Transitioning to sippy cup!

Just so you know, this post is several months late and before you judge me, here me out! :-) I was having the hardest time transitioning my little Noah from a Nuby-style sippy cup (see pictures on the side) to a real (big boy) sippy cup.  Most of his frustrations were based on losing his comfort.  The Nuby represented comfort for him.  He would fall asleep with it and depend on it during the night to soothe himself back to sleep if he woke up or had a bad dream.  It took me about 2-3 weeks to ween him off the Nuby onto a big boy sippy!  Here's how I did it:

#1 - Lots of patience!  It was extremely exhausting and aggravating trying to get him to sleep without the Nuby and getting up every night in the middle of the night trying to get him back to sleep.

#2 - Consistency was key!  Even though it was exhausting, I managed to stick to my guns and stay firm.  I refused to give him back the Nuby.

#3 - Communication was important!  I told him every night that this big boy cup was his new ba-ba and that he was getting too old for the Nuby.  The more I explained and stayed consistent, the more I think he understood.

#4 - Lots of love!  I made sure to hug and comfort him during his time of "grief" if you will!  I hugged and reassured him that everything would be okay.

The key to it all is letting them know that you're in for the journey with them.  The soothing, hugging and consistency help the most.  The same is true when weening babies off the breast and when trying to get them to sleep in their rooms/beds (which happens to be our next journey).  So the more love the better.  Noah is now drinking his juice and milk from a sippy cup.  In addition, lately he has been attempting to drink from a regular cup and doing really well at it.  This is a true sign that my toddler is becoming a preschooler.  Umm...who told him that he could grow up???  :-(

Please share any tips you might have as well, I love hearing from you guys!