To expect my three-year-old to drink milk from an open cup?

[UpToMyElbowsInDiapers]

DD3 typically drinks ~500mL milk per day, from a beloved sippy cup with a monkey on it. She likes to drink it lying on the sofa when she wakes up in the morning and during afternoon quiet time.

However, she has been biting through the silicone tips of the cup, fiercely. We’ve replaced the tips numerous times, but now that she’s 3+ years old and drinks water very competently from an open cup, we believe she’s old enough to drink milk from a cup too.

8 days ago, I showed her the broken tip of her sippy cup and said “oh no, the cup is broken. Milk will spill out now. I guess we need to say bye-bye to this sippy cup.” She told me I could buy another one (?!!) and I told her I don’t think so, it’s several years old, I’m not sure where to find another, plus she’s a big girl now and can drink her milk from a big girl cup.

No drama, no tears, no arguing... she simply hasn’t drunk milk since.

I’ve offered a couple of times a day, with meals or when she asks for water, but I’m always met with a straightforward no. I’ve offered it with a fun twisty straw, nope.

I’m a bit concerned that she is too young to have given up on milk. I’m giving her yoghurt, sour cream and cheese with some meals to try to keep up the calcium content but I don’t think they are ideal substitutes.

What else can I try? Do I just wait this out? I expected a 3-day transition period, not 8 days and counting! Do I need to bite the bullet and give in to the sippy cup again?

AIBU to expect my 3-year-old to drink milk from a cup?

Is it not possible to use the cup without the lid?

At that age they need the equivalent of 300/350mls of milk. You could get that from milk in cereal, yoghurt, cheese, etc.

Make her a hot chocolate

Milkshake?

Ok it’s helpful to know that 300mL is our target. I tried hot chocolate one day and she didn’t drink it but it’s a good idea to try again. Thanks!

DS is two in December he has an open cup now, the only danger being that he'll suddenly throw it when he's 'finished' , he didn't really do this with milk though, never leaves a drop, but does sometimes with water. At three she's old enough to know it's broken and it's not coming back, 300ml is easily achievable through cheese/cereal/yogurt etc, 500ml plus meals seems a lot for a 3 year old, maybe she didn't really want the milk but the cup was like a comforter

Stick some whipped cream and marshmallows on it next time

Porridge for breakfast will get you halfway there

She has been using the bottle for comfort. I know a cup with silicone lid but that’s same as a teat. She doesn’t need to drink large amounts of milk now as she is fully weaned.
Keep offering drinks of milk , maybe mid morning or afternoon snack time. Maybe offer a paper straw , children tend to drink more with a straw. But don’t stress. Offer other calcium foods, dairy, fish etc
Give her something nice to cuddle for her quiet time , maybe one of those toys you warm in the microwave. She has done really well to drop her comforter with no fuss.

What about taking her to choose a new cup, as a milk cup? (Somewhere sippy cups are not an option!)

It's a perfectly normal age not to have milk

DS only has a tiny cup before bed and he is 2

You just make sure they have plenty of other dairy products

I think it is more of a comfort thing. My dd had a cow patterned sippy cup with silicone spout and I did the same as you when she cheweda hole in it. She stopped drinking milk when we switched to an open cup.
She is eight now and rarely drinks milk. I think it was the comfort of sucking rather than drinking the milk that she liked.
She eats plenty of cheese and is very healthy so it didn't do her any harm.

If it's a comfort thing, then let her sit on your lap whilst she drinks it.

Mine was very stubborn when we finally took away the bottle. She just refused to drink milk for about 3 months and then happily drunk it normally out of a cup. I think there must be a comfort thing for a lot of children.

That’s a hell of a lot of milk, I’m presuming it was a comfort thing with the sippy cup and not a need for milk.
I don’t think mine regularly had much milk at all after about 2.5 as a drink but plenty of cheese, yoghurt etc. I wouldn’t worry at all about not drinking a huge volume of milk/any at this stage as long as they have a good diet otherwise.

It's fine OP. My DS1 wasn't keen on milk and after I stopped breastfeeding he never drank much from a cup. As other posters have said, cheese / yoghurt / milk on cereal are all good sources of calcium.

Mine dropped milk as a drink as soon as it was only offered in a regular cup, not a bottle or sippy. They eat cheese, yogurt and other dairy foods and sometimes have milk with cereal for breakfast. I don’t think it’s a big deal and I certainly wouldn’t give a sugar/sweetener laden hot chocolate as a regular alternative.

Open cups are overrated. We’ve got a cat that targets every open cup she can find . It’s just easier to use reusable bottles for our water and travel type mugs for hot beverages. So here we are, no toddlers in sight, all essentially using sippy cups all day.

My daughter hasn’t drink milk since we ditched the bottles (so around 12 to 14 months) - she’s only taken water - she refused all else - no juice no milk no cordial nothing - only water - so we got super creative with calcium from other sources - natural yoghurt with puréed fruit was our friend for a long long time, and for a while I tried vanilla essence in milk which she didn’t reject but only ever drank a bit (but it might work for you)

It might be the sucking action of the soppy cup spout so keep trying the straws ... also there is now a cool cup that flashes when it’s time to drink (I’ll try to find link and post) and that might be a creative way to encourage her

Oh and we did have success with almond milk and pea milk

Take the top off and tell her she can keep it in her pocket because it's special and very old. Now her tippee baby cup has grown up into a big cup, ready for a big girl.

Flashing bottle like this

bottle

All helpful, thanks! I’m going to relax about this. Sounds like she’s probably getting enough calcium from other sources and doesn’t need 2-3 cups of milk a day. Sorted!

My son never drank milk again after I took away the sippy cup at 3.5

My DC3 hasn't had a sip of any type of milk since she stopped breastfeeding at two. Just won't even try it, not even on coco pops. She has yogurts and cheese happily plus you can get calcium from other sources. Don't worry about it.