Switching to Milk - Help

I had to add a little formula to the milk for the first week. Gradually add less as they get used to the taste.

Don't know if this will help or not. But my son always took his formula at room temp. When we switched to milk he did not like it cold. I would put it in the microwave for 15 to 30 seconds just to take the chill off. He took it once the milk was room temp. We slowly backed off the time in the microwave to eventually give it to him straight from the fridge. Good luck.

i agree w/mary m...just start mixing it with her formula bit by bit.. eventually switch completely. worked with my son. i never wanted him to be one of those kids who would drink nothing but flavored milk...i have an opinion about those kids and was petrified of creating one! lol. don't force it...just start a very slow transition and she probably won't even notice.

ps, the dr. can't generalize about a kid refusing to drink out of a sippy cup, that's ridiculous. when my son first started taking a sippy cup (and "when" is up to you), i just put it in his mouth and tipped it a bit so he could taste what was inside. once he knew it was the same thing he'd been drinking out of a bottle, he was fine with it. no dr. should ever tell you something like that is a "rule". all kids are different. just like everything else with babies, it's trial and error...you try what you think will work, and if it doesn't, you try something else. you're a smart woman and you are perfectly capable of using common sense...as moms we have to. good luck...do what you think is right!

So has she not had anything in a sippy cup before now? If so, you have to decide what you want to do...if you're ready to get rid of the bottle, which you might as well do it now then I'd just start putting everything in the sippy cup, including formula. I think it would make the transition easier b/c she is already familiar with the taste and likes to drink it. Also, as others said, start mixing milk and formula together. I started with a 75/25 formula/milk ratio for the first week, then 50/50, etc. You can do the same with the sippy cup if you wish...I mean start by using the sippy at one-two feedings, the bottle at others, and then gradually increase the use of the sippy cup. I used the Nuk cups which have a very squishy nipple top very similar to the bottle and it worked well. If you end up just putting the milk in the bottle it will be just fine, but my only advice is to remember that the longer things go on, the harder they are to break! But, even with that being said, I do believe that you have to do what works and keeps you sane.

Tori mentioned this, but I wanted to second it! I tried the hard tip sippy cup first and my daughter rejected it immediately. When we tried the soft tip ones, she immediately took to them. We have different brands, but the Nubi was the first we tried. This makes the transition from a nipple to a cup a little easier.

Jessy

Doctor's are necessary for some things but are not mothers and you know your child and you know what they can deal with. Switching two things at once at one year old is too much and I would put milk in a bottle if you are in a rush to do it first or put formula in a sippy cup but I don't know what the big rush is to get a 1 yr. old off a bottle. I believe children need that sucking and the sippy cup just doesn't do that well. I also think you'll know when it's time to get rid of the bottle. Only do one thing at a time whatever you decide. She's still a baby so let her enjoy being one and enjoy her because they grow up too fast anyhow.

have you tried warming the milk up a little bit before giving it to her? my son prefers the milk to be warm.

Hi D.! I didn't have a chance to read your other responses so I apologize if I say the same thing as other mommies. Anyway, when I transitioned my son to whole milk, I kept it in a bottle since that is what he was used to until he was completely switched. I made a gradual switch. I put 6 oz. of formula and 2 oz. of milk for a couple of days. Then I put 4 oz. of formula and 4 oz. of milk for a couple more days. Then kept going like that until it was completely milk. I kept the milk that I added to the bottles cold and added it with his warmed formula. That way he not only was transitioning to a different substance but to a different temp gradually as well. It worked great. Then once he was on the milk fully, I started transitioning him to a sippy. How I did this was by using a sippy cup that has a rubber sipper on it. Completely soft rubber so it felt the same as a nipple. Once he was used to that, I switched to the sippies that have a rubber coating over a plastic sipper. Then switched to the hard plastic kind. All a gradual thing. Good luck to you!!

Offer her other liquids other than milk. Water and juices. Make sure she gets plenty of foods with saturated fats, protein, calcium, and vitamin D.... and even taking a muti-vitamin.

I agree with the warm and what about adding ovaltine? My pediatrician had said "i don't care what color you make the milk, just get them to drink it". Ovaltine (while pricey) does at least add even more vitamins and it's chocolatey which totally worked on my kids. After about three months I'd make it weaker and weaker and bam, they were on plain.

As for sippy cup bottle transition - only offer sippies. Water in one, milk in the other and that's it. You may have two bad days, but then it will be over. I had to do that with both of mine - another ped recommendation. It worked great and they were both kids who would never hold their own bottle or drink from a sippy before.

well I started early with my daughter. around ten months I started adding regular milk in with her formula and slowly lessening the amound of formula while increasing the regular milk. by 11 months she wast strictly on regular milk. I also started the sippy cup early too around 5-6 months.

so since your doing this later put the formula in the sippy first then start adding milk to it until it is totally milk. eventually she will get over it and when she is thirsty enough she will drink it. also offer her water everytime she refuses the milk thus she won't get dehydrated.

I slowly switched my daughter from the bottle. She only had it at night time and in the morning. As for switching to milk, I slowly transitioned her into that as well. 3/4 formula to 1/4 milk. then 1/2 and 1/2 and then 1/4 to 3/4 and the whalla, she is on milk. It took her about 1-2 months before she was on milk alone. We too had to warm her milk and slowly transitioned her from warm milk to cold milk.

I think your dr. needs to relax. give the poor girl her bottle and fill it with whateve ryou want to give her. She's only 12 (+/-) old... anyway, to me it sound slike she;s not ready for a sippy cup yet. I start out giving milk in the bottle until I;ve replaced formula all together. Then at meal times I give my son a sippy cup, usually with water, and we also use cups with straws, which he prefers. Eventually over time she'lll trade her bottle for a sippy cup, but I wouldn;t force her to do anything. My ped, by the way, wants my son off the bottle by 18 months.

Hi D.,

No reason to switch the two at the same time. What I did for my kids was to keep the bottle and put 1/4 C. Vit. D milk with 3/4 C formula. I'd stick with that for about a week and then go to 1/2 and 1/2 of each and so on until you have a full bottle of Vit. D milk. After your daughter is used to the milk, THEN work on the bottle issue. How you do that is start offering a sippy cup more often, or cut cold turkey. Both my kids went cold turkey and didn't seem to mind at all.

Hope this helps!! Good luck!! ls

My daughter did the same thing. Just keep offering her the milk. It took my daughter a couple days or more before she started to get used to it. I just continued to offer it to her throughout the day. She seemed like she didn't like it or wasn't interested in at first but after a couple of days she was drinking more. After about a week she had developed a taste for it and was getting more than enough. I would try to give it a few more days. You could also give her water if you are worried about her getting dehydrated. I wouldn't go back to giving her formula though if you can help it. If she has not used a sippy cup much I would let her get used to the milk in the bottle first as you transition her to the cup. Once she gets used to the cup you can put it in her cup.

I have a 2 year old and when we started the transition form bottle to cup it took a few weeks, just try the cup mabye at lunch time to start. As far as switching from formula to milk try mixing the two together, half and half and try that with the cup at lunch. Good luck

mix some formula with the milk and put in her sippy cup. I would try half formula/half milk first and see how she takes it, then slowly add more milk less formula. Not sure that will work but worth a try.

First of all milk is overrated..!! That being said try putting juice in her sippy cup and continue giving her milk from a bottle with the ratios the other moms suggested until she has switched from formula to milk (that should only take a couple of weeks). Now she will be used to milk (or soy) and used to the sippy cup - then your transition from the bottle to the cup will be easier.

Honestly your Doctor is asking your daughter to transition 2 things by making her change to milk AND making her change to a cup. Personally, I would just keep giving the formula in the bottle & offer the milk in either a cup or bottle. Then if you want, add a LITTLE milk to her bottle and if she takes it gradually over time increase the milk given. You can always work on the cup issue later. You have lots of time to transition her to a cup, no need to rush. Some toddlers take to a sippy cup right away, others need more time.

Good luck, and don't worry, it is ok for her to keep drinking from her bottle. She won't be drinking from a bottle in kindergarten. No need to rush her. Again..... at least that is my opinion. ;-)

J.

D.:
I have recently gone through the same situation with my daughter who just turned a year old. She was pretty much done with the bottle...she was often not willing to lay back and drink the bottle as she formerly did (always been a fight really). We tried sippy cups, straws, just drinking from a cup with no lid...and she would do each for a day and then be done with it. It takes a few days...maybe a week...to get them used to NO BOTTLE at all. But my friend/babysitter who has four of her own suggested just quitting the bottle "cold-turkey". And she did get used to it. The straw is what works for my daughter. You just have to figure out which she does best with and I do suggest pulling the bottle completely. It will cause too much confusion to do otherwise. (Only my opinion.)

Good Morning D., One thing that always bothers me is WHY Dr's seem to think children need to be off the bottle before age 1 or at age 1? Why is that, I wonder!
Mama's can nurse as long as they want to and are comfortable with it. So Why must a child switch to sippy cups so early? Our Boys have their bottles until they decided to throw them away. Eldest of 19 months the youngest was almost 2. I don't think it did any emotional damage on either one of them, sure didn't stunt their growth any.

If it were me I would forget the sippy for awhile longer.. I really do not think it hurts them to have a bottle.

God Bless you and your little one
K. Nana of 5