Replacing the bottle with a cup or a glass isn’t something that happens overnight. Weaning the bottle away is a continuous process that should begin when your child is around 6-7 months old. If started on time, you can expect your kid to drink from a cup or glass without spilling when he or she is 3-4 years old. For your kid to give up the bottle on time, knowing what are the necessary steps to be taken and when to take them is essential.
To know when your kid will let go of the bottle, take a look at the following timeline:
* 6-7 months – introducing the sippy cup/cup/glass
* 1 year old – practicing with the sippy cup/cup/glass
* 1 year and 6 months old – skipping the daytime bottle
* 2 years old – skipping the nigh-time bottle
* 3-4 years old – drinking from a glass without spilling the contents
Let’s look at why it is essential to follow the timeline mentioned above.
Beginning the Weaning
When your kid is around 6-7 months old, he or she might lack the necessary motor skills that allow activities like holding objects, grasping objects with the fingers, or taking objects to their mouth. Ideally, when your little one is around 7-9 months old, you may go ahead and introduce a glass, a cup, or a sippy cup. Your kid may also begin to eat solid foods during this time.
Perfecting the transition
Until your child turns 2, he or she might not have the fully-developed motor skills to drink from a cup without any spillage or mishaps. This is the phase when your kid might increase the intake of solid foods, and will, therefore, be more accustomed to looking at plates, bowls, and spoons, making it the perfect time to practice with a sippy cup or glass.
Skipping the bottle entirely
Skipping the bottle has to happen twice for the child, once with the daytime bottle, and again with the night-time bottle. Ideally, the daytime bottle should be the one to go first since the kid will be used to practicing with a cup or a glass during the day, and will be less attached to the bottle. Once your child has weaned away from the bottle in the morning, you can then focus on weaning away the night-time bottle.
To sum up the entire timeline of the transition from bottle to cup, we’ve chalked out a simple table that you may refer during the whole process:
| Age | Developmental/Training stages | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Beginning the switch | Training with a sippy cup/glass | Skipping the bottle | |
| 6-7 months old | - The beginning of solid food consumption - Introducing the sippy cup or glass |
||
| 1-year old | - Increase in solid food consumption - Practicing with a sippy cup or glass |
||
| 1 year and 6 months old | Skipping the day-time bottle | ||
| 2 years old | Development of finer motor skills | Skipping the night-time bottle | |
| 3 years old | Consuming from a cup or glass without spilling | ||
| 4 years old | |||
Keep in mind that not all kids are the same and your child may reach some of the development milestones mentioned sooner or later, depending on their personal development. What’s important is avoiding any delay in introducing the glass and staying patient during the entire process of weaning away the bottle.
