Can't Switch My Daughter over from Formula to Milk

I have always stayed far away from formula and the best alternative is goat's milk. It is the best milk this side of nursing. The only thing it lacks to be considered a whole food is folic acid, which if baby is taking a infant multi-vitamin, this isn't a problem or is eating cereal. Anyway, you can buy it at a goat farm, in the supermarket, or order powdered from amazon(it is cheapest there). We have a milk goat so not a problem for us. After I nursed my children they went onto goat milk until they were about 8yrs old. My grandaughter has been on it since birth and is 2 1/2yrs old and has never been sick, not even a runny nose. It is extremely good for them to drink, easy to digest and it great on the immune system.
The nutritional make up is on the FDA site:
http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts-C00001-01c201W.html

1 mom found this helpful

Hi M.,

We had similiar problems with our daughter going from formula to milk. Before we wet to milk only we cut down her amt. of bottles to only the night bottle. We gave her soley water in her cups all day long and at meals. Then we tried going to the "night milk bottle" and she would have nothing to do with it. So, I started heating the milk bottle like I did the formula....she accepted it. So, over the course of 2 weeks I warmed it less and less....till it was cold.

And then one night I had my husband remove all traces of the bottles while I gave her a bath. When she got out of the tub and went looking for her bedtime bottle I opened the cupboard and looked totally shocked and said to her, "Becky, where did all the bottles go?" We looked in the dishwasher and the fridge....she looked astounded. So, I said, "well....let's go read some books maybe they'll be back tomorrow".... We looked for 3 more nights and then she gave up....never asked for a bottle again.
A few days went by and I would sneak milk in her cup, and soon she drank it, and now loves it.

It will work out, don't worry.

Something I tried when I started switching my kids over was adding a couple of oz. of milk to the formula. If I was making an 8 oz. bottle, I would do 6oz. of Formula and 2oz. of milk. I would do this for a couple of days, then gradually add more milk and less formula.
I hope this helps!

Hi M.,

My first suggestion (if you haven't tried it already). Is to mix some of the formula with the milk. This worked for both my kids (4 yrs and 16 months). If that doesn't work I suggest only offering the milk, eventually she will drink it. Are you using soy because of an allergy? If so try a different brand of soy based milk. If there isn't an allergy you shouldn't use too much soy. And since your daughter is a year she is eating food so you won't feel like you're starving her. We placed a few sippy cups filled with milk and had them around the house during the day so when my kids did get thirsty they would drink whatever I had out. Of course you can't leave milk out too long, but this could help. Use positive reinforcement too "You're a big girl now this is what big girls drink" and offer small rewards (at first) if she does drink it. Good Luck!

make her bottle with 3/4 formula and 1/4 milk and slowly reduce the formula and add more milk!

M., when I was working with our foster son a few years ago also a soy drinker I couldn't get him to do soy milk either so we tried the chocolate soy 1/2 choclate and 1/2 regular and slowly reducing it to plain. It did take us over a month but it was worth it an other thing to try that we also did is 6oz formula 2 oz milk and then 4+4,2+6, and finally all 8oz milk. That worked with our foster daughter. However both our natural childern sitll won't drink plan milk at all so we have one strawberry child and one choclate one. Our ped. says what ever works as long as they don't exceed three glass a day.

I had trouble with my sons switching too. His stomach could not handle the soy milk. And he didnt like it much either. He was having trouble digesting it.
My older son is on Lactaid, so i tried that and the baby switched within a day. and his diaper contents were much more solid and he felt better almost immediately.
I would definitely try the Lactaid( i use the red and yellow one) because it has extra calcium for kids in it.
Good Luck!!

Hi M., I have 4 girls so I can relate. I found the easiest thing to do is distract her. I mean when your feeding her solid food have her take sips of the soy in between bites. She will be more interested in eating than what she is drinking. Hope that helps. A.

Hi M.,

I am a mom to a 13 month old daughter, who I have just recently switched over to milk myself. I found that switching the bottle over from milk to formula in a gradual process is easier for the baby. The first week I started mixing the bottle with 2 oz of milk and then a 4 oz of water with the 2 scoops of formula. The next week I did 4 oz of milk and 2 oz of water with 1 scoop of formula. With each week I gradually went up in milk and down in formula. My daughter didn't really like milk in the beginning as well, but now she loves.

I also switched her over only on the bottle. That way she isn't confused. Now Addison is totally off the bottle and only does sippy cups.

Hope this helps.

Have you tried mixing the formula and milk? If that doesn't work, have you thought about trying rice milk?

I do know that a one year old needs the fat in whole milk. I used soy formula with one of my sons, and when it was time for milk, I was told that whole milk was best for him the first year of drinking milk. Maybe she just doesnt like it. is there a special medical reason she needs soy milk? if not, maybe try regular milk, or maybe chocolate or strawberry flavoring like nesquik in the soy milk. that might help, or maybe add yogurt and fruit and make it a daily smoothie!!! hope this helps!!!

Hi M.,
I never had a that problem, but, what if you were to very slowly add the milk to the formula, increasing the ratio every day?

havne't read all the other responses so i'm sure that i'm reapeating i did get a glimpse of the one other of mixing and i agree that could help but start with more formula than milk. you could also try switching her too the next step soy formula just so your staying nutrious if there's no way she's gonna let you give her the soy milk

Hi M.,

Whenever I got to the point of switching from formula to milk I would mix the 2 and gradually switch over. The first week would be 75% formula and 25% milk. Week 2 50/50, etc.... My kids never seemed to notice. If your daughter is really sensitive you could even start with 90/10. Hope this helps.

Been there done that. My son had a tough time switching too. It has to be a slow/sneaky process. If she is having a 9oz bottle, then every bottle for the first few days, have 8oz of formula and only 1oz of soy milk. Every 3 days, do one less oz of formula and one more oz of soy milk. Before she knows it and/or realizes it, she will be drinking 90% soy milk.

It worked for me, I hope it works for you too!

Try adding just a small amount of the Soy Milk to her formula for about a while (2-3 days, maybe longer). See if she sees th difference. For instance mix 1 oz with 7oz. If she does not notice, add a little more. Continue and eventually you will probably have her completely on the Soy Milk. This way you are not forces it all at once; its a gradual change.

have you tried mixing...say, start w/ 1/8 soy milk for 3-4 days, then 1/4 soy milk,for 3-4 days, then 1/2 and 1/2, and so on until you get to full strenth soy milk. if your daughter seems to suspect something at any point, go back to the step before and stay there a little longer...good luck!
L.

The best way to wean them is to mix the formula and the milk. With my daughter, we started with 6 ounces formula, 2 ounces milk for one week. The next week it was 4 and 4. The following week it was 2 ounces formult to six ounces milk and the following week it was all milk. She didn't seem to notice the differnce. I know a lot of parents that have done it that way. Good luck!