Refuses bottle and cup- help please!

rosy003

LO refuses to drink out of anything but ME. We have tried the bottle every few weeks since he was born ( he's 11 months old now) but he always refused. Now that we're approaching the one year mark I am so over breastfeeding and I need him to drink out of something, anything, other than me. He's our third child and we never had this issue with the other two. How can I teach him to drink from a cup? He hates every sippy cup we've tried. I feel so frustrated and chained down bc of this. Any suggestions are much appreciated!

lj3jones

we got our son drinking water out of one of the soft nipple sippy cups. basically when they chomp down on the nipple, they get the water. It took about a month of him playing with the cup before he really started drinking from it. After he had that mastered, we switched to the regular sippy without any trouble.

Have you tried a straw cup? or maybe a bit of diluted juice?

RBXChas

My BF baby didn't like anything, either. When we tried stuff out, he did better with straw cups than with sippy cups, so I focused on that. One day we were in Target, and I saw these cups way down just above the floor, below the displays of sippy and straw cups in the baby section (make sure it's Munchkin, because there were similar ones down there that were not that both of my sons hated):

http://m.target.com/p/munchkin-8oz-owl-sippy-cup/-/A-14557225

At $2.69 when most cups are $5+, I figured what the hey and bought it. I take the handles off, but I don't know if it's the small size, the short straw, or the soft straw, but he didn't hate it. I found the cups (in an Elmo version) on Amazon and wrote a review, the relevant portion of which is below:

"Pros:

-The soft straw is gentle on my baby's mouth.

-He can put the whole soft straw in his mouth and his lips are pushed against the round top, which I guess isn't totally unlike breastfeeding as far as shape.

-He doesn't need to suck super hard for the straw to work (unlike some other straw cups I have where even I have trouble getting liquid from them).

-The handles are removable (I prefer to ditch the handles).

-It comes apart and reassembles easily, making cleaning it a pretty simple task (no impossible nooks, no special brushes/cleaning tools needed).

Cons:

-I have to unscrew the top any time my baby isn't actively drinking from it. When it holds cold milk and is sitting at room temperature (we keep the air conditioning at 74 degrees), pressure builds up in the cup and, within a minute or two, milk comes up the straw and spills out onto the table. Only unscrewing the lid, even just a little, releases the pressure, but I unscrew it all the way so that I don't give my baby a cup that's just slightly unscrewed. (I only had to pay the price for that mistake once.)

-I need to release the pressure in the straw between sucks. All I have to do is pinch the top of the straw, which releases the little valve, then let him continue drinking. Sometimes my baby is determined enough to drink that it's not an issue, but most times I have to do it. It's a minor inconvenience.

-It's not spill-proof, not that I expected it to be. It's pretty sturdy and has survived lots of drops onto the wood floor, but if it is held upside-down and pressure is put on the straw, the little valve at the end will allow liquid to flow out."

I've since gone back to Target and bought two more.

Because this is your third go-round, I'm sure you know how to introduce a cup, so my guess is that it's just going to take some trial and error as to what yours likes.

ETA TL;DR version - I was in the same boat and found a cheap Munchkin straw cup that did the trick. See the Target link within (it was available in-store near me at the same price).

rosy003

Thanks guys! We actually have that owl cup, I guess he just needs more practice. I've just got this desperation that's built up and I'm feeling like it's never going to happen. Maybe some sleep would help too.

RBXChas

Thanks guys! We actually have that owl cup, I guess he just needs more practice. I've just got this desperation that's built up and I'm feeling like it's never going to happen. Maybe some sleep would help too.

I had a hard time with my older son, who was FF, in getting him off bottles. I remember the desperation, and I think that didn't help me either time. He'll get there. Just keep the cup there also that he tolerates it being there, and make a big deal out of it when he drinks from it

Edited for typo

RBXChas

One other thing I read when I had this issue this time (because at least my FF older son took a bottle) was to find the Playtex bottles (drop-ins) with the brown latex nipple (not the clear silicone ones). I only hesitated (1) because I didn't want to get him on bottles only to have to get him right off them (though I was desperate to get him drinking from anything besides me and probably would have dealt with that if I could have found them) and (2) because neither my closest supermarket nor Target carried them, plus I didn't feel like ordering them from Amazon (I can't remember if I found them there or not).

arainiday1

have you tried a straw? sometimes they prefer straw cups. My now 4 year old NEVER took bottles but eventually we got her to take a sippy with a soft spout. i just kept trying different cups and eventually she liked one.