From Bottle to Cup
I can honestly say that my little boy, Jack, has been an easy baby so far. He may be busy all the time and in constant motion, but he is fairly laidback when it comes to changes in routine and environment. He made the move to baby food without any complaint. He gave up his pacifier completely on his own around 9 months. The swtich from formula to milk was a breeze. And now baby food is history and he is eating table food. That's why I assumed that moving him from a bottle to a sippy cup would be a piece of cake.
Well ... I was terribly wrong. We tried for one weekend to offer him milk in a sippy cup to see how it went. Each time, he got excited when he would see his milk but he took one drink and pushed it away. He had no desire to drink his milk in anything but a bottle. More concerned with the amount of milk he was getting then the cup, I caved each time after about 10 minutes of trying and moved the milk to a bottle.
Many of my friends told me they made the switch cold turkey. If their babies didn't take milk from the cup, they just didn't get their milk. It worked really well for them, and they made the transition within days. But I'm just not sure I'm ready for that yet. I'm not sure I can be that strong!
I am encouraged that the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends making the switch to a cup by 18 months. That means that we have a little over 4 months to make the transition. We have at least made the switch to bottles with soft, sippy-cup style spouts. It's at least a step in the right direction.
So I'm curious ... how did you transition your child from a bottle to a sippy cup? What worked? What didn't work? Are their other transitions that you struggled with ... such as moving from a crib to a toddler bed? Share your tips with us and other ParentLife readers by leaving a comment!
