How Can I Get My 10 Month Old to Drink from a Sippy Cup and Feed Herself?

I gave away all the bottles and bought all sippy cups. I only bought the ones with the top that look like a straw at the top. I now give him the ones from Walgreens that they don't break the the tops as fast like the ones WalMart sells.

Take it from a mother of 4 ranging from 18-3, don't rush her. She will do all the milestone when she is ready. Enjoy the time you have with her now, as she will grow so fast.

don't give in by feeding her....when she is hungry enough she will feed herself. leave the plate in front of her and let her be. she knows you will give in so she continues to test/battle you. trust yourself. surely they don't cater to her that way at daycare. she just knows what she can get away with and where.

also, maybe set small incentives to feeding herself. tell her something like 'if you feed yourself this plate of food, mom will play a game with you after dinner'. you know, something that would give the one on one time she's wanting.

good luck!

My daughter NEVER wanted anything to with a sippy cup. On her 1st bd I threw out all the bottles. After about a day she figured out that was the only option and gave in .. Good Luck!

If you find a miracle answer let me know ! My son just turned 9 months old and he can't give himself the bottle and he hates sippy cups ! I hope a lot of people respond to your question because I'd like to know too. Sorry I wasn't any help.

Oh my gosh. You should enjoy the time you still have feeding her. Very soon she will not want you to hold her. I am blessed to take care of my grandbaby & she is 13 months & we used to cuddle & have her bottle & now she wants to do it herself. Your daughter will all too soon use a cup, go to kindergarten, & hopefully graduate from high school and it's all to fast. Enjoy it while you can.

My son just turned one and he never feed himself a bottle. I stared giving him a sippy cup at 6 months so he was pretty good at using one, but did not want milk out of one. I finally one day just stopped giving him a bottle and just gave him sippy cups. The first day was rough, the second was better and by the third day he was drinking whatever I put in the sippy cup. When they get thristy they will drink. I know it is hard to do, but it works. As far as feeding herself my son just started really feeding himself she will get the hang of it when she is ready.

Be sure she gets plenty of holding and cuddling and attention from you at Other times other than when she is eating. Check a good source on appropriate behavior for child at this age ... if this is the age where a bit of separation anxiety kicks in, then this may not be the best time to insist on the sippy cup ... wait a few months to make it an issue.

10 months old is still young ... my kids (years ago!) made the switch around a year, and they basically made the decision themselves ... given the choice, they chose the cups. Once they drank all they could hold from the cup, just once, I put the bottles away! Same thing with food ... finger food filled them up, so no more baby stuff.

And be sure to give lots of attention at other times so the food is not the driver for the coveted attention from Mommy.

Good Luck and Blessings from Grandma Gigi

You might want to try a sippy cup with handles. Don't know why, but this helped my son. I think the ones we had were Playtex from Target, they had a softer spout than most of the standard ones.

My DS (also 10 mon, btw) had trouble using a sippy cup at first so I did straw cups. It was a new experience for him so he was interested and he also saw DD using them on occasion, so of course wanted to do whatever *she* was doing. :)

Good luck!

The process of sucking on a bottle nipple and sucking on a sippy spout are different actions of the tongue, cheeks etc- it can be difficult for a baby to make the switch. Bottles tend to rest farther back in the mouth and are triggered by a deep sucking motion using the tongue. Sippys usually have a much shorter spout and need a more of an air-pressure type sucking in the front of the mouth (try it sometime). My son had trouble earlier this winter. Instead of forcing the issue I exposed him first to open cups (I held them and let him taste the water or milk so he realized he would get something he liked from the cup once he was comfortable with this I gave him sippy cups without the valve so the water or milk would drip or pour into his mouth easily. I also offered him sippys that had long spouts so he could suck them a little more like the bottle. Once he was comfortable with that I added the valves and he is now comfortable using any sippy I offer him. I nursed both my babies, but they have/had bottles at daycare- they needed the 1-1 reconnection of nursing with me after daycare, it was our way of reconnecting and unwinding after work/daycare. Your daughter is probably getting that same sense of reconnecting with you when you give her her bottle in the evenings and weekends- unless she is unable to hold toys, rattles etc. I wouldn't worry about it. She sounds like she is progressing well. will she feed herself small table foods?

children feed themselves at different times, don't need to push the issue. I have three kids and they all did things at their own pace. My youngest daughter is just now wanting to feed herself, she started grabing for the spoon while I was feeding her. Well, By all means go ahead. She loves to feed herself now. The sippy cup is a new thing too. it will just take time. If you want her to drink from the sippy, then be firm on it. I got my daughter a sippy with a soft nipple, not one of the hard onces. They are not well like, because she likes to bite down on somethings, so the soft nipple (spout) made it easier for her. Also if it is a spill proof, start her out by taking the white spill proof device out and allow her to suck on it to show her she can get juice out of it if she sucks on it. Then later put the spill proof device back in to prevent spills. (DONT SWEAT the small stuff), There is nothing wrong with your child.
Good luck
T.

Just remember, every kid does things on their own time table. My ten month old can hold his own bottle, but he prefers us to and I don't mind. A few more months and he'll be too busy to be held for a feeding. My first son was feeding himself the bottle by nine months. They are just all different. Once you switch to sippy cups she won't have much choice but to hold her own.

As for food, I would just make sure you offer her finger foods at every feeding, along with baby food. But I wouldn't turn it into a big battle of wills at this point or you'll have more trouble down the road. You won't still be feeding her when she's eighteen, a few extra months at this point is no big deal.

Mandy,
I know you may not want to hear this. BUT, if you are working full time and she is at daycare she needs that extra time from you and she is screaming at you to get it. I know it can be stressful when you know you have laundry and dishes and others screaming for your help. You may have to let the others go for that extra few minutes your daughter is asking you for. Not every child develops the same. I had 3 who are almost grown now and not one of them did the same things as babies etc... I hope I did not hurt your feelings, she may just not be ready to let that one on one time go with you yet. Enjoy it while you can it will be gone before you know it and she will be walking down the isle and gone like ours.
Good Luck and God Bless,
A.

Okay this may not work but both my kids had to have me hold their hands on the cup during a bottle. Granted I taught them between 6 and 8 months. But it took me about two days but everytime I gave them the bottle I held their hands, by day three they were doing it. You may still want to hold her in your lap when they are doing it until she gets adjusted. As for sippys wha thave you tried? My older child woudl only do the sipies with handles for a while, my youngest did not like the squishy topped sippys. You may want to train her to hold her bottle first before going to sippys, since she seems to like things the way they are, too much change at once may be too much for her to deal with.

Does she like to sit at the table to eat, have you tried having your food and her and hers at the table and then you eat yours and see if she will eat hers? Or just not get fed until she tries. Taking her hand and making her feed herself may work, especially fi you make it fun.

What does the daycare do? Maybe if they have a method you could do it as well and with both of you working on it she might do it.
I hope you find a peaceful resolution. I know hearing your kid scream is hard so hopefully you won't have to go through that to reach your goal.

When my twins were about 2months old, I would put there hands on the bottel and then put my hands over there. Basically I made them hold their own bottle with help from me. By 4 months they were holding their own bottles.

As for the feeding. It depends on how bad you want her to feed herself. If she's hungry enough, she'll pick up food and eat it. She's not going to go without. You just have to make sure and not give in. It's all a test of wills. Good Luck!!

Relax! Most 11 month olds do not drink from sippy cups. My 14 month old is giving me a hard time transitioning to drinking milk from a sippy cup (she'll drink water from it just fine), and she never wants to hold the bottle or sippy cup herself. Your daughter is NOT behind by any stretch of the imagination, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise! My oldest daughter, now 13, was the same way, yet my middle daughter, 8 1/2, was much more independent and willing to do everything herself. Each child is different, and it is certainly not a developmental issue. You are right, your daughter probably enjoys the cuddle time she gets from these feedings, and I encourage you to enjoy it, too, because it doesn't last. That is why I don't make a big deal of it . . . because after a day at work, there is nothing more enjoyable or relaxing than to sit with my babe in my lap while she drinks her bedtime bottle/sippy cup. And, don't get me wrong, I am working on getting her to hold it herself . . . while she's drinking, I take her hands and put them on the bottle, then I let go and see how long she'll hold it. My babysitter does the same. And, we're making progress.

So that you know, my son didn't start drinking from a sippy cup by himself until he was 14 months old. I think the sippy cup was scary to him and/or unsure what to do with it, so he didn't try. Then I got an idea to put his water (not milk or juice) in his sippy cup that he keeps in his crib for naps and for the evening. After about a week or two of doing that, then I was finally able to transfer him to the sippy cup during meal time for his milk and juice, and he was holding it up on his own as well. I was then able to get rid of all of his bottles. Also I recommend buying Nuby brand sippy cups because of their silicone mouth piece. This also helps with the transition.

My daugter wouldnt take a sippy cup at all...until i found the nubby at 13 monnths. But even then she wouldnt hold it. i got adivce from a friend to lay her down on the floor and give it to her. i would put her hands on it and she would start drinking and then i would let go...if she wanted to drink she would have to hold it herself. She started drinking from a straw at 13 months as well. I like the nubby ones...they dont leak.

Sitting up right i would have to help her hold it with her hands and as soon as she let go so would i. After several months she learned to hold it on her own. She didnt figure out how to lift the sippie cup up to get more milk until two months ago (19 months). I just moved her to regular sippie cups with the valve in it (Gerber) at 21 months.

She cant drink from a cup yet or feed herself with a fork or spoon that well but she tries. She is now eating from a plate now (plastic). Baby steps! Just be patient they all learn at different times.

If it makes you feel any better...i still have to feed my daughter with a spoon when i am giving her apple sauce and yogurt. And she is 21 months...she trys but just cant do it. i do hand over hand to help her.