Won't Drink Anything but Water from a Sippy Cup

I would just go with the water for now, if she likes cheese use that to help her get the fat content and calcium. Cottage cheese mixed with fruit would help to fill that difference as well. Perhaps over time she will change her mind.

There's certainly no reason for her to have juice, pop etc. There isn't any nutritional value and it's full of sugar. I think you should try different types of cups for the milk issue. There are some made by Rubbermaid called drink boxes (they're with the tupperware in the stores, not the baby stuff) and even adult sports drink bottles.. there are all kinds of containers to try. Straws etc. I am still breastfeeding my 16 month old, but she will rarely drink cow's milk and the only other liquid I offer her is water. Good luck

She does need milk, so I would continue giving her bottles until 2ish, and nothing else but water is just fine! I'd try to not stress about it and see what happens in the next 6 months. Good luck!

Is there any reason you need her to drink other things? I'd say just keep the water available, and figure it's not the last time she'll decide something completely baffling.

Save your energy for getting her to do the things that make a real difference to her wellbeing.

I would try only offering her water in the bottle and giving milk or water in the sippy cup. If she will only drink water then give her some other dairy source that she likes, like yogurt or cheese. As long as she is drinking water and getting efficient amounts of calcium and fat from other sources, I wouldn't worry to much about it. If the goal is really to get her off the bottle, let her drink water from the cup and don't offer her milk in a bottle. She'll figure it out. Good luck!

When my son started on solids, milk was not something he really liked or wanted. He always asked and still does ask for water. I supplement his calcium with gummy chews bought from Costco. They are really good and he got his daily dose right before bathtime. I think that don't push the milk. He does drink milk but also other things throughout the day now. Take the bottle away and drinking things from the sippy cup will follow. I actually kept the sippy cup full all day on the kitchen counter so my son could drink whenever he wanted. Now (four years old) he has a Nalgene water bottle in the fridge for easy access.

My daughter is 19 months old and has never taken a bottle of anything. She would refuse. Still does. We started with sippy cups of water, and that is still all she will drink. The doctor told us that that was fine as long as she was getting dairy and calcium in other capacities, such as yogurt. I'm sure she'll be fine. I also make her oatmeal for breakfast almost every morning with whole milk, she gets some kind of yogurt everyday (she has started to LOVE frozen Go-Gurts). Just think, you'll be lucky to not have to ween her from all that milk and juice! I figure this way, my daughter isn't takiing in all that extra sugar...she has a sweet enough tooth as it is! :) Hope that helps!

My oldest son was similiar in that he never liked drinking milk from a cup. He would do juice, but it wasn't until he was around 3 I could get him to drink chocolate milk. I think it's great your daughter likes to drink water because that is truly best for her. Regarding the milk, my pediatrician said he can get his dairy through other sources such as yogurt, cheese, cottage cheese, etc. At age 6, he will have milk with his cereal (but not drink it all gone) and I can get him to drink chocolate milk, but he still prefers to drink water. I hope this helps.

Revel in the fact that she likes water and give her calcium in other ways - yogurt (not Go-gurts however), smoothies, the occasional milkshake, cheese, etc. And, we found a sippy cup - only available at Wal-mart that has a soft top (kind of like a bottle nipple) that helped our kids adjust to cups. I think the brand is Nuby and they are about $1.20 each. That might help.

I think first of all the best thing you can do from a speech development point of view, is to throw the sippy cup away. We as a society have created more oral motor/speech related problems with out kids (and these are the ones without disabilities I'm talking about) because of sippy cups: sippy cups mimic the action of suckling/nursing and does nothing to develop tongue retraction or solid lip closure around the sippy cup lid-skills necessary for understandable speech production.

Also, as to your daughter just drinking water, mine was the same way and I say alleluia! Water is GREAT. Our kids dont' "need" the sugars from fruit juies. If you're concerned about her fruit consumption, give her some fresh fruit in small bites, or see if you can blend some fresh fruit with some vanilla yougurt (the kind w/ acidopholous/bifidipholous and other active cultures). As to the calcuim from milk, there are many, many other places in our diets that you can get calcuim and vitamin D for her.

Hope this helps....I've been a vegetarian for quite awhile and have run a health-food store. Both our children are vegetarians and have great skin, hair and are typically developing kids in terms of height and weight.

G.

Give her the water in the sippy cup and forget the milk. If she is eating well ballanced meals and snacks, she doesn't need the milk. When she is ready, she will drink it. Leafy green veggies have lots of calcium. You can blend up the cooked greens and add them to other food if she won't eat them alone.

Hi S.~
My daughter - now 10 years old, was the same way. She would refuse to drink milk from a sippy. Didn't matter if it plain or flavored, warm or cold, one sip and she would throw it as hard and as far as she could. It took awhile. I offered milk in the cup once or twice a week. Then 3 or 4 times, then daily. I never got upset or pushed her or got angry that she threw the cup. Eventually she just started drinking milk from the cup like it was no big deal. I was afraid of similar situation when I had my son, now 3 1/2, but I found a great cup that was a dream for transitioning from bottle to cup. You may have already tried it. It has soft silicone spout that works like a sippy cup spout but feels more like a bottle nipple. Good luck!!!

I had the same issue with child #2. I took her shopping and she picked out her own cup. I made a huge deal of it, this way she felt that she was in control and was so happy. I found that she loved the cups with straws.
Also, you can try chocolate milk, let her help you make it or make the juice as well. Make it special just for her.
:-)
D.
SAHM of 3(5,9,13)

Hello S..... Try diluting your daughters milk in the bottle. We did this with our daughter when she turned one so she would go to sippy cups/ regular cups. Just start with say 6oz milk and 2oz water. Then two days or so later go with 4oz milk and 4oz water. But then also offer all milk in the sippy or juice or water.... Just make it so whats in the sippy tastes much better and she wont want the bottle anymore. Our daughter it only took about 3 days and she was off the bottle and to the sippy cuz she did not like the diluted milk but found she could get regular milk in the sippy. (You could even try water bottles instead of sippy's. My daughter mostly went to water bottles only because I always have a water bottle around and she wanted to be like mommy :) ) Hope this helps! Good luck!

Water comes out much more easily from a sippy cup than milk does, so that may very well be the cause of her choosiness. If you think she needs milk (which is what I'm still doing with my 18 month old), let her keep the bottle. She'll grow out of it on her own. My daughter took a bottle just for milk until she was a little over 2, and she grew out of it just fine. Pediatricians mean best, but sometimes their advice just isn't practical with respect to these rather minor issues. Your daughter is only young once. Let her (and you) enjoy it without imposing such restrictions so early. :)

Here's a crazy thought. A few months ago, I tried a new dishwasher soap. I don't know if it reacted funny with the plastics or didn't rinse properly or what, but it left a nasty aftertaste behind. Especially on the plastic cups. Anyhow, you might want to taste the milk in the sippy cup before giving it to your daughter just to rule out something like that.

I would just give her the bottle for now. She is drinking from a cup, and water is something most moms have to push. She isnt going to ruin her teeth sucking down a bottle of milk a couple times a day, its the falling asleep with it that makes the problems. I think that if you watch and be aware you will know when its time. I do think maybe trying a cup with a straw, and maybe only like at a restrant or something. Sometimes they accept that easier then when moms trying to push it at home. Your doing a good job! Keep it up, Jen

HiSheila,
I have a little bit of the same issue only my son will not drink milk at all! He hates milk, ice cream, cheese! My daughter would never ever drink from a sippy cup and she mostly drank and still does drink water. Maybe try just leaving some milk out her own special cup that you buy just for her. Let her pick it out and make it a special thing. Then just leave it up to her to drink it when she wants. It is a good thing she just wants water, but i understand your concern. My daughter will only drink juice out of a juice box. She will not drink it from anywhere else. Kids are funny aren't they. They keep us on our toes!

My friend went through the same thing with her daughter at that age. Didn't want anything to do with milk.. to this day she still doesn't drink milk but the acasonial(sp) drink from her moms glass. Just be persistant like you are being, and maybe try yogurt, to get the dairy in her. You are doing a good job. One thing my sons doctor told us after he was born, its your child, and you know best. Its common sense, he said (to us asking if we could have visitors, when the nurse said no, because he was jondice). You do what you have to, and she will let you know when she is ready. My son was on the bottle untill he was about 15 months old, kept pulling the nipple out of the ring, so I took it away and gave him cup, and he was fine. Same with his pacifer, he threw it out of his crip one day, and i took it out while he was sleeping, and hasn't asked for it since. She will know when she is ready, and just keep trying but don't force the issue... just try it a few times a day, every day( persintance) and if she won't, try it the next day. Good luck. A..

The problem in my opinion is your pediatrician! This sounds like a totally unnecessary battle/power struggle you've gotten into with her. Let her drink from a bottle or sippy cup or regular cup or whatever she wants. And yes it is very important that she drinks enough water, whenever she is thirsty. And she doesn't need to drink anything else besides water, as long as she is eating well. Cow's milk in any form is not ever good for humans, in spite of what the dairy industry has told us. It is not a good source of calcium or protein or fat or anything else, and it causes or aggravates many diseases. Check out notmilk.com and milksucks.com. I feel so sad that so many mothers are being told this nonsense and are believing it.

I wouldn't force the issue. Water is fantastic and there's nothing wrong with her having nothing but that in a cup. She only needs about 12 oz of milk a day and there's plenty of other ways to get it than out of a bottle. What about cold cereal? yogurt? Cheese? All are good ways to get milk without drinking it from a cup. You could call a nutritionist if that would help set your mind at ease about not offering milk in a cup.
On a side note, have you tried the nuby cups with the soft, clear spout? Those are so bottle like that maybe she'd take it out of that.

I wish my kids would drink water. My girls are 2 1/2 and 3 1/2 and to get them to drink water I have given it to them in small cups with ice or in their sippy cups. Also using straws seems to work really well for them. They are always willing to try anything with a straw.

Hope that helps.

Have you tried offering two sippy cups at the same time? One with water and the other with milk. You could also start with one sippy cup and the bottle. Let her see that she has a choice and that the cup can offer different things and it's okay. Good luck!

Have you tired a regular cup with a straw? That might work. I would take all the bottles away and not let her see them, then she might drink milk from a sippy or regular cup. I would explain that big kids dont drink from bottles anymore. I have also hear that having the child throw the bottle away in the trash and seeing the garbage man take it helps, or taking them out to buy a new big kid sippy or cup.

Good luck!

Maybe it's harder to get milk out of the sippy cup? Have you tried it without the plug?

maybe start putting water in the bottle, and wean her from it that way.

My daughter had association issues also i.e. breast milk only comes from mommy not a bottle, milk only comes from a bottle...etc. I would say get rid of the bottle while she's not really attached and just give her lots of other diaries like yogurt, and cheese. We put yogurt in everything; her oatmeal, her cherios (it's alot less messy than milk) and she loves it. It has all the same stuff that plain milk does plus the bonus of the live cultures that help keep her healthy and make digestion work better and more efficiently. Don't worry so much about getting her milk. It's not a big deal. Given the situation I would say that hydration is the most important thing and since she's very happy with water then YAY! let her have all the water she wants.

S., according to my Naturopath, milk is not the best things for our kids anyway b/c it is pasteurized. So, if she doesn't drink it, there are other ways to get her the fat she needs for her brain development and the calcium she needs for her bones.

Broccoli is a great source of calcium, as are other veggies.
DHA is liquid form (Omegas for kids...) mixed into her applesauce or some other food will give her the oils/fats she needs for her brain.

So, I guess what I'm saying is that not drinking milk is not the end of the world! :)

My son never drank from a sippy cup. I tried every kind out there. He was also all about the water and nothing else. He wanted nothing to do with juice or milk. He never took a bottle either. We started using straw cups at about 15 months of age (still, he only wanted water in them). There's nothing wrong with them drinking lots of water so I wouldn't worry if that's what she craves. We were told to make sure to use one kind of cup for water and another for milk because many kids will not drink them from the same type of cup early on. That didn't really help us though. What we found was that he would drink milk when he was ready to drink milk. He nursed until 18 months and then I just focused on getting him his calcium other ways until he was ready to drink milk. I put instant breakfast packets in his oatmeal, made oatmeal using condensed milk, and fed him lots of plain yogurt mixed with fruit that had 40% calcium in a serving. He ate lots of cheeses too. We kept offering the milk and threw out glass after glass. We tried flavoring it with everything. He wouldn't drink juice either. He finally started drinking milk after he was 2 and now will drink a glass of milk and say "that's good!" He drinks alittle juice now too since they offer it all the time in preschool and he sees others drinking. Water is still his beverage of choice and we always ask if he wants water or milk. He'll request water before asking for milk or juice. We also tried soy milk with him (which he now drinks as much of as milk). I've watched mom's make a big deal about milk and do things like tell their child they can't get down until they finish their glass. I found that the best trick is to just keep offering it, drink it in front of them, and don't make a big deal about it. I'm sure some kids will never learn to like milk. However, in my situation, not forcing the issue worked. He drinks milk now..probably not as much as other kids, but when I calculate how much calcium he's getting a day I'm finding that he's getting enough since we make sure to offer lots of things high in calcium,.

Try the straw cups. You can teach them to drink from a straw by filling the straw up with water, holding your finger over the one end and putting it in their mouth. Gradually change the angle until you are at the point where you are filling up the straw and they are having to suck from it. The great thing about teaching them to use a straw early on is that you don't have to haul a sippy cup. Straws are everywhere. And keep trying the regular cups too (small plastic or paper ones work great). We use to go to Starbucks and they would give us one of those small plastic cups the size of espresso cups and he took to those right away). Lots of things change after they turn 2 so don't give up hope.

Milk is most important for the fat the first year. Is she getting enough dairy from other items she's eating? Is she eating fruit? Is her weight ok? If she's getting enough fruit and dairy in her diet from foods, then let her drink water. It is perfect for her kidneys, and juice and milk lead to cavities. So you may save on your dental bills! Ask your Pediatrician about it. But I say as long as she's getting her dairy (which has enough fat) and her fruits, and her weight is good and she's thriving, then let her have the water.

Aren't you lucky to have a child that knows what she needs!
Water is the best. Hopfully, it is filterd water.
My daughter is 7 and that is the only liquid I have given her. No milk to drink. The few times she has had a little dairy, she got an ear infection. We use organic rice milk.

Just keep giving her the water and don't worry about the milk. Make sure she gets calcium from other sources in her diet. Personally (and a lot of other people I know) I think that cows milk is not that necessary for humans to have. Don't get me wrong - I love it and drink it, but I just don't think it's that necessary for survival.

Oh, and I *wish* my daughter would drink more water - I have the opposite problem of you! She wants everything but water!! LOL

Good luck!

try a NUBY bottle/sippy it's 8oz cup can be used with a regular nipple, than you can change in a soft latex sippy style nipple, it looks like a sippy cup nipple, the in a few months give her a regular sippy cup. this worked well for us. better yet, the NUBY bottle can be safely microwaved to warm milk etc

Just water is fine! I have two girls and they were exactly the same way! They are both very healthy, smart and thriving. My doctor just said to give them a varied diet and keep offering every once in a while something else because they change as they get older. My oldest finally started drinking yogurt smoothies but I had to give it to her with a straw and really almost feed it to her. This helps with calicium but It still is not an everyday thing. No worries shel will be fine and I would think lots of water with kidney issues would be good?

I don't see why you are worry. Kidney problem? Than the water is your drink! If she eats good, she doesn't need milk or juices. There is nothing good about drinking them. Calcium? Well, there is cheese, tofu, yogurt and etc. Not enough, give her "tummies". My son drinks only water and I think of it as a good habit. Trust your dother "body calls" - if she wants water only, means that her body need water.