I also didn't introduce it in time, and it ended up being more convenient for me to just take baby with me everywhere anyway.

Six months is a bit young for a baby to be able drink much from a sippy cup, but it is a good time to introduce it. That's when I introduced it. All of my children were weaned or mostly weaned around one year of age right to the cup. My *Nursing Mother's Companion* book suggests using a cup without a valve. That makes sense: the baby can get at the liquid more easily and learns earlier to take in fluids without sucking.

Would you describe his lack of nursing during the day as a nursing strike? Did it happen suddenly? Or is he just distracted during feedings?

There are a few things you can try to get him back nursing again (if that's what you want)...try nursing in a darker place with fewer distractions; rule out the possilibity of ear infection, reflux, or other physical problems; try to determine if you've had a change in your diet lately that might have affected the taste of your milk; check for slow letdown (maybe he gets impatient waiting for the milk?); offer the breast when he seems sleepy. Sometimes a nursing strike is caused by something as simple as an unfamiliar fragrance. Switched deodorants lately?