Sippy Cup Training

Getting rid of the bottle can be traumatic - especially for Mom.  Here are some things I did to help my children give up their bottles:

• I fed them at the same scheduled times every day - starting the day they were born.
• I never gave them a bottle to take to bed.
• I never fed/nursed them before bed - EVER!  (Except for that 3:00 A.M. feeding that lasted about 8 weeks.)  I fed them as soon as they woke up and then I let them play and put them in their beds to go to sleep on their own.  This also trained them to put themselves to sleep without any sleep aids (like nursing, songs, rocking, mom, or bottle).  This way they didn't NEED that bottle when it was bed time.  Not to mention, drinking in bed can cause cavities before teeth are even through the gums and ear infections.
• I never allowed them to walk around with a bottle (or sippy cup).   I knew I wasn't going to allow them to walk around eating a chicken leg or a piece of pizza when they were older, so I didn't allow them to walk (or crawl) around eating/drinking their lunch when they were babies either.  Looking back, I think this also helped them not to become "attached" to it, because they didn't have it with them all the time.  If they got thirsty, I'd give them a drink and they'd give me their cup when they were finished.
• The goal was to wean them from the breast to the sippy cup  and just skip the whole bottle phase.  I never successfully reached this goal.  I knew someone who did this with great success when each of her children were 6 months old.  (The breast and a sippy cup have one thing in common: you have to work to get your dinner.  Bottles flow fast and easily.  The child doesn't have to work and therefore, may have a hard time trying to figure out how to get his drink from a cup.)  Since I was never successful at this step....
• I bought soft nipples that fit bottles, but were shaped like sippy cups.  I allowed this nipple to be used for a week or two, until the child was accustomed to the strange new feel of this strangely shaped nipple.  
• Then, when I felt the child was ready, we moved on to the real thing - big kid sippy cups!  3 of my 4 were drinking from them by 7 months old.  The last was 9 months.  Remember, if the child is capable of sucking and drinking from a cup, there is no reason he shouldn't be allowed (or made) to do so. 
  
  One of mine didn't have any problems at all.  He just looked at me as if I were playing a joke on him, and went to town trying to figure it out.  Which he did and never complained once!  It was that easy.  For him, bottles were done.  You know how "men" are with food... ;D
  
  My first and last kids were pretty average.  It took them a day or two to get adjusted and then they moved on from there.  No big deal.  They were sippy-trained within a week! 
  
  One of mine pretended to have problems with her sippy cup.   It almost worked for her too.  But then I noticed that she had been spitting out her milk.  Her bib was wet and her chin had white drops on it.  That told me that she was capable of sucking hard enough to get a drink, but was just being stubborn.  She was about to learn that mama always wins.  One skipped "drink" was all it took.  She ate her baby food, and then, I offered her milk in her sippy cup one more time before lunch was over.  When she refused again, I gave her her way.  Lunch was over...no milk for her that meal. The cup went into the fridge.  It was now a part of her next meal.  (Once I knew that the child was capable of drinking from a sippy cup, bottles were no longer an option!)

NOTE:  You can put formula, breast milk, water or juice in a sippy cup.  There are no laws on what you can put in a sippy cup.  I've had mothers think that I didn't feed my children their formula/breast milk after we switched to the sippy.  The contents of the sippy cup have nothing to do with it.  The important thing to me was that the child was weaned off the bottle easily.  The older the child; the harder the this process will be.  Beside that, who likes to see a 3 year old walking around with a bottle?!  I think it makes life easier for the mom and the child if you do it earlier.

REMEMBER:  Once the kid has proved that he/she can drink out of a cup you should not offer the bottle again.  Bottles are done.  Cups are now "in".  If you allow a bottle at certain 'special' times (like bed time) you will confuse the child.  We put our bottles away, and I do mean away - in a box in the top of the closet to await the next baby.  (Cups are easier to take care of anyway.)

TIP:  If a child is genuinely have problems drinking from a sippy cup, I'd let him try before each meal and then offer the bottle.  He'll get it one of these times.  Don't deny him food or drink if he's trying.  Some of them take a little longer.  

Hope this has been helpful to you!  My children don't remember ever drinking from a bottle.  One of them was amazed that she ever had!  And guess what!  Taking the bottle away earlier doesn't make them grow up any faster.  It just makes life easier for them and for you.  Your baby will always be your baby.  Even if they are drinking from a sippy cup instead of a bottle.

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