12 month old refuses to drink from sippy cup

[CrazyBeautiful]

My 12 months old DS refuses to drink from a sippy cup. I have tried the Mag Mag and Avent cups. As soon as I give him a bottle, he'll drink. He will drink from my cup (me feeding it to him). It's very frustrating as I would like to wean him off his bottle. He also refuses to drink anything but milk. Wont drink water or weakened natural juice. Please help!!!!

[the pero clinic]

Dear GLC,

There is nothing wrong with your bub preferring to drink from a regular cup than a spout cup - toddlers at this age are normally very keen to do whatever Mum and Dad are doing!

Encourage the use of an open cup for drinking water. It is obviously not practical to give your 1 year old a glass to drink from, or even a large plastic cup, so when your bub is around, let him see you drinking from small cup. You can find individual / sets of cheap, small plastic cups at the supermarket that would be suitable.

You will need to help your bub learn to drink from a cup. Giving your bub a cup of water while he is in the bath or when outside on a hot day can be good times to learn this new skill - and avoid water being spilt through the house!

Avoid offering your little one juice - even if it is diluted. It is unnecessary for toddlers and can lead to tooth decay and refusal of plain water.

Make sure your bub sees you and other family members drinking water as a good example - and make it look fun and appealing! Do not offer milk straight after water is refused - it only teaches your little one that he can say 'no' and get what he wants. Continue to give him 2-3 drinks of milk in a day (as you typically would) but do not let milk replace water or food.

the pero clinic