Beaker issues

[onilly]

I was wondering if anyone else is having issues getting their LO onto a beaker. I feel I have done all the "right" things, like introduce it slowly (at 5 months as a game, no pushing....) DD is now 8 months and whilst did show an interest and can drink from it when she wants to, cements her mouth shut at the sight of it coming, wails through clenched lips and point blank refuses and really seems to have almost forgotten how to drink from it.
I have tried the doidy cup too, and this also does not seem to get her interested. She drinks her milk fine, and enjoys her bottles....
I have tried several cups now, perhaps that is the problem... tommee tippee, avent and anyway up cup.
Anyway, would love to hear any advice. And this is just the beginning of several issues with our weaning journey! I am now off to begin "happy hour" at five (aka as dinner hell!)I am learning that I have a much deeper reserve of patience than I ever thought I had!

[ruddynorah]

maybe stop with the 'seeing it coming' IYSWIM. just have it around. are you holding it for her?

[MaeWest]

I would tend to agree with RuddyNorah - what happens if you just leave her to it. I used to just plonk the cup on DS's tray at mealtimes and leave it up to him. At 8 months she should be able to hold it herself? (DS is coming up to 16 months and I already can't remember!). And maybe trying to stick to just one cup?

Also, she will eventually drink from a cup, and will get fluid from her milk and also a lot of water in food

[MaeWest]

oooh, just capitalised you there norah, I do apologise

[LongMeg]

You know, this might not be what a lot of people would advocate but IMO some things are just not worth fighting against, particularly with a young baby. Eight months is still very little, and if she's not happy with it at the moment then I wouldn't push it - I would leave it for now, and try again in a few weeks time. A couple of months can make all the difference - particularly if you are then consistent with the type of beaker or cup you give her.

The last thing you want to start are issues over eating and drinking, because if you get yourself into a battleground it makes life very difficult. Sometimes it's better to back off for a while - for me, the way the liquid gets into a baby is far less important than the fact that it does get in.

[onilly]

thanks all... good advice....I have tried leaving it on her tray to have a drink from and she chooses not to take it, or swipes it on the floor. I offer the beaker to her at every meal and occassionally through the day. I offer her to drink from it herself - and for some time now, she is just not interested at all. She isnt even curious...

LongMeg - I hear you, and the last thing I want is a battle, but the advice I got from HV, and this seems consisent with friends/family is to persist with the beaker as introducing it later will cause more hell... also all the babies in her age range that I know seem to be managing fine with the beaker transition...

I was just wondering what I was doing wrong!

[LongMeg]

My HV told me that leaving a beaker later would create all hell as well.

She was wrong in that, as she was wrong in a lot of things.

She told me that if I hadn't introduced a beaker by six months, my dd wouldn't be able to drink from a cup until she was 3 or 4 - which was a load of cobblers. Waiting until she was over a year old didn't hurt at all, and it probably made it much less fraught as I wasn't trying to force something on her which she wasn't ready for. She had much more control over the cup because she was that bit older, which was better for us both.

HVs often assume that one size fits all - that just because one baby is happy to use a beaker at six months, they all should be. That's not the case, and I have always found it better to be led by the baby rather than by the HV - who doesn't know your baby and doesn't have to deal with the tantrums when things don't go according to plan!

If you want to persist then of course that's fine - but I just feel that there really is no need to put pressure on yourself and your baby if you don't want to.

[MaeWest]

Aw, onilly, you're not doing anything wrong. She really will get the hang of it eventually. IIRC DS didn't really start drinking from his sippy cup until about 9-10 months (even tho it had been around since 6 months). He loved drinking bathwater out of a plastic jug too, still does .

The voice of doom from the HV doesn't seem to be helping either... but then I've always been a bit about mine.

[onilly]

ok thanks - thats helped me put this into perspective... I am so lucky with everything else with DD, she sleeps well, is really quite a happy little thing and although is an erratic eater,(weaning has been hell to be honest) is getting the hang of that too, so its count your blessings I guess !

I think we will keep offering and not sweat when she is not interested !

Any other tips will be gratefully received !

[MaeWest]

See... we're rubbish with the sleeping thing here, so a bit of you there (it's that big rod for my own back that I made )

[Tommy]

I think I ought every beaker on th emarket for DS1 and was despairing that he wouldn't drink out of any of them by a year - thought I would be expelled from Mummy club or something

Try not to worry about it - I really don't believe there is a "window" and that if you miss it the poor child will drink out of a bottle for evermore.

They won't