Any suggestions on sippy cups? (meal, milk, babies, pacifier)
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My son is 18 months old. He eats well on his own but REFUSES a cup. I've tried for many months now and the only thing we wants to do is play with it, which i let him in hopes he will one day drink from it. He will only drink out of a bottle. I have a cabinet full of sippies that he will not use, i've even tried the ones that are similar to bottles! any suggestions???
Do you always end up giving him the bottle? Sounds like you do. I did with my first child. This is difficult, so please don't think I'm on the attack here. What you have is a battle of wills. You need to win this and he is way too old for a bottle, so throw them all away. Seriously. Toss them out and you and he will have no other option. He'll complain, throw fits, cry, and so on, but he will have no other choice. You just have to steel yourself for the battle and I bet it won't even be as bad as you think. Meanwhile, he'll get plenty of liquids from his food. If you feel nervous, then load up on fruit like grapes and watermelon. But, if he's truly thirsty, he'll drink from a sippy cup. The alternative is to go straight to regular cups or use straws. Many have done that. Sippy cups are a relatively new, remember, so they're only a convenience and not a necessity. Good luck!
My oldest was like that. I bought him the water bottle looking ones after awhile and then removed the plug. Once he got used to drinking the juice that way, I put the plug back in. He didn't like sucking on it at all. He preferred a regular cup, which was only inconvenient during the 2 long road trips we took when he was under 2.
So, my suggestions... take out the plug and/or give him a regular cup with a tablespoon or two at a time (til he has better control).
Pack up the bottles and put them away. Only offer him a cup. He knows if he protests he will get a bottle, remove that option and he will use a cup. Kids are smarter then we think. You will have a meal or two that he will fuss about it and it will be done. When he is thirsty enough, he will take a cup.
I would put water in the bottles and then something more yummy in the sippy cups. Then set them both out... That way,,,if he is truely thirsty and refuses the sippy he can drink the water... But, if he wants something yummy, he can go for the sippy...Give him options with something more appealing in the sippy...
It took my youngest (and most stubborn child) three days to finally break down and use the cup - we had to go cold turkey. don't worry - they are not going to dehydrate - as long as they are eating. It is a battle of wills - just wait until you get to the potty training!!
My daughter would never drink from the sippy cups with valves - she just doesn't suck hard enough to get anything out. So we use valveless cups (ie Nuby soft-spout cups or Take and Toss cups) or we just take the valves out of other cups. Try that if you haven't yet. You can also work on straws and on open cups.
I don't think you need to go cold turkey or make a huge battle of it. He will, eventually, drink from a cup. He's not going to be 10 years old drinking from a bottle - I promise!
My 4 year old nephew still uses a bottle for his milk. He insists on drinking the milk only out of a bottle, but will use a sippy cup for juice. However, I suspect when he starts school this fall, he will be royally embarrassed into giving up this habit. In the meantime, his teeth are not buck and he seems to have suffered no ill effects. Point is, eventually your child will indeed give up the bottle. Its just a matter of time.
Definately, don't use the sippies that have the soft top like a bottle. Since you have already tried it and it didn't convert him, don't go back to them. I bought that kind of sippy for my youngest and he quickly found out that he only had to bite it to get the liquid. I had to teach him all over with a regular sippy.
I agree that by 18 months the bottle should be long gone, as well as pacifiers, which should be gone by 6 months, tops.
I personally am opposed to sippy cups, too, because they just delay the child's learning how to drink from a regular cup. Once in awhile they're Ok if you're away from the house and want to use it for neatness.
My kids had formula or water only in a bottle, and every other kind of drink was from a cup. Babies are EAGER to learn new things, like feeding themselves and drinking from a cup and going potty, if parents are alert to the window when it presents itself. If you miss these windows, that's when you have trouble with transitions.
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