How to get my 15mo old to drink from sippy cup

[marthawashington]

My friend just informed me that babies should stop drinking from the bottle at 1 year... news to me. I tried to switch her to a sippy cup but she doesn't understand to suck it like a bottle. I performed it for her also. Also, does anyone know if the pacifier and bottles ruin teeth. How many ounces of milk should toddlers be drinking a day?

[Swandira]

Not sure... How much (if any) does your baby still nurse? If more than once or twice a day, milk probably isn't needed. My ped says pacis are fine until school age.

I'm interested to hear some answers, because my 12-month-old doesn't care for sippies either.

[Lynn08]

Meh, you could just skip the sippy all together if you want.

DD is almost 17mos and is practicing with regular juice glasses (easier for smaller hands) when we are home and one of these when we are out and about. We originally got her the nuby because she had no interest in a sippy cup either and it is closer to a bottle (which she would take from time to time) so she knew how it worked.

[Bokonon]

Another thing you could try is a sippy cup with a straw. My son figured that out before he figured out a regular sippy cup.

[pbjmama]

I think if you give her a few days to play with it she will figure it out. Really, a sippy isn't that much different than a bottle if your concern is teeth. I didn't really use sippy cups with my kids, they were both using straw or open cups by 9 months. I used to have a great link for teaching to drink from a straw but I can't find it now.

[sapphire_chan]

Straw cup. Less damaging than a sippy and lets you share drinks in restaurants even when you forgot their own cup.

We started Lina with one of the Camelbak waterbottles (nice because the bite-then-suck action entirely blocks backwashing and I think kept her mouth from having to be as tightly puckered as a regular straw) when she was 7 months old. She still, at 15 months, can't use a regular sippy.

We introduced open cups at 4 months for playing. It's only now that she's consistently requesting open cups and good at actually drinking instead of pouring them.

Oh, and if you have a kid who understands "kiss" you can tell them to kiss a regular straw and it'll work.

[olien]

DS wont use sippys. I intended for him to not use one by introducing open cups at 6mo - a Montessori ideal. We started with a shot glass & went up from there. Now if given a sippy by a relative or someone he gets mad bec he doesnt know how to use one. He does use straws.

BTW ds is 16mo & still drinks formula from bottles. I was wondering when to stop the bottles as well. I never tried formula in a cup - maybe I will tomorrow. I dont think he eats enough food at this point to stop the formula yet. Also, I never heard of no bottles after 1yo. My sisters friend still uses a bottle at night with water for her 3.5yo. Now that is to old, IMO.