Baby Won't Drink from Sippy Cup.

Updated on April 15, 2008
S.P. asks from Orlando, FL
13 answers

My little 11 month old girl had been drinking quite happily from a sippy cup. Now all of a sudden she refuses to drink from one and will only take a bottle. She just turns her little head away from the cup when I offer it to her, yet I know she is thirsty (it's meal time) and she will drink it from the bottle immediately. I have even just left the cup on her tray but she just throws it to the side. I'm not sure what has happened or what to do about it. Any thoughts, lovely ladies? Should I leave it for a while and then try again?
Also, she has never shown an interest in holding the bottle, even though I wrap her little hands around it..... she likes to lay back and be fed! hahahaha! She was doing quite well lifting the sippy cup, but now she won't drink from that..... and well....! Anyone else experienced this?
I appreciate any and all feedback!

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M.C.

answers from Daytona Beach on

My advise would be to get rid of the bottles and just give her the sippy cup. If she knows that you are willing to give her the bottle she will keep refusing the cup but once she learns that they are no longer available she will accept the cup. She will no go thirsty and once she gets thirsty enough she will drink from it.

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S.S.

answers from Jacksonville on

Hi S....don't you just love all the weird stuff they do. Well, your going to have to toss those bottles and go cold turkey. Try switching cups too. I used the Nuby cups with both my kids and my son gave up the bottle at 6 months and my daughter gave it up at 8 months. She did try tossing it at first but once she held it herself she was fine. She tried not holding for awhile too. I would just sit her in my lap facing the TV and give her the bottle. Everytime she dropped it cause I wouldn't hold it, I'd give right back and let go. She got the hint. Your baby girl is old enough to know that Mommy will hold it for her so why should she. If you show her you won't do it anymore, she'll do it for herself. It may take a couple of days but she'll figure it out. She won't let herself go thirsty, trust me. They know when they need something and how to get it if the cup is sitting around where she can reach. Good luck. I know it's tough love, but she's gotta learn sometime. :-)

1 mom found this helpful
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J.P.

answers from Jacksonville on

My youngest went through this. She is 14 months now. You may want to try Nuby sippy cups. They have softer spouts, etc. It was easier for her to transition. I have gotten mine at Target and Wal Mart. Good luck

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L.N.

answers from Jacksonville on

Hi S., I am not sure what type of sippy cup you are currently using but i use the one that looks/feels like a straw. The one I used when my daughet was 11 months is by munchkin and it is called the Mighty Grip spill proof cup. They also have one called the mighty grip straw cup which she uses now at 22 months. They are easy for them to hold and comes in pretty colors. My Dr told me to go to these from the bottle because it is an easier transition, here is the website so you can look at them.
http://www.munchkin.com
Hope this helps!
L.

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N.G.

answers from Pensacola on

My daughter did the same thing. She learned how to use a sippy cup, then decided she only liked me and the bottles from Daddy. We even bought different types of sippy cups! After a while, she went back to the sippy cup on her own. Of course, it took about 2 months before she would hold it for herself. We finally stopped holding it at all when she carried to her father and loudly handed the cup to him (hey, if she can carry it, she can hold it)! Anyway, don't worry about it, just keep trying. Eventually she will give up the bottle or nursing. Good Luck!

V.W.

answers from Jacksonville on

Try not to stress too much about it. Maybe she is learning some other new skill and while doing so needs the added comfort of the familiar bottle. Or, maybe she bumped her mouth/gums on it and it now angry/afraid of it. My son didn't make the switch until around his first birthday and he is fine today (almost 10 yrs now). Stop worrying with it for a week or so, then get a different sippy cup (brand new... different color, different characters, different style maybe) and offer it to her with something different than is usually in the bottle. You might try letting her pick out the new cup... the straw idea might get her interested.
Or, maybe let her use the bottle at the table only, that if she is up and moving she has to use the sippy cup. Don't make a big deal out of it, just be matter of fact. If she is able, if you let her know that she can get the sippy out of the fridge whenever she wants it, that bit of independence might appeal to her. I know that once my son was using a sippy, it seems like he would just go and get it. (Had to watch though, b/c he never put it away... ha ha)
But above all, don't rush it or push it just yet. My kids' dentist said at 1 yr they should be off the bottle... that leaves you a month yet... Does she walk yet? Maybe the new skill of sippy drinking is taking a back seat to walking (or some new words, or coloring skills, etc)... Kids don't get to kindergarten with a bottle, so try not to worry too much about it...

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A.N.

answers from Jacksonville on

I don't know if this will help, but my little girl, now 17 months, had a difficult time with sippy cups. She also would never feed herself her bottle. She never wanted anything to do with the lifting part. We tried many different sippy cups, but none of them seemed to keep her interest, no matter how thirsty she was. Well, we knew that she knew how to drink out of a straw, so I went and bought her the sippy cup with the straw. She was so excited that she could get the drink out without lifting the cup up. Now, she drinks tons, and she has been for months.

Hope this helps.

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A.B.

answers from Jacksonville on

I am a mom of four and a daycare mom as well for 10 years on and off. It sounds like your daughter has decided that she prefers the bottle. Who wouldn't, it reminds her of those precious soothing moments when she was an infant. She is, however, at a stage where she is going to test you and try to get her way. These are the first glimpses of many power struggles to come. The best way to handle these are to give her choices that YOU, the parent, approve of. In her bottles, she can have water ONLY. Then she can have milk, formula or watered down juice in her cup. You can offer her two cups, for example say, "Honey, would you like your red cup or your blue cup today?" She will most likely decide to throw them both off the tray and cry at first because "her way" isn't working. She may skip a drink at a meal or two. It's ok, she won't die. She will however learn that her choices are also your choices and that you have the ultimate authority. I wouldn't pay attention to her drinking at all, as all the battles about it, if she's getting yelled at or even overly praised for drinking will teach her that drama about the cup gets her attention. Just put it down and move on to the next thing. If she won't choose which cup, just say, ok, tell me when you want a cup, and place them on the counter or table where she can clearly see them and point to them or ask for them. Even a calm grunt with a pointing motion is asking, rather than demanding. As her vocabulary increases you can encourage her to use her words more often. For now, if she point to the cup, immediately respond with a smile and the word "cup?" Do you want your milk?" This will help her learn the words for what she wants. These choice techniques will solve problems about clothing, shoes, foods to eat, toys to play with, etc. By the age of 2 it's important to make her feel like she has choices, lay out two acceptable outfits and let her choose. Otherwise you will be out in the cold in a bathing suit, a ballerina tutu and rainboots,...or a tantruming, angry child. Giving her choices now will make her feel like you hear and understand her and respect her decisions, even though you set them up for her in the first place. Oh, during her drinking strikes, make sure to offer plain water in a bottle during her play time so that she is able to get enough liquids and also offer her fruits that contain alot of fluid such as watermelon and grapes. If she is a good eater, she doesn't need anything other that water, it's only an addition to her diet. Good Luck, you are a GREAT mom and will get through this stage. Guess what's coming, the "I'm only going to eat 12 cherrios a day and nothing else" food strike.

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S.W.

answers from Panama City on

It makes me laugh reading your problem, I went through that when my son was almost 1 yrs old-and this is what I done. My son is now 3 yrs of age. His pediatrition said it was time to come off the bottle, I knew it would be hard. I gave him a bippie cup and he would hold it and try to drink but really only wanted his bottle. Some of those bippies are hard to drink out of. I suggest you get some of those soft bippie cups, feels like what they make nipples out of with bottles but it's a bippie instead of a bottle. It makes it easier to come off the bottle to the bippie. You can find them at wal-mart in the baby section and also at toys-r-us(Nuby) alot of them even have handles for easier grip. I got some of them from each place and threw the bottles out cold turkey. I stuck with it and absolutely did not give him a bottle. He came to understand that he had to take what he was given because the bottle was not coming back. He learned quick how to drink out of it, then when he got a few months older I switched him to the hard bippie to drink out of and no longer the soft ones. I hope this helps, good luck. Remember you have to stick with it, the hardness of doing it will pass and you'll be glad you done it.

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T.A.

answers from Daytona Beach on

What's the rush? She's probably teething and her gums feel better and the sucking is a soothing thing to her and her ears when they're teething. They're only a baby once, let her stay that way as long as possible. They learn to suck in the womb and it's very natural to want to suck from the bottle. Believe me, she'll let you know when it's time.

T.

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J.W.

answers from Panama City on

The fact that your little girl was drinking from a sippy cup happily and now refuses shows that it isn't that she isn't capable - it is that she prefers the bottle. My daughter (now 21 mos.) would drink juice and water happily from her sippy cup starting at about 8 months but when I started putting milk in it at 11 months - she would refuse it and throw it down. She was sending me a clear message that she wanted her milk in a bottle. So you have to decide - do you care if she still takes a bottle? If not, let her have the bottle and forget about it. I, personally, wanted my daughter off the bottle by 1 year so I only offered her liquids in a sippy cup and got rid of the bottles. She didn't drink any milk for about 1 week but then she got over it and decided that milk in a sippy wasn't so bad after all. I don't think anything has really happened with your daughter. I think she is just trying to tell you that she prefers the bottle. But you are the one that gets to decide if that is ok or not.

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T.B.

answers from Jacksonville on

My daughter never liked the sippy cup. So i got the ones with a straw. She does great with those. Just keep trying!!

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K.W.

answers from Jacksonville on

My 11 month will not drink from her sippy cup when she's tired. have tried to put juice of something new in cup? Maybe if you tried this she will like it again.

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