Bottle or cup or sippy cup - Infant Care (up to 18 months old) Message Board

Altson · 03-17-2006, 08:28 AM

I would like everyone's input as to when they switched from bottle to cup or sippy and why they made that switch?

I'm a firm believer in letting the child decide when they are ready to ditch the bottle. I know there are bigger battles to come later on that I'd rather stress about than when to remove the bottle.

I took the bottle away cold turkey with my first baby, simply because I thought it was the "right" thing to do after receiving so much pressure from Dr., friends and family that at 12 months there should be no bottles in sight. I regret that decision now. My other kids have been much more stable and happy getting rid of it on their own with no big fuss made about it.

I do offer both, a bottle and a sippy or regular cup. I let them choose which they'd like to use.

Anyway, I read alot about this and I see so many Moms just agonizing over it and I'd like to see the different reasons why people are doing it.

andilyn · 03-17-2006, 08:40 AM

I totally agree with you about letting the baby decide, within reason obviously, when they are ready to switch. My DD went from the bottle to a sippy when she was around 11-12 months...and it went very well. She stopped using formula around that time, so we thought it was a perfect time to put her milk in a sippy, to kind of show her that formula was for the bottles, and now she get's milk, and that is for a sippy...and she thought that was pretty cool to drink out of a sippy. And my DS is 9 months now, and we plan to offer him a sippy around the same time, and see if he wants to use it then. Which I kind of think he'll want to since he see's his big sister using one, and he's always reaching out for hers. He wants to do everything she does, lol! So around a year is what we did, and we did it at that time thinking it would be an easier switch since it was time to stop formula and start milk. And I also agree with you that there are far more things to stress over than when they start with a cup! Sometimes we forget that our babies are human beings too who have feelings and desires, and that they can give us hints when they are or aren't ready for something.

nicky2005 · 03-17-2006, 08:43 AM

I do agree that you gotta do what works for you! DS is 17mths old and has been off the bottle since he was 13 mths. I decided to take the bottle away coz i wanted to but i did not do it cold turkey. First i gave him his afternoon milk in the sipper. I did that for a week then i switched the morning bottle to sipper. DS got a bad cold during this time and it gor hard for him to suck from bottle. He was already off the morning and afternoon bottle so i offered him the sipper for night during that time and that was the end of the bottle. I did it gradually coz thats what i thought would work for us.

dannysmom · 03-17-2006, 09:38 AM

All 3 of my kids never drank anything but formula from a blottle. Water, juice. milk always in a sippy cup. So when they decided they didn't want formula anymore, the bottle was gone too. All of them started using a sippy cup around 6 months and they stopped formula between 10-12 months.

Kiera1595 · 03-17-2006, 10:00 AM

DS stopped using a bottle for daytime feedings around 9 months. I gave him a bottle before sleeping until about 14 months. Weaning him 1st off of formula and then off the bottle. I plan to do the same with DD who just turned one. She's getting used to regular milk, so soon the bottle will go too.

I did it 'cause the doc said too, but luckily DS didn't protest, so it wasn't a big issue. Doc said get 'em totally off the bottle by 15 months