baby drinks

[Jooleebobs]

My son (nearly 8 months old) will not drink out of a trainer cup or beaker only a bottle. I have recently started giving him baby fruit juice with his lunch but he will only drink it out of his bottle. All my baby books say not to feed sweet drinks out of a bottle as it can cause tooth and gum problems (although he doesn't have any teeth yet!) He also won't drink water. I don't want to get into the habit of him only having sweet drinks. Has anybody else had this problem and how did you solve it?

[Jules001]

you could maybe try making the fruit juice as diluted with water as he will take it, that way he will be mainly drinking water with just a hint of flavouring and if it's not a strongish mixture, it shouldn't matter too much about him having it in a bottle. The reason they say not to give it out of a bottle is that the sugar from the juice clings to teeth for longer with the constant sucking. I would also suggest having a word with your Health Visitor too and see what she/he suggests.

[Hgrove]

I tried to give my daughter water to drink for as long as possible although of course she moved on to juice seeing other children etc.  I even gave her a bottle of water instead of milk at bedtime, although eventually she started asking for milk (she must have been 2 1/2 I think by then).

[ann_h]

If the drink is had all at once, it doesn't matter whether its in a cup or bottle. It's only a problem if the child carries the bottle round sipping and having their teeth bathed in sugars constantly. I agree you should make juices as weak as a child will stand them, to minimise sugars, maximise water intake and also not encourage a liking for very sweet tastes. I still have juice halved with water, and rarely squash, at about 10:1 not 4:1

As to not drinking from a cup generally, I think 8 months is too young to be worrying about this, cup feeding is a completely different technique from suckling. I would be happy with waiting till he is a year old if that's what he's happy with, especially as he has no teeth.

[Hammer]

Can't really add to the above advice about using a bottle, but don't waste your money on 'baby' juice. Just buy any pure fruit juice and dilute it with water.

[mr. piper]

a really good alternative to juice that we used with my son who was so poorly for so long and was as difficult a feeder that you could imagine, was a herbal drink for babes that they sell in boots his favourite was Camomile, it comes in atub like gravy granules  has no sugar and has a natural calming effect that was like a gift from god for him (and us) that he used up till he was 4. i am not in any way a herbal shmerbalist, i am fish and chips all the way, but this drink was astonishing, his health visitor reccomended it. do try it, it was Boots own and not expensive, there are some other flavours. also try and use a teat with an orthodontic profile, that won't disturb the placement of his teeth, if he finds comfort in a bottle leave him to it, he will always try something new eventually.there is no right way to bring up a child, the fact that you have asked for help tells me that you will make as good a job as poss .

[Hgrove]

Camomile is an excellent suggestion, it is known to have beneficial effects.

[libertie]

Good advice from everyone, I would just like to add that I too think 8mths is too young to be worrying about him not using a cup!

[kick3m0n]

The Boots granule/powder drinks are great!  They do them in various flavours too if your wee guy isn't keen on chamomile.   Our wee boy is 18mnths old and drinks water and cows milk, but now and then we give him some of the Boots juice, tho only with a meal.  Sweet drinks can cause dental problems even before teeth appear, so any drink other than water should really only be given with a meal, not carried around and sipped at continually, just as Ann points out.   Our wee guy started drinking out of a cup at around 9 months or so, he was breast fed so never had a bottle....that maybe helped the transition to cup.   There are a huge number of different training beakers around, so you might have to try a few to get one he'll like.  A friends wee one wasn't keen to switch from a  bottle for drinks, but she eventually found one that had a really soft, chewy spout, that could be sucked in a way more like his bottle.  Good luck.

[karen ross]

hi i have a 9 month old girl and the health visitor has been feeding my head with "get her on a beaker/cup" hello!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  i wonder if these very people have kids of their own!!!!!!!!!!!!!i am having the same problem and have got 8 different cups with lots of different spouts, ellie is not ready yet as most you have to clamp down their teeth and suck at the same time. Dont worry most of us are doing it- giving juice in a bottle but very watered down, i am a childminder and our group of 26 have all done it and it hasnt affected their sprogs. your wee one will tell you when he is ready for a cup

[Jooleebobs]

Thanks for all the advice guys. Am perservering with the training cup but always end up transferring the juice to a bottle as he gets that upset and worked up. I tried drinking out of the beaker that I have and you have to suck really hard to get any drink out so no wonder he is having problems. I guess he is just going to be finickity, I buy the ready to drink juice which doesn't need diluting. I have tried mixing it with water but he won't entertain it unless it is pure juice!! Guess I will just have to keep trying! I will definately give those Boots herbal drink powders a go though. 

[silly moo]

Cup v bottle - I had a system with my daughters , they NEVER fed themselves from a bottle, I always cuddled them and held the bottle myself. They had control of cup only. It worked for us.
I HATE seeing small children feeding themselves from a baby's bottle - especially if the bottle holds tea / coffee / fizzy drinks.
I know people who never used training cups at all, but I think that's going too far.

[oceanauk]

I think there are so excellent answers here - I agree that 8 months is way too young to worry about a cup or beaker.  The best advice I can give any parent is get rid of the books!!!  I think we've forgotton how to follow our own instincts!!  Your child will let you know when he is ready to drink from a cup and let him have whatever fluid he is happy to take.  My son had many problems when he was young and in fact at 8 months he was still suffering with severe colic so I was grateful if he drank anything!  I used to get ordinary squashes/fruit drinks and dilute them down a lot.  He is now 4 and his teeth are perfect and strong.  As the saying goes "everything in moderation" - then you can't go wrong!  Follow your heart and listen to your child.  Good luck!

[cullum]

Both of my sons had bottles of juice (those ones that are elongated ring shaped so that they can hold them easily) until they were about 18 months old.  Baby advise books should be banned as you have to do what's right for you and your child.  What on earth do you think is going to happen if your child carries on having a bottle at 8 months - diddly squat thats what.  Enjoy being a parent, stop looking things up in a book and stop worrying.

[Otrere]

Have you tried a different cup? I found that there were certain cups that my daughter didn't like using. They all seem to have many different spouts and sometimes its a case of trial and error in finding one they like to use.

Also, if you are using the Avent bottles, the spouts that you get fit in the Avent bottles in place of the teats and this may "fool" your little one into thinking its still a bottle. Might be worth a try.

I also agree with the point that baby juice is a waste of money. Diluted fruit juice is just fine.

Finally my daughter doesn't drink water either but I have found a brand of fruit-flavoured water that she will drink and it hasn't got aspartame in as an artificial sweetener (its Asda's own brand) they do it in guava&mango, raspberry, cranberry and another flavour (that I can't remember).

Hope this helps.

[ajcmum]

just want to say I agree with the advice already given to you, and think that 8 months is way too early to worry about trainer cups.

I also gave my son diluted pure fruit juice and the herbal ones from boots, they are really good.

[mgwy8240]

Hi i am a dental nurse and I see the problems that drinking juice from a bottle causes every day. I am also a mum and have had problems getting my little girl to drink water, when she was small she had constipation so i needed to get her to have water desperatly so i used pure orange with water 3 parts water to juice and slightly warmed it in her bottle that was the only way she would take it.

Pure orange does act as a laxative if used regulary and it still contains natural sugar that harm teeth but is better than squash. I was always told that if my baby was thirsty then she will drink water and if she wont to try another time as powder milk acts as a drink as well as food.

After many trials and errors my baby girl who is 9 months drinks water out of a cup but i dont offer her any thing else. Every baby is different though so you need to find what works best for you and if it has to be juice then have it with a meal as this will do the least damage, its only really a problem having it between meals.