I should know this but my daughter is now 4 and I cannot remember how I handled this situation. My son will be 1 on April 14th, we buy formula every 2 weeks so the next time we would buy would be March 16th, this would get us to the 30th and I am considering starting milk by then. Does anyone have any thoughts as to how to do this, do I mix milk and formula and up the milk each day or do I alternate bottles? Also, is it a big deal to switch 2 weeks before? I want to do what is best for my son and am also ready to stop buying formula. Like I said, I should know this but do not remember. Thanks in advance for any advice.
I mixed the formula with the milk and then increased the amount of milk each day and decreased the formula. It was very easy with my daughter.
We switched over at around 11 months or so. I would gradually introduce the milk. What I'd do is put 50/50 for a week then all milk going forward. You can do it slower too where you do 25% milk and 75% formula for a week, 50/50% for a week, then 75% milk and 25% formula, then 100% milk. Good luck.
H. -
I was still nursing at the one year point, we did a little bit of formula and we gave my son whole milk at a year and he did fine. The ultimate combination!
Just trust your gut and do it. Also, I wouldn't worry about it being 12 months exactly - starting early is fine!
Good luck
D.
mom to zeno
I know alot of people that start to do the formula to milk switch at 10 or 11 months. It all depends on if your baby handles it well.
Start out by making a bottle of formula and make 6oz. of formula and 2oz. of whole milk. Do this for a few days or whatever and keep increasing the amount of whole milk and decreasing the amount of formula until your down to just whole milk.
What I did with all three of my children was started giving them whole milk in a cup about a month before their first birthday. This way they would get use to the cup. The week of their first birthday, bye bye bottle, hello cup with whole milk. I think one thing to keep in mind is when they are no longer on formula, they do not need thta much milk. They should just be having some with meals, maybe one glass of juice, otherwise water. They also have so many different kinds of sippy cups, regular cups, that this gives you time to find one that your child will drink from if not already.
switching 2 weeks early is no big deal. we made the switch at one year cold turkey...just started giving her milk...she did not seem to mind at all....used the rest of the formula when we were out of the house instead of bringing milk, eventually we ran out and had no problem with the switch.
I just switched my twins to milk and I found it to be the easiest if I would give them half and half for a week, then up the milk an ounce and decrease the formula an ounce once a week until the formula was out of the picture. My kids ate around 6 oz. so it took around three weeks to completely ween them off of the formula (give or take some days).
Also, I started weening my children at around 11 months. I figured they were still getting the formula up until their first birthday, and that was what was important. Ultimately, it is a decision that you and your doctor have to make. For my family, it worked well because my kids were off formula by their first birthday and it was much cheaper. And they are still happy healthy babies today, despite that I started weening a little early...
Hopefully this helped! Keep us posted as to how it goes!
A.
I kinda did cold turkey with my son! He had a formula bottle one night and he was on whole milk the next day! When he would eat his meals prior to the switch, I would give him a sippy cup of whole milk to wash everything down. I never put milk in a bottle. When he was done with formula, he was done with bottles! He never even fussed for a bottle or formula after the switch!
I think you would be fine to switch now. Our doctor had us switch one bottle a day with whole milk. We started with one the bottles in the middle of the day. The next day we switched 2 of them, and so on. The last bottle we switched was the one before bed. It went fine. He did not love the milk like his formula. He drank less, but seemed to eat regular food more. I started water in a sippy cup at this time, and he drank that well, so I knew he was not getting dehydrated. Eventually he learned to love milk too. It took about a month I think. I just made sure he got lots of yogurt, cheese, cottage cheese in the mean time.
Good luck! It is SO wonderful to not be buying formula anymore.
My daughter started whole milk @ 11 mo's. I'd check with your doctor, because they want their iron, etc...to be high enough before they start drinking milk. Chances are, you have a 1 year appointment set up...see if you can get him in a month early and if you get the o.k. from your doc...then no need to buy more formula.
Hi H. -
When our son Zach turned one, we pretty much flipped the switch. No more formula - only whole milk. He is 20 months old and doing great!!
I hope this helps - good luck!
D.
We were still breastfeeding at a year and never used formula for the boys, but I just started giving them a little milk with meals. We don't drink alot of milk here, a little with cereal in the morning, and maybe some with dinner. Around 13 months I just started giving them a straw cup with some organic whole milk in it at dinner and they did fine.
I never replaced our nursing sessions with milk, because I believe breastmilk is what they need, not cows milk. But since formula is essentially cows milk anyway, just switch him over gradually, and start giving him a sippy instead of a bottle. Making the transistion all at once, bottle to sippy adn formula to milk, makes sense.
I breastfed my kids but switched them both to whole milk at about 11.5 months. I did warm the milk up a little and then gradually started them drinking it cold. When I switched I couldn't really mix breastmilk and whole milk together (at least not very easily) but I have heard that mixing formula and whole milk together works well unless your little guy likes regular milk then you wouldn't have to. For starters I'd just give him a little bit to make sure he doesn't have any digestive issues with it.
You can start giving him a little whole milk each day. Start with just one bottle a day for about a week then 2X the next week & so on. This way he gets used to it a little at a time instead of just switching from all formula to none at all. Also, it is ok to start before this before his 1st birthday.
Enjoy this age it is so fun!!
I have a 13 month old and we switched cold turkey and it was not a good idea. He ended up covered in hives from an allergic reaction to it. We had to go back on formula for another month and then do it VERY SLOWLY :o)
After the month (last week actually) I started making the 6 oz of formula and then topping off with Whole Milk for a few days. Then I made 4 oz of formula and topped off with milk. Then after a couple more days it was 2 oz or formula and top off with milk. Now today we are going to try the all milk.
I didn't realize that it could cause a problem and thought that if he liked it then what was the harm in just switching all at once. I'm just thankful that it wasn't a long term allergy - SO FAR :o) All kids are different though but be careful.
Good luck,
J.
My youngest is now 16 mos. At around a year I just finished what formula I had left and started milk. She at the time was no longer dependent on bottles for her main source of nutrition. I did half formula half milk until the formula was gone. We were doing the vitamin D milk at first but noticed she was having really hard stools then switched to 2 percent milk but break it down with a bit of water. Just see how your baby is tolerating the milk and if they are not ready you can always go back to formula for awhile or talk to your doctor for alternatives.
