Damn sippy cups?

Question

For the past year my son has gone to bed with a cup and I was wondering if anyone knew how I can break him of that habit. He's only 2 and very stubborn. Any ideas will help.

I put milk in his cup

I should clerify that my son is only 2 and there is no explaining to him what big boys do and have him understand what I'm saying. He also sleeps on a twin size bed already.

Answer 1

I'd probably just go cold turkey. You're right, there's no sense trying to explain that to a 2 yr old. Just tell him, "now we drink it before bed, and tell it nite nite" or something to that nature. He'll cry for a few nites I'm sure, but it will probably be history in a week.

Answer 2

Not too sure if this will work for his age, but here it goes.

My sister had trouble getting my niece off of the bottle when she was 3, so she rubbed the nipple in a muddy pebble mixture from outside one day without my niece knowing, and then when my niece wanted the bottle, they looked at it and my sister announced that it was bugs and ants all over it and could not be cleaned all the way. This really grossed out my niece so she started using a sippy cup.

Maybe you could use the same idea, but I'm not sure if he would even understand any of that yet. You could get him to use a cup with a straw now instead of the sippy cups, maybe you could say that the dishwasher melted them or maybe he could see another child using a cup with a straw and it would build curiosity. Then, when he is learning to sip the straw, you can tell him that he has to be sitting upright to drink from it, so it won't ever be practical in his bed.

Bottom line, if you don't give in to him, and just don't let him take a cup to bed, he'll get the picture after a few days. He may cry or whimper the first night, but it won't last. My daughter stopped using a bottle when she was 5 months old and started sippy cups, but I never let her drink in her crib or bed. It may be a few crazy nights you'll have to get through (not too much sleep even), but if you stick to your guns, he'll soon learn who is the boss.

Good luck, my daughter is very stubborn too, 22 months old and already believes that she has control of everything around her.

Answer 3

I weaned my son off of his cup at 2 years old, also. I first switched from milk to water, because just the idea of milk sitting around warm all night just isn't healthy. Then I started explaining to him that he was a big boy, and it was time to do big boy things, and if he wanted to be a big boy and get to do more then he should probably not sleep with a sippy cup because that was for babies. I told him that if he could sleep without his sippy cup for a little while then we would move him to a big boy bed (he had a toddler, we got him a twin.) It worked for him! If the big boy bed doesn't work try anything else correlated with "big boys."

Answer 4

He is still a baby, let him have the cup. Trying to stop him from taking it to bed will only make him want to have more. As long as he is going to bed with water, it is not a problem. My two year old goes to bed with milk (he won't drink anything else) and I take it as soon as he falls asleep. They will soon stop, about the time he switches to regular cups full time. I have not had any take a cup to bed after their third birthday, they stopped on their own. Don't mention the cup, try putting him to bed without one and give it only when he asks. It helps if the cup has been "out of sight, out of mind" for an hour or so before bed.

Answer 5

ohhh you better stop now....well my daughter just turned four and I took the sippy cup away at all times excluding travel. Before her birthday I explained everything to her, an told her that she needed to become a big girl now. She was not happy, but ALL well.

Now at night she gets a small glass of water by her bed.

She drinks less because it is inconvient to wake all the way up tp hold a cup and water tastes no where near as good as milk or juice.

She is stubborn to, and if I just tried to take the cup away at night she was mad and would say I was mean. So the cup of water works because she still has a drink there...technically.

Answer 6

We made the same mistake with our oldest three children. We found that breaking them of the habit when they moved into their "big kid" beds helped. We talked about it for a while before making the transition, how sippy cups aren't allowed in big beds. Then a gentle, yet firm and matter-of-fact, reminder when they asked for their cups the first night or two. We haven't fallen into that habit with our youngest who's now two. But she's the thumbsucker of the family so I'll be looking for advice when it's time to break her of that bad habit.

Answer 7

Well, you probably should never have started putting him to bed with a cup in the first place. My daughter gets her cup of milk before we put her up to bed.

As for breaking the habit, I'd have to agree with the people who've suggested just taking it away. He'll throw a fit for the first couple days, but he'll get over it.

Other things you could try would be convincing him that it's for babies or that there's another little boy who needs it more than him and you're going to give it to them. Something along those lines has worked in the past for friends of mine.

Answer 8

Ok..all my kids have at one time had this same habit. I started off by explaining that since they are older they no longer need milk in theri sippies...so I'd get him all ready for bed then take him to the kithcen, give him a big boy cup of milk and cuddle with him while he drank it. Then I'd still give him the sippy, but with only water in it.. And of course in the morning as soon as he'd wake up he'd get one with milk in it. It always took 2 to 3 nights to get the message across, but for my kids..the milk was the draw of wanting the sippy at night..not the actual cup. Even though they'd cry for their cups...So by not takin the cup away and just replacing the milk with water then I wasn't taking away the beloved sippy...worked for me.

Answer 9

I give my four year old a sippy cup only at bedtime big girl cups any other time. Only so she doesn't spill and in case she gets thirsty in the middle of the night she doesn't have to get up and wake me up to get her water. I only give her water at night nothing else. I've been doing this for quite some time now. Sorry I didn't help to answer your question very well but Good Luck!!!

Answer 10

my son is 5 yrs old and he still goes to bed with a cup. and of course it is a spill proof (sippy cup) cup.he wakes up a lot in the night and takes a drink and puts the cup back on his bedside table. i don't think that there is anything wrong with a child having a drink at bed time. i go to bed with a glass of water or tea at my bedside...what is the difference?

Answer 11

You didn't say what you put in the cup...try just giving him plain water for a few days, then tell him he has to get a drink before he goes to his room, and then he has to go to bed. That is how I got my boys to give it up. He might throw a fit the first couple times, but he will get over it!!