When to stop giving toddler a morning sippy cup of milk

[Anonymous]

My almost 2.5 year old is still very attached to her morning sippy cup of milk. She and her daddy have an entire routine established around it and she doesn't show any signs of being ready to give it up. The rest of the day, she'll drink out of a cup or her water bottle and I'm confident she'll be able to get all the milk she needs out of a regular cup at meals. How long should we let this go? My older kid never liked sippy cups so had given hers up as soon as she mastered drinking out of a cup.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't stress over it. Mine stopped drinking morning milk right around 2.5 and doesn't drink much milk now but has plenty of dairy. As far as the sippy cup is concerned if she drinks out of a cup at other times of the day I think it's fine

[Anonymous]

If it's just a morning thing, I'd let it go. At some point soon enough, their routine will change and it will be gone.

Is your concern just that she's using a sippy?

[Anonymous]

We still do morning milk, from a straw cup, at age 4. I'm not worried: either she'll outgrow it or she'll grow big enough to get her own milk.

[Anonymous]

My 4 year old still drinks milk out of a sippy in the morning.

[Anonymous]

OP here. I admit, I'm tired of cleaning the sippy cup. It's the lone holdout of baby feeding gear and I want to get rid of the stupid dish washer basket. But I also just don't know when we should try to force its end. It sounds like the opinion of DCUM is that she's still young enough to need it and I need to wait for her to decide she's done. I can do that.

[Anonymous]

She's having a cup of milk just before breakfast?

[Anonymous]

Eh, doesn't sound like a big deal. My 5 year old has a cup of milk in the morning with or before breakfast. The sippy cup aspect of it just doesn't seem terrible to me. If she would only drink out of one, then that's a problem. But using a sippy once a day isn't going to hurt her, and in the grand scheme of things is so minor. I have friends whose 3 and 4 year olds still go to bed with a pacifier.

[Anonymous]

Hard to imagine that a toddler is still hungry for breakfast right after a cup of milk.

[Anonymous]

Gradually decrease the quantity of milk.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I admit, I'm tired of cleaning the sippy cup. It's the lone holdout of baby feeding gear and I want to get rid of the stupid dish washer basket. But I also just don't know when we should try to force its end. It sounds like the opinion of DCUM is that she's still young enough to need it and I need to wait for her to decide she's done. I can do that.

I didn't realize the sippy was the issue. Have you offered a regular cup? Maybe let DD pick her own dishwasher safe big girl cup.

[Anonymous]

I don’t understand why this is a problem at all? Our sippy cups went in the dishwasher. And regarding breakfast, what’s wrong with milk as part of (or even most of) breakfast? I think it’s really common for 2yos to use sippy cups just for the mess factor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I admit, I'm tired of cleaning the sippy cup. It's the lone holdout of baby feeding gear and I want to get rid of the stupid dish washer basket. But I also just don't know when we should try to force its end. It sounds like the opinion of DCUM is that she's still young enough to need it and I need to wait for her to decide she's done. I can do that.

You remember that she's 2.5, right? That's still so young and tiny, certainly not too old for a sweet morning routine with her dad. Don't wish away her childhood so that you can fix your dishwasher

[Anonymous]

You don't need special equipment to wash a sippy cup. Our oldest ones have been washed on the top rack hundreds of times and would be in excellent condition if our daughter didn't love gnawing on straws.

I also have never heard of anyone trying to push a 2.5-year-old off a sippy cup, but that's DCUM for you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 4 year old still drinks milk out of a sippy in the morning.

Agree, my son is four and we only transitioned his morning milk to a sippy right around his birthday. I never had a problem with it. Now he drinks his milk in a cup, like his older siblings - they still get their morning milk.