Weaning to a Cup

Once your baby is feeding himself more often, it's a natural time to introduce him to drinking from a cup. To get started, give him a trainer cup that has two handles and a snap-on lid with a spout, or use small plastic juice glasses. Either option will minimize spillage as he experiments with different ways to hold (and most likely to throw) the cup.

In the beginning, fill the cup with water and offer it to him at just one meal a day. Show him how to maneuver it to his mouth and tip it so he can drink. Don't become dismayed, however, if he treats the cup as a plaything for several weeks; most babies do. Just be patient until he's finally able to get most of the liquid down his throat--not dribbling down his chin or flying around the room--before you fill the cup with juice or milk or give it to him at other meals.

There are advantages to drinking from a cup: It will improve your child's hand-to-mouth coordination, and it will begin to prepare him for the weaning process, which frequently occurs around this age. Your baby's readiness for this will be signaled by his:

• Looking around while nursing or taking the bottle
• Mouthing the nipple without sucking
• Trying to slide off your lap before the feeding is finished

Even under the best of circumstances, weaning may not take place overnight. Six months may pass before your baby is willing to take all his liquid from a cup. Even so, you can start the process and proceed gradually, letting his interest and willingness guide you. You'll probably find it easiest at first to substitute a cup for the bottle or breast at the midday feeding. Once he's adjusted to this change, try doing the same in the morning. The bedtime feeding probably will be the last one abandoned, and for good reason: Your baby has become accustomed to this source of nighttime comfort and calming, and it will take him some time to give it up. If he's sleeping through the night and not waking up hungry, he doesn't physically need the extra nourishment from bedtime breast- or bottle-feeding. In this case, you might break the habit in stages, first by substituting a bedtime bottle with water instead of milk, and then by switching to a drink of water from a cup.

During this process you may be tempted to put milk or juice in his bottle to help him go to sleep, but don't do it. If he falls asleep while feeding, the milk or juice will pool around his teeth, and this can cause his incoming teeth to decay--a condition known as nursing-bottle syndrome. To make matters worse, drinking while lying flat on his back can also contribute to middle-ear infections, since the liquid may actually flow through the eustachian tube into the middle ear.

There's still one more disadvantage to prolonged bottle feeding: The bottle can become a security object, particularly if your baby keeps it beyond about age one. To avoid this, don't let him carry or drink from a bottle while playing. Restrict the use of a bottle to feedings when he's sitting down or being held. At all other times, give him a cup. If you never allow him to take the bottle with him, he won't realize that bringing it along is even an option. Don't relent once this decision has been made, or it could prompt him to demand a bottle again long after he has "officially" been weaned.

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