weaning from breast to bottle

I want to introduce a bottle to my 8 month old exclusively breast fed Bub. He currently nurses to sleep and I'd like my partner to be able to help with this (until we can hopefully phase it out) and also to prepare Bub for when I return to work in 3-4 months. He currently has a little water with meals in a free flow sippy cup but he never manages to drink much. Should I introduce something like a Tommee Tippee lippy cup or stick to a more traditional bottle for when he nursed to sleep and use a free flow sippy cup still at meal times? Is it bad for an 8-12 month old to still use a bottle rather then a cup?