Question:

“We’ve been trying to encourage our 18 month old daughter to use a cup at meal times but she just doesn’t seem interested.  And then no sooner does she get down from her high chair, she wants her bottle.  When will she be ready to give up the bottles?”

Answer:

If given a choice, there are some one or two year olds who would never give up their bottle :-)   after all, it’s convenient and comforting.  Drinking from a cup at 18 months is an age appropriate skill and we will assume that your daughter has the skill but prefers the bottle.

Could the question actually be “When will Dad & Mom determine that it’s time to put the bottle away and go fully to the sippy cup?” To help provide an answer to that question, one thing to keep in mind is that at this age, your toddler is receiving or should be receiving most of her nutrition from solid foods.  So, instead of formula or milk being the primary source of nutrition, make sure she has a well balanced diet, vegetables, fruits,  proteins, fats – at this age a toddler’s dairy needs include  three ½ – 1 cup servings of either milk, cheese,  yogurt. That is equivalent to 4 to 8 oz per serving.  By the way, those 3 servings of dairy don’t even need to be in the form of milk.  For instance, if you find that she prefers drinking water from a cup, and is getting the fluids she needs each day from water, she can receive her dairy servings from a couple of ounces of yogurt or cheese. Babywise Book II has a great chapter on the whole subject of mealtimes, so be sure to review that too.

  • So first of all, as long as she is allowed to fill up on milk from a bottle, she’s not going to be all that anxious to finish up other things on her plate.  So by just eliminating the bottle and offering a cup of milk WITH her meals (not before), she’ll soon begin to take in more of the solids.  Then no milk between meals.  If you want to let her have a small cup of milk as a snack just before bed, that would be fine.
  • If you are concerned that she’s not getting enough liquids, have a sippy cup or sport bottle of water available to her throughout the day.  It’s fine to encourage her to drink water at any time.
  • Ask your medical practitioner how many ounces of liquids and solids your daughter needs for good health.  As parents, many of us tend to offer way more food to our children than they really need.  Also, don’t be surprised by this age to find she eats more at some meal times over others.  For example, she may devour her breakfast and even ask for more, then barely pick at her lunch and than have a better appetite for dinner. Each child is different, if healthy choices are offered at each meal and she eats most of the food, you see she is growing well, and developmentally where she should be – then don’t worry about the lighter meals.

Another personal suggestion: none of my kids did all that well with a sippy cup at first, but they really liked using a straw, once they figured out that something came out of it! So you might try that. If you have one who really balks at the sippy cup and it isn’t something that you view as worth battling over, Playtex has a cup called the “Quickstraw” that is great. We still have some around the house that are over 9 years old and continue to work perfectly.  Of course, there are probably other brands out there as well, Quickstraw just happens to be the one we used. :-)