Transitioning from Formula to Whole Milk Before 12 Months

Please wait until his first birthday!!! There are many vitamins and nutrients in formula that are crucial to their development in the first year.

A.,

I started putting milk in my dd's cereal around 10 months and she developed an allergy to the protein. After a year of health issues and now having to find alternatives to dairy - such as goat milk which is FIVE DOLLARS for a HALF gallon.... I can tell you that it is worth the wait.

It isn't just because of nutrition, which is enough for me, but their bodies are still matturing to be ready to handle an animals milk.

I'd really reconsider, 2 months isn't much longer and his health could suffer because of it.

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002448.htm

Please remember that his fragile digestive system is still developing and may be too immature to handle whole milk.

It's two months. Isn't the price of formula for 2 months worth the peace of mind you get for keeping your kid healthy?

Please wait until he is older. Cow milk is not good for children under 12 months, and he could become anemic. My son is anemic and we didn't start him on Cow's milk until he was 13 months and it is not fun! He has to take supplements and they make his stomach hurt; when he doesn't take them he is not very focused and is always very sleepy and cranky.

Also, giving a child cow's milk too early could cause the child to have milk intolerance or allergy.

A.,

We did this with our kids 'cause after awhile they seemed uninterested in the formula, so we started watering down the cow's milk and gradually (over a period of a few weeks or 2 or 3 months, possibly) we got them onto cow's milk. But we wanted to make sure they did not become anemic so we put vitamin infant drops in their bottles once a day. I would put some kind of fruit in it too to take away the taste of the vitamins. I am trying to think of the name of the vitamins that we used but I can't remember the name right now. But they are in the stores with all the other vitamins for kids and babies.

Hope this helps a little...have a good day! :)

D. R.

Wait till he's a year. Their tummies just aren't equipped for milk until then. We even waited a little after her 1st birthday. Kroger, Target and WalMart have wonderful store brands of formula. They are just as good as the name brands and they're half the price. You can try to water down the formula. We had to do that when times were really tough. I just added an extra ounce or two of water to the bottle. Since my dd was on table food at 9 months, I wasn't too worried about her not getting nutrition. Also, ask your pediatrician for formula samples. I know ours would give us a sample at almost every visit.

I have four kids-10, 5, 4, and 17 mo. What we always did was count how many bottles they had during the day. Say it is 6 bottles, on average, then 6 weeks before the first birthday, replace one bottle of formula with one cup of milk, next week remove/replace one more bottle. Eventually it is the week before the big 1, and they are down to 1 bottle a day. We would usually save their favorite bottle for last (with 3 of mine, it was the before bed bottle but for the youngest it was the breakfast bottle) and let them have their VERY LAST bottle on the day before their first birthday. Then they turn one, and are weaned from the bottle at age one, which is what I have always read is recommended. I can certainly understand not wanting to buy any more formula, but keep in mind that you will still need to keep a close eye on the nutritional values of the foods you are feeding him, milk is not a 'meal in a liquid form' like formula is sometimes thought to be, so more than likely your grocery bill won't go down as much as you are hoping...you'll just have things that you can eat too!
~good luck!

I agree that a child before 1 is not ready for cow's milk and maybe not even until after that. Not only are they're digestive systems not equipped, but the hormones and anitbiotics in the milk are a horrible thing to have floating around in your kid's body.

I tried giving my twins milk after their first birthday and they had such horrible stomach cramps that they would scream for a hour or more after they had just a tiny bit. I've been giving mine goat's milk for the past year and now that they're two I'm just starting to introduce organic milk w/o hormones and anitbiotics.

Cost was an issue for us as well, as we live paycheck to paycheck (or worse!), but I am not willing to compromise on what goes into my child's body!

We did exactly the same thing with our daughter. She loves milk & is doing great. Yes, I think that Drs "want" them to stay on formula, but for us, it really was a financial issue. We were going thru formula faster than our wallet could keep up. With 2 kids, we still go thru at least 2 gallons of milk a week, but that's certainly cheaper than formula & milk. I really don't think that you or your son will have any problems.

I would wait. You'd really feel bad if he ended up developing some kind of milk or dairy allergy because you transitioned him too soon, and it could've possibly been avoided just by waiting two or so more months. I didn't take either of my kids off until soon after their first birthday.