Switching 1Yr Old to Milk

With my daughter I gave her half formula and half milk for a while. Then I kept increasing the milk until there was no formula. This worked and I never monitored how many sippy cups my daughter was having with whole milk. She loved milk and as long as she wanted whole milk I gave it to her to drink. She started off by having a sippy cup all day and sipping on it throughout the day and then at night she had to have a sippy cup full of milk. She always ate her food so we never put a stop to it. Today she is a healthy happy 6 year old with no teeth problems, weight problems, or eating problems. So good luck! Now my second one never wanted a sippy cup and hated milk so we never had to go through that. She went from bottle to drinnking out a cup. And now our third girl is due any day now so who knows.

At 12 mos we tried gradually adding organic whole milk to our daughters formula. She hated it and refused to eat the bottle. Not sure if it just made it colder or if she didn't like the taste? At our 1 yr appointment we explained this to our pediatrician and she said to just keep trying and that it may take some time. I was prepared to get the toddler formula because I didn't think she would drink it. Then we just decided to put the whole milk in a sippy cup and give that to her. To our astonishment she drank it all! Never had a problem with it since. We did continue to give her a bedtime bottle for another month or so just for the extra nutrition because she wasn't doing well with table foods.

Good Luck!

You can cut down the middle bottles and switch them to water one at a time when you are ready. Usually the first and last of the day are the final ones to go.

Just start putting 1/4 or 1/3 of milk in each bottle. See how he reacts. If no changes withing a week introduce a little more and keep doing it till its just plain milk.

There really is no "rule" as to how much milk to provide your baby. If your little one loves his milk, then let him have it. Of course it's a good idea to introduce water and juice (I always diluted the juice with a little water to cut down the sweetness) but if they wanted milk, then milk it was (it's not worth battling with a toddler over what to give him to drink). Whole milk until he is two years old but keep in mind that whole milk has the highest fat content, although very good for continued brain development (my ped recommended whole milk from 12 months to 24 months) but if your little one is gaining excessive weight (your doctor should be monitoring this) then he may recommend 2 % milk.

The general rule of thumb once they start whole milk is 16-20 oz per day. It will be a gradual transition after the 1 year mark where solids will start taking a bigger place as you gradually cut back on the amount of formula you are giving him and start introducing whole milk. It's not some magic thing that happens the minute they turn one so don't worry about taking your time with the transitions.

And it would be a good idea to start getting rid of the bottle now (9 months is the latest recommendation) so that your don't have a bottle fight on your hands with a willful toddler. Mine never really had a bottle so I never had that worry but I have a friend that bottle feeds and she had both of hers off the bottle and strictly with a sippy by 9 months. Made her life very easy she said. Offer warm formula in the sippy.