My 9 1/2 month old has little interest in the bottle. Starting tomorrow, I am going to replace her 11am bottle with sippy cup of formula. If that goes well over the next few weeks I am going to replace the 7am, 3 pm and finally the eliminate the bottle before bed and give her formula with sippy cup at dinner. She loves yogurt, all cheese, ect therefore I am not too concered about a dairy allergy. Is 10/12 months to early to start the transition to whole milk?
The sippy cup is going great! She loves it and it is way more fun to her than a bottle being the Little Miss Independent that she is.
We went to the doctor for a check up and he suggested finising off whatever formula I had left and that with her weight and healty adaptable eating style she should be good to go on whole milk. He said many doctors advise waiting until one year and the main reason is b/c some babies are anemic. Mine is not. After I finish this can I have one left so I will start to mix it gradually.
I have also decided organic is the way to go. Anything you use lots of needs to be organic in my opinion. With all the studies linking early development in little girls to the possibility that their diet may have something to do with it, I want to do all I can!
Thanks for all the advice.
10/12 months is to to early to start whole milk. my daughter drinks whole milk and she loves it.
L.
I don't think that giving the baby whole milk at 10 1/2 months will do any harm. Both of my children refused the bottle at 10 months. I got rid of the bottle and started sippy cups with whole milk. You might ask the doctor about giving the baby vitamins and the best kind to give them.
My grandaughter is 7 months & has been on whole milk for 2 months. She is allergic to every formula out there.
In the old days if mama wasn't available or couldn't produce the milk & no other mama was available they gave the babies cow or goats milk. It never hurt them. They were strong & healthy.
I've always heard to wait until they are a year old. It's still a crucial time in her development and I think she still needs the vitamins etc that breastmilk/formula can provide. Whole milk has a LOT of fat and I think it MIGHT be too much for her little system just yet. I'm not a pedi, so you might want to contact yours just to hear an experts opinion then go from there. It's only two more months! They grow up SOOO fast, don't rush it!! ;) My 'baby' is 4 and I miss that baby stage!
You should wait until she is 12 months to switch to milk. She still needs the extra nutrients,etc. from the formula. But, by all means, switch her to a sippy cup!! My oldest was off the bottle at 10 mos, but we didn't stop the formula till she was a year. Isn't it great when they take themselves off the bottle!! YAY for you!
I think it's great to get your little one off of a bottle and using a sippy cup, but I would keep the formula until one year. They need the extra nutrition the formula provides and may have some trouble digesting milk. Good luck with the sippy cup....the sooner the better. Great job!
I would hold off on giving her whole milk you have to introduce one thing at a time. I say wait til she is 12 months and comfortable with the sippy cup then try giving her whole milk. That way if she is not immediately interested in milk you have still gotten the chance to wean her off the bottle and she isnt turned off by the milk. Its good that you are working on getting her off the bottle!! Great job!!! Hope that this helps.
Double check with your pediatrician, but I have read that children should be one year old before switching from a formula or breast milk to whole milk and not until two years old should you move them to a lower fat variety of milk. The first is due to iron requirements, I believe, and the second is due to fat needed for brain development.
I have also seen anothe mom post who is a pediatric dietician. Hopefully she will read and weigh in too.
I PERSONALLY STARTED AT 11 1/2 MOS. WHAT I DID WAS START MIXING HALF WHOLD MILK WITH FORMULA I DID THAT UNTIL A WEEK BEFORE THEIR FIRST B-DAY AND SLOWLY GOT IT TO THE POINT OF ALL MILK. ALSO I USED THE REST OF MY FORMULA THIS WAY SO NONE WAS WASTED SINCE IT IS SOOOOO EXPENSIVE!!!! THIS WORKED OUT REALLY WELL FOR BOTH MY DAUGHTERS. I ALSO BUY ORGANIC MILK BECAUSE OF THE PESTICIDE AND ANTIBIOTICS USED IN REGULAR MILK. ALSO IT TASTES SO MUCH BETTER! JUST FOOD FOR THOUGHT! HOPE THIS HELPED! GOD BLESS!!!!!
Switching to a sippy cup and moving on to milk are two different things.
She's plenty old enough to stop the bottle and use the sippy cup exclusively. It sure is easier than trying to wean from a bottle later when they get attached to it.
Don't switch to milk until a year. Formula has so much in it (vitamins, nutrients) that their little brains and bodies need when they are growing so fast. They don't get everything they need from just the milk before a year old. I know it can get expensive, but stay on it, it's only a little while longer.
Lindee,
My kids' dr had me start to transition them at about 10-11 months to whole milk. They did just fine. Good luck with the transition!!
H.
Yes, American Pediactrics Society has done much research on this. Even if your child shows no allergy at this point, he/she can develope the allergy because of the early exposure. Thier little stomachs and intestines can't process Real milk until after age one.
If the sippy cup with formula is working, stick to that!
My pediatrician told us that 1 year is reccomended but by about 10 mos., most children can handle whole milk just fine. He also said that if their nursed or formula feed a milk-based formula, then they are already taking in lactose, just in smaller amounts than cow's milk, so it is not really new to their stomaches, just stronger. Start with a little and see how he does.
He didn't really act like the nutrients in formula/breast milk were that lacking verses that in cow's milk but did say that if I liked, I could give my daughter infant vitamins twice a week (enfamil makes one that you can find in the vitamin dept. of the Wal-Mart pharmacy or you can get a perscription and it is quite cheap also).
We tried our daughter with milk at 10 mos after I weaned her and I stopped after 2 tries because I thought she was having a stomach ache from it but a few weeks later is when my peditrician told me all this stuff and we tried again and have never gone back. All is well!! And a lot cheaper than formula!
She still LOVES milk!!!!!!
I TOTALLY agree with most of the other moms, You should DEFINITELY continue feeding her formula because she needs the added vitamins and nutrition that formula has and whole milk is too strong for digestive system before the age of 1.
I would definitely try getting her to drink from her sippy cup but for water or even diluted juice and keep the formula for her bottles and once your pedi gives the ok it is CRUCIAL that you give her whole milk because of the added fat the is for development of the brain.
I hope this helps.
M.
Yes. Cheese and yogurt are processed, and that makes it easier for infant tummies to digest. It's much harder for a baby's immature digestive system to digest milk. I know a few kids who had milk at 11 months and had major difficulties with it, but at 13 months, they were fine with it. I'd hold off, at least until your pediatrician gives you the ok.
Lindee,
I have six children.....24 yrs down to 1 1/2 yrs.
I switched all of my kids over by the time they were 10 months old.
Over the years I have had a total of three different Dr' for my kids and none of them had a problem at the age of 10 months. AND.....I went directly to 2% milk. All of my kids are healthy, and have vary rarely been sick at all....
Cathy
I would say, NO, don't introduce milk this early. My daughter was fine with chesse and other dairy products before she was 12 mo., but it took her stomach longer to become adjusted to whole milk. I tried her at 11 mo. and she could not handle it at all (it made her spit up really badly and even projectile vomit a couple of times). She is almost 13 mo. and she is just now starting to tolerate the milk. Luckily, I don't think we have suffered any long term affects by introducing it too early, but that can happen. Having said all that, every child is different and your child might take it just fine, but I always believe that it is better to be overly cautious. I hope this helps. :)
I've always been told by my pediatrician to switch to milk from formula only after their first birthday. As others have mentioned, the baby still needs the added nutrition that the formula or breastmilk provides and it is more easily digestable than whole cows milk.
In regards to the sippy cup, good luck with the transition. We tried transitoning my son to a sippy cup much earlier, but he just didn't get it. We ended up staying with the bottle until after he was 18 months old. He did finally figure out the sippy cup though. They go at their own pace sometimes so don't get discouraged if that's not as easy as you would hope.
:-)
definitely switch a sippy cup, but wait on the milk. You should start the introduction of the sippy cup with diluted juice or water, not formula. Save the milk for bottles until she's used to the sippy cup and then switch to formula in the sippy cup and then switch the formula to milk.
I think I started the sippy cup transition at around 8-9 months. Sippy cups were only at mealtime or b/t mealtime and only with diluted juice or water. Did that for about a month or so, and then started the transition to whole milk the week of my son's birthday. Once we were totally on whole milk, we ditched the bottles and never looked back.
I have a 12 month old and I switched him to whole milk at 11 months. My sister, who is a nurse for my pediatrition was real wary of it. She explained the importance of formula and told me of the allergies they can develop before their first birthday. I didn't understand because my son too loves yogurt and cheese and all kinds of dairy and has no problem. I did do my research though and found out that you aren't supposed to switch them until you get the ok from your pediatrition. I didn't think it was as big of deal as it really is. So I would say yes wait until her first birthday or until the Dr says ok.
