Getting your child to transition from a bottle to a sippy cup, or cup of any kind can be a difficult undertaking. The following are five tips to help:
Tip one: When you introduce your child to juice, put it in a cup, not a bottle. As most children come to prefer juice to milk or formula, they will quickly learn to give up their bottles in order to get something they enjoy more. This often makes the transition far easier, and it can also help eliminate some problems like juice bottles at bed that rot away teeth, etc.
Tip two: Find a cup they like. It can be very difficult to get a child to transition from a bottle to cup if they do not like the cup, have trouble getting liquid out of it, or find it uncomfortable for their mouth. Not all cups are created equally, especially in the world of sippy cups. So, find one that they like, that does not smash their nose, or make it too difficult to extract their drink. While it is great to have the non-spill devices, sometimes it makes it difficult for the child to get their drink out of their cup. Try taking those out and see if it is easier, then replace them once your child gets the hang of it. If it is too difficult, uncomfortable, or foreign they may not be open to trying it, which makes the transition nearly impossible.
Tip three: Make sure they are physically ready. While there are some suggestions that say to introduce cups at about a year, and get your child off a bottle, if your child is not ready, the process will be difficult. A bottle often provides more for a child than nourishment, often it also provides a sense of security. Many babies get a lot of comfort in sucking, and to remove that comfort without adding something new can be difficult for a child, which is why the transition is hard. So, do not try to transition your child from a bottle to cup until they have slowed their need to suck, and can find comfort in other things, like a blanket, stuffed animal, etc.
Tip four: Make it fun. One great way to help make the transition from bottle to cup easier is to make it fun for the child. Let them pick out their cups, let them write their name on it, or draw on it. Let them pack the bottles away. Give them rewards for when they use a cup successfully. The more exciting you make it for them, the easier the transition will be. Praise them when they use a cup. Encourage it. Offer incentive to get them to do it.
Tip five: Mimicking. One great way to make the transition easier is if your child sees you drinking from the same cups you want them to drink from. If your child does not want a sippy cup, or is clinging to a bottle too much, try letting them see you take a few swigs from a cup that is the same as what you want them to be using. This can be a cup for adults, or a sippy cup. If they see you using it, they will want to more as children mimic what they see their parents do.
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