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My son didn't have any interest in using a cup until just after turning one. I felt so behind when I saw other babies using sippies at 8/9/10 months, but once he got the hang of it we were able to ditch bottles around 13 or 14 months. Our ped had recommended being done with bottles by 15 months. I wouldn't worry or force the issue with your son yet, he is still young!

We bottle fed so my son started holding his own bottle at about six months, I think he learned it from watching kids at daycare. I thought this would mean an easier transition to a sippy cup but it didn't. He understood how to hold the cup but wouldn't get anything out of it (and we tried about six different kinds).

I just kept offering and he FINALLY got it at 13 months. I think he just needed to be thirsty enough. We also had the most success with the Take & Toss cups, as the liquid kind of trickles out, so he didn't have to use much effort.

@Goldengirl: We use the Take & Toss spout cups, he still can't use a straw. He's used to tilting his bottles, though, so that wasn't a new skill. Since your son doesn't hold his bottles I'd probably keep pushing a straw cup so he won't have to tilt it.

My son was EBF - we started offering him water around 7 months but for a loooooong time he didn't get it. He got the hang of a weighted straw cup first but it was probably 10 months, maybe later? He was in daycare, probably 13 months, before he would hold his own sippy cup, for the longest time when he was thirsty he would just hold it out to the nearest person and yell urgently until they held it to his mouth.

@Goldengirl: DS held bottles and cups fairly early - 6 months or so. BUT he would not drink out of a cup for what seemed like forever. Six months of trying different brands before he finally took to the weighted straw cup at about 13 months. Of course now (19 months) he uses all cups without issue, so try not to stress about it!

@Goldengirl: neither of my boys held their own bottles and neither understood cups until a year. DS1 only took straw cups and didn't get sippies until almost 2. DS2 understood both but not until a year. It literally just clicks one day.

DS1 used the Tommee Tippee straw cups and DS2 favors the munchkin weighted straw cup. If they are taking a sippy these days it's just the Take n Toss ones.

@Goldengirl: I taught DS1 squeezing the take n Toss straw cups and he hated any cup with a valve so he learned with the TT cup here:

Tommee Tippee Trainer Flippee Straw Cup, 8 Ounce, 1 Count (Colors will vary) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M2UYK24/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_xBVxzbTFQMZE2

And then he used the Zoomi cups:

nuSpin Kids 8 oz Zoomi Straw Sippy Cup, Safari Animals Style https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01HIOSM1Y/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_5CVxzbV6V3YFJ

Those don't have any valve that makes it hard to suck.

DS2 couldn't be taught to use a straw - he let it all dribble out of his mouth but just got it one day. The valve cups - they work if you bite down on the straw while you suck which is natural for babies, but not for adults. DS2 can suck down a full cup of milk in 2 minutes in that weighted straw cup!

I thing it depends on the kid!
My dd totally gave up the bottle and preferred sippy cups at 11 Mos....honestly she did it. We just followed her cues. So I wouldn't worry if it didn't happen until later or if they don't have any interest in a cup until older....

We hardly even tried until about 8 months with DD, whoops. We started with the munchkin 360 and she did NOT get it. Tried a cheapie spout cup, and she figured it out around 9 months or so but wasn't super interested. We tried the 360 again at about 11 months and it still took a couple weeks of really pushing it to get her to drink a measurable amount of liquid from it. I probably wouldn't have cared that much but it was a daycare policy to use only sippys, no bottles, after 13 months. We first tried something with a straw at 13 months and she figured it out instantly. Makes me wonder if that would've helped earlier. Oh well.

@MsMini: