Formula to Milk

I am 28 with a 2 and half year old. Once we had the ok at 1 year to change from formula to whole milk from the doctor, we simply substituted each bottle with organic whole milk. It is an easy transition. Children love the taste! You should have no problem just stopping the formula and simply replacing same amount of ounces with whole milk.

A week before my son turned one I started mixing milk with his formula. First I started with replacing 1 ounce of formula for milk, then 2 ounces and so forth. On his birthday he went to 100% milk. It has to be whole milk until they are 2! And I highly recommend organic.

My son had zero problem with the switch and I bet even if I didnt do it slowly, he would have been fine.

Now the fun really begins! :)

Whole milk if you use cows milk, I'd say if you use something else just be sure its full fat. We started just adding a little at a time to my sons formula (we used whole milk and he was on soy formula) We started with a couple ounces and just kept gradually increasing it until the whole bottle was milk - we moved pretty quickly - I think within a week or so when we were finding he was having no issues with the switch.

First, you should discuss with your child's pediatrician as to what milk they want, but typically at 1y as long as they don't have any dairy allergies, you can switch them to pasteurized WHOLE milk. You can try switching cold turkey, most kids like the taste of whole milk or you can mix the formula & milk together and gradually taper until you eventually have mostly milk and just a little bit of formula. I would also try transitioning off the bottle if you can too. Try either a sippy cup or one with the soft straws (like Playtex's pop up straw one). Most kids do well with a staw. You can use the bottle only for bedtime feeds if needed (as that's the hardest one to break). Hopefully it will be a smoother transition than you expected.

I am actually in the process of doing this right now with my daughter. I am doing exactly what the other moms wrote - started with one ounce of whole milk and mixed it with 5 ounces of formula...and so forth and so on. My daughter is doing great with it. No problems yet and it is our 3rd day! Good luck!

First month I mixed half formua half milk, then gave just milk. Make sure it is a whole milk. I use organic whole milk (where on the box it is actually written "organic"). (from not organic - my daughter gets constipated,but I guess it depends on the kid)

I did the same thing the other mothers did, but I started half whole & half formula. In a week she was drinking all whole milk.

Hi C., a good friend of ours advised us to give our daughter half milk and half formula mixed together at one time. Gradually, decrease the amount of formula, as he adjusts to the taste of the milk; this was really effective for our daughter when she turned one. We have since been giving her organic whole milk. Good luck!

Try giving whole (we use organic) milk by itself, will save you the hassle of mixing if he likes it by itself. If not try the mixing, my nephew prefered to have it mixed for awhile and warm. I wouldn't warm it, make it a new big boy thing- sippy cup and cold:-)
Check with your dr but ours said 16-24 ounces a day of whole milk till she's 2 then ok to have whatever percent we drink. My daughter eats alot of fruit, so we do not give her juice except for on the rare ocassion and maybe a little water every day, more if it is a hot day or she's playing hard.

hi C.
you make the change gradual from formula to whole milk if your child is drinking 5 oz formula lets say do 1 oz whole milk 4 oz formula the first day 2nd day 2 oz whole milk 3 oz formula so on and so forth until it is all milk and it should be no problem good luck

Hi C.,
I had a pretty easy time transitioning to milk. I didn't mix the formula and milk together. When we switched she was only taking 2 bottles of formula so I first switched the morning bottle to organic whole milk but put it in a sippy cup instead of a bottle. I did this for a week while continuing to give her the bottle of formula at night. After a week I switched the night bottle to a sippy cup of milk and that went well since she already knew the taste from having it in the morning. I thought this worked out well b/c it gave her body a little time to adjust to the milk without the hassle of mixing it with the formula. Also, my pediatrician was the one that recommended not putting milk in the bottle so that she would never assosiate having milk in a bottle and it would make it easier to get her off of the bottle. Everyone has different ways of doing these kind of things and whichever way you pick is going to be the one that fits best with your beliefs and lifestyle. I'm sure they'll all work equally as well. Good luck!!
E.

C.,

Well I was fortunate enought to not have any problems switching to cows milk. I just gave her cows milk one day and she didnt even know the difference. She stopped formula cold turkey, just like that. Try it. If it doesint work, I would suggest starting with one bottle at a time. The first day, give one bottle of cows milk, then formula, the next two bottles of cows milk and so on. Toddlers should only be drinking whole milk. Good luck!

Dear C.,

I started with whole milk and added one ounce of milk to the formula while decreasing one ounce of formula. I did this for a whole day each ounce until I was sure my kids system could handle the whole milk. It also helps to not change the taste so drastically at first as well. I believe whole milk for the first two years and then switch to 2% after that. The nutritional value is still in the 2% just not the fat. Which studies show after 2 years is no longer necessary. Always check with your doctor first to make sure this is still accurate. Good luck and have a great holiday!!