Sippy Cup - Olton, TX

My son refused the cup,too. I had to just throw out all of the bottles and he had no choice. It may sound harsh, but I was at my wit's end. He was able to understand that the house did not have one bottle and he had to use the cup. He threw it across the room a few times but then finally drank the milk. End of story!

Good luck.

M.,

In my opinion (and I know a lot of people will disagree with me), a 15 mo. old is still a baby, and I don't see why it is so important to switch to a sippy cup. I'm not a dentist, but I really don't think it will mess up your baby's teeth. I have heard that a baby's teeth can get messed up if the parent puts the baby in his crib w/ a bottle, so the baby is lying down and drinking the bottle. I know that is not good. I wouldn't worry about it at all that your baby isn't ready for a sippy. My kids didn't take sippy cups until they were 2, and their teeth are just fine. No worries!!!

M.,
I have three beautiful kids and also work in a daycare. Yes it must be hard and frustrating to get him off the bottle since he is almost 2. But my youngest was the same way he was about 16 months when he got off the bottle. I tried and tried to get him off before he turned one. But we finally did it. We gave him the cup during the day only and put the bottle up where he couldnt see it. We put all but one bottle in the trash. I just waited till he was ready to get off of it. And when he was he finally just told me thats for babies not me Im a Big Boy. So I would just take your time he will let you know when he is ready. Just remind yourself and him hes a big boy now after he hears it more and more he will let go himself. Its like taking away hes secruity blanket. Good luck!!

In addition to the Nuby, the ThinkBaby sippy cups are more like nipples, also.

Regarding the teeth issue...the reason they recommend weening from the bottle once they have teeth is more of a concern toward letting them take the bottle to bed then falling asleep with it (without brushing). If you don't put your son to nap/sleep with it, then there is no teeth-related issue with him using the bottle. My 20-month old still gets milk before her naps and bedtime from her ThinkBaby sippy cup and we just brush her teeth as soon as she's done (before she lays down), and her Ped. said that's perfectly fine, as long as we're brushing.

Both my kids were trained on the Nuks. You can find them at Kroger or Walmart. Put a sippy cup of water in his crib at night. Also, offer him a sippy cup of milk at meals. He will get it. You can also take a more direct approach and only offer milk in a sippy cup and throw away the bottles! I did that with mine because of daycare. Niether one went thirsty and eventually came to love the sippy! Too much, in fact! Good luck!

have you tried the brand Nuby? The sippy part of the cup is more like a nipple than most hard, plastic sippy cups (i.e. Playtex, Gerber).

I know you sad you have tried every sippy cup, but have you tried the straw sippys? We had medical issues for why my child couldn't drink out of a regular sippy and found the straw sippy. They sell them at Target. They are actually better because the liquid doesn't hit the teeth as much and instead goes more to the throat. My dentist loves these sippys. You might try these and also when you guys are sitting at the table or drinking, try putting a straw in your drinks, that way your son sees you drinking out of the same kind of cup he is drinking out of. Might work. I sure hope so.

Just in case you didnt get this from the first posting:
I'm a speech pathologist who pecializes in feeding difficulties. Still being on a bottle at 15 months qualifies as a difficulty.
We have a recommended program we follow. If you send me a fax number, I can fax you the information.
About his teeth: Sippy cups/bottles ruining teeth is a myth. Just think of how many years people have to wear braces to get their teeth to move. And what force and pain goes into moving them. The cumulative amount of time a child drinks per day amounts to minutes. And they aren't exerting pressure on their teeth while they do in; not in any amount that will move their teeth.
The problem with bottles and sippy cups being used too long is primarily the social stigma, and secondly, there is the lack or correct motor development in the mouth. The way babies transition to baby, to table food over time build up the muscles needed for correct speech production and moving on to eating a wider variety of food.
My major concern for kids who haven't weaned is that they very frequently become the significantly picky eaters we see in the clinic...kids who will eat only one thing..or only a hand full of things. If your child is still drinking breast milk, you must make sure he isn't drinking so much that he is limiting other foods. Brest milk can be a supplemental drink at this point, but doesn't have the required nutritional content for a child of his age.
So..having never seen him an dnot knowing any of the nutritional aspects going on...after we assess the muscles of the mouth adn determine the problem isnt in his mouth, there are a few cups we try first...
Rubermaid makes what they call a "juice box" You find it with Rubermaid items and not with sippy cups. It is a short, rectangular bottle with a hard plastic "straw" that flips up and down. This is a great cup to work with first. When you first introduce it, you can sqweeze it a bit to make the juice come out the top so he can taste and understand how it works.
A second option that works well is simply taking the valve out of the sippy cup you already have. This will defeat the purpose of the no-spill option because without the valve, if the cup is dropped, it will spill. But it teaches kids HOW to drink out of this type of cup. And after a while, you just pop the valve back into the cup.
Also, you CAN and should start him on a "real" cup. I'd only do this with small amounts of water while you're outside playing! It will be messy!
Drinking from the breast at birth is instinctive. After a while, kids learn how to suck/swallow/breath and the reflex goes away and it becomes a learned behavior. All other eating/feeding experiences are learned. Kids have to be taught to eat. And transitioning to a sippy cup (although NOT essential development wise...I'm a mom, so I know its essential SANITY wise for moms who are tired of cleaning juice off the floor!)is a learned behavior. So you just need to teach him how to do it.
We find we typically only see the kids/moms in our clinic who are at their wits end with feeding issues. But assisting with all these baby steps along the way is what a feeding therapist can do as well...keeping you out of crisis mode in the future!
Oh, and a small amount of coughing is to be expected. The first few times your child tries a big cup, or a sippy cup with no valve. He should learn that taking too much makes him choke so he'll adjust the amount he takes for next time until he's a pro. If he doesn't "learn" to adjust the amount he takes in and continues to choke, then you may want to consider a feeding assessment to make sure all muscles in his mouth are developing correctly. You'll need to make sure the speech therapist you see specializes in feeding therapy.
Good luck!

I'm editing my initial response by adding this after reading the other replies. Almost always, it can work by just removing the bottle all together. It causes stress, though. And if there is a motoric issues at all...it wont work. If he cant physically handle the cup or doesn't have the learned skills necessary to use the cup, he wont be able to take the sippy cup, even if he wants to! So then you've created an even bigger problem. Like i said, this almost always works and moms who do it certainly aren't wrong. But if you do take steps to train him on the next level of eating, which is transitioning from sucking to drinking and controlling larger amounts of liquid, you have taught the skill and eliminated the need for it to be stressful for either of you.

My grandson (who was still nursing) didn't take well to a sippy cup at first, but loved drinking from a straw! You might try that, but don't give up if he can't do it at first. Good luck!