Silly question, but my 9 month old drinks really well out of a sippy cup - is there any reason to continue to give her bottles during the day? Is it odd to remove her from the bottle this young?

If she's drinking from a sippy cup than I say take the bottle away now before she gets too attached and you have a battle on your hands. Most dr's recommend to be rid of the bottle by a year old anyway. My son was about 10 months when we stopped using bottles completely.

I am so jealous.... My 8 mo ds has almost no interest in a sippy cup. Like the previous poster said, I would take the bottle away while you can, just make sure she's drinking the same amount from her cup.

Whiskers

i can't think of any real reason to get rid of the bottle so young.... i think kids are forced to grow up way too fast these days, and it all starts at home. there is nothing wrong with letting your baby hang on to the bottle while they are babies! as far as being able to take it away later, and how attached they are to it.... well, i have issues about that. who's the parent? i bought my girls new cups, told them this was their fun new milk cup and that their bottles went all gone. they weren't thrilled to not have bottles, but then they realized they didn't have a choice.... if they wanted milk, it was going to be in a cup, and they decided to be okay with it.

sorry, went off on a tangent.... point is, if you want to take the bottle away, it's your choice, but don't feel pressured like you HAVE to do it. if you want your little one to be a baby a little while longer, let him!

oh, one thing that makes me more pro-bottle.... when my girls were teething, they preferred juice in a bottle instead of a cup.... i think it just felt better on their gums.... :)

My 8 mo ds has almost no interest in a sippy cup.

I have to tell you, my little one was more interested in tossing the cup just a few weeks ago and I just kept giving it to her with water in it and showing her how to use it - it seems like in a matter of days she became a pro! It's crazy how all of a sudden they make an adjustment.

Hey luckydarlin,

Just a question for you--does your sippy cup have a valve in it? My ds's does, but since I introduced it at around 6 mo, I haven't been using the valve because he didn't really understand he had to suck on it. He understood though that when it was tipped back, the water came out so I just haven't used it since. And now when I give it to him (without the valve), he just bangs it around and I think wants to play with it more than anything, and even with the smallest bit of water, it seems to go everywhere! Have you got any pointers for me? Thanks!

Whiskers :jester:

Hi Whiskers -

I have both kinds of sippy cups. One with a valve and one without. I had to suck up the drenched baby for a while so she would understand how it worked, but she got the hang of it after a while. I have two kinds of cups without the valve - one was almost impossible for her to get water out of and she hated it (and to this day, still does) so I never use those and the other had a larger spout that she could easily suck on and get water. I've noticed she also likes chewing on the spouts because of all the teeth. I started by giving her the cup right after she finished her breakfast and kept holding it up to her mouth so she knew how to get the water, but then after about 1/2 hour I would give her a bottle with water. After a short time, she really caught on. Just take your time and let your little one figure it out and don't worry how long it takes. I was thinking we were behind because people would tell me she would have been using a cup at 6 months - I've learned not to worry about that kind of stuff anymore or it makes me crazy! :)

I just looked at her cups - she has the two handled Playtex sippy cups with the valve, and the other kind without handles or a valve is the munckin brand with characters on them.

Good luck and happy spilling!!:)

As a special education teacher who has worked with preschoolers with speech difficulties, I will tell you that drinking out of a cup instead of a bottle is much better for your child's speech development. Also drinking from a straw is good for your child.

Lisa