Transitioning to Cow Milk

K.:

I don't have any advice for you but I'd love to read any good feedback that you might get. I have a 10 1/2 month-old daughter so I am about to go through this same stage with her.
Thanks for forwarding me any recommendations that you get.

F.
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When we transitioned my son he went cold turkey to milk. I ran out of formula (thought I had another can but it turned out to be empty) and he went straight to milk. It was tough for a day or so but then he adjusted. My husband and my mother kept telling me, just leave it there for him and when he's thirsty he'll drink it.
Just my two cents...
~S.

HAve you tried straight whole milk? I was in the same position as you- 11 1/2 month old and was contemplating buying more formula. I bought a gallon of whole milk instead and put it in a sippie cup and that was it! No mixing- not more bottles! I wantd him off of the bottle by 12 months. So, try straight milk in a sippie cup. If he doesn't like it, when he gets hungry enough, he will drink it. Don't meant o sound harsh but it can be difficult and I know several moms whose DR. gave them the same advise. Fortunately it wasn't a stuggle for me, but I hear it can be. Also, try the NUBY's soft top sippies as a transition.

Working mom of a 2 1/2 year old boy and a 12 week old girl.

I transitioned my daugther to whole milk @ 11 months simply because I was too cheap to buy another can of formula. She was breastfeed most of the time with bottles of formula 2 to 3 days a week. I did 1/4 milk & then 1/2 milk, then all milk & she took it fine. I think I did it over a 2 week period because I knew I was running out of formula. She turned out completely fine (she is 3 now). I do believe if he is thirty he will drink. See story below.

I had a similar experience with the taking the bottle away (at 12 months). She wouldn't drink from the sippy cup until I cold turkey took the bottle away. My pediatrian told me she might not drink alot the 1st day but when she gets thirsty & realizes the only way she is going to get it is from a sippy cup she will drink it. It sounded cruel but it worked like a charm.

Best of luck!
C.

K.,
My daughter went through a similar situation when she was 11 months old. I had given her a bottle of formula mixed with rice (doctors orders for reflux) and when she woke up she refused a bottle, I continued to try for the rest of the day and then called the doctor. They said she will eat when shes hungry. Earlier in the week I had taken her in and they said she had a virus and that was probably the reason. I also had an appointment the following day at Baylor Children's Hospital where they were going to do a feeding analysis (this appointment was not due to her refusing the bottle it had to do with her reflux and swallowing issues). They (Baylor) told me not to worry about her not taking a bottle or formula. I was really weird, it seemed like all of a sudden she couldn't stand the tast of the formula anymore. They even tried to dilute it with milk, yougurt and water and even the slightes bit a formula she would refuse it. So I started to introduce milk slowly with yogurt and with the yougurt drinks they make for kids. She didn't like milk and to this day won't drink it, she is now 25 months old. My pediatrician said not to worry to just give her calcium in other forms like yogurt and cheese which she loves. Also, I noticed that when she started to refuse the bottle with the formula she wouldn't take a bottle with anything else in it. So, we swithced over to sippy cups. I remember being so worried about her not wanting to take her bottle anymore and I think she went for about a day without any real food. Just try to be patient and don't really force him to drink or eat anything. Try maybe some water in a cup but not too much you don't want him to full up on water. Try the soy baby yogurts and the Dora yougurts, my daughter always liked the Dora yogurts because they were thick and she could feed herself. He might not want to eat tomorrow but if it goes past tomorrow just call your pediatrician to make sure he's not sick. I hope this helps, I know it can be a little scary when all of a sudden they stop eating. If you have any more questions feel free to email me.
Good luck,
K.

Hi K.,
this is a very common scenario, and so familiar, my daughter knew if I added a drop of whole milk to her formula!
My daughter was sick for a week with a virus and needless to say she didnt want to eat or drink. When she got better I switched her cold turkey and she drank the whole cup, change is hard for them and they do notice subtle changes. I thought i was doing the right thing and being kind to my daughters feelings by weaning, but I truly believe it was the absence of the formula that helped. If you are willing to give it a shot, dont give milk or formula for a couple of days, substitute with yogurts and cheeses, then in a few days try the milk again. sounds like he isnt really drinking the formula anyway, so now is a good time to switch. dont get anxious, just when we think they are predictable, that is when they become unpredictable!
good luck.
K.

with my kids i added milk to the formula just like you are and gradually made it to more milk until the formula was all gone and all they had was milk. some kids don't like the thick texture of whole milk so you might put just a little water, maybe 1/4 of the sippy cup or less.also as long as he's eating cheese and yogurt he's getting enough calcium. he also may be dropping his nightly feeding so don't force it.besides it's better if they don't have beverage at night because of they're teeth and wetting all over themselves. good luck and if you really are worried i'd call the doc. that's what they are there for! good luck! A.

Hi K.
My son just made the transition. We didn't mix the 2 together - that could be funny tasting. We just gave him a bottle full of milk instead of formula and he took it. I would do one or the other.
Also - my son is teething really bad right now as well. It defintitely affects their eating habits. And you may want to try offering him milk in a sippy cup. Nuby bottles are great - they help you transition from bottle to sippy. My son really fought it but he is finally drinking out of a sippy cup. You can get Nuby's at Wal-Mart.
Hope that helps...

My son started switching around 10 (almost 11) months. He didn't like milk at first either. So, I had to either bring milk up to room temperature (he didn't like it cold) or mix it with yogurt to get him to drink it. I didn't give it to him with formula nor in a bottle. I used nuby sippy cups that had a soft, silicone top. I would recommend trying either warming the milk up or mixing it with yogurt (like yobaby) and see if that works. Hope it helps!
C.

Yes, cow's milk (Whole milk) at a year. He might not like the taste of whole milk. How much whole milk have you been giving him. My son turned a year on the 6th of May and because I still have lots of formula(soy) because of WIC, he is still on formula and my pediatrician said that is fine but he should not have more 12 oz per day at his age regardless if it's formula or whole milk.
Good Luck and I hope this helps. I tried giving him whole milk at 11 months and he drank it just fine. I can't give him any dairy until June 9th cause he is scheduled to get tubes in his ears.

Greetings K.,

My first concern is that your child is not a year old yet and is being introduced to cow's milk. It's best to wait until AFTER the first birthday. I know it seems close, but two weeks is still time to develop a more mature digestive system. Research shows that children who are given milk before their first birthday is linked to childhood diabetes. I just learned this recently as a mom of a 11month old I babysit wanted to cut the cost of formula and go ahead and make the switch. I asked my mother, who is a pediatric nurse, and she said it's risky to push cow's milk too soon as it can have an impact later.

As far as his rejecting the formula/milk mix, I would say that he can taste the difference. I had to switch my son over 1/2 an ounce at a time. It took FOREVER. Also, you know if a kid doesn't like something, you have to introduce it several times before he does. You may also try putting his formula in his bottle like regular and then putting the cow milk in a sippy cup (straw cups are best for oral motor and speech development if you can transition to that) and offering it separately to see if he will take it straight. Maybe he doesn't like it mixed but might like it separate. And if he hasn't had an allergic reaction to it with it mixed, he's likely to handle it straight. My daughter switched straight over to milk in one day. So you know your kid and just have to keep testing it out. It's trial and error, as you know. You'll get it.

I don't know if this will help or not, but here goes! I never mixed milk and formula for my now 2 1/2 year old, when it was time to switch, we just switched...and we never had a problem. When she was about 10 or 11 months old, she didn't seem to want her bottle either, so I gave her formula in a sippy cup. She was elated with that, drank all of her formula (and eventually milk) from her sippy cup, we were done with bottles and never had the struggle that some have when they wait to switch. Maybe your little man is ready for a sippy cup? Worth a shot! Maybe try putting the formula you have left in a sippy cup and see if he will drink it? Like you said, if he is thirsty/hungry, he will drink it when he's ready! Good luck, and try not to worry too much! kids seem to have their own agenda, and its not always the same as ours!

Nothing unusual about it, mom. A lot of kids don't like the taste of cows' milk when they first try it. Mixing it with the formula at first is the smart thing to do. But, I wouldn't bother to buy more formula. Just be sure he's getting plenty of liquids, especially water; and continue to offer him the cows' milk. He'll eventually get used to it.

Sometimes moms will flavor the milk for a time and then cut back on the flavoring. Don't want to start bad habits too soon. Of course, Instant Breakfast is full of vitamins.

That's another thing. Most doctors recommend a good multi-vitamin once a day when the little ones start on cows' milk. Just compare the labels and get the one with the best price that's equal in nutritional value as the more expensive ones.

Your son probably only needs 18-24 ounces of milk a day, at the most, now. So he's close to hitting the lower end of that goal.

Don't let him load up on juice either. Once a day is plenty. It's not good for his teeth and doesn't satisfy their thirst...that's part of the reason why they request more and more of it. Fresh fruit is best for the fiber.

Be sure he gets whole milk, until he's past the age of two. He needs the fat in whole milk for brain cells development. After age two you can begin to watch his fat intake. You can switch to two percent or less after that, if you want.

Hope this is reassuring to you. Just be consistent and you'll get through this transition.

Good luck and God Bless.
http://www.missbrenda.com

Hi K.,

My doctor recommends waiting until the baby is one year old before introducing any dairy, so that is what I did.

I had a similar problem. I thought it would be easy to transition from stinky old formula to sweet, cold cow's milk. Boy was I wrong!! My daughter HATED cow's milk. I tried warming it, serving it cold, in a bottle, a sippy, a regular cup, over cereal, mixed with formula---NOTHING worked. She also got a terrible diaper rash during this time--first one ever. We were convinced that she had a milk allergy, had her tested---NOPE---but she still wouldn't drink milk. She did start liking yogurt and cheese at about 13 months, but still no milk.

Finally, I started putting some sugar or strawberry flavoring in it, and she started drinking it. She was 14 months old before she was totally off formula and on milk. I think she had a milk intolerance, so milk made her feel bad, and she knew it. I think they are made to know when they are ready for milk, so maybe you need to hold off for a couple of weeks and try again. By the way, chocolate flavoring is not recommended, but sugar is okay to start.

I used Enfamil Next Step in place of formula and as a transition into milk. Maybe that would help your son, too. Try yogurt and cheese if okayed by the pediatrician, too.

My baby also cuts WAY back on her milk and food consumption during teething, so for me that is normal. She ususally makes up for it a few days later.

Still, I think I would buy some more formula and ease him into milk. Also, it is the perfect time to get him off the bottle by only serving milk in a cup. My pedi forgot to tell me that, and we got fussed at at her 15 month appt.

Good luck! Hope some of this helps.

Hi K.,
At my son's one-year well baby visit (about 2 months ago) we were told that he will only need 8 to 12 oz of milk a day, so it sounds like he's getting enough. I try to keep my son's milk intake to 4 or 5 ounces of milk at each meal. He gets water in between meals and at snack time. He didn't appreciate the water at first, but I just kept offering it at the same time every day and eventually he drank it.
Also around his 11th month he just quit needing the bed time bottle. If you still think he's thirsty, you might offer him water in a sippy cup.
If you haven't already started brushing his teeth (or letting him play with/chew on a toothbrush at bed time) you might switch to teethbrushing at this point in your routine instead of offering a bottle. I just put a little non-fluoride toothpaste on a toothbrush and let my son hold it and chew on it while sitting at the bathroom sink. When he's done I say "bye-bye toothbrush, Mommy's turn" and I quickly and gently run the toothbrush over his teeth (all the while giggling and making car or airplane noises...).
I think it's a great idea that you're introducing cow's milk gradually. We did the same with ours. If you think he's rejecting the taste, try switching even MORE gradually -- increase the amount of cow's milk in each bottle by just 1 or 2 ounces, then wait a full week before adding another ounce. I babysit a boy that had a tough time transitioning from breastmilk to formula and this very, very slow aproach worked for him.
Hope this helps!