Name: Cathy
Albany, NY
Number of kids: 1
Ages of kids: 14 months
Problem: My daughter is 14 months old and we started weaning her from a bottle to a cup about 2 months ago. She had been doing quite well drinking from her cup (I estimate about 8-10 ounces during the day). We would give her about 5 ounces from a bottle when we woke up in the morning, and 6-7 ounces from a bottle before going to bed. I should mention that she attends full-time day care, and she was drinking quite well from the cup both at day care and at home. Last week she "moved up" to a new day care classroom, and at the same time (coincidence?) she is refusing to drink from a cup at all. Her appetite is fine. She just won't drink from a cup. When offered the cup, she shakes her head no vigorously. However, she seems to be thirsty, as she will drink well from a bottle. Does anyone have any suggestions on encouraging her to drink from a cup? Any opinions on whether a 14-month old should be drinking exclusively from a cup yet anyways, or does it matter at this stage? Any help or comments would be greatly appreciated!
Solution submitted by DaDEE: From our past experience, I think you're right on track with bottle weaning at 12 months and the behavior you now see. We completely weaned our first at 15 months and ran into the problem you're facing. His liquid consumption dropped drastically for a few weeks and we tried to make up by adding additional milk to his cereal and various foods. Eventually he began to get comfortable with his new cup and forgot about the bottle. Not wanting to go through this again with our second, she was completely weaned from the bottle at 7 months and from the breast at about a 11 months. So I think your child can drink exclusively from a sippy cup at her age.
We love the playtex cups with the spring loaded ball valves which insert into the lid. They're about $3 and are as drip-proof as any cup we could find. Both kids still love em. Even at this age, the packaging is as important as the product. Try a cup with her favorite character or one with a built-in straw. I'm sure we've gotten gallons of milk into our 2 y.o. simply because he wants to see the stuff travel around the loop in his straw. Good luck.