Weaning off the Bottle and Milk/formula

Mandi hit the nail on the head. Most pediatricians reccomend starting whole milk at around age 1. You definitely want to mix it with formula or reast milk and introduce it gradually.

As far as weaning, you may not want to stop pumping cold turkey. Since it can become very uncomfortable to not pump or nurse when you are used to doing so. I would suggest gradually pumping less, and then stopping. Before you are ready to stop pumping being mixing part breast milk part formula and then you can mix in whole milk and make the transition easier on baby's tummy. If you baby is already feeding himself, transitioning to a sippy cup from a bottle is probably the easiest way to wean. It is harder to wean if baby is used to going to sleep with the bottle. One thing that may work is to only put water in the bottle, and put milk/formula in the sippy cup. Eventually they will get the idea that the bottle is no longer the milk supply!

Don't stress about it, all babies wean at different times.

Good luck!

There is not much I can tell you. With my 2, I took them off of the bottle cold turkey the day that they turned 1. They cried for a bit, but I gave them the sippy cup in return. It took about a week of this but, hey, It worked. Good luck

The best thing for a baby after a year is cow's milk or at least that is what the pediatricians recommend. You may try an organic milk versus regular milk, just know that it expires quicker that the others because it does not have all the steroids in it. Also they have new milk products on the market that allow you to ease them into whole milk. I believe Similac and Enfamil offer them. Plus your child will no longer be getting his/her nutrition solely on milk, because they are eating food too. Soy milk is recommended when a child has milk allergies, but is supposed to be very sensitive on a stomach and good too.
As for the nursing part... I have 5 children and when I stopped nursing them, I didn't extract, I just stopped. I stopped at 8 months, and I didn't get engorged or anything. However, I don't know that it is that way for everyone. I felt full for one day and then the next it was reduced and then by the end of the week I was back to normal. But it didn't hurt on anything. Weaning off the bottle was easy because Nuby makes a sippie cup that is almost like a bottle with the soft silicone nipple piece except it is a cup.

Hi C.,

I can't give you any advice on weaning from the bottle, because I still haven't gotten my almost 2 year old off his night-time bottle. However, I can give you my experience weaning from breast milk. I worked full time and at first I pumped 3 times a day and nursed when I was home with my son. Then I went to 2 times a day and had the daycare mix in a little formula with each bottle. I went to once a day and then to not pumping at all and only nursing in the morning and at night. Everything went very naturally. It took about 3 weeks to completely get him off, but I had absolutely no problems with drying up. The less you pump/nurse the less milk you will produce. Since your baby is over a year old, you should be able to give her whole cow's milk. Doctor's recommend that you start mixing it in a little at a time. 25% milk 75% formula or breast milk. 50/50 etc. until you are up to 100% milk. This helps them with the transition and makes it easier on their little tummies. I hope this helps, and good luck!!

M. S.