Weaning from bottle to sippy cup? Is your infant ready for this transition?

Generally, between the ages of ten months to one year, infants are ready to transition (wean) from a bottle to a sippy cup. This takes time and some patience to finally succeed. It works even better if your child care provider is willing to be consistent with the transitioning in child care as well. I find it best to gradually introduce the sippy cup during certain times of the day as a weaning process with the goal of slowly moving from a bottle to a sippy cup. Infants tend to get attached to the bottle and prefer the bottle over the sippy cup. So I suggest picking a time

of the day when you think your baby would be more willing to try the cup. Typically, during lunch time, tends to be the meal time that I find easy to start the introduction. Once he gets accustomed to drinking the sippy cup during a certain time of the day, then it’s time to introduce the cup during another meal time like breakfast, dinner or snack time. Eventually, they will be using the sippy cup for all meals. The toughest time to wean from a bottle to a sippy cup is usually that last bottle before bedtime. However, if you are consistent, just like the other times of the day, he will eventually get accustomed to the change. At this point of transitioning, it might help to hide bottles from his sight or store them away.

Juice can be given at around this age as well. Your Pediatrician would know best for when he is ready to drink fruit juice. However, I suggest using water at first to avoid messy clean-ups. When serving juice (100% fruit juice) dilute it with half juice and half water. Too much juice adds extra calories without the nutrition of breast milk or formula. Drinking too much juice can contribute to excessive weight gain, tooth decay, and diarrhea.

I suggest using sippy cups that have a stopper inside with side handles to prevent spills and stains on your floor. I find Playtex sells cups that work great for first timers. When first introducing the cup, it usually ends up on the floor, as again this is a time of exploring with something new. Until he is drinking more regularly in a cup, it’s also a good idea to start with water or diluted juice (half water/half juice). I suggest put the cup on the highchair tray with the finger foods to give him a chance to try it out. Sometimes, during the meal, you can offer the cup to him to see if he will grab for it or to see if he will be willing to drink from it. Remember, this takes time and some patience to finally succeed.

Hope you find this helpful,

*Iva

For more articles on feeding read:

Weaning from lap to highchair

Spoon Feeding a Wiggly Infant

Transition from highchair to table

Finger Foods to Feed Toddlers

Picky Eaters