Transition to Sippy Cup - Daly City,CA

My oldest started with a sippy cup around 8 or 9 months (I breastfed, but while he was eating, he wanted to drink like we did, I suppose, and since he never had a bottle we went straight to sippy cup). Although I still nursed him (and did until he was 2), he nevertheless loved holding his cup and drinking his water from it (at 8 months it was the summer and he was thiiiiiirsty). I can't really say from experience about pumping and putting it in a cup (since I only nursed and didn't pump with my older two) but it seems that if he doesn't want the bottle, you shouldn't give it to him (it's probably going to be easier in the long-run since it's one less habit to break). As far as sippy cup content, (and I don't really know about putting breastmilk in it, tho if he'll take it, and you want him to have it I guess you could) the only thing that I'd make sure to be careful about is what you put in the sippy cup...a little juice can be diluted with water instead of straight juice if you're thinking of adding types of fluids to his repertoire. As far as cups go, different babies will have different preferences, but you could buy a handful of different kinds to see what he prefers/what is easiest for him, though just make sure that the handles are large enough for him to hold onto. The packaging will usually tell you the ideal ages for the cups and the ideal stages that the baby is in, so that's a good indicator in general. Personally, we used a Gerber brand with my oldest but my middle did not like it and we used some Target generic brand sippy cup. And kudos to you for planning on potentially nursing him more than a year! That's wonderful! Best of luck!

Good for you for nursing your baby this long - I agree with the previous poster, if he doesn't want the bottle, it's one less thing to have to wean him off of later and go ahead and try different sippy cups.
My twin girls (who were EBF and self-weaned at 15 and 18 months, respectively) started taking water from a sippy cup at around 6 mos (we did just water b/c that way I didn't have to worry about spills, refrigeration, etc.). They never were fond of bottles and like you said, it's just easier to have them get the milk directly without having to prep bottles.

My daughter went from breast to cup with no bottle without a problem. We introduced water in a sippy cup around 6 months, and she took to it right away. She did take an occasional bottle from a friend if I had to go out to a doctor's appt or something, but she maybe had 6 of these her whole life and she was pretty young for most of them. (She would always take some of them, but didn't eat as much per feeding as she would have had I been there). I tried to schedule my appts around her feeding schedule and didn't leave her very often (I know, pathetic and she was the 2nd child) but it broke my heart every time I had to leave her. I never gave her juice in a cup, so after she turned one and I tried to introduce milk in a cup, she did not like it at all. It took us a good 3 months to get her to drink any milk at all. She kept trying it, but didn't really like it and would spit it out each time. I don't think up until this point that she had ever had anything other than water in a cup, so a foreign substance was a little disturbing to her.
I would try the breastmilk in a cup to see if he will drink it, but I would only put a small amount in at first since you don't want it to go to waste. If he takes it, problem solved, if he doesn't I wouldn't worry too much. As long as he is eating solids while with your parents, he is getting nutrients and he isn't going to starve. I am assuming here he isn't with your parents for days at a time, but just a few hours here and there. They have a huge variety of sippy cups, but I would try some of the softer spouts for a first cup. Once he is well established on a cup, you can generally switch back and forth between all kinds of cups without any problems. Some kids are just more picky than others about going from breast to bottle to cup. My son went back and forth from breast to bottle for the whole first year without any problem. If I was near, he definitely prefered breast, but never once did he not take a bottle for someone (and almost always drained it). Same when we introduced the cup, would drink down anything we put in it and I did put breastmilk in a cup for him several times. So a lot depends on your child's temperment, but if he is hungry enough, he will take it in whatever form he can get it in.

If he's drinking off of the spoon, he might like to try a real cup rather than a sippy cup. just those little paper dixi cups are great because they are narrow so there's no way for milk to spill all over his face.

Try with water to start with and make sure he's got the hang of it (so you don't waste your breast milk) then give it a go.

HTH
T.

PS 8 months is in no way too long to breast feed. Even mainstream doctors recommend at least a year. Do what feels comfortable for your and your baby.