Refusing milk in cup

[AAsmummy]

Hello

I need some advice.

I am following the Gina Ford methods and we are at the 9/10 month stage.

I am trying to get my twins to take their breakfast milk from a cup, or spouted bottle.

For the last four days they have refused the milk, so I have gone straight onto their finger food and poridge, which they seem fine with.

I am happy that they are getting enough milk with their other feeds (according to the amounts GF says they should have).

They are happy drinking water from a spouted cup.

Has anyone else had this problem, if so what did you do?

Should I go back to giving their milk in a bottle or not worry about it?

AAsmummy, apparently this problem is pretty common - it seems a lot of babies don't want milk from anything except a bottle. My son is now 21 months but when I started offering him a cup instead of a bottle (sometime before he was one - can't quite remember) he flatly refused it. He will drink juice and water from a cup but not milk. In fact, he weaned himself off his bottle around 15-16 months, and ever since then he WILL NOT drink milk.... believe me, I've tried everything. So I've given up on milk for now - he will eat cereal mixed with milk, but that's it. So I've replaced the milk with yoghurt, custard, cheese and an occasional ice-cream, just to make sure he's getting enough calcium in his diet. You may find the same thing with your twins, or it may just be a matter of getting them used to drinking it from a cup. Either way, it doesn't really matter as long as they get the required amount of calcium. Good luck.

Have you tried a Doidy cup? There available from www.urchin.co.uk and are supposed to be great for weaning reluctant drinkers onto a cup. They're cleverly angled back towards the mouth.

Liamsmum and MandyD, thanks for the information. I will have a look at the Doidy cup.

Just to say I was(am!) a GF follower and had exactly the same thing happen - she happily took everything from a cup except milk - so eventualy I kept on with a bottle until I was happy to drop a given milk feed completely - she is 15 months now and still has a (small) bottle before bed. No one I have heard/read seems to seriously suggest that this is any real proablem - and as dd is allergic to dairy ( has prescription milk) I can't just give her extra cheese/yoghurt to make up for dropping feeds early.

Bayleaf, thanks. Nice to find someone else who is following GF, all my friends feel it is too rigid.

I might go back to the bottle at breakfast then, as I do feel they are a bit too young to drop that milk totally.

Bayleaf if it's any help my friend gives her two young children a calcium supplement, which I think she buys from a health food store. One of her children is lactose intolerant so he can't eat dairy products, and her other child just doesn't like milk or many other dairy products. Obviously your daughter would not need it right now as she is still having a bottle (which I think is fine!!) but maybe later on if you are concerned about her calcium intake.

Thanks Liamsmum - I'll look into it.

Ignore your friends AAsmummy - if it works as well for you as it does for us then who cares how rigid and slightly bizarre it is!!!! There are certainly lots of GF fans on mumsnet ( along with an equal number of foes!)