Changing from Formula to Milk

When changing to regular millk you must mix half formula half milk for at least a weak. This will allow the child to adjust to homo milk. Every day just put less formula and more milk.

What I did with mine was slowly add milk. If they were taking 8 oz of formula I would make it with 7oz of formula and 1 oz of milk for about a week. Then I would go to 6oz of formula and 2oz of milk for about a week and so on until they were on milk altogether.

I also have a son that is about to be one at the end of May and we are in the trasition phase. The best thing I have noticed was in the beginning at bedtime give 3/4 formula and a 1/4 milk, and then after a couple of days to see how that goes do mornings and bedtime and then a couple day later move the portion to 1/2 and 1/2. Just play with it and see what she likes because her taste buds are going to be completely different than my son's. And one more thing I know you aren't suppose to anymore but I warmed it up just a little to take the chill off. Good luck.

A. 24 mother of an almost one yr old..

The easiest way to transition is this: Here is an example...

Say she currently drinks 8 ounces of formula at a time..

For one week do 7 ounces of formula and 1 ounce of whole milk.

Then the next week do 6 ounces of formula and 2 ounces of whole milk.

Continue that pattern, decreasing the formula and increasing the milk until you are giving her all whole milk. Once she is used to the milk then you can gradually start taking her bottle away just using the bottle at bedtime and in the morning. Then when you do that you gradually put less and less (usually one ounce at a time)in the bottle until there is only one ounce and then BOOM! it's gone!! NO MORE BOTTLE!

Hopefully that works for you.. That is how I have gotten all my kids off the bottle.

Sweetie this one is easy. Start by going 50% formula and 50% milk for the first 4 or 5 days, then go to 25% formula 75% milk after another 4 or 5 days take the formula out all together.. This will make the transaction easy on your daughters tummy and give her time to adjust to the taste. Good Luck, B. Mother of 3 granmother of 10

Some kids need no transition and love milk right away. My daughter, 14 months, is definately not that way. She's breastfed but since I don't want to pump all the time I started giving her regular milk at 12 months. I tried mixing it with breastmilk but it didn't work (you could try mixing cow's milk and formula). I tried goat's milk and she wasn't too fond of that, either. Then, I tried vanilla flavored soy milk and she loves that!
Eventually, I'll try to get her on cow's milk but I wanted to share my journey because it took what seemed forever to find something she liked.

Whatever you do, make sure it is organic.
Too many reports coming out about how the hormones in the regular cow's milk is definitely being attributed to changes we see in our girls today. (Bigger busts for one example.)
Its just unnatural to drink cow's milk anyway, so, for the milk we use for our cereal only, we use organic milk (which lasts longer) or soy milk.
My kids are not lacking on their nutrition, because we drink the orange juice with the added Calcium, and, they take vitamins daily, as well as eat healthy, and, stay away from sodas. 100% juice or water only. There are plenty of ways to get the "nutrition" that milk provides without milk.
Sorry, didn't mean for this to turn into that rant, and, its not a rant really because I respect everyone's personal choice, I just wanted to warn to go to organic milk instead of regular milk off the shelf. It actually does taste much cleaner, and, the main difference is that the cows are not injected with all those crazy hormones & junk, and, they graze only on organic lands, free of pollution and far enough from highways that they don't ingest fumes.

I started with adding 2oz of milk to 6 oz formula in 8oz bottle. Did that for about a week. Then I added 3-4oz of milk to 4-5oz of formula for about a week. Then 6 oz of milk to 2 oz of formula. Then all milk. If at anytime, you notice that they won't drink it at all, then go back to the previous week's mixture for another couple of days before changing the combination again.

Hey K.: My 2 cents is to watch for signs of congestion or other symptoms of milk allergy. Milk components in formula are so highly processed that the allergy might not show up until consuming pure milk. My daughter started being congested when she turned one which brought a year's worth of sinus infections and ear infections... only to find out that she has a toddler phase allergy to the protein in cows milk (which she should out grow by 4).

Also, you might want to introduce the milk in a sippy cup or in a cup with a straw... Otherwise you'll have a whole other transition (from bottle to cup) to go through in a few months.

When my daughter turned one we started putting whole milk instead of formula in her bottle. It took about a day for her to transition, it was pretty easy. After about a week we started to put the milk in a sippy cup (Nubby's b/c they have the soft top like a bottle) to replace daytime bottles, she still had her bottle at bedtime. After about another week when she adjusted to that new routine we took away the bottle before bedtime, she got her last cup of milk with dinner. We spent a little extra time reading and cuddling before putting her to bed to replace the time that she was rocked with the bottle. The whole transition went really smooth. Good luck!

start mixing some milk in with the formula, and over a week or 2 mix more and more milk with less and less formula

Most kids who move from formula to milk love it. For our son, who only used formula after a few months, we started by replacing his day time bottles with formula. After a couple of days, we replaced his night time bottle as well.

Our transition was a very smooth one. I started by mixing 1/4 whole milk and 3/4 formula. I let my son drink that for a couple of weeks and then moved to 1/2 milk, 1/2 formula. Two weeks later 3/4 milk, 1/4 formula and then finally all whole milk. He never even noticed!

Good luck!
-esme

My son was very easy to change. He loved a certain soft nubby sippy cup and I just started putting milk in that. My daughter was different. I had to gradually add little by little milk to her formula bottle and then finally she would take it from the bottle, then by the time she was 1 she was drinking the milk from a sippy cup.

Hi K. ,
I am a mother of a 4 year old boy ,I also work as a programm assistant in a daycare center (infant room ). So what I let every parent know is to switch their baby over to regular milk slow, start of with 1/4 regular milk the rest formula ,
than 1/2 regular milk rest formula , if everything seems fine go to 3/4 regular milk . Try ech stage for one week and move one to the next , by the fourt week your baby be of the formula completly . If there are any signs of problems ,contact you childs dr. ,some babys are having reactions to whole milk so he could help you to figure out what the problem is .Hope this helps a littel .Take care .
S. w.

My nutrition expert says that cow's milk is for baby cows. Heeding his advice, I would go with soy milk. I use Kirkland's (Costco) or Planet Eight. Get the "Plain"; the Vanilla is too sweet tasting. I guess you might want to check this out with your pedi.

I was surprised to hear a little boy ask his mother to get soy milk the other day and the mom's reply was, "I don't think you would like it." What an idea to plant in his head.

B. K.

my son is in the same boat...i've started mixing a little bit of milk into his formula slowly to give him time to transition...like just now he had five ounces ...1 ounce of milk and 4 ounces formula...and i'll gradually increase the milk amount over the next couple of weeks. i don't know if that's the best way but that's how i'm doing it.
good luck and happy mother's day! and enjoy not buying formula anymore! we're giving him organic milk but nothing is as expensive as those formula cans!!
jay.

My son is 15 months old and what I started doing was that sometimes instead of formula I would give him milk in his bottle by the time he turned 1 I had no problem him takig milk. GOOD LUCK!!!

At 11 months I started to mix half Breast milk or formula with whole milk. Then I would take out one feeding with formula or breastmilk and give straight whole milk. I removed the morning and evening feeding last. Both of my children had no problem.

My pediatrician to me to switch my kids over gradually. I would mix 1/4 milk and the the rest formula. I did that a week. The second week, 1/2 milk the rest formula. Week 3, 3/4 milk and the rest formula. By week 4, you should have a full bottle of milk and no formula.

You need to transition the formula and milk like you would for a pet when changing their solid food.

Week 1- for every 8 oz of "formula"...use 6 oz formula and 2 oz WHOLE milk.

Week 2 - for every 8 oz of "formula"...use 4 oz of formula and 4 oz of WHOLE milk.

Week 3 - 2 oz of formula and 6 oz milk

Week 4 - 0 oz of formula and 8 oz milk

You can take longer to do the transition by switching 1 oz per week.

Watch for any allergic reaction or dietary upsets due to the use of milk.

Good luck and Congrats to the BIG GIRL for drinking BIG GIRL milk.

Start by mixing milk with formula....first 1/4 milk and 34 formula for a few days, then 1/2 and 1/2 etc. until you're up to 100% milk. Good luck! Be sure she's ready to give up the nutrients in formula first though....many babies stay on formula until they're 15 mo. old. Does she eat solids well? Take vitamins? Often babies need iron supplements when they go off of formula and sometimes other vitamin supplements...I'd check with my pediatrician about that if I were you.
L.

Everytime I switch my little girl food around, I do it in stages.
Start out with Formula 75% to Milk 25% for a week.
Week two, Formula and Milk 50/50
Week three Formula 25% to Milk 75%
Week four she should be on 100% milk.
Now remember to use Whole Milk or 2% as she needs the fatty nutrition in it still (as per my docs instructions)
Good Luck and congratulations on the 1 yr mark...my little one turned a year and I couldn't stop blubberin'! :)

I am not sure what formula you are using. I used Good Start with my daughter. I started cutting it with whole milk. I started with 3:1 ratio. Three parts formula to one part whole milk. I would check with your doctor to see what they have to suggest. In case your child has a sensitive system. Good Luck and Happy Mothers Day.
L.
Fulshear

If she is taking 8 oz of formula, mix6 oz of formula with 2 oz of whole milk and go from there. I did this over a period of a few weeks with my son. To fast and it will taste too different and he'll freak out. Just keep on changing the amounts on each side.

I found it was much easier to go to milk from formula than getting him to drink out of a sippy cup!!

My son is 15 months and our transiton was great. Just mix 1/2 and 1/2 for a few days. Then she will start drinking whole milk with out a problem.

I am a foster mom and have weened many babies from the bottle. I feel the best way to change from formula to milk is to begin to mix the whole milk with the formula (a little while milk in the beginning) then go to half and half, and finally adding more milk than formula. Their systems can digest the whole milk better this way.

When I switched my girls to milk they didn't like the taste right away so I started mixing it half and half until gradually it was all milk. Good luck!

Go to rice milk or some other (almond, hemp, etc)substitute. Dr's will argue but milk is not good for you. Yeah it has all the calcium it boasts, but you pee/poop it all out because your body can't digest it. Soy is awesome, but she is very young and it may cause her to develope allergy to soy which sucks! I have some more info on the whole milk thing if you want to email me directly. Good luck, it should be an easy transition!

start by mixing milk & formula half & half for about a week - then one-fourth & three-fourths the next week - then full strength milk...worked great with mine...good luck!

My little boy also just turned one, and we are almost through the transition process to whole milk. My doctor said to mix half milk, half formula for one cup a day to make sure there are no allergies. It has also gotten him used to the taste. Then, after a week, he said to go to straight milk. I started off the first half of the week only doing a 4 oz. mixture, and now the second half we are doing an 8 oz. mix. He has done well with it.

I started out by decreasing the amount of formula and replacing it with milk at one of his feedings. I started out at the dinner feeding. My son would have an 8oz bottle after eating, so I would decrease it to 6 oz with 2oz of milk. Did that for 3 days, then decreased the formula to 4oz with 4 oz of mild for 3 days. Then so on, after he was on whole milk, I changed the afternoon bottle from formula to milk without having to go through the process again. After that, he went to only milk.

Hi. I suggest introducing milk gradually by alternating it in to your feeding schedule, and she how she does. Try starting to feed her milk every fourth bottle, for example, then begin to increase it by feeding more bottles of milk and fewer of formula. You might try this over a few weeks' time. One thing to be careful of is that some babies are lactose intolerant, so you want to be sure she has no trouble with milk. You might also check with your pediatrician to see if she/he thinks your daughter is ready for the transition or has any pointers.

I just went through this with my twins. My suggestion would be to start out slowly. I changed one bottle in the middle of the day to milk...keeping the night time and the first morning bottle formula. This allows their stomach to get used to milk a little at a time. Gradully increase the number of milk bottles until there's no need for formula. It took us about 4 days to accomplish. Good luck!

I'd never heard of mixing formula and milk, so that's not what I tried with my son. Another option is to simply switch cold turkey--from straight formula to straight milk--but keep everything else the same. Hopefully your daughter is taking a sippy cup, but if not, this isn't the time to try to introduce one--one change at a time! :-) So just give her the milk the same way you'd give her the formula--in the same container, and at the same temperature. That last was important with my son--he didn't like cold milk, but if I warmed it like I did the formula, he took it without hesitation and without any problems with digesting the milk. Another thing I always did with any change is treat it completely matter-of-factly. I never made a big deal about a change, and so my son always took changes in stride. That might be due more to his personality, but it worked for us.

Hi K.,
The day before my daughter turned one I was still breastfeeding, although we had really tapered off after she was 10 months old. The day she turned one I stopped breastfeeding and I gave her milk in a sippy cup and that was that. We went cold turkey and it worked for her :)

When I started I deluted it with water to start the change to make it easier for her stomach. Also little bitty formula.

Sharon has it on the nose. If you do it like that you shouldn't have any problems!

Mix a little milk into her formula for a few days.
Mix a little more milk and less formula for a few days.
Mix half and half for a few days and then get it to more milk than formula and finally, just milk.
It works like a charm. They don't even know you changed the flavor. Take it gradual. Yes, it does take time. But that is all you have! Time.
This will be one of many transitions.
Go for it!

When I switched my boys to whole milk I started with half milk half formula for three or four days. Then about three fourths milk/one fourth formula for three or four days and then tried just milk. They did really well with that.