Introducing a Cup to an 11 Mos Old for Weaning

I say stick with the Nuk cups. My little girl transitions well from them. They are most shaped like the breast and it is easy for the child to switch. Good luck

In order to get my 11-month old to drink from a sippy (he prefers the ones with a straw he can suck on) The babysitter and I would give him the sippy at mealtimes with a little organic apple juice (very watered down!) Having something yummy and sweet in there got him interested. Now he has it down and has begun pushing his bottles away, I'm starting to put his formula in it and he's fine.(He stopped having interest in nursing at about 10 months) The babysitter and I just have to offer it to him several times a day.

The only cup that either of my breastfed-only babies agreed to take was a regular open cup (I used the Tupperware ones with separate sippy lids minus the lids). When my first was older, then he used those cups with lids as a sippy cup at meals, but not until much later when breastfeeding was a thing of the past (I weaned him at a year). My youngest is now 10 months, still breastfeeding, but also drinking out of the open cup as my youngest did. They won't/wouldn't take anything with a spout or nipple other than me. I just hold the cup to his lips and let him drink. It took awhile for my oldest to get the hang of it. Eventually I figured out that he wasn't really thirsty because I was still breastfeeding just as much. Once I stopped being so nervous about taking out the breastfeeding before he was drinking much, I did just that. I stopped breastfeeding as much, and eventually weaned completely, and THEN he started drinking from the open cup like I just described. With my youngest, I knew to skip all the other sippy cups when he didn't respond at first, and I also knew to start earlier and amazingly he accepted the open cup around 6 months, and is a pro now. My ped said that there are windows of time during which babies are open to certain new ideas. With my first, I missed that window and so it took him until 12 months until he could drink from the cup. With my second, I was in the window. As to wasting the liquid gold, I think that is inevitable with learning to drink from a cup. More will be on him than in him at first. Just be patient. I used formula because I didn't have much success with pumping. The advantage is you don't feel like you're wasting your good milk. The disadvantage, other than that the formula is obviously inferior, is that they may reject the taste at first if they're not used to it. Good luck! I remember it was a slow frustrating process with my first. Just remember, until you've stopped breastfeeding, you may not have much success with it at her age in my experience. As a side note, I think teaching them to drink from a regular cup rather than a sippy is good for them. Other than when sitting at meals, my oldest never was allowed a sippy and it stops them from carrying juice,etc. around all day as they get older. Plus, really a sippy is just a glorified bottle imo. Until I figured out that my first didn't like them, I bought about a gazillion different kinds thinking if I just found the right cup, he would start drinking. I think I have stock in sippy cups that are now sitting unused in a closet somewhere. Eventually I figured out that it was not the type of sippy cup that mattered. He just didn't like sippies! He wanted a real cup. (Did you ever try drinking from the no-spill sippy cups? You can barely get anything out, just this tiny little trickle. I think they prefer the real cup becuase you can actually get out the liquid. And the tupperware sippy lids aren't no-spill but you can actually get something out. And if they're seated at the table, it's not really a big deal.)
Hope this helps,
M.

Keep pushing the sippy cup...That is how she will learn and get used to it.

I started weaning my daughters from a bottle the day after there first birthdays. Each daughter was weaned in 24 hours. You just have to stick with it. At her 1st birthday or whenever you have committed to weaning her, you have to stop giving her milk from you and just give the cup. If she is hungry she will eat her food or drink her milk. But the more you give in, the harder it is on her and the longer it will take. Right now i would start by slowly getting her used to whole milk. So for a few days give her breast milk in a sippy and after she starts drinking from it, then slowly start adding whole milk until she is off of breast milk completely. Good luck!!

My youngest daughter has been using a sippy cup on and off since she was 5 months, but she was very easy. My oldest was very picky and she would only use the sippy cups with the soft tops. Munchin and Nuby make the ones she used, but she couldn't use the staw ones till much later. Munchin makes a straw cup that is very easy for them to use.. they suck on the straw and get the juice in it and it has such a good suction the juice stays in the straw and it is easier for them to drink. Plus it helps get them ready for a straw! It took me a long time to find some my daughter would use, but once you find "the one" you will know!

Best of luck to you!!!

My daughter was the same - bf 4 times a day and refused all cups! She finally took the straw cups but her dr told me that she has enough liquid in her foods and doesn't need to drink. I made sure her foods contained enough calcium and she eventually took the sippy cup but it wasn't until 16 - 18 months old. Try not to worry so much about it, leave them around with water in it and eventually she'll drink. Not likely until you are finished breast feeding though. Watch her calcium intake and don't worry about the milk for now.

As long as you're still breast feeding she is getting enough milk and has no need to drink from the cup. I suggest that you try putting watered down juice in the cup so that the drinking from the cup is unrelated to breast feeding and milk.

If that doesn't work, I suggest you drop one feeding and only give her milk in a cup.

It will take time for her to transition.

My daughter is still learning and she has had a cup about a month. She does well with the water but milk has trouble on.

Just keep putting it in front of her at every meal. Don't force it on her. Let her decide when to pick it up and give it a try. I would give my daughter praise every time she even just lifted up the cup. This will take some time and might not go according to your schedule. It took my daughter about two months before she really had the sippy cup down and would drink from it consistantly. I too agree with other moms and try really watered down juice or straight water not BM until she gets the hang of it. Find one cup she seems to like and stick with it. You might confuse her by switching it around a lot.

I am trying the same thing right now but my son just turned a year old and still likes his bottle. He drinks from a sippy cup no problem though, it just depends what goes in it hahaha. I never breast fed with my son because he didn't want it at all. Now my new baby I am going to try once he is home from the hospital.

My son learned with 'dixie' cups. They need to be small enough that they can still see you over the cup while drinking. He never really went to the sippie cups, since his developmentalist said they're the same as bottles and don't teach anything. He went straight to the straw cups instead. He's been using straw cups and regular open cups since 18mos. Good luck!

I liked the playtex cups with the handles on it. She is too young for a straw. Luckily,at seven months my son did not like the bottle anymore and we started a sippy cup. I had good luck with the playtex cups. I would try it and see what happens.

just leave a couple of sippy cups of water laying around the area she is mostly in....she will start using it, just don't make it a big deal