Sippy cup or bottle ?

Question

I am currently nursing my 10.5 month old son, and am thinking about giving him some whole milk in the near future and am trying to do some reading up on it, and would like some advise from people who have done the switch from breast to whole milk. Did you use a sippy cup ? and was this just given at meal time or a sippy cup used as a whole feed (before nap, or bedtime)
If you used a bottle, how/when did you loose the bottle ?

My son does drink from a bottle only once a day already, but if it's a hard habit to break, don't really want to go down that road...ANd he does know how to drink from a sippy cup as well. THANKS !

This is my son's approx eating schedule :
830-900 nurse
930-1000 cereal
100 nurse
200-230 meat dinner and fruit
500 nurse or formula bottle
630 cereal, veggies, fruit
830-900 nurse before bed

Answer 1

Since he is already able to drink from a sippy cup, I would go with that. My Dr. told me to take them off of the bottle at 12 months, luckily they weren't hard to break, I just took away the bottle and gave them a sippy cup. I told them that we didn't have bottles any more and they were ok with that. It wasn't a big struggle for me. When switching to whole milk you may want to add some white corn syrup to the cup just to help with the prevention of constipation. It worked really well for my kids. Good Luck with everything!

Answer 2

Do not introduce cow's milk until at least 12 months old - this is what the american pediatrics recommend.

As far a sippy cup, you can start now. You'll have to experiment with different sippy cups, as some are better for transitions then others. I wrote an article about this - here http://www.minti.com/parenting-advice/627/Sippy-Cups-When-Which-ones/?highlight=sippy+cups

The first few weeks will be about experimenting what kind of sippy cups works for you and your baby. Once he gets used to it, you can use the sippy cup for everything - at nap times, bedtimes, meal times.

But since you say that your son is already good with sippy cups, put away the bottles. It's so much easier to clean sippy cups than bottles!

Answer 3

Your son will let you know when he is ready to be weaned from the breast. Whole milk should never be introduced into your baby's diet until after the age of 1 year. I breastfed my three sons, and each one was different in their needs. My first son never did take much to the breast, so he turned into a bottle baby and weaned off the bottle at about 14 months old.

My second son was weaned to the bottle and cup at 9 months mainly because I found out I was pregnant again and was having too much pain when breastfeeding. He came off the bottle completely at about 1 year old.

My third son became indifferent to the breast almost exactly at one year. His intentional CHOMP that last time was my wakeup call that he just was not interested anymore. He was already drinking apple juice from a sippy cup by then.

I have had friends that breastfed their children way into their toddler stage, so it really is up to the baby and you when to wean.

Answer 4

Pediatricians recommend ditching the bottle at age one, but the average age is several months later. Still, the closer to one, the better - they only get more stubborn as they enter the toddler years. Put the good stuff in the sippy and just water in the bottle. Age one is also the age to switch to whole milk.

We used a sippy with milk or occasionally juice at meal/snack time, but only water at bed or naptime. Sippy cups vary a lot in how easy/comfortable it is to get the fluid out. I actually tried a couple myself and found the spout large & uncomfortable.

Gerber makes a two-handled training cup that has a flexible rubber spout instead of a hard plastic one.

Answer 5

I used soft nipple sippy cups at 12 months, they are Nuby brand.. they are closest to a bottle.. that got him accustomed to sippy cups, then as he became used to them, I switched him to normal sippy cups. Playtex was the best brand I found for leakage :) I gave him whole milk with every meal (we were told he should have no more than 16 oz a day), and then stopped at about 8pm.. (an hour before bedtime) so that we would reduce the nighttime cravings for milk. He is almost two, and his pediatrition is having us switch to 2%. good luck!

Answer 6

whole mike should be given to a baby only once the baby is one years old, at age 2 you can then change to 2% or 1%.You can give whole milk with there meals.

If your baby is already on a sippy cup stick with that you can give him his formula in a sippy cup (it is hard for babies to give up the bottle).For the breast feeding your baby will show signs when he wont want to breast feed anymore.the longer you breast feed the better it is for your child.

I breast Fed both my son until they decided they didn't want to anymore around age 2. they started to have water and deluded apple juice in a sippy cup around 6 1/2 months old.They never had a bottle.

wish you luck!! with what you decide.

Answer 7

My doc said it was ok at one year old to switch cold turkey to whole milk (at 2 yrs old I believe it is 2% milk) or use up your formula or frozen breastmilk by mixing them to gradually switch. The ped also said to definitely go to a sippy instead of bottle by a year because of the teeth. Mine is a year old and we are in the process of switching. I started by offering it once a day for my sanity. After a week I offer it at every meal, though sometimes I end up dumping into a bottle when I get frustrated. Both she and I are getting better with it.

Answer 8

By the time my daughter was a year old she was drinking from a cup with a lid and straw. Your son is almost a year. Try using a cup with lid and straw. It makes everything more easy once the baby can drink from a straw. Anytime we go to resturants my daughter drinks milk from a cup with a lid and straw. No sippy cups to carry.

Answer 9

He is old enough where you can just skip the bottle. You should break the bottle habit between 12 and 15 months so why give yourself the burden. Talk to the pediatrician before giving your son whole milk.

Answer 10

I skipped the bottle completely with all three of my kids. They went right on to the sippy cup. It was alot easier on them and us in the long run.