Help me transition my almost-16-month-old son to a sippy cup.
June 7, 2020 9:06 AM Subscribe
My son is almost 16 months old and REFUSES to use any kind of sippy cup. We have tried very bottle-nipple-like ones, straw ones, 360-style ones, regular soft-spouted ones.... and he rejects them all. We know this should have happened earlier, and we were trying from 10 months onward. His twin sister has been on a sippy cup since 12 months, but he shows no interest in her cup. Help.
Background facts:
SON:
-He was born at 37 weeks, small but healthy. He has remained on the very wee side (but twins take awhile to catch up, and also his mother and father are very wee, as is his sister).
-He has tended to have his physical milestones and gross motor milestones on the late side: He had no teeth until a few weeks ago, when four came out all at once, and he just started walking alone about a week ago as well, after months of cruising. He also sat up late and rolled over late.
-He had torticollis as an infant, which helps explain why some gross motor milestones were late.
-He receives PT for torticollis and also very slight low muscle tone (we had him checked out by a neurologist when his physical therapist for torticollis told us he also was a little floppy. Neurologist said it was very slight benign congential hypotonia and said he probably got it from me, as she saw me sit slouchy and twisted up like a pretzel on a chair)
-Social/emotional/fine motor milestones have been on the early side. He's chatty and says ~7 understandable words regularly (bilingual timeline; he's learning both english and russian) and makes jokes and can self-feed and stack and nest cups and play his little piano one note at a time.
-He was breastfed and bottlefed. Breastfeeding lasted for 3 months, until I went back to work, and I exclusively pumped--so he was bottlefed from 3 months until now.
-He had a tongue tie clipped at 10 days old. He couldn't latch before that, and after that, he was a very good breastfeeder.
-He loves his pacifier and loves sucking on things but doesn't seem really attached to a bottle. He doesn't call it anything, and it was always a battle to get him to drink liquid anyway, once solids started.
-He LOVES solids and is a very good eater.
SIPPY CUPS:
We introduced them pretty early, just to familiarize, around 7 months or so. We tried the munchkin latch at first. No one liked it. We tried the avent My Little Sippy Cup, and daughter took to that one, though son still hated it. We tried a straw cup for him. He hated it. We tried a 360 cup for him. He hated it. We tried 'the cheapest cup at walmart' that my cousin's kid liked when he hated all other sippy cups. He hated it.
When I say he hated it, i mean he wept at the sight of it and threw it across the room. Once or twice we've gotten him to put a spout into his mouth, but then he chews and laughs and throws it.
We're not sure if the milk or water comes out too fast and scares him, or if it's too hard and mystifying to get liquid out. Or if it's one for one type and one for another.
Now he has teeth, so this is more urgent.
We also tried an open cup, but he chokes on the water and unless we hold it for him, he throws it.
Help.
Background facts:
SON:
-He was born at 37 weeks, small but healthy. He has remained on the very wee side (but twins take awhile to catch up, and also his mother and father are very wee, as is his sister).
-He has tended to have his physical milestones and gross motor milestones on the late side: He had no teeth until a few weeks ago, when four came out all at once, and he just started walking alone about a week ago as well, after months of cruising. He also sat up late and rolled over late.
-He had torticollis as an infant, which helps explain why some gross motor milestones were late.
-He receives PT for torticollis and also very slight low muscle tone (we had him checked out by a neurologist when his physical therapist for torticollis told us he also was a little floppy. Neurologist said it was very slight benign congential hypotonia and said he probably got it from me, as she saw me sit slouchy and twisted up like a pretzel on a chair)
-Social/emotional/fine motor milestones have been on the early side. He's chatty and says ~7 understandable words regularly (bilingual timeline; he's learning both english and russian) and makes jokes and can self-feed and stack and nest cups and play his little piano one note at a time.
-He was breastfed and bottlefed. Breastfeeding lasted for 3 months, until I went back to work, and I exclusively pumped--so he was bottlefed from 3 months until now.
-He had a tongue tie clipped at 10 days old. He couldn't latch before that, and after that, he was a very good breastfeeder.
-He loves his pacifier and loves sucking on things but doesn't seem really attached to a bottle. He doesn't call it anything, and it was always a battle to get him to drink liquid anyway, once solids started.
-He LOVES solids and is a very good eater.
SIPPY CUPS:
We introduced them pretty early, just to familiarize, around 7 months or so. We tried the munchkin latch at first. No one liked it. We tried the avent My Little Sippy Cup, and daughter took to that one, though son still hated it. We tried a straw cup for him. He hated it. We tried a 360 cup for him. He hated it. We tried 'the cheapest cup at walmart' that my cousin's kid liked when he hated all other sippy cups. He hated it.
When I say he hated it, i mean he wept at the sight of it and threw it across the room. Once or twice we've gotten him to put a spout into his mouth, but then he chews and laughs and throws it.
We're not sure if the milk or water comes out too fast and scares him, or if it's too hard and mystifying to get liquid out. Or if it's one for one type and one for another.
Now he has teeth, so this is more urgent.
We also tried an open cup, but he chokes on the water and unless we hold it for him, he throws it.
Help.
My kid was very resistant to a cup (and even refused to hold/tilt her own bottle) for a while and we ended up using a baby bottle with a weighted straw contraption so she could just hold the bottle herself and drink. I wouldn’t sweat it too much now. Just do whatever works and he’ll move onto the cup when he is ready.
posted by gnutron at 10:04 AM on June 7, 2020
posted by gnutron at 10:04 AM on June 7, 2020
It may or may not help in your special circumstances, but I always did the only water in the bottle, anything else went in a cup. I'm skeptical of the "they'll decide when they want to" tactic - I've seen that result in bottles til even late preschool, and then it was the shaming / embarrassment from other kids that finally stopped it. Even disregarding the potential damage to his teeth, that's just not a great start to socializing with other kids.
You've checked with your child's doctor to ensure there's nothing else physical making it difficult or painful for him, right?
posted by stormyteal at 10:36 AM on June 7, 2020 [2 favorites]
You've checked with your child's doctor to ensure there's nothing else physical making it difficult or painful for him, right?
posted by stormyteal at 10:36 AM on June 7, 2020 [2 favorites]
My son used a bottle until relatively late. I think he what's around two-and-a-half when he finally gave it up. What helped him was getting a straw style toddler cup with an extremely rubbery, thick straw that had the same mouth feel as a bottle nipple (I think it was advertised as being a sport-style cup?). What really sealed the deal, though, what's the fact that he was obsessed with vehicles and we got him a cup with trucks on it. He was super motivated to drink out of a cup that had his favorite thing on it.
posted by christinetheslp at 10:53 AM on June 7, 2020
posted by christinetheslp at 10:53 AM on June 7, 2020
Have you experimented with enlarging the hole in the nipple of his bottle, or even snipping a tiny bit of the top off?
He may hate sippy cups because he has gotten wet when he used one when it tilted, or he may have trouble controlling the passage of liquid in his mouth, or he may just be attached to the tried and true. If you experiment with enlarging the hole in the nipples until they are just sippy cups with a rubber tip, observe him carefully in case he has trouble and chokes because the liquid comes faster than he expects. Enlarge the hole slowly if you do this.
Try introducing him to an unusual mushy treat food such as sorbet to be eaten only with a straw from a cup, and make a thing about the whole family leaning forward to happily suck loudly on their straws to see if you can start the process of him learning to drink from a container with a straw. How does he do with juice boxes?
posted by Jane the Brown at 10:56 AM on June 7, 2020
He may hate sippy cups because he has gotten wet when he used one when it tilted, or he may have trouble controlling the passage of liquid in his mouth, or he may just be attached to the tried and true. If you experiment with enlarging the hole in the nipples until they are just sippy cups with a rubber tip, observe him carefully in case he has trouble and chokes because the liquid comes faster than he expects. Enlarge the hole slowly if you do this.
Try introducing him to an unusual mushy treat food such as sorbet to be eaten only with a straw from a cup, and make a thing about the whole family leaning forward to happily suck loudly on their straws to see if you can start the process of him learning to drink from a container with a straw. How does he do with juice boxes?
posted by Jane the Brown at 10:56 AM on June 7, 2020
Response by poster: Updates:
We’ve talked with our dr about it and there is no physical issue making it impossible for him.
We never tried a juice box. They don’t drink juice. I’m guessing it would be the same issue as the straw sippy cup he hated.
posted by millipede at 11:07 AM on June 7, 2020
We’ve talked with our dr about it and there is no physical issue making it impossible for him.
We never tried a juice box. They don’t drink juice. I’m guessing it would be the same issue as the straw sippy cup he hated.
posted by millipede at 11:07 AM on June 7, 2020
Have you tried just a regular cup or glass with no lid? Both our kids transitioned from bottle directly to little mugs between 18 months and 2 years. We have never used a single sippy cup, they don’t seem to be common here.
You have to keep meals at the table (no wandering around with a cup) and there’s some spills at first but they get the hang really quickly. Upside, no super gross sippy cups to clean!
posted by ohio at 12:20 PM on June 7, 2020 [5 favorites]
You have to keep meals at the table (no wandering around with a cup) and there’s some spills at first but they get the hang really quickly. Upside, no super gross sippy cups to clean!
posted by ohio at 12:20 PM on June 7, 2020 [5 favorites]
Response by poster: Updates:
We have tried a regular cup, and he can take one sip at a time from it if we hold it. He cannot hold it himself; he will throw it immediately. He's a big thrower in general, so it's not a good option right now.
posted by millipede at 12:26 PM on June 7, 2020
We have tried a regular cup, and he can take one sip at a time from it if we hold it. He cannot hold it himself; he will throw it immediately. He's a big thrower in general, so it's not a good option right now.
posted by millipede at 12:26 PM on June 7, 2020
I would think more about the open cup. So he takes a sip and throws it — can you keep it water only, in small amounts, so it’s not too much of a mess? For milk, do it with you holding the cup? This is something to try, not a guarantee, obviously, but I would think that once he gets used to cups as the primary source of anything to drink, the throwing might settle down.
posted by LizardBreath at 3:54 PM on June 7, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by LizardBreath at 3:54 PM on June 7, 2020 [3 favorites]
Have you tried a regular sports cap topped bottle? Just on the off chance that he likes the shape of the bottle to hold. There's also things like the Oxo training cup and other 'sippy cup like regular cup' things to try if he sort of tolerates a regular cup.
posted by plonkee at 5:03 PM on June 7, 2020
posted by plonkee at 5:03 PM on June 7, 2020
First of all, I agree with above. He’s really young and it’s probably early so don’t worry about it much. But since he has a twin that will use one, can you use her as an example? Put something REALLY YUMMY in two sippycups, watered down fresh juice or some thinned out yogurt flavored with honey. Something completely novel to their taste buds. Then, when your daughter drinks, make a big deal about her reaction!! “Oh, that’s so yummy!! Wow! Do you like that?” Etc.etc.etc. Offer the cup to your son but keep your praise and attention on your daughter as long as she is modeling the correct sippy behavior, hyping up any reaction she might have. Really go overboard. Your son may see sister getting all this attention and enjoying her treat and give the cup a try. It make take a few sessions, but I bet his curiosity will win over. And if it doesn’t, try again in November.
Whenever one of my children was a little behind in certain milestones, I would say to myself, “as long as they can do this before college, we are good”. So far, that’s worked well for us.
posted by pearlybob at 5:16 PM on June 7, 2020 [1 favorite]
Whenever one of my children was a little behind in certain milestones, I would say to myself, “as long as they can do this before college, we are good”. So far, that’s worked well for us.
posted by pearlybob at 5:16 PM on June 7, 2020 [1 favorite]
We liked the cups with sippy lids. I think I'd make sippy options and plastic cups with small amounts of water or juice within reach and otherwise let him use a bottle.
posted by theora55 at 5:34 PM on June 7, 2020
posted by theora55 at 5:34 PM on June 7, 2020
Have you talked to an OT about it?
If he's having muscle tone issues, then he may find sippy cups difficult and frustrating to drink from, and thus will reject them. If he's getting enough liquids from bottles, I wouldn't sweat it.
I know this from experience; I have Spastic Paraparesis that affects my muscles. It's kind of the opposite of your kid; I have too much muscle tone, and I can't really regulate it. I personally find it really uncomfortable to drink from a regular cup without a straw - it feels like too much liquid gets in my throat once, and I start to sputter on it. As a consequence, I have amassed quite the collection of commuter travel coffee mugs with lids on them; they function as an adult Sippy Cup, and I find them perfect. I use them even at home for about 95% of my liquid drinking needs.
posted by spinifex23 at 6:56 PM on June 7, 2020
If he's having muscle tone issues, then he may find sippy cups difficult and frustrating to drink from, and thus will reject them. If he's getting enough liquids from bottles, I wouldn't sweat it.
I know this from experience; I have Spastic Paraparesis that affects my muscles. It's kind of the opposite of your kid; I have too much muscle tone, and I can't really regulate it. I personally find it really uncomfortable to drink from a regular cup without a straw - it feels like too much liquid gets in my throat once, and I start to sputter on it. As a consequence, I have amassed quite the collection of commuter travel coffee mugs with lids on them; they function as an adult Sippy Cup, and I find them perfect. I use them even at home for about 95% of my liquid drinking needs.
posted by spinifex23 at 6:56 PM on June 7, 2020
While my child wasn't resistant to the sippy cup per se, it did take her a while to figure out "drinking" as a concept. We had some success in the early transition phase with a silicon lid thing that you can put on virtually any vessel. If there is a cup or even bottle that he is somewhat interested in, this might be a way to "bridge" that interest into drinking from it. Though, I will say, these are not a great long term solution as they tear really easily (to my extreme annoyance). But possibly it's another avenue just to get him over the hump, so to speak.
posted by Mrs. Rattery at 8:46 AM on June 8, 2020
posted by Mrs. Rattery at 8:46 AM on June 8, 2020
I think ypu should proceed with a tiny amount of fluid in a regular cup and also hes old enough for "discipline" if he throws it. You can tell him "no no!" And make an unhappy face, then clean up the spill and cup while not giving him attention. He'll probably catch on that if he wants attention, then he shouldnt throw his cups. The other factor for this to work is that drinking is completely optional. If he doesnt want to drink, that is fine, but he cannot throw the cup.
This is the basic strategy i used when my daughter was throwing plates of food she didnt want. I think it took about a month and a half before she was comfortable to allow the plate of food to stay in front of her when she was done picking what she wanted from it.
posted by WeekendJen at 11:46 PM on June 8, 2020
This is the basic strategy i used when my daughter was throwing plates of food she didnt want. I think it took about a month and a half before she was comfortable to allow the plate of food to stay in front of her when she was done picking what she wanted from it.
posted by WeekendJen at 11:46 PM on June 8, 2020
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I'm a mother of three and grandmother of five. They're all different, stopped wanting bottle and/or breast at varying ages, from nine months to almost 3 years old.
posted by mareli at 9:59 AM on June 7, 2020 [8 favorites]