How to Get a Toddler to Drink Milk From a Sippy Cup Rather Than a Bottle

A bottle provides more than just hydration and nutrition to a toddler--for him it is a source of security and comfort. It's an important process, because drinking milk out of a bottle, especially at bedtime, can cause severe tooth decay. Convincing a toddler to give up his bottle of milk for a sippy cup can be a challenge. But it can be accomplished over the course of a couple of weeks with parental determination.

Instructions

    • 1
      Replace bottles with sippy cups gradually.

      Cut out milk bottles gradually. According to "Stopping the Bottle" in Kids Health, this transition is ideally made when a child turns one and is able start drinking whole milk instead of formula. Even in an older toddler, parents should determine the number of milk bottles their toddler currently drinks and plan on cutting back on one each week. Start with the easiest one to give up, such as a breakfast or lunch bottle when they're sitting in a highchair. Continue eliminating one each week until parents are only giving the bedtime bottle, which is the hardest for a child to give up.

    • 2
      The bedtime bottle is the hardest to give up.

      Start diluting the bedtime bottle with water. Over the course of a week, dilute the bottle down until it is only water at the end of the week. Given the choice of water in a bottle, or milk in a sippy cup, the toddler will hopefully choose the cup.

    • 3
      Create a bedtime routine that doesn't include a bottle.

      Ramp up the bedtime routine. Parents should create and instill a bedtime routine that does not include the bottle. For example, each night give the child a snack and a drink in a sippy cup, brush teeth, read a book and tuck the child into bed. If your little one still requests a bottle of water, let them take a drink, but don't allow it in bed with them.

    • 4
      Ideally, a toddler should be done with all bottles.

      Eliminate the last bottle. At this point, many toddlers are done with the process, convinced they are a big kid for drinking out of a sippy cup. For those children who hold on strong, parents need to find some inner strength and simply take away the last bottle. According to the article "Discontinuing the Bottle" in Healthy Children, "it's easy to get into the habit of using a bottle to comfort a child or help him sleep. But at this age, he no longer needs anything to eat or drink during the night." Try to provide security in another way, such as a special stuffed toy (approved for a child under three) or a nightlight by the bed.

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