I have an almost 11 month old baby that I am breastfeeding, and will probably continue until she turns one. I want to transition her from the breast to a sippy cup since I know that a bottle is just one more thing that she can get attatched to. She drinks water from a sippy cup, and I tried to give her some formula this morning in it, and she drank a sip or two and made a "yucky" face. How can I get her to drink enough if she currently only takes a sip or two at a time? Should I wait that one more month to give her whole milk instead or would it be ok to go ahead and drink it now? She eats yogurt and cheese already. Any advice would be helpful. I can't seem to remember what my other two did.
I would say wait until she is ready for whole milk. Pump your milk and add to the sippy cup 3 parts breast milk and 1 part whole milk and gradually decrease the breast milk until you are completely on whole milk. That worked for me. Good Luck!
Try using the sippy cup that have a soft spout. They have them cheap at Walmart. I gave my daughter whole milk right after breastfeeding b/c she hated formula. But I start her on the bottle b/c she wasn't drinking enough milk thru her sippys and she is really little for her age. Hope this helps...
Leti
I also went right from breastfeeding to a sippy cup at the year mark, but neither of my kids would drink cow's milk. They now drink soy milk fairly well, but still aren't great about it. I know people are so concerned about calcium, but there are other ways to supplement. Many vegetables have calcium in them (brocolli, cauliflower, spinach, Kale), you can buy chewable vitamins with extra calcium, a lot of the juices are now calcium fortified, along with many snack foods.
And I don't think there's anything in cow's milk that isn't already in cheese and yogurt, but you might just put a question into your doctor or nurse to be sure. Also, keep in mind that breastfeeding at a year is more of a comfort thing, rather than a health necessity. Your daughter is probably already getting most of her nutrients from her daily meals.
Good luck and God bless!
M. B
Hi M.-put breastmilk in the sippy cup. Then, start to wean by only "emotional" breastfeeding--at bedtime or restime. If you are planning on weaning in a month, remember--baby may not be ready. She may think this goes on a while!
Kathy
I have an 18 mo old that I ended up breastfeeding for 4 mo longer than i expected i would just because she wouldn't take anything in a cup or bottle. She was a total and complete titty-baby. The only thing that worked for me was to be very patient yet consistent with the cup. Eventually she got to where she would drink this strawberry juice in a cup pretty well so I began mixing the juice with the whole milk, which is what she drinks to this day. Incidentally, the only reason I was even that concerened about it with mine is because she is so little and has always had a much smaller appetite than my other child did. I don't think I would have worried at all if she was bigger.
hope that helps,
S. in Spring
I personally think that giving her whole milk at 11 months is ok. I waited til 12 months, but if I had a reason to start early I would have. Or, just wait another month to start giving it to her.
My daughter is almost 2, and I catch her taking her brother's bottle that has formula in it and drinking it just like milk. Weird little child, that one is! LOL
