We are down to our last can of formula...and only 2 wks away from our daughter's 1st bday so we're hoping not to buy any more and just switch her over to whole milk! She's been drinking it off and on out of a sippy cup for a few wks now and is doing ok....it's just a snack at this point and she rarely finishes a cup. My question is though, she still has about 4 bottles a day (5 oz each time) and I'm wanting to start getting rid of her morning bottle as it seems the easiest at this point. I gave her a cup with milk at breakfast this morning and she only took a few drinks and then was done with it. What do you guys think? Is it ok now, to slowly starting taking the bottles away and replacing them with whole milk in a sippy cup at meals and water or juice as in between sippies? I should remember this stuff from my son but he was just so much easier with eating and drinking. He took whatever you gave him. Our daughter is a little more random with eating and drinking. She's at a healthy weight and all that too soo....any ideas? Am I moving too fast or is this a good time to start the transition? Thanks!
M., Don't buy any more formula, you've given her nearly 12 months and she is healthy. She probably won't drink as much of the milk once you start getting rid of the bottles, but that's OK as long as she's not getting dehydrated. Start by eliminating the bottle that she seems least attached to and go from there.
Good Luck, M.
According to some doctors, she should be off the bottle by now. 8 months max. According to me (LOL) she can be on it until she is at least 3. But not with formula. She is ready at 1 year to stop taking formula. If she is eating well with table food, she should not be taking 4 bottles during the day, maybe just 1 or 2 max and not formula just milk. She is getting plenty of nutrients from food. Vary what she drinks from her cup, from juice to milk or sugar free chocolate milk. You are not moving too fast. She is at the correct age for cow's milk. She will be just fine =)
Dearest M.,
I find it amusing sometimes how so many new parents are so concerned with "sticking to the books." Truth is, while books and advice are wonderful, they just don't all work the same for every child. They don't come with individual instruction manuals (although, it would be nice if they did lol) so just go with it.
As long as your daughter stays hydrated and well nourished, she'll be just fine. If she doesn't seem to want milk, give her juice instead or some other drink that's good for her.
My boys, when they were being weaned from the bottle, loved apple juice and fruit smoothies. You're the Mama...and you ALWAYS know what's best for your child. Children are amazingly resilient...and you're not going to do any damage if you take her off the formula, I promise.
Best wishes to you,
S.
My son just turned one last month and we did the exact same thing! I did not want to buy a whole can of formula when I knew he was doing fine with the milk. We just went ahead and switched. He did absolutely fine! Some odd poos for about a week but now he is normal and loving it! I still give him bottles in the car or if he is fussy but he enjoys the sippy cups too. I do not think it is too soon. If your daughter is drinking the milk she will eventually realize that is her main drink you know?
You might want to start mixing the milk and formula if she isn't particulary interested in milk alone...then by the time you're done with this can of formula you can hopefully have her on straight milk! Good luck!
Hi M.,
I actually starting transitioning my son at 10 months. He was on milk completely at 11 months. His doctor recommended I get him on milk by 11 months. She wanted him off the bottle by a year. I think you are good with switching your daughter to milk and a sippy now. Good luck!
I would swap out every other bottle and ween her down. But keep in mind she may not be able to handle whole milk as well as the formula and it may constipate her...it may also not taste as good to her...I had to dip to 1-2% to make my kiddos happy...of course this made the nurses mad but the way I see it, milk is milk and they were also consuming yogurt, cheese, and ice cream like it was nobodies business....
Another way to get her to do the whole milk may be to also introduce flavors (strawberry, chocolate, etc.). You could also make them into smoothies and blend a banana in for a treat! ;) Good luck!
I think you are on the right track! My daughter turned one in August and we did the same thing, about two weeks before her birthday she was only on about two bottles a day, morning & night. She loved water in her sippy and not the milk so I was a little worried, but just kept trying & now she drinks the milk just fine. My doctor also said as others mentioned, milk in sippy, formula only in bottle, if you put milk in bottle, she will never drink it from the sippy. We did keep her night bottle until she was drinking about two sippys cups of milk a day, then got rid of the night bottle.
well we started way earlier than you. at around 9-10 months we took the bottle away completely after switching her to milk. but in order to switch her to milk we first mixed the formula with milk and then slowly reduced the formula untill it was nothing but milk. also we had to heat the milk up in order for her to take it. eventually she will take it cold once she is used to the taste. by the time she was 11 months she had no bottle no binky and no formula. I started early because she developed very quickly on all the milestones including walking. we first did the soft nipple sippy cups and that transitioned her quicker than going straight to the hard tips. now if I don't buy the hard tips she just chews through the soft tips.
It sounds like great thinking to me. If you are concerned about any vitamins she may be missing, you could make one of her cups of milk be mixed with carnation breakfast drink. It's a great treat and packed with vitamins.
Suzi
Just a suggestion (yes, I'm at the exact same age and the same position)...try the Horizon WHOLE organic strawberry milk (no sugar added), 1/2 organic whole (I'm an organic nut) and 1/2 strawberry. This got my daughter interested. Also, you can try various sippy cups (straw version, regular, etc)...found out my daughter likes the straw one (my mom is a speech pathologist and said this was great for speech development in the strengthening of the muscles). We also do the organic yogurt drinks for kids from whole foods in sippy cups. gets her excited...
but, I think this process we're both going thru takes a few weeks to a few months, depending on the child. Good luck and message me how things progress... chloe's birthday is november 18th...so we've just started. our doctor said milk in sippy cup, formula in bottle...however--the glitch is that she doesn't drink much out of the sippy cup quite yet... Since my parents (both in the medical field) have told me that it's not unusual for a child to be on a bottle until 16-18 months, mainly at night...I'm not worried. go at your child's pace.
keep us posted!
Sounds like you have a good plan in mind. I would go for it! My youngest is ten months and I am getting pretty low on the frozen breast milk supply, so I will probably start the whole milk a little sooner than the first birthday as well... don't want to do formula for a few weeks just to switch again in a few weeks! When we switched my oldest to whole milk, the pediatrician suggested mixing it with the breast milk (or formula) to slowly transition, we did this and it worked out well.
I think its ok. I discussed with with my sons doctor and told her I was worried because he wasnt really liking the milk but she said out of necessity, he would drink it. It took a couple days, but then he started drinking a lot of it. I think once you get rid of the formula and she has no other choice, she will drink more. Our pediatrician also told us, they only really need like 16 oz of milk a day, which would be two 8 ounce sippy cups, Im sure you could do the math I just did for you....lol! But my son was also picky about his sippy cup. He likes the Nuby ones, they are pretty close to being a bottle. I get them at Walmart and they are like $1.50 I think. He loves them! Anyways good luck!
My daughter decided to stop nursing at 10 months and wouldn't drink formula at all. The doc said to just make sure that she was drinking whole milk.
