Your baby is a year old. The doctors are telling you it is time to convert your child from a bottle to a sippy cup. How do you switch your baby from a bottle to a sippy cup?

Will your little baby figure out that if they want something wet they have to drink from this THING? A bottle is all your baby has known for his or her entire little life. The bottle means sustenance and food. The bottle means comfort.

It's important for your child to drink from a sippy cup for several reasons. The most important reason is ear infections. If your baby is drinking from a sippy cup it is less likely he or she will get ear infections. The bottle causes ear infections, especially if the baby is lying down. The liquid will run into the throat and into the ear canal. If the baby is sucking from a bottle the juice will run down the throat instead of being pushed into the wrong canal by continuous sucking. It's also important not to let your baby sleep with a bottle or sippy cup. If liquid stays in the mouth the sugars can deteriorate the teeth.

My daughter was easy to convert. She didn't like change but once she was eating foods she didn't "rely" on her bottle for comfort. That is the most important thing to remember: Children look at their bottle as comfort. If you can get your son or daughter to associate comfort with something other than a bottle or food you won't have a big problem.

My son took to a sippy cup quickly because he saw his sister using them and he could get the drink out of the cup easily. You also need to be aware that if your child still has strong gag reflexes a sippy cup is not the best idea. You will be able to tell if the child's tongue curls or if they have some problems eating solid foods. All children develop at different rates so you will have to watch for the gag reflex. Once the gag reflex has subsided switching from a bottle to a sippy cup can be easy.

Fortunately, there are many different types of sippy cups. Styles of sippy cups vary. Most sippy cups have rounded rectangular spouts to help your child develop muscles needed to drink from a regular cup. You will want to try these cups after your child has gotten use to the idea of drinking from a sippy cup. There are sippy cups with rounded spouts that your child will easily transition to because they are shaped similar to bottles. You can even try the sippy cups with the straws. I bought these for my daughter thinking they would spill and they didn't. The straw is made in such a way that the child has to be sucking for the fluid to come out. I absolutely loved this type of sippy cup. She didn't make a mess and it taught her how to drink out of a straw with out turning a cup up.

The type of sippy cup isn't really as important as the fact that your child is getting older so you want to start your child drinking from a sippy cup. One of the best ways to get your child drinking from a sippy cup is to start with juice when giving your child the sippy cup for the first time. If you can you may want to put a little of the juice on the spout so the child will taste it and start "sucking" from the sippy cup. Juice is sweet so your baby will want to drink it.

If your child doesn't seem to be "getting the hang" of the sippy cup you may want to try a different style. There are so many styles that eventually you will find the right cup for your child. What ever you do don't give up. The child will try their best to get the bottle back but don't let them have it. If they think they can get away with using the bottle there will be no reason for them to change.

The most important thing to remember about baby is that he or she is an individual. He or she will go to a sippy cup at his or her own speed. Good luck.

Learn more about this author, Jennifer Vernol.
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