Teaching a 13 Month Old to Use a Cup

I had the same feeling when my now 23 month old son wouldn't transition easily. It was the biggest battle thus far, and I thought it would never end! I, too, gave in and would hand him the bottle when he refused to try the cup. It was the only way he would get his daily milk/fluid intake.
One day, I realized that he was accepting the sippy cups every time I gave them to him and I hadn't even noticed! I promptly threw away all of his bottles that very day.
Hang in there, be persistent, but don't take the bottle away until that day comes for you as it did for us, if you are worried about fluid intake. It WILL work, eventually!

every child is on their own time table. It isn't going to hurt him any to let him have the bottle.
Keep pushing it and he will keep fighting back just because he can. Let it be his idea. Give him the bottle and then maybe u can go to the store and let him find one he likes. Favorite character? Toy? Color?
Fill it up and place it somewhere he can see it. Maybe one day he'll try it. But again, it won't hurt him. And maybe letting him do it when he's ready.
Good luck!
Also, i found that for my daughter, she likes the sippy cups with the nipple like top. Nuby has some. Its the same texture as the nipple on the bottles, but has a shorter spout for easier transition into sippy cups.

And the fact that his weight is dropping....do what your child needs. Some doctors say take it away, others say let them have it. Make sure you're doing what works for him, not what works for the doctor...remember the doctors aren't always right. "Momma knows best" :)

Greetings Stacie: Have you used a straw? We started our kids with regular straws so it had the effect of a bottle and it worked well. Good Luck in your adventure into parenthood. Nana G

Hi S., I have two girls and let them decide when they are ready to give up the bottle. We as humans have developmental sucking needs which directly correlate with the development of our brain neurons. This need lasts until we are about four years of age. This is not new news in the world of child development but somehow we as parents want our kids to somehow ignore their biological needs and "grow up". Why turn it into an issue? It isn't bad behavior and he definitely finds comfort from the bottle. Most development happens in the first three years and in humans it is through our mouths and our skin. If he was over three I could understand the discomfort but he is only a year old. I also kept a bottle of water with a silicone nipple in their cribs and toddler beds for years and they both are very well adjusted kids. It is also the best thing for kids to take care of their natural oral needs now vs forcing them to give it up and then it never goes away. The outcome is people who constantly need something in their mouths and thus you have so many overweight people and smokers...so much is nothing more than fulfilling their oral needs which could have been met in early childhood. It will pay off in so many ways. Sucking on the nipple of the bottle develops your child's brain and causes the synapses to get checked. This causes further mental development via emotional development. If you don't believe me you can Google this info. I first read about it in T Berry Brazleton's child rearing books and Penelope Leach. There have also been several very well written articles in Newsweek about it. The American Academy of Sciences also established via lots of research the fact that we as humans have the developmental sucking need for four years. I hope this helps you with the issue.

I did something for weaning of a pacifier that may work. We just cut off the tip of the nipple and let her find them and figure out on her own that they didn't work anymore. She put them in the garbage and there was no more discussion or problems. This worked for my sister's child as well. Then I would line up a few options. A regular cup, and a couple different sippy cups, or a water bottle with a straw. Let him choose. Options always help them to not feel forced into changing. Best of luck!

ahhhhhhh, you have an age spread like my boys :) 18 mth apart. My suggestion since it seems the little one knows that there are bottles in the house, is have him watch you throw them out (I kept a stash just in case it got really rough, same thing when getting rid of paci's). and put out a sippy cup and leave it out for him to get to. When he's thirst he'll take it.

The other suggestion which you might want to try first is to limit his bottles to two to three times a day, but in between have a sippy cup of some watered down juice "out" and let him know that's his cup. He'll get curious about it after he sees there's still bottles around, but maybe that cup is cool. And maybe start using the terms big boy and baby when referring to teh different ones. Like oh here is your big boy cup, look how big you are with that big boy cup. Than here is the baby bottle, with no enthusiasim.

I don't know. My youngest couldn't wait to be like older brother and older brother grew up way too soon, so I was very fortunate to have them both off bottle before they were 13 mths old. I'm sure my time is coming.......potty training is turning out to be not so fun. :)

good luck
K.

Hey S.,

I did the same thing you did. Invested in so many different cups and what not. Followed the pediatrician's order of taking the bottle away. Out of sight. Out mind. But that didn't do me any good. My son just didn't want to drink at all. I gave him his bottle back, but offered the sippy cup and let him use it when he wants. At first he didn't care. But, I would continue to just offer it. Then he finally took it. He is now 18 mos old and all he wants is his sippy cups. Kids do things according to their own peace. Just continue to encourage. But not force. He will eventually want his sippy cup. Hang in there. Good luck.

HI S.,
Kids grow at their own pace. My older son was so easy. Never liked the paci or being swaddled since birth. He loved the sippy cup at 8 months and was getting a bottle just at night. It was mostly to just soothe him. I finally took the bottle away cold turkey at 15 months. My second son now, 1 was 6 weeks premature and from there on has been early with EVERYTHING. rolling over, sitting up, crawling and was walking before 8 months. He showed no interest in the sippy cup till 11 months and it has to have a straw init or he doesn't care. He is almost 13 months and is drinnking out of a real cup really well. Of course I m holding it. Drinks out of it better then his 3.5yr old brother. He only liked the pacifier for the first 3 months and that was the end of that. Dr said he only liked it because he was a preemie. He likes his bottle at night still. I give him a sippy cup during meal time and bottle at naps and bed. Im now dealing with him showing interest in the potty already. He moves at the speed of light. Its nuts.

Pick your battles. Some kids are early and some are late doesn't matter to me as long as they are happy and you encourage them to grow up. Everyone is so critical as to what a child should be doing or not doing at the text book age. My older son hates food and there isn't anything I can do about it but offer him good meals. His little brother chows down table food by the fist full since 6 months. Go figure.

Take it one day at a time.

40 yr old SAHM with 2 adorable funny little boys. 3.5 & 1 who beats on his bigger brother like a football player. Been married 5 years and love watching my boys grow by leaps and bounds.

I have cared for children for many years and some take to a tippee cup as easy as pie at 9 months old and others take longer like 15-16 months old. All you can do is offer it to him with every meal. I put their cup on their high chair tray every meal and snack. They eat a little or alot; it is up to them. They drink from thier tippee cup or not. I do show them how to use it. It may take longer for some but do not make a battle of it. As they take more liquid from their cup, you can reduce thier bottles until all the bottles are gone. Enjoy your baby and this too shall pass. Please don't worry about it.
F.

Hi S.,

I went through the same thing with my now 19 month old son. What worked best for us for the soft spouted sippy cups.
I used the ones from Nuby available at Target.
Since it is a soft spout, he took to it immediately. We soon did away with the bottle and then once he was comfortable with the soft spout, we offered the hard spout/straw cups at different times of the day. Now he'll drink from anything we offer it in.
(looks like this one: http://www.nubysippycup.com/Best_Sippy_Cups.php )

Hope this helps.

Go straight to the straw cups. They get more and its more fun. Even if the package says ages 2+. My daughter has been using straw cups since she was 9 months and started refusing bottles. She only likes straw cups. It is supposed to be better for them anyways as it used more mature mouth muscles and supports developing proper swallowing technique as opposed to sippy cups that encourage "short" sucking.

We switched to those sippies with very soft, nipple like spouts. They were great. I recall they reminded me of her fat bottles. I'm sure you can get them at Target. Anyway, that made for an easier transition to sippy cup.

s

Hi S.,

My oldest didn't want to switch from a bottle either. I think I waited too long to introduce it to him, not knowing that I was creating a security for him.

Anyway, My husband and I started drinking out of sippy cups! Our son, of course, LOVEs LOVES LOVES his Daddy, so when his Daddy had is own sippy cup he would give our son a drink. That was our big introduction! About 1 week later, our son wanted to have a sippy cup like his Daddy :O) Within 1-2 months, we were able to loose the daytime bottle completely. The night-time bottle was still a struggle for us, but......he's 12 now, and doesn't have a bottle :O)

Anyway, my husband was AWESOME and totally in tune with the fact that he could help with this issue ;O) It took a commitment on his part to "act" like a sippy cup was a regular part of his life. I am laughing right now because we actually did this :O) It's amazing the things parents do to get their kids to do something!

Anyway, your son will eventually switch when he's ready. Don't worry ;O) He's not going to the prom with his bottle :O)

~N. :O)