Teaching how to use a sippy cup?

[Noodlebear]

Hiya ladies, know this should probably go in the 'weaning' section but there's not much activity in there and I would really like some advice.

Lucas has dropped his milk feeds right down as he's taken to solids really well. Sometimes this is just in the form of formula in his breakfast and 2 bottles - 1 in the afternoon and 1 before bed and other times he'll have the extra bottle between breakfast and lunch.

I'm obviously pleased that he's slowly and naturally dropping down to 2 feeds, I always make sure he has the minimum amount of milk he needs a day, but my concern is that where he has his bottles in the afternoon/evening he won't be getting any fluids earlier in the day.

He has a sippy cup that I try giving to him with his meals but he cries if he's sat up and I try to give him it, the only time I can get him to hold it happily in his mouth is when he's sat back in his bouncy chair (which he's rapidly growing out of) and even then he just chews the top of it. If I have to of course I'll give him a bottle with water in it, I don't want him getting dehydrated but that isn't really what I want to have to do.

I also know that in time he'll get the hang of using a sippy cup but I was just wondering if anyone had any advice to help the process along or any other ways of getting some fluids into him before 2/3pm without having to force a bottle onto him, just seems like a really long time to be going without a drink! :/

Sorry I've rambled a bit, hopefully I've made myself clear enough lol. Any advice would really be appreciated! xx

 

[Amy2701]

I had this problem with Lily, she wouldn't hold the cup if I tried to give her it. I don't know if this is a proper solution but I'll tell you what worked for me. I went to visit my SIL one day and her two year old boy's cup was laying on the floor next to where he was playing. Lily crawled straight over to it, picked it up and took a massive drink. This was the EXACT same cup I'd been trying to get her to drink out of in my house for weeks!! So I decided that, instead of trying to get her to take a drink from it when I thought she should, I left it laying on the living room floor so that when she was crawling around and playing she could go to it whenever she wanted. This was when she was about 7 months old and she is great with a sippy cup now at nearly 14 months. She can even manage a fruit shoot straight from the bottle with no spills! X

 

[Noodlebear]

Thank you for your reply It's brilliant that she's so great with having a drink now! Lucas isn't on the move yet so I can only think to keep offering it to him. He's a little monkey, when he sees it he gets so excited (provided he's not sat upright...strange? lol) and leans forwards for it with his mouth open, he's sat on my lap with it right now, but he just uses it as a teething ring. It's a step in the right direction though, maybe he'll be like your LO and take to it when he can pick and choose when he wants it lol x

 

[robinator]

I'd say let him use the cup as a toy during playtime; he'll get used to holding it, putting it in his mouth, etc. It'll help him be more accepting of it

 

[jd83]

It could just be that your baby doesn't like the kind of sippy cup you have? We went through a ton of kinds with my older son before finding one he liked, and it ended up being straw sippy cups he liked.