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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Original poster

Getting my B/F 10 MO to drink from a cup

13 replies

5DollarShake · 02/06/2011 19:58

i've decided to forego the battle of getting DD take a bottle and will breastfeed her until 1, at which point I will start to introduce cow's milk in a cup.

In readiness for this, I offer her a cup of water at every meal, but she is only interested in banging it about and pouring it on herself; not in drinking from it. Even when I hold it up for her, 9 times out of 10 she refuses it.

I'm guessing she's just not tempted by what's in the cup, i.e. water - but I'm really loathe to put juice in it, even watered-down juice.

On the other hand, I need her to learn how to use a cup. Any ideas or suggestions? :)

OP posts:
Clairencharlie · 02/06/2011 20:02

How about putting some breastmilk in it...?

Did she choose the cup herself? A shopping trip to pick one out may help.

eastmidlandsnightnanny · 02/06/2011 20:19

my 9mth old took the beaker at 5mths with water just sip when i tipped it up and then refused it for ages - always refused a bottle anyway.

however few weeks ago we started trying every day and leaving him to play with it and he would take a few sips actually sucking on it and now he lifts it to his mouth himself which is much better as he started with a childminder this week - he does only have water in it as I breastfeed at 7am, 4.45pm and 7pm and will do this for as long as needed.

Make sure its a free flow beaker - i know messy if they are chucking it around but the ones with valves in are very hard to suck and get anything out.

Pedallleur · 02/06/2011 20:40

We didn't have any problems introducing an open (diody) cup at 6 months with food. To begin with of course a lot gets spilled, but you need to have a hand ready to catch the cup! It does get better though with practice. Offering dry food like toast or a water biscuit, or more recently, a popadom, seems to make LO actually want to drink quite a lot. She'll make a face and stick a dry cakey tongue out when she needs some water to wash the food down, then will happily glug lots. I've started offering water as soon as she wakes from a nap, before I offer her a snack, as well some water with it, and also offering water alone on hot days when I'm drinking more myself, and she usually drinks some. She rarely drinks any water with fruit, but that's understandable as it's pretty watery anyway. I think they have to learn that water quenches thirst and they don't really know they are thirsty to start with either, so that has to be learned too - that's why I think offering dry food, associated with a drink of water to help it go down, worked for us.

Pedallleur · 02/06/2011 20:45

Oh, forgot to say, our LO at 8.5 months has also drunk soup (vegetables were removed and placed on her highchair tray separately), meat juices from a beef stew, and lassi (Indian yogurt and water drink) from her doidy cup! Maybe these might be more tempting for your LO?

MoonFaceMamaaaaargh · 02/06/2011 20:54

second an open cup and letting them play with it. Yes both, yes can be messy. Just put a wee bit of water in to play with. You can top it up. We used a doidy but you can just take the lid of a tt one.

Seona1973 · 02/06/2011 21:03

if she is still being breastfed then offering a drink of cows milk from the cup just now shouldnt be an issue. Why not try cows milk and see if she prefers that.

Coldcuppacoffee · 02/06/2011 21:12

Keep at it! (and you don't need juice)
We went through loads of different kids of cups, especially making the most of the hotter weather last year to be a bit braver outside.
We "cheers" a lot to get the ball rolling and now that DS can express a preference for his cups (he's 18m) we let him choose which one.

He also surprised me at 7 or 8 months (i forget) about how good he was with a straw, so that could be an option.
We put a jug on the table at mealtimes and all drink out of the same size glass and don't fill them. We go through a bit of a drama asking everyone if they would like more drink and regularly refill. He's getting the idea and it's pretty tidy about it too.

Good luck.

smallpotato · 02/06/2011 21:25

What type of cup is it? Some of them they really have to suck, to begin with a free-flow one like the tommee tippee ones is easier.

Alternatively, my DD2 loves drinking out of her sister's water bottle, it's a kids one with a sports-cap iyswim. Worth a shot?

smallpotato · 02/06/2011 21:25

What type of cup is it? Some of them they really have to suck, to begin with a free-flow one like the tommee tippee ones is easier.

Alternatively, my DD2 loves drinking out of her sister's water bottle, it's a kids one with a sports-cap iyswim. Worth a shot?

Original poster
5DollarShake · 02/06/2011 21:29

Thanks all - some really helpful suggestions.

I was actually coming back on to say feel free to tell me I'm being PFB (or PSB) about the juice, but actually all of these other suggestions are good. :) I'll def try cow's milk, since she has it with her cereal anyway.

I never had any bother with DS taking a cup, so this is a bit new.

OP posts:
Original poster
5DollarShake · 02/06/2011 21:31

It's just a free-flowing TT sippy-cup. I'm also going to try a few others, as well as one without a lid.

Yep, DS loves drinking out of sports bottles - will try that too.

Thanks!

OP posts:
negrilbaby · 02/06/2011 22:07

I've just found that my DD (11 months) much prefers warm water in her beaker. She drinks a lot more than when the water is cold.

candleduck · 03/06/2011 09:41

Going to hijack if that's ok... DD (10m) will take water from a cup but not EBM or formula (haven't yet tried cows' milk). Am keen to be able to cut down on breastfeeding during the day at least but obviously can't until I can get her to drink milk from a cup (she won't take a bottle either - never has done). Any ideas?

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