Transition from Bottle to Sippy Cup - Memphis, TN

You may not have found the right sippy cup for her yet. At walmart they have one that have a very soft (nipple like) top that helps them transition to the cup. Then just start trying with a harder cup and a little harder and so on. Dr's say that you should have them off the bottle and formula by 12 months. That may be why the daycare is pushing it. It is a common thing for Daycares to require sippy cups instead of bottle by a certain age.

Just give it time! I found the Avent bottles worked well cause it was the same bottle she was use to, but had a different nipple on the top which is a soft sippy cup nipple. This may be an option. Also, maybe the softer nippled sippy cups like Nuby may work as well! Hope this helps!! ~J.

Hi, K.. I have a 13 month old that doesn't like the sippy cup much either. Thank goodness she finally learned to drink from a straw a few weeks ago. But, the only cups she would take are the Nuby ones that have a soft nipple like a bottle, and she didnt even take those until about 11 months old. She never has taken to the ones with the hard spout. My baby still wants her afternoon and before bed bottle! Who says just because they turn one, they HAVE to give up something they have grown to love over the past year! Good luck, and try the Nuby ones with the nipple. She may not even know the difference between that and a bottle!

Try cutting the nipple so that there is a big hole in it. Tell "It's broke. It's broke." Then tell her the sippy is her only option. It will take a little while but she will drink out of the sippy. I had to do this to break my son of the sippy cup. I think it is the sucking surface is different and it freaks kids out a bit...kind of like loosing a security blanket.

When my son was almost one I bought him the Nuby sippy cup from Wal-Mart. I had tried using other sippy cups that had hard tops but he just couldn't get the hang of it. The Nuby had a soft top that is similar to a bottle nipple. He took to it right away. I hope this helps you.

With my first daughter, the pediatrician was harping on me at 12 months to get her off of the bottle. I did not understand why, and she LOVED her bottle...I did introduced the sippy cup at 10 months, and she would not have any part of it, so I didn't worry about it then. At 14 months, and after buying every sippy cup known to man, I finally just took the bottle away and handed her one of the cups. She eventually drank from it. It sounds cruel, but when they get thirsty enough, they WILL drink from the cup. I had to stop giving her a choice. Another thing that helped was that I took her off of formula...so the milk (she had to have soy) was something new. With my 2nd daughter, I took the bottle away at 11 months and it was no problem...all of them are different. Good Luck!!!

Mom of 3 girls (4-1/2, 2-1/2 and 4 months)

I had the hardest time with my 18 month old. She wanted nothing to do with sippy cups. Nothing! I finally just flat out took the bottle away. Over a weekend, I just offered her nothing but the sippy. It didn't take long before she finally took it. She realized that I wasn't giving in and that she was thirsty.

Her doctor has told me that he prefers that they be off bottles by 15 months. But, you will not damage child if she uses a bottle longer. Also, you pay you daughter's daycare. Essentially, they work for you. They have no right to tell you they will not give you daughter a bottle if that's what you want them to do. I would suggest sitting down with the director and talking about this and if they still won't change, you may want to find another daycare provider.

Let us know how it works out.

Well, first of all, why is she still on formula? Its time to put her on regular cow's milk and discontinue the formula. I'm sure that your pediatrician will tell you this, as well. Secondly, she really doesn't need to be on a bottle, especially before she sleeps. Her teeth are going to rot out if you keeping giving her a drink as she's going to sleep. Its not unheard of for a baby your daughter's age to have a mouthful of silver caps because of what your doing. Maybe try to get her attached to a lovey that will help her drift off to sleep. But what your doing now is really going to cause some problems for her teeth if you don't stop soon.

Hi K.,

You are the Mom and you do what you think is best. My daughter took a nightime bottle until she was over 2 and I didn't let other people influence my decesion. They grow up too fast as it is. I agree there is no difference in a sippy and a bottle. If you want her to drink out of a sippy, get a sippy cup with a stopper. (hopefully you can find one with a softer top.) Take the stopper out to start with. It flows better. You have to suck harder on a sippy to get the hang of it. The milk will just flow into her mouth with the stopper out. Once she gets the hang of it, replace the stopper. Good Luck!!

12 months is the "Guideline" - NOT the be all end all...my son just turned one and is also still on bottles before naps and bed. He does take juice in the sippy. I just kept putting it in front of him and showing him how to do it and LOTS of praise when he did drink from it. I did not push him and will not push him to drink his milk from it. I will try to slowly start to wean his naptime bottles soon if I feel he his ready...
I know there is somewhere online you can print out and take to your daycare to show them that 12 months is only a guideline to be off of a bottle...do not let them pressure you.

I would tell them that this would be a slow process and to give her time. You have to do what is best for your daughter. Have they tried giving her a sippy cup? Also maybe if she moves to the next room up and sees all her friends drinking from a sippy cup then she might want to try it too. Maybe you can see if they will transition her to the next room a little at a time and give her the sippy cup when she is over there. I've worked in a daycare so I'm hoping this can help you.

have you tried the sippy cups with handles or the cup with nipple texture? Try those and if she is not ready then she simply is not ready yet.

K. - You are the Mom! We get enough of feeling that we are not doing the right thing, at the right time. You are paying them to keep your child - not to tell you how to take better care of her. Too bad if it's a little inconvenient for them to let her use a bottle. If that's the condition for going to the toddler room, ok - she doesn't go right now. It's your choice if you want to pay more, if that's the case. If there are other reasons why they want her in that room, then they should move her and deal with the bottle. You are the customer!!!! My daughter is 16 months and will drink out of a cup - but not her milk. She has always been tiny - so guess what?? - yep - she gets 4 BOTTLES of milk a day. And has the daycare said ONE word about it - no, they have not. I explained that I want her on the bottle for now so I KNOW she is getting all of the milk she needs. Period. Don't let anyone put doubts in your head. They help take care of her, but nobody knows her like you do. I hope this makes you feel better!! T.

Sorry to hear that your daycare provider is being so "hard" with you on this. Is there any other flags you may have not seen with this daycare?? Your child is only a year old, I do not see the problem of her having her bottle since it is not an all day thing with her. Does she need them to hold her to take the bottle and nap? Or does she do all the holding?? My daughter took the bottle until she was about 18 mths but she was doing fine with drinking out of a sippy too. I was being selfish..I wanted to her to stay a baby a bit longer and kept using the bottle!! Anyways, I had the best luck the Nuby brand found at Wal-Mart for about $1.50. It has a soft nipple like spout and made the transition great. My only problem was that my daughter would bite the spout and tear it...making a big mess when I would least expect it! Have your tried them yet? If you really have tried all of them, your daughter is just not ready yet. It is not in stone that she should be off the bottle by a year. You know your daughter the best. Always go with your gut feeling (on all issues) that come up about your child, it will save you from a lot of unnessary stress and grief for the both of you.
Good luck! Cathy

Have you tried the Nuby brand cups? They were the only ones my youngest would take to, but do watch the spout of them, they kind of tend to deteriorate quickly, especially if your child gnaws on them.

Have you tried the sippy cups from walmart and family dollor that are bout 1.50 or a little more. It have a soft spout just like the bottle. I used them with all three of my kids. I started all my kids on that cup at 6 months and completly took them off the bottle around 7 months. That is the only cup they drank from. My son that is 6 months now actually I started with his cup right after he turned 5 months. Just a thought. It worked great for me.

Hey K.
I read your problem. At first I was thinking what gives the day care the right, but after some thought. The other kids in the toddler room have given up there bottles and if she came in with hers, well then, I'm sure you know how that would be. And they probably have waiting room for her in the toddler room and some one wanting the space in the room she's in now. With that said.
I can't remember how old my Grace was when she gave up her bottle, she'll be 2 in August. Girls can be strong willed and maybe she just doesn't want to do what you want her to do. When the pressure is on, they wanna fight the change. I remember Moms talking about telling her that the "babies" need the bottles and putting them outside for the "babies" to get. Have her involved in that and in picking out new cups. Tell her before she goes to bed that in the morning bottles will be gone and she will have a cup. And just keep it at that. In the morning give her the cup and when she gets upset, turn her attention to doing her favorite thing, or something that maybe she isn't allowed to do yet (break out the washable markers and paper)"come to the table and lets color, don't forget to bring you cup" If she gets thristy enough she will use the cup. I know that it can be hard and she will be upset. But I just used that attitude of "this is how it is" "this is not gonna change" I have to put my foot down with Grace, she has excepted that what Mom says goes. And now everything isn't a battle of wills with her. She is so much like me, very hard headed. lol
I hope this helps some. Have a good week
M. S

The only sippy cups my son would use at first are the cheapest ones out there. The First Years "take and toss" small cups. They sell them at Walmart, Target and some grocery stores. I bought the small ones first and then started using larger ones later. He didn't like any other sippy cups out there. These have worked great for some of my friends that were having the same issues about their kids not wanting to use sippy cups.

I don't know why your daycare is so adament about her switching, but if it's something you're wanting to do, you might try using one of the sippy cups with straws. both of my neices and the boy I nanny for refused any kind of sippy cup (and they all had at LEAST 5 or 6 different types) but they all ended up drinking out of the straw cups and love them. You might give it a try. That's about all the advice I have to offer.

I'm thinking that they want to be able to give the kid a cup and just let them go to walk around (or be independant) with it. If they do that with a bottle, if she lays it down it will leak. You might try teaching her to use a straw cup. Model it yourself for her. Tell her "You suck on it, just like on your bottle".It will take a few lessons, but I taught my daughter about that age.

That said, remember you pay them--they work for YOU. It's your child and if she's not ready to transition (to a bottle or to the toddler room) then you have every right to tactfully deny this.

You may need to have a sit down with the director and see what their thinking is and if you can come up with any alternatives that are workable for everyone.

Hey K.,

My son turned one on the 1st of May, I know what you are saying about all the sippy cups! I found one that really worked well with getting my son off the bottle. It was the nuby cup it's nipple is a lot like a bottle feel wise but he still had to do like he would a normal sippy cup. He's now going on 15 months old and he learned to drink from the hard spout nipples 2 months ago. It takes a while to get use to something different. Good luck!

You may want to try the Platex sippy cups at Wal-Mart. My son drank alot and used his bottle alot when I decided to start giving him the sippy cup I used this brand and he took it. He was off the bottle at 10 months. But you can't give in to giving back the bottle once you make the decision to change, this way she knows she has no other choice. I think you will be happy once you do break her but it is a hard thing. I had a hard time breaking my daughter from her pacifier but when I finally got it in my head I was doing it , I did and after 2 days she never ask for it again. Just stick with it, she will do it. :)

my daughter drinks from the tummy tickler bottles that you can get at wal-mart in the grocery section. she has been drinking from them (my two year old son drinks from them too) since she was 11 months old. try her on that if you want but i find it easy to use because after the apple juice is gone, you can re use the bottles over and over again. hope this helps.