When to transition solely to cups?

[emzkee]

I have a 12 month old.

Should she be totally weaned off of the bottle by now?

When I do that and, more importantly, HOW do I do that?

[Bonnie]

I think you are can try to start transitioning by introducing the cup to her w/ meals... you can give water and diluted juice solely in cups to start, so that she knows she never gets those in a bottle... you can then start substituting cups for bottles one by one, so if she gets a bottle of milk after lunch, start giving her that milk only in a cup until she gets used to that... then switch another bottle to a cup... the bedtime bottle is usually the last one to transition b/c they tend to be really attached to that one.

I know people who have gone cold turkey and just taken away all cups at once too, but I never tried that approach.

[Nichole]

I did the gradual thing, too. :nod: I kept with formula in bottles and did milk and water in a sippy (milk with meals, water throughout the day). I never put regular milk in a bottle, because I didn't want to have that association. I just gradually phased out the bottles/formula together.

What worked well is to do the solids meal with milk first and then follow up with a bottle afterward if they were still hungry. I've always had a sippy of water within easy reach all the time, and that seemed to help with getting used to using a cup. The Nuby sippies with the soft latex spout are really close to a bottle nipple and are good for the transition.

[Nocona]

I did the same as Nichole with both kids... I gave them milk in a cup and never in a bottle. They both weaned themselves in less than a week :aok:

[emzkee]

When you guys say "cup" a sippy cup or a real cup?

[Nichole]

Sippy cup. Unless you feel like wiping up a lot of messes. :lol:

I didn't transition to a regular cup with Jackson until he was almost 3. :blush1:

[Jen]

Uh oh, I'm must be terrible. I still make Kalyssa use a sippy most of the time b/c I just can't deal. She's almost 6. Oops.

As long as your child can figure out how to drink from a sippy cup, I would just start putting all their liquids in one. With Keira and Kaden I know I used a bottle at night because that's how they fell asleep and it was a comfort thing (I know, another bad thing). I slowly started mixing warm water with the milk, then I gave them only warm water in a bottle, then cold.

Now I let all of them sleep with a sippy of water. It's more of a habit than true thirst. My husband still sleeps with a glass of water next to the bed every night.

[Nocona]

Yep, sippy cup (or straw cup), but she does pretty dang well with a real cup (she just turned 18 months), but I'm not that brave :lol:

[Clare]

I don't think it's a big deal to take the bottle away at 12 months. Sam will be 3 next week and the bottle fairy is coming to take his away then. I'm not looking forward to it, cause it's a pure comfort thing for him, but we did the same with Emily and it worked well.

[Bonnie]

I don't think it's a big deal to take the bottle away at 12 months. Sam will be 3 next week and the bottle fairy is coming to take his away then. I'm not looking forward to it, cause it's a pure comfort thing for him, but we did the same with Emily and it worked well.

I agree with you, Clare... I let Caroline have hers forever, but nothing but water at night after teeth were brushed. She will still drink water from one at night, yes, even at 4... my SIL had hers until she was almost 5, so must be a family thing! :lol: It is her comfort object. Courtney never took a bottle, and Tatum is take it or leave it, so we are transitioning her pretty easily, but if it takes her years to give it up, so be it.

[BonnieG]

Dugan gave up his bottles...on his own...when he was 9 months old. Just one night, he didn't want it anymore for bedtime. Kept pushing it away. We had been giving him juice/water/milk in sippy cups for a few months before that though.


Isabelle, it is a total comfort thing for her. She is 2 1/2 and still has one every night at bedtime, but that is the only time that she has it.

[Angelina]

I have 6 months old and 2.5 years old. My 6 months old never had any bottle (BF). Her older brother has a sippy cup (plastic gerber with no insert, he sips it once in a while, but he uses a usual glass anyway mostly). Well, I put some water in his sippy cup and left it on the bed next to my 6 months old daughter. When I came back...She reached the sippy cup somehow, figured out how to use it and was SIPPING WATER! She was drinking, clearly!

So I bought her her own sippy cup and give it to her with the insert so she doesn't choke and can sip slowly. She seem to enjoy it. Still she has BF and we just started rice cereal thing (1 tablespoon a day, she doesn't want more).

[emzkee]

So I started Ella on the Nuby cups. She loves them! (the ones with the straw sticking out)

granted, still needs the PM bottle, but it's a start.

[Bev]

Graham never had a bottle; only breastfeeding and a sippy cup. :aok: Mason I think we took the bottle away at 18months or thereabouts and he had a sippy cup from then on. When Graham turned one we told Mason he wasn't allowed a sippy cup any more. He was cool with that because he was 4.5. :blush1:

OT: Nocona, I'm in shock that Sara is only 3 months older than Graham; I thought she was much older for some reason. Other people's pregnancies go faster than your own I guess.

[Lyoshka]

Nikita is 10.5 months and have gotten bottles pretty rarely-usually, when I'm away at meetings and Daddy would put him down.... He is okay with both a bottle and a sippy....I've never seen him refuse or prefer one over the other. Whatever you give him (boob, bottle, sippy LOL), he'll drink from heheee..... He's been using sippy for quite a while now (water and juice every once in a while), so I don't expect any difficulties with no more bottles soon.

[Nocona]

OT: Nocona, I'm in shock that Sara is only 3 months older than Graham; I thought she was much older for some reason. Other people's pregnancies go faster than your own I guess.

and Graham is still much younger in my mind too, so you're not the only one :lol: