Formula/milk Questions 1 Year Old

Whole milk is not for underweight children, they need the fat to myelinate their nerve fibers. Myelin is a fatty sort of substance that covers certain nerves in the brain and basically makes you think faster. There's a disorder where the brain cannot form this myelin, which is, I believe, what the movie Lorenzo's Oil was based on.

I always mixed formula with milk to gradually get my kids' tummies used to the change. It only took about a week until it was straight whole milk. Unless I still had some formula to use up, that is!

The Dr. said for us to go straight to whole milk in a sippy at age 1, no transition necessary. I mixed a little formula w/ the milk at first, only because I needed to get rid of the last bit of it that I had. There is nothing wrong with continuing on with age-appropriate formula for a bit, but I presume it's getting expensive for you with a brand-name formula.

At 1 year old, I switched all three of my boys (one of them just 2 weeks ago) straight to whole milk. If you're worried about allergies or lactose intolerance, maybe only give her a little bit to start with.

Babies under two need whole milk because their bodies need the fat content in it.

If she is eating solids, three meals a day, snacks and eating more table type foods, whole milk straight is great for her. She should be getting the bulk of her nutrition from solids now.
She needs the added fat for her growing brain hence the whole milk now. If she isn't eating solids well or meals regularly you can keep her on formula and alternate with whole milk. I don't think I would mix the two, hee hee. And yes formula smells awful. You can also try carnation instant breakfast with her milk too if you are worried about the added nutrition.

She needs the fat of whole right now and have your Pediatrician gauge at her checkups over the next year and tell you if the percentage in milk needs changed.

If she is one, take the bottle out of the picture and save your sanity!! She doesn't need a bottle anymore, it is bad for their teeth and can become a dependency not a need. Go get fun sippy cups and strawed cups, the sooner you do this the easier it will be. For both of my kids I just took the bottles away on their first birthdays and they never even missed them.

The exact medical advice I received on this, in '96, '00 and '02, was switch from formula to whole milk at age one year. That's exactly what we did -- no problems at all.

If anyone tells you to use low-fat milk, they are uneducated on this topic. Low-fat is good for adults, but babies need the fat from whole milk for proper brain development. Your doctor will concur.

If your daughter is healthy, growing well and progressing normally, then yes, your doctor will most likely have you put her on straight whole milk from now on. You could finish up whatever formula you have left over, then give her whole milk after it's gone. Most kids don't skip a beat making a transition to whole milk.

If you find your daughter starts getting constipated or if you think she may have a milk allergy, soy milk has all of the nutritional benefits as cow's milk.

I had to wean my boys to milk. My first son-I think he had reflux disease based on the amount of spit up, since he could soak a dishtowel each feeding-had a very hard time transitioning so I did the same w/my younger son. I did it verrrrrrry slowly-1 oz at a time for almost a week before we stepped up to another ounce of milk added to the formula. I mixed the 2 w/no problem. I'd make the formula in the bottle-as much as I needed & then add the milk. Do whole milk first, like the girls all said.
My mom, according to my baby book, threw me on 2% milk at 6 mos & I'm the only one of 4 sisters w/o a problem w/dairy-the others all have at least a bit of lactose intolerance, one can't even eat ice cream anymore.
The gagging might be the combination of smells or maybe she doesn't like the nipple & is gagging because she knows what it's going to feel like in her mouth?

My experience is that you can use whole milk now. Exclusively breast fed til 9 months can present it's own issues re sleep and this sometimes evident from about 3-4 months old. Introducing solids / formula may be a little less smooth than if they are introduced earlier. When different textures etc are introduced a little later the gagging may occur but is not, of itself, an issue it's just getting used to new foods etc - keep going is fine there's no problem. I feel that you might find your daughter may possibly gag on some other new foods depending on texture etc but is probably sleeping better now. I believe you will find the gagging self limiting. Does this happen all the time? does it happen with other foods? Your daughter sounds great - 1 year olds are good fun tho!

From what I have read and in speaking with my pediatrician, your child only needs whole milk if they are under weight. Otherwise, they can drink 2% milk for the first year. When my son turned 1, I still had some formula left over, so I gave him half milk, half formula, this way it also introduced the milk to him. Hope this helps!

If you are unsure and don't feel comfortable giving her milk until you see the doctor one more week of the formula isn't going to hurt. I started my son on whole milk on his first birthday. I was told you have to give whole milk the first year because they need the calories and what ever is in it for brain development. But you could always wait and ask you doctor next week, she is getting the things she needs from the formula for now. Hope this helps.

Whole milk is what is usually recommended. I eased one of my kids in by mixing it with formula for a few days to get them accustomed to the taste. But whole milk is what she needs. Sounds like milk in a sippy cup is your best bet. Good luck!

I'm sure you already have the response you need for this question, but I'll still tell you what I did :) My son just turned one in March and to wean him from breastmilk/formula I did it gradually. SO, for one week I would do 3/4 formula and 1/4 whole milk in his bottles. Then the 2nd week I would do 1/2 formula and 1/2 milk, the third week I did 1/4 formula and 3/4 milk, and then the fourth week I did straight milk. He had no problems switching over when I did it this way.

I hope this helps :) I don't know about the gagging issues...it could just be the smell, haha.

We didn't really have any problem with gagging, so I can't give you any input on that respect.

My doc said at 1 that they should get whole milk. We switched by putting milk only in the sippy cup and then formula in a bottle because we were trying to (slowly) wean our daughter from the bottle at the same time. She's pretty petite (and underweight) so the doc said it was OK to keep giving her formula for a while. So she has milk in a cup all day and then the "night-night" bottle with the Similac Go and Grow formula. We've taken the bottle down from 8 oz to 4 oz and the next step is to try the sippy cup with 1/2 formula and 1/2 milk. It's sad for me because I love the snuggle time with the bottle so I just tell myself that we can still snuggle with a cup! :-)

Of course the answers you get will all be opinion. So, here is mine. I believe at a year we just switched my daughter over to whole milk. They say whole because it has more fat and the babies need it. If your baby is overweight and it is an issue I have heard of people using 2%.
Also, if she is acting funny with a bottle, but not a sippy, just give her a sippy. Use it as a time to get rid of the bottle. I believe at a year we switched to milk, and got rid of the bottle. She is not too young to just take a sippy cup.
Don't feel silly asking questions, we all have them!

whole milk until 2... toddlers need the extra fat to support their braing development and the sheer amount of calories that all the growing takes. =) We switched my daughter striaght to milk without mixing with formula, but that was partly by necessity... we were out of formula on our way home from an extended stay in Europe and we could easily get milk at airports for her. The gagging sounds like a behavior thing... like she's doing it on purpose (maybe becuase she sees you gag?). Good luck... its so great to switch to milk and not have to have yucky formula around anymore. =)

Unless she has some digestive issues, you should be able to give her whole milk, cold turkey at this point. You want to give her whole milk unless she is unhealthily heavy in her weight, because the extra fat in whole milk is an important source for babies and their growth and nutritional needs. Good luck!

Sounds like you got your answer, but since I JUST went to my son's one year appointment and asked that question, I thought I would add...sorry if you already heard this, but I didn't read the rest of the responses.

Yes whole milk is what they need because they need more fats, at least till 2, then you can go to 2%. As far as the mix or straight milk, I was told that it depends on the baby. You can definitely try straight milk, and if she likes it, then great. If not, then you can try with ratios of milk to formula until it is straight milk.

I transitioned my son from formula to whole milk at one year. That's what my doctor said, and that's what I've always heard. I mixed formula/milk and slowly decreased the formula until he had straight milk. Also, at the same time I slowly stopped warming the formula/milk. It worked GREAT and he still LOVES milk (he's now 3). He is kind of on the thin side so I kept him on whole milk till he was 2 1/2 and then switched him to 2%. He still does great! Hope that helps!

I mixed whole milk with formula to transition because of the taste difference; formula is much sweeter. I tried straight whole milk and they just wouldn't drink it.

Hey, wholoe milk only is what WIC told me until they are older, then they can have 2%. I just warm the milk up and it is so much cheaper than formula. I wouldn't worry about the gagging unless she starts throwing up, but that may be something to ask your doctor about. Good luck with the switch!

My doctor told me to use whole milk until he was 2.

Hi C.,

Having done this 4 times now I can tell that the easiest way to do it is to give 2oz whole milk with 4 oz of formula for at least 3 days to get them used to it then go 3oz whole milk 3 oz formula and then 4 oz whole milk 2 oz formula do each about 3 days (fewer if your almost out of formula) Whole milk is necessary until thay are 2 after that if they are at a good weight you can switch them to 2%. I would suggest using organic milk or having it delivered straight from the dairy as the regular milk in the stores is loaded with chemicals that can cause girls to develop earlier than normal (this was info from our ped and after taste testing the dairy fresh vs the store bought we'll never go back to store bought again!)

If you want to wait till next week to ask your doctor his opinion you can with out it being a big deal.

They want the baby on whole milk from one to two, then you can move to 2% or what ever the family drinks. Unless the baby is very big, or tiny then the doctor can adapt what they need.

If she takes a sippy cup, I would get rid of the bottle soon, so that it is not harder for her to give up later.

What we did was add two ounces of whole milk at a time to his formula (subtracting two ounces of formula). Every few days we would put more milk and less formula two ounces at a time since one scoop was two ounces. If you notice her having more problems as you add the milk you may want to wait to ask the doctor.

Good luck.
S. Broadbent
www.homewithkai.info

I don't know if you did this to transition from breast to formula, but I would mix 3/4 of breast milk to 1/4 formula for a few days then 1/2 and 1/2 and then full strength when I switch. I also did that for formula to whole milk. I did whole milk for my last 2 for 1 year after they turned one but I'm hearing different stories about 2% so I would definitely ask your doc. Don't know much about the gagging thing. I know my kids were done with the bottle at 1. Did not use the sippy cup much either. Just in travelling situations. Good luck.