How On Earth Do I Get Him To Take a Cup?

[zebrachick83]

Our baby is almost 8 months and just starting solids. He has NEVER taken a bottle and every time we offered it to him, he just cried. So, now we're trying the sippy cup, but still....no. What are we supposed to do to get this kid to drink off something other than me?

[pumpkin]

Time?

DD is the same way. Finally at a year she will occasionally drink an ounce or two from a cup if her father is holding her and helping.

We tried 9 different cups. Water, juice, breastmilk. She perfected the art of getting just a drop or two so she got flavor, but did not have to drink.

I've come to believe some kids are just stubborn.

[Alisse]

I posted a thread with the same kind of question not too long ago: My son wouldn't take a bottle for the longest time and i was so exasperated.

Try feeding him from a spoon or cup. My son would only drink this way for a while, and mostly between bites of purees. In the meantime, you can also let him play with a bottle or sippy cup with a bit of formula/breastmilk/water. My son started out by just chewing on the nipple of a bottle. Eventually on his own he started to hold the bottle up by himself and would drink and chew. At first he would only allow us to feed him water. After 1.5months of trying, he'll take a bit of formula from the bottle but only once in a blue moon.

[blumooned]

I agree that you just need to give it time. We first gave DS a sippy around 5mos, but just on occasion. We started giving him one every time he ate solids around 7mos. He is 11.5mos now & just really figuring out how to get a real drink. At the beginning, it was BM in the cup, and only on long car rides. Now, it is just water. We haven't done juice.
Try different cup styles. Let him explore it & play with it. He'll figure it out eventually.

[lkmiscnet]

I'm in the same boat, but with a 10 mo old.

I bought a Born Free sippy cup and let him play with it with filtered water in it. When I think of it, I try to pump some BM as well. He typically chews on the rubber spout (I liked that brand because the spout is flexible), but that does release the contents so I figure, practice makes perfect. And on occasion, he does seem to suck on it. I even have squeezed the nipple while in his mouth. He does end up with water on his neck/chest, so it's less messy than BM.

I'm bad about not remembering to give it to him daily though, so it's my bad that he's not taken to it yet.

[MamaPhD]

When I introduced sippy cup to DD around 8mo (now 16 mo), she didn't really get it, though she played with it. She would NEVER have BM in the sippy cup and cried very sadly each time I tried. So we tried just water for months, and one day, she just got it! But water is not that interesting, so she only drank tiny bits of water. Everything changed when we started soy milk at 12 mo (DD is allergic to dairy), and she LOVES getting soy milk in sippy cup!

So it really is a process, like a lot of things are with babies. You should give a sippy cup every day (or close to it) so baby can play around with it, but it WILL happen be it spouty cup, straw cup, or a regular cup. Good luck!

[kismetbaby]

My almost 6 month old loves to drink water off of a spoon! So you might try that. He hasn't really figured out how to drink out of a sippy, nor does he seem to care too, but show the guy a spoon and boy, does he get excited! And he'll drink a fair amount that way, although it is a bit tedious and he doesn't really even need water yet.

Also, he will drink out of my water bottle. . .I just push the pop-top in so that only a little will dribble out. Basically, he'll drink if water is being poured into his mouth but not if he has to suck--he only wants to do that at the breast--and if he thinks he's getting something much cooler than a baby cup! Really, this babe already wants what I have, not the baby stuff I am handing to him.

[maybebabysoon]

my little guy uses straw sippy cups. and he loves them with water, but not his formula. He figured it out right away. but he is 10.5 months old. he did not like the other kinds. he would not tip his head back, so i had to help him alot. with the straw ones he can drink himself.

[jillmamma]

Originally Posted by maybebabysoon

my little guy uses straw sippy cups. and he loves them with water, but not his formula. He figured it out right away. but he is 10.5 months old. he did not like the other kinds. he would not tip his head back, so i had to help him alot. with the straw ones he can drink himself.

That is what I did with my second one as well. If you want to help them a bit, take a straw from your cup of water, put your finger on the top and then empty it into their mouth to show them how it works. Also, model drinking from your straw. Good luck!

[HappyFox05]

When we started giving DD 1 something other than Mommy milk, we first did it by getting some liquid in a straw & letting it out in her mouth, by holding a finger over the end of the straw. She moved from there to regular cups. She was maybe 8 months - I can't remember. Maybe I wrote it in her baby book.

[Novus]

We had to take the no-spill valves out because he had no interest in working that hard at a cup. DS also used to drink out of an open cup (shot glasses are the perfect size for this), but it just made too much of a mess because when he was done/not thirsty, he just dumped the water on himself. Right now, he mostly uses straw cups.

[zebrachick83]

Good ideas ladies! Thanks for responding. I'll try taking off the no spill valve and then if that doesn't work, I'll try the straw sippy cup or using a straw or a spoon with him. Heck, at this point I'll try anything. Him teething on my nipples is...getting old...fast.