Getting baby to drink from cup

[user7891011]

My one year old has never liked drinking from a sippy cup, weve tried a couple of different ones but we can't afford to keep buying new ones. He only has max 2 bottles a day of formula now (and in the next week we will be swapping to cows milk). I give him water from a bottle to make sure he's drinking enough, and he does drink it from that so he is thirsty! He won't go for the bottle himself though, he has to be offered it. Please has anyone wiser than me got any tips on how to make him drink from his sippy cup???!? He will have a sip but no more. Both of his cups are now mam brand (he had a third but broke a hole in it 🙄😂)
TIA

At risk of pointing out the obvious... try different cups. An open cup is probably better than a sippy cup to begin with. Obviously you have to hold it and help them, and it can still be a bit messy.

My DD is breastfed and at 8 months she loves drinking from a doidy cup. She also drinks from a normal open cup but the doidy cup is a bit easier.

www.feedinglittles.com/blog/the-ultimate-guide-to-cup-drinking

My DS was slow to drink from a cup; I used to support him to drink from it and then just leave it full close to wherever he was playing and then one day he just clicked with it like he realised that if he drank from it he wouldn’t be thirsty

We always used those Munchkin 360 ones. Mostly because sippy cups leak.

Or try with an open cup (doidy or normal) but put small amounts in so he doesn't drench himself. You can have a glass nearby to top it up when he drinks it.

My kids have always been fascinated by water bottles as well, I should think a one year old would be able to suck from one with an inbuilt straw.

If you're worried about fluid intake, I used to make lollies to get DD to drink, you can make them with straight water, squash, fruit tea etc in a mould so they're not too sugary.

There’s a mam sippy cup that is basically a bottle but with handles and a soft spout - have you tried that? That was the only one mine would drink from until she cracked a straw. She never took the 360 style cups.

Have you tried an open cup? I'd advise you to get a coverall type bib and stick to meal times at first as it can get a bit messy

(Mine will only drink from an open cup and refuses a straw or a 360 so I feel your pain)

Have you seen on amazon tiny plastic open cups that only hold 50mls or so? Cheap and good for practice without flooding the baby (or the floor) with too much water. We kept a variety of cups to hand (all pretty cheap and indestructible) so he basically chose for himself. He hated his 360 cup, but is quite happy with a free flow sippy or an open cup

You'd be surprised how quick a dc can learn to use the cups with a soft straw!!
Give one a try!

@Aprilwasverywet how did you teach it? Mine just chews the straw, or pushes it away until I take the lid off

Go for an open cup. I find teaching them to use it whilst in the bath works best. The bath is warm and the water is cold so if they spill its cold. Plus they're wet anyway.

DS is 2 and always drank more from an open cup so I used to sit with him and we’d have a ‘cup of tea’ together and he’d usually drink the full cup.

Otherwise we have a pick n mix of about 6 cups/bottles and he chooses the one he wants. He goes through phases of preferring one over another.

He still drinks more from an open cup but it’s not practical most of the time. I’ve always given him an open cup of water in the bath aswell which he fills himself from the tap and drinks too. Also helps get them used to an open cup without the mess!

DS is 2 and always drank more from an open cup so I used to sit with him and we’d have a ‘cup of tea’ together and he’d usually drink the full cup.

Otherwise we have a pick n mix of about 6 cups/bottles and he chooses the one he wants. He goes through phases of preferring one over another.

He still drinks more from an open cup but it’s not practical most of the time. I’ve always given him an open cup of water in the bath aswell which he fills himself from the tap and drinks too. Also helps get them used to an open cup without the mess!

DS is 2 and has about 10 different cups 😂 when he was younger he generally did better from an open cup if I was sitting with him. We’d have a ‘cup of tea’ together and he’d drink it all.

He still drinks more from an open cup but it’s not ideal most of the time hence the cup pick and mix

It might just be he's not that keen on drinking water. My first didn't take to any cups at that age and then one day out of the blue started using them just fine for some reason so try not to worry too much.

I always liked the tommee yippee ones that are about £2 from tesco.

You can use them as open cup or lidded. They don't leak, no fiddly parts to get funky in the dishwasher, no valves (free flow) so nice and easy to drink from.

DS is 2 and always drank more from an open cup so I used to sit with him and we’d have a ‘cup of tea’ together and he’d usually drink the full cup.

Otherwise we have a pick n mix of about 6 cups/bottles and he chooses the one he wants. He goes through phases of preferring one over another.

He still drinks more from an open cup but it’s not practical most of the time. I’ve always given him an open cup of water in the bath aswell which he fills himself from the tap and drinks too. Also helps get them used to an open cup without the mess!

I always liked the tommee yippee ones that are about £2 from tesco.

You can use them as open cup or lidded. They don't leak, no fiddly parts to get funky in the dishwasher, no valves (free flow) so nice and easy to drink from.

It might just be he's not that keen on drinking water. My first didn't take to any cups at that age and then one day out of the blue started using them just fine for some reason so try not to worry too much.