When Did You Start Training Your Baby to Drink from a Sippy Cup?

Updated on January 31, 2007
A.H. asks from Bowling Green, KY
18 answers

I have a little girl who will be 8 months old next week. At her last Dr. visit, our pediatrician said we could start giving her juice in a sippy cup if we wanted to. I think I would like to try it, but I'm concerned that if she learns to drink from the cup, then she won't want to drink her formula in the bottle. When did other moms here start with sippy cups? How is the best way to introduce a cup to your baby? Did you have issues with them rejecting their bottles?

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L.T.

answers from Memphis on

Hey, I started my lil girl on a sippy cup at 5 months. Maybe because she was a lil younger, but we just started the ones with the handles and she loved it. We still did formula from a bottle for about two months after that. She didn't have a problem switching between the two.

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W.R.

answers from Memphis on

I didn't start the sippy cup with my son until he was one. That way it was time for him to come off the bottle anyway. I think it's ok to start a little earlier, but give her the sippy cup once a day or something. Just enough to introduce her to it but not make her dependent on it.

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L.L.

answers from Knoxville on

My son will be 8 months next week. He will not drink from the Nuby sippy cups, however he will drink from a glass!!!!! If we take the lid off the sippy cup he will drink from it. So I am really not much help!!!

T.W.

answers from Lakeland on

i gave my son the sippy cup at 6 months more just to play with and get used to..at about 8 months he was drinking out of it very well but was still taking a bottle..i do not think your child will want to give up the bottle when it is their main source of food...it should not be a problem to do both..hope this helps some!!! T...:-)

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L.C.

answers from Birmingham on

My son is 8 months now and I have been training him to drink from a sippy cup for a month now and he has no trouble with drinking his formula from a bottle. He does not like juice though and will only drink water in his sippy cup. lol He also will not hold his bottle or his sippy cup. I guess he is lazy! hee hee What I do is when I feed him solids, I give him a sippy cup with water. I still mainly give him formula as his nutrition source at this time though. He really has no trouble at all taking his formula or his sippy cup. If I could only get him to hold his bottle though!!!

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L.M.

answers from Birmingham on

My son will be 8 months old next week as well. I bought him a sippy cup about 3 weeks ago. I found one that actually looks like a sippy cup, but has a "bottle type" nipple on it. It came with an additional "sippy cup" nipple that I can transition him to once he get use to the cup. It has the big handles on each side, so it's easy for him to hold. If i'm not mistaken, it's made by Gerber. Found it at Walmart.
I have not given it to him during meals yet. Just during snack time until he gets a little more use to it. Little juice and "baby puffs" and he is one happy man! Good luck!

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A.C.

answers from Nashville on

My doctor told me the same thing. I think I've invested a thousand dollars in sippy cups already thinking my son is never going to get this concept. We tried the straw kind(they leak), hard top, soft top, short ones, tall ones... My son is 11 months old and we're finally moving on to sippy cups. He learned how to suck the milk up in the playtex liner bottles and never learned to tip it up. So I went back a step since he insisted on having a bottle and I bought some cheap ones from Walmart that he had no choice other than tipping them up, and he learned fast because he wanted a bottle. He soon learned that the sippy cups are just about the same as a bottle(especially the NUBY--great and cheap!)and is transitioning fast. If you are worried about your child not getting enough formula offer it to them as soon as they get up in morning when they are hungriest. Sit with her like you're giving her a bottle only use a sippy. You can also get vitamin drops to add to other stuff if you don't think she's getting what she needs. At every meal since six months old, I give my son a sippy cup and a spoon. It surely is messy, but it keeps him entertained and he has fun learning how they work. Each day it seems like he gets more in his mouth with his spoon and the cup stays on his tray longer! It has taken about three months to wean him from formula and drink from sippy cups. Some days it doesn't seem like he drinks or eats much at all, but he's a big ol boy and ya couldn't tell it by looking at him. He got sick during the process with ear infections and refused anything, but the bottle for a few days. I knew I had to give in when he lips were chapping from being dehydrated, but we just started over again. One more thing...this is kind of gross, but my son(on his own) has learned to drink from a cup by using the one I rinse his hair with in the tub...

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J.A.

answers from Johnson City on

I started my little girl on a cup around 6 mos and she just loved it. She was completely off the bottle before she was a year old. (this was not convienent for formula but it was what she wanted) As a matter of fact we tried to get her to take a bottle not long after her first birthday and she completely refused the bottle.
I started her on the cup by just offering a small amount of water or formula in the cup when I was feeding her solids.

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M.B.

answers from Benton Harbor on

I gave my son his sippy cup at 8 months and he is 14 months now. But even now he prefers his bottle. If you think she's going to prefer the sippy, just wait and see if she does, then put the formula in the sippy if you need too. Good luck with everything.

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N.T.

answers from Chattanooga on

My son is 13 months old, and we started letting play w/ a sippy around 9 months. he still prefers the bottle over anything, and really only drinks from his older sister's cup. but we just keep offering it, and eventually he'll take it. all i can say is, let your daughter decide. if she just plays w/ the cup that's fine. she'll let you know if that's all she wants. like the other mom's have said...it'll all work out. so dont worry =)

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C.E.

answers from Birmingham on

The day that my kids turned one they got a sippy cup and the bottles went bye bye. It took a lil bit for them to get used to not having the bottle but once they realized that they were not going to get the bottle they went for the cup. My boys were a lil more difficult than my daughter

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C.B.

answers from Chattanooga on

A.~ I have two boys the first I introduced a sippy cup at 6 months, the other 8 months. Both of the boys couldnt get the hang of a traditional sippy cup so I would give them the spill proof straw sippy cup. I really like those because they dont have to tip thier head back. (Really nice for car seat drinking). Dont worry about them not drinking from a traditional cup, the older they get the more skills they will aquire. My 3 yr old can drink from ANY cup. Also I took both of my kids off thier bottle at 11 months. I have found that any older they get the harder it is to wean them. My 1 yr old still drinks formula from a sippy. Good luck...~C.

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L.M.

answers from Nashville on

I gave my little girl juice at 8 months too, but I gave it to her in a bottle. I worried and worried about when to take her off the bottle and start a sippy, and would she be one of these children that took forever to be weened off of the bottle. Well, I worried for nothing. Just like most things, they all work out in the end. Anyhow, my little one started on a sippy right at a year old, I think she was almost 13 months when she never took a bottle again. My sister-in-law had her little girl on a sippy at 11 months. All kids are different. Just see how she responds, if she rejects it, just keep trying every so often.

good luck

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C.W.

answers from Memphis on

We started with my son early. I began to subsitute his lunch bottle with a sippy cup with formula.. he would fight it and not want to drink. If he didn't I wouldn't force it and put him down to play while I secretly put his formula in a bottle and give to him about 30 minutes later. He soon began to drink about 2oz, then 4oz.. eventually, he is now completely on a sippy cup for lunch.. After a few days of being 100% on a cup for that meal, I substituted another meal time bottle.. and continued from there. Now, at 10 months, he only drinks from a sippy cup except for a 6oz bottle after dinner and bath.

I was told that you don't let them use the sippy cup to play with and after first, when you are trying to wean, don't let them carry it around.. use it like a meal time bottle.. get it or don't.

HTH,
C.
Mother of twin daughters (born and died in 2004), a 10 month old son, and another one about to be here any day.

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P.F.

answers from Memphis on

We started giving my daughter a sippy cup at 6 months. BUT it was ONLY for juice and water...and the bottle was ONLY for formula. We were told only 4 oz of juice a day so we would mix 2 oz juice with 2 oz water and that way she could have it twice. She didn't mind it at all because nothing was "changed" it was only added..

Around 9 months we started moving to only using the bottle before bedtime and when she woke up. The rest of the day she was given all drinks in a sippy cup. We had no problems here again I think it was because she still had the familiar comfort during low times of the day.

At 12 months we threw all bottles away. She again gave us no problems. At a year and a half we started playing with big girl cups to give her practice. By 2 she used straw and lid cups on outings and she used big girl cups at restaurants and home. She is 3 now and only uses big girl cups...and we spill more than she does!!! ha ha

I think all children are different and will accept the sippy cup differently as well as different ages. But the important thing is be when you start it, be consistent! Otherwise your child will learn that if they fuss you will give in. It seems that when you are consistent with children, they are more secure, and in turn are more accepting to changes.

Another good idea is to make it fun, when your child is old enough to point and choose, pick up two fun cups and ask them which one they like. (Only give them as many choices as their age, 2yrs-2 choices, etc) otherwise they become overwhelmed and reject all of them)

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T.N.

answers from Memphis on

We have no problem going back and forth. My son just turned a year. We introduced a sippy cup at 8 months. We started with juice and eventually his formula and now milk from a sippy cup. He still has his night bottle from a bottle (I put cereal in that one and it comes out easier from a bottle) and has no problem going back and forth. For her first cup I would recommend getting a Nuby sippy cup. It has a silicone nipple very similar to one on a bottle. Check out here: http://www.babybungalow.com/nunosp10ozgr.html. You can find these in most Walgreens or Target stores as well. HTH!
~T.

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F.W.

answers from Nashville on

Wow! When my son was one years old, I took the bottle away from him and gave him a sippy cup instead. He didn't miss the bottle anyway because he had been using a sippy cup for some time. If a baby uses a bottle for toooooo long, it can ruin their teeth.

So, feel free to give your daughter a sippy cup if your doctor said so. And try to give it to her as often as you can. There is NO way she will forget about her comforting bottle. And if she does, give her milk in a sippy cup.

Either way, she will be just fine.

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K.P.

answers from Clarksville on

well I have 2 childrenmy daughter is 13yrs old and my son is 13 mths old with my daughter started a cup at 9mths old and after she started drinkin from cup she stop her bottle with no problems now my son well he took awhile to get him used to a cup but once I tried the NUBY cup he loves them they Are only 1.74 at walmartandr once he got used to them he would drink anything from them even his formula. i had him off his bottle by his 1st b-day also

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