducing Sippy Cups, taking away bottles..

I wasn't in a rush to get rid of the bottle...but being that I am pregnant with #2 and she will be 20 months when baby is born...I decided to give it a try at 1 years old. She had no problems with no more bottle so I stuck with it. If she was upset about it or not drinking her milk I would absolutely have given it back. I don't see the rush.

She started off with the straw sippy and just "got it" early on. Never got the concept of tilting back a regular sippy.

Re: Introducing Sippy Cups, taking away bottles..

I introduced the sippy at 6months. by 9 months, he knew the straw. I started with juice boxes,then got the straw sippy. He will now, at 14 months, drink any liquid from sippy.

He still gets 2 bottles, which I am fine with. He won't drink juice from a bottle though

Re: Introducing Sippy Cups, taking away bottles..

I introduced it at about 6-7 months and he would get it to his mouth, but not get anything out of it. Now, I switched to a different one and sometimes he can drink from it, sometimes he just waters the tray of his highchair with it

I actually don't think we will have a problem with the bottles at 1 year because Christopher HATES them unless he is half asleep.

Re: Introducing Sippy Cups, taking away bottles..

We have a few and believe it or not the one he gets the most out of and understands the best is the Dollar store one with no Valve.

The playtex one he couldnt get anything out of , and the Nuby ones are OK...

Im gonna try Dr Browns too, I heard good things about those, but I cant find them anywhere.

We started at like 5-6 months and now at 8 months he can use the regular one just fine, but only get a little out of the straw one.