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Transitioning from Bottle to Cup

21 November 2024

Weaning off a bottle is an important stage in development. The transition from bottle to cup requires patience and persistence on the part of parents but is vital to the child’s healthy development.

Reasons for transitioning from bottle to cup: children should not skip meals, to prevent unhealthy weight gain, to prevent tooth decay and the need for braces, and to encourage speech development.

When to begin: the transition from bottle to cup should begin around the age of six months and completed by the time the child is eighteen months old.

Gradual transition: around the age of six months, start offering a cup during meals eaten at the table (solid meals), and at the same time gradually reduce the use of the bottle. You can use a “sippy" cup with a lid and handles, but without a valve, or try to switch directly to a regular open cup. A similar process is suitable for nursing infants as well.

Dealing with resistance to the transition: the child may resist the transition, but it is important to persevere in the process, be patient, encourage and celebrate successes. You should also involve in the process anyone who takes care of the child, so that they help in the process. In case of persistent difficulties, consult a nurse at the Family Health Center.

A bedtime routine without a bottle: it is important to establish a new bedtime routine without a bottle involving relaxing activities that will replace the bottle before bed, such as cuddling together, songs and stories.

Weaning a child off the bottle and the transition to drinking out of a cup is an important stage in development. For some children, the transition will be relatively easy, and for others, the process of weaning off the bottle can be challenging. The process can take time, and requires patience, perseverance and encouragement from us, but in the end, they will overcome the difficulty and take another step in their development. It is worth remembering that every child develops at an individual pace, and it is important to adapt the process to the child.

Reasons for transitioning from bottle to cup

Why is a transition from bottle to cup needed? Once you understand why this transition is important, it is easier to muster the patience and persistence required.

Prolonged bottle feeding may cause several problems:

  • Skipping meals
  • Unhealthy weight gain
  • Development of tooth decay
  • Need for braces
  • Speech delays
  • Skipping meals: infants and babies who drink out of a bottle throughout the day frequently do not feel hungry at mealtime and will not eat. As a result, they will receive less fiber and essential dietary ingredients that are found in solid food.
  • Unhealthy weight gain: following the transition to eating solid food, drinking breast milk or infant formula out of a bottle becomes a supplement to the meal, a calorie-rich snack. The habit may lead to obesity from an early age, which sets the stage for weight and health problems later in life.
  • Development of tooth decay: when children's teeth are in continuous contact with milk, infant formula, juice or other beverages, the chance of developing tooth decay increases.
  • Need for braces: babies who continue to drink from a bottle even at the age of one and a half, two years and later may need braces in the future to straighten out their teeth because the nipple of the bottle pushes the teeth out.
  • Speech delays: to develop clear speech, children need to strengthen and train their mouth muscles. The transition to a cup helps, as children use these muscles while drinking from a cup and as the nipple is not constantly in the mouth.

Building a gradual process

The transition from bottle to cup should begin around six months of age, approximately the time when we start offering babies solid food. During a meal with solid food, put a cup next to the child’s plate and encourage the child to drink from it. During the first stage, fill a glass with milk or infant formula, and after the child becomes used to the cup, you can begin filling it with water.

Leave the option of drinking from a bottle to meals that include solely infant formula, and gradually reduce the number of bottle feeds throughout the day. We should continue until the transition from the bottle to a cup is completed at the age of one or one-and-a-half.

Gradual reduction to the point of complete stoppage at the age of one (unless a different explicit medical order is given).

Gradual transition until the child drinks solely from a cup by the age of one-and-a-half.

By the age of two, the child should drink solely from an open cup.

To teach conscious and stable drinking, it is important to make sure that children do not walk around all day with the cup or bottle. If they are thirsty, we will offer them water in a cup, and after they drink - we will put the cup aside and remind them that it will be there during the meal.

If there is a developmental delay for any reason, it is important to contact a pediatrician to accommodate the schedule.

Choosing the right cup

You can initially offer a “sippy" cup that has a lid and two handles and no valve. Once the child learns how to drink from it, switch to an open cup, which is the healthiest way to drink. Using a “sippy" cup is not a necessary step, and you can transition directly from breastfeeding or bottle to a regular open cup.

Some cups come with a valve at the mouth to prevent dripping, but the act of drinking from these cups is very similar to drinking from a bottle, which is not helpful for the development and transition to the next level. At the same time, these cups are convenient to use, on trips for example.

Encourage and celebrate success

The transition to a cup requires a period of adjustment and maturity from the child. It is therefore important to note any small progress. Encourage the child and celebrate success every time the child tries to drink from a cup.

Coping with resistance

Initially, our child may express resistance to switching to a cup. They may cry, throw the cup on the floor or ask for the bottle. This is time to take a deep breath... The protest is natural and familiar. After all, no one likes giving up familiar and pleasant habits. Despite the difficulties you may encounter, once we choose to start the transition from a bottle to a cup - it is important to persevere with it.
There are several things we can do:

  • Set an example: to set a good example, we will all drink water during the meal. You can make a toast and drink together, thus making drinking from a cup a fun and enjoyable experience.
  • Encourage success: reinforce the attempts at drinking from a cup. For example, say “Wow, you drank from the cup! Well done! How nice it is to see you drinking from a big boy's cup”.
  • Pay attention: if there is resistance to drinking from a cup, maybe the child is simply not thirsty when offered water during a meal.

If the resistance to drinking is repeated, let it go for a little bit and try again after one week. If you feel the resistance turns into a continuous power struggle, you should consult a Family Health Center nurse about possible ways of resolving the difficulty.

Involving the environment

Inform anyone who cares for the child that you have started the process of transitioning from a bottle to a cup and explain how to act so that they can behave in a similar way. This includes the staff at the daycare center, grandparents, older siblings and even the babysitter.

Establishing a healthy bedtime routine

Separating bottle feeds and going to sleep is one of the steps in building a healthy bedtime routine. It can be initially challenging but if we stick to not giving a bottle before bed, the difficulty will pass, and our children will be able to develop the ability to soothe themselves before bed.

To ease the transition to falling asleep without a bottle, we will establish a new bedtime routine. Such a “bedtime ritual" can include cuddling together, lots of hugs (even more than usual), singing a song or reading a story.

A similar process for nursing infants

Even nursing infants can follow the same steps. If bottles are not used at all and feeding involves only breastfeeding, you can start offering a cup with breast milk around the age of six months and undergo the same process.