won't drink from bottle or cup

[chook77]

Hi, my 11month old stopped breast feeding 2 months ago because I am pregnant and he didn't like the taste and would refuse it. Since then I have tried giving him milk/formula/water from bottles, sippy cups, pop top bottles and he either refuses it or when fluid does go into his mouth he spits it back out. So he is not really getting any fluid. He still has wet nappies, but I'm sure this can't be good for him. What would you suggest?

[the pero clinic]

Dear Chook77,

It is great that you are trying to get on top of this issue before the weather gets too much warmer. Have a look at the reply I just wrote to Mygirl05 in this section about encouraging toddlers to drink from a cup.

Given that your son is a bit younger and perhaps more resistant to cup drinking, you may need to progress a bit slower with your expectations. For example, to begin with, give praise / reward for pretending to drink from a cup, or taking just the smallest sip.

It is also important to make sure that your son is not getting any sort of reaction for spitting out his drinks. Even exasperated sighs, comments, or the extra attention given to wiping up the mess can be motivation enough for a toddler to continue bad feeding habits – let alone the fun from spitting or intentional dribbling! Ignore your son when he spits (even as far as stopping eye contact with him and resisting the urge to wipe him down immediately) and praise him when he drinks properly – remembering to expect some dribbles when learning to cup drink. He will soon learn there is more fun and attention from drinking than spitting.

Lastly, I was pleased to note that you did not mention that you have tried juice yet. Try not to fall into the trap of juice and sweetened drinks to encourage your toddler to drink more fluids – this only encourages further rejection of milk and water.

the pero clinic