Problems with Sippy Cup

So DS is now 8mths old and after he gets over his teething and is more interested in food again, I need to drop one feed and then gradually work towards no feeds at 12mths of age. The problem is DS is not interested in his sippy cup. Occasionally he will have one sip of water.

Just wanted to know others' experiences. Did they get more interested as they got older and more able to master it themselves or take to it straight away? Anyone have problems and have some tips they can give me?

I saw Plunket today but didn't have time to ask because DH was rushing me out the door...

Yeah it is a process that can take a little while, especially as you are in the middle of winter he wont be overly thirsty either. I used to worry about DS too at around that age, maybe a bit older but he did catch on eventually, just make it part of every meal / snack. Unless you are happy for him to have juice dont think you have to tempt him into drinking from the sippy cup using it, DS just has water, always has had and its never been a problem.

I'd start off with those really cheap Tommy Tippee ones, WITHOUT the non spill just the flip down spout, the non spill thingies inside the spout can make it really hard for them to get the liquid out and I believe they are linked to speech issues but you might have to look into that further. Also you may have to try a couple of different brands before you find one that he clicks with.

A friend bypassed the sippy cup stage altogther and just held a normal cup for her little boy until he could hold it himself, its an idea I'd quite like to try with my next child as her little one was quite proficient with the cup by around 12/14 mths and didnt have to unlearn sippy behaviour like being able to throw the cup around with no consequences!

My baby nurse (hehe I call her that, she is child health nurse) was suggesting to me today to start getting DS used to using a cup, not sippy cup, just a plain old cup, with a small amount of water in it...just so that when he decides to stop BFing, instead of going to bottle, he can pretty much bypass that whole step and just drink milk out of the cup...which sounds good to me. She said to just make it a game at this point and not to worry if he was getting anything out of it.

newlywed wrote: minik8e wrote: Just wondering, why do you want him to be on no feeds by 12 months? The girls are almost 12 months now, and are still having 3 bottles (600ml) of formula a day? They will also drink water with their meals though. Well according to Plunket/WHO babies don't need breastmilk at that age or any formula.

Actually WHO recommends BFing until 2 years.

kellie wrote: newlywed wrote: minik8e wrote: Just wondering, why do you want him to be on no feeds by 12 months? The girls are almost 12 months now, and are still having 3 bottles (600ml) of formula a day? They will also drink water with their meals though. Well according to Plunket/WHO babies don't need breastmilk at that age or any formula. Actually WHO recommends BFing until 2 years.

yeah WHO is 2!! it rythmes... LOL!

My understanding is they don't actually need breastmilk past 12mths. I wonder if they are delaying it (WHO) till 2yo because they have suggested delaying cows milk as long as possible?

My understanding is that plunket promote the use of sippy cups from an early age as they are "better" than bottles for teeth etc.

If you are planning on weaning at 12 months than go for it. Its obviously your choice. I would be starting to put small amounts of EBM in a sippy cup and hold him while he drinks it.

My #1 actually found straws heaps easier so we had a straw drink bottle for water from around 10 months and he still has 1 bottle at night every now and again.

Actually, WHO used to reccomend to 4 and that is, believe it or not, the worldwide norm. In my copy of the who guidleines, that I have here (thanks to my job) but won't quote from so as not to break any rules, who reccomends breastfeeding to two yers AND beyond.
There is no reseach that backs up any thing about breastmilk not being needed after 12 months and I would be intersted to know where you read that, because I don't think there is actually a published (or otherwise) study to back that up. I also feel its a bit "dangerous" to even say that!!! Studies actually show the benefits of long term breastfeeding - beyond 12 months, are far reaching.

That said, though, 12 months is a really great stretch of time to breastfeed and I really commend you! In my job, it seems the norm is about 6 monthsish and that somehow coincides with formula being able to be advertised for beyond 6 months and the misleding statements the producers use about all the "added benefits" of their follow on formula (and all those things are actually in BM too - thats why its misleading)
Anyhow, fo rmums I work with that are planning to wean I do say to try lots of different types of sippy cups, although that can be an expensive exersize, so see if you can "borrow" some off friends to try different types. You will fnd that at this stage he probably won't really be too keen on water cos milk is nicer!! something lots if mums find - is that - shock horror- leaving small pump bottles of water within their play areas means they are able to experiment with them and often drink form them and if they see you doing hte same, they copy. Iwouldn't stress out to much about it, he will ge the hang of it,   Some find it easier to just go to a cup, or a lidded cup like tupperware do or a "straw" cup - tommee tippee do a great range of them. Nuby have a good cup (tommee tippee) that has a really soft spout, very "breast like" too, so he migh tlike that? I know lots of mums who haev had good success with that.
Don't waste your money on toddler milks, if he is having a varied diet, he dosen't need that stuff, and its *blerk* anyway. Cows milk is fine and I think the only worry about it is if you or any of your family have shown dairy intollerances in the past,. At 9 months you can start adding cows milk totheir ceral and food you cook for them anyway - such as mashes.

Hope that helps.
Good luck!

Thanks for the clarification fattarts, I did wonder about the 'added benefits' the formula makers market and whether babies / children are already getting those benefits from their normal BF/solids diet.

The advertising screams to me of supplementing children's diets with vitamins and minerals they're already getting elsewhere.

But surely they need some form of milk after reaching the age of one? .. im confused ...