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sippy cups and bottle weaning
I took T off formula over a week ago and we stopped bottles all together. Just not sure if it was the right thing to do. She likes whole milk, and she'll take it, but I'm having a hard time getting 24 oz into her with the sippy cup. We may go back to an 8oz bottle in the am before daycare...she seems to be getting about 15 oz at daycare in the sippy cup.
at home though, I just cannot get her to drink. I have no idea what it is. We are using munchkin brand sippies with the handles. she mostly just throws them on the floor at home. I have two of the munchkin ones with the straws...but the straws are so hard to drink out of. I have a hard time sucking out the liquid so I can imagine how much of a hard time she has.
so...recommend your sippy cup with a straw. and second, should we go back to a bottle a day? if so, when do you actually wean from the bottle? FWIW, it seems like she's drinking less all together...like she won't take a full 4 oz of juice from the cup either recently.
Re: sippy cups and bottle weaning
Since it's been a while since we had bottles, the details are a bit fuzzy in my mind, but I know we didn't quit bottles cold turkey. Helen took a morning bottle and an evening bottle for a few months past her first birthday. At some point we switched to an evening sippy cup, then a morning sippy cup, and then we stopped giving her milk at bedtime altogether.
Try the Take-and-Toss brand sippy cups. They don't have a valve so it's easier to get the liquid out. Helen did much better with those in the beginning while she was getting used to cup drinking. Another option is to just not install the valve in the cups you already have.
Same idea with the straws -- Helen didn't get valve ones at first. It was easier for her to start with a regular straw in a cup (we saved some of the plastic kiddie cups with lids from dining out). After she was good with those, then we gave her ones with valves.
I wouldn't go back to a bottle if you've already weaned her from it. We weaned from a bottle completely at a year. I think the guideline for whole milk for a one year old is 16-24 oz, so don't worry if she's not drinking a full 24 ounces of milk a day. I know Marcus does not drink that much, but he eats yogurt and cheese, so I think he gets plenty of dairy and fat. We always had these for straw cups, they are the munchkin ones, and he never seemed to have a hard time with them:
http://www.amazon.com/Munchkin-Mighty-Straw-2-Pack-Colors/dp/B001QXCF0S/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1304291023&sr=8-2
Maybe get her practicing with a regular straw or a take and toss with a straw to get her used to it? Has she been doing a sippy cup for a while now or is it a new thing since weaning?
I agree with not going back to bottles. We weaned to them gradually, but Eli didn't drink much at first when he was using just cups. I read somewhere that going back to bottles can teach them to hold out for bottles, but if you stick with cups they will eventually figure it out. These are the cups that worked best for him at first.
I remember having a hard time letting go of worrying about him getting a certain number of oz, but once they are eating lots of solid foods and eating dairy products you really don't need to. Eli gets milk with all meals and snacks and has water available throughout the day. Some days he drinks a lot of milk, other days he drinks a lot of water and some days he doesn't drink much at all.
Meg, we have those same cups and they are the ones that are hard. We took a small knife and cleaned out the little valve inside the straw...it seemed to help but when I gave it to her, she just bit the straw.
She does awesome at restaurants so we might just have to start taking those home. She knows how to drink and get the liquid (thanks Jackie!!) and she loves to drink from a cup like adults do...then she makes a huge mess. We started with a sippy at 6 months so its not new and she definitely knows how to use it and get the liquid out. hmmm...wondering if we just offer it to her in a small plastic glass and hold it for her? thoughts?
She LOVES yogurt but she isn't a huge cheese fan. Any suggestions on what kind of cheese to try her on? I have given her feta before (hannaford crumbles and they were pasturized yada yada) and I think she seemed ok but she doesn't go for it. I know we'd wait on a sharp cheddar or something like that.
Jackie, I tried to switch the straws out tonight (thinking I was totally brilliant! lol) but they spilled everywhere. PITA so I stuck the other straws back in.
I've told daycare to offer a full cup of whole milk with both meals and water or juice with snacks and throughout the day. When we get home around 5, I usually offer a snack and water. DCP says she is getting the 10-15 there.
It's so hard. I've never felt like I've grasped how to feed her (issues with BF, then formula and how much, then going to solids, and now off of formula) and when I do figure it out, it changes! She doesn't seem to miss her bottles at all. When we ran out of formula, I washed the bottles and packed them away. I just want to make sure she has good nutrition. Maybe secretly it's also that I don't want her to have the weight issues I've had my whole life.
Thanks ladies! you make me feel better! I think I'll get some take n toss ones tomorrow when I go to Hannaford.
We got this recommendation from our pediatrician also - she said she sees too many kids that drink too much milk, replacing calories and nutrients that should be coming from other foods now.
We had lots of issues figuring out which cup to use. We realized that Ben didn't like regular sippy cups because they pressed against his nose when he was drinking. He has done the best with straw cups, but did well with this one too. It is easier to drink from than most of the traditional cups.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Safe-Sippy-Cup-Blue/dp/B004HKIIFS/ref=sr_1_5?s=baby-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1304299104&sr=1-5
MJ isn't getting near 24 oz a day -- he gets a 5 oz bottle at naptime, an 8 oz ish at bedtime, and maybe a little with dinner. Our Dr. said up to 24 oz, and he likes water so we split. I was convinced for a few months that he would never get the sippy cups, but then learned I was using the wrong kinds. We had success with the munchkin straw ones that Meg used, though he tends to suck air with straws, and I also use the cup Jess mentioned with success... but hands down our favorite (we now have 3) is the Nuk training cup, seen here (can't get the link to work...)
http://www.amazon.com/NUK-Learner-Latex-Single-Colors/dp/B002UXQRKW/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1304332485&sr=8-2
MJ isn't getting near 24 oz a day -- he gets a 5 oz bottle at naptime, an 8 oz ish at bedtime, and maybe a little with dinner. Our Dr. said up to 24 oz, and he likes water so we split. I was convinced for a few months that he would never get the sippy cups, but then learned I was using the wrong kinds. We had success with the munchkin straw ones that Meg used, though he tends to suck air with straws, and I also use the cup Jess mentioned with success... but hands down our favorite (we now have 3) is the Nuk training cup, seen here (can't get the link to work...)
http://www.amazon.com/NUK-Learner-Latex-Single-Colors/dp/B002UXQRKW/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1304332485&sr=8-2
I second the Take N Toss cups, and I know several moms for whom these were the only cups that worked. They're less messy than valve-free sippy cups, but easier to use than sippies with the valves in. Even better, they're only about $4 or $5 for a whole pack of them.