I Need a Tip
Posted in Tipster Tuesday and tagged with Baby, Food on 04/21/2009 01:02 pm by lori
Abigail turned one last month. Since, then, I’ve started to wean her from nursing– which has been a difficult process in itself because she’s not a good eater of whole milk or solid foods.
Anyway, my Pediatrician said we shouldn’t give her a bottle of milk (or that we should at least have her finished with bottles by the time she’s 15 months)– that we should go straight to the sippy cup.
So, in place of a nursing feeding (except for the one before she goes to bed. I haven’t cut nursing her on that one, yet), I try to give her a Nuby sippy cup of cold milk. She might take 3 sips of it, but she won’t “chug” from it, like she would a bottle. Is this normal? Or should she be drinking all of the milk at one sitting, during the nursing time. Or, can I feed her the cup throughout 2 hours, or so?? Or if I did that, would she be “grazing”/snacking and not get a good meal?
Maybe the problem is with the sippy cup? Maybe it’s with the milk?
So, if it’s with the sippy cup, what cups would you suggest? Which ones didn’t work for you?
If it’s with the milk, how can I get her to drink it like she would nurse non stop for several minutes (Abby always took 20-40 minutes to nurse)? Or do babies even drink milk like that?
Please help! Any suggestions welcome!!
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April 21st, 2009 at 2:36 pm
So I haven’t walked in these shoes yet, but what about warming the milk?? If she’s used to breastmilk, straight cold milk is going to be a stark change. Just an idea.
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April 21st, 2009 at 3:08 pm
I was going to say the same thing as Audra. Have you tried warming the milk?
Hang in there. She’s going through a lot of changes right now, but will get the hang of it sooner or later!!
April 21st, 2009 at 5:18 pm
Hello,
I love your site and visit it often. I am glad to hear that my daughter isn’t the only one out there with the same issue. She will drink from a sippy cup (since 5 months old- did not do the bottle thing) but no more than 2-3 oz. She is 14 months and I too am still nursing and trying to cut back to nighttime only. She is under weight (15.2 ibs) and a picky eater. Good luck and I will continue to read your blog so I can get some advice. By the way…your daughter is a cutie. Thanks for your blog.
April 21st, 2009 at 5:21 pm
Audra & Ashley, I did try warming up the milk several times. It really doesn’t make a difference. Ahhh! And others have said that would be another thing I’d have to break her of, so I’m *trying* not to warm it.
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April 21st, 2009 at 5:25 pm
Sonia, thanks so much for visiting, for leaving a comment, and for saying you enjoy my blog, and that my daughter’s cute!! All such nice things to hear.
Your comment is helpful to me in knowing that another mother is dealing w/ the same stuff w/ a low weight baby. I feel like I’m all alone here because most of my friends have chunky babies, and Abigail is in the 5th%.
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April 21st, 2009 at 6:36 pm
Just a thought and I can’t tell for sure from the picture, but if all those sippy cups have a hard plastic spout - she make be rejecting the cup. Try a softer tipped cup. Hope you find something that works!
April 21st, 2009 at 9:18 pm
Noel- good tip. We are now using a Nuby soft spout. It’s working better than the Gerber and Playtex ones we tried that had hard spouts.
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April 22nd, 2009 at 8:39 am
we use straw cups and some on the soft spout sippy cups. Graysen did not want to take it at first but i gave her some juice in it. ( she had never had juice before. ) I watered it down and it was sweet so she loved it and now has no issues with the cup. I guess she thinks she will get juice again soon.
Good luck and have a good day!
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April 22nd, 2009 at 10:00 am
Emily- Do you know the brand/style you use in the straw cup? We haven’t tried any of those, but I have let Abigail try to suck on my straws, and she can’t do it. Hmm. Thanks for the tip.
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April 22nd, 2009 at 10:16 am
I tried several different sippy cups and I like the Gerber NUK Learner cup. It has a latex spout that Aaron finds easier to drink from. I checked online and it is listed as a sippy cup that helps transition from breast or bottle to sippy cup. I found it at Wal Mart and Target. But, we aren’t using it at all right now b/c I bought it for juice and found he really doesn’t like juice afterall.
I weaned Aaron from breast to formula at 7 1/2 months and he didn’t like formula at all. But, he’s gotten used to it and drinks it with no problem now. I also agree with warming the milk, well formula (we aren’t on milk yet) - that worked for us. I bought a small crock pot at Wal Mart for $10 and I leave it on low and put the bottle in it for just a minute or two. Check on your inner arm b/c it can get too hot - then run cold water over it for a few seconds to cool it back down. Now I’m trying to warm it less and less so I don’t have to do this forever!
April 22nd, 2009 at 10:25 am
Valerie- thanks. I googled the learner cup. We might try it out; thanks.
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April 23rd, 2009 at 11:06 pm
With both of my children, I had the best luck with the soft spout Nuby. It made the bottle transition so much easier. If she doesn’t like to drink the milk from the cup, then how about putting a little breast milk in it? That might make the transition a little easier with something familiar in it. Or have you already tried this? I think it’s normal for kids to be resistant of sippy cups. I don’t remember the recommended amount of milk per day for a 12 month old. I would ask your pediatrician or look online. So long as they’re getting that amount, she should be fine. As kids grow older, they’re going to start eating more solids and drinking less milk anyway. If she’s not getting enough, then you may need to supplement with yogurt and cheese until she adapts more with the sippy.
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April 24th, 2009 at 10:33 am
Karen- I haven’t tried adding breast milk because I’m trying to wean, and I don’t want to produce more milk. But, that’s a good idea! My Pedi suggested 16 oz per day. The past couple of days, she has been drinking that much! Yea! But, it’s very sporadic sipping/grazing. So, I’m wondering if that’s building bad food habits. Thank you for your input.
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May 6th, 2009 at 10:36 am
the ONLY way I got my 2 kids to wean was to put just a little bit of the nesquick powder…I always used the chocolate sugar free version but my kids liked vanilla also…don’t get the strawberry unless you have already given your child strawberries and know they don’t have reactions because most babies can’t tolerate strawberries before a year old ….I remember I used to add about 2/3 tablespoons to a full sippy cup….they loved it!
May 6th, 2009 at 2:00 pm
Bri- Thanks for the tip! My cousin also suggested this. And thanks for telling the exact measurement.
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