Milk Transition

Hey V.! I remember when I went through this with my little boy, he's 4 now. I'll tell you how I was told to do this & it worked for me so maybe this will work for you too. Good luck!

Usually "around" age 1 you want to start introducing whole milk, either in a bottle or sippy cup. But, YOU DECIDE when is best for her to be introduced to milk b/c you know your child - if she's eating other foods really good & she's not under weight, usually after a year old is fine. *** side thought - Contrary to popular belief children really still need the fat content from whole milk even after age 2, unless they are overweight. (just a thought)

I started putting just a little amount of whole milk in my baby's bottle with the rest of it being formula. For example, if your baby is drinking an 8 oz. bottle, start by putting about 1 oz. milk to 7 oz. formula. As she gets used to the taste over a few days gradually add more whole milk - the amount of formula she gets will be less & less over time. Then before you know it she will have made the transition slowly & gradually ... she probably won't even notice the change by then. It's easier than it sounds. :)

Just a thought about the table food - you may be doing this already - but you may want to just do a thicker puree or mash up some of the food that you've already cooked for the rest of the family. This way she's getting a taste of the table food without the fear of getting choked or coughing. And like someone said, it may be the texture of the food.

I hope all this helps. Have a WONDERFUL day! :)

The way I transitioned both of my boys was to have a bottle of formula and slowly add more milk and less formula each time. Say she eats 8oz of formula. Start the first time with 7oz of formula and add 1oz of whole milk. If her stomach handles that for a couple of days go 6oz to 2oz and so on. My second son was off formula before he was 11 months old and my first was when he turned one.

I did about the same thing as the mom below. start mixing the whole milk with the formula a little at a time add a little more to it each week until she's drinking just the milk. thats what I did with my son he's 4 years old now and won't drinking hardly anything but milk maybe some kool-aid but he's a milk man lol

Everyone is different, but this worked great for my two kiddies: we dropped the amount of formula by two ounces each week for four weeks, substituting it for whole milk. So, the first week the bottle held six ounces of formula and two ounces of whole milk, and so on. The last week, the bottle held six ounces whole milk and two ounces formula. Neither of my kids put up any fight. Good luck!

With my daughter, when she was almost 1 I tried giving her just plain whole milk in a sippy cup to see what she thought about it. She loved it! So, once our formula was gone, she just had the milk. I didn't have to mix the milk and formula.

I would try the same with your daughter. If she likes the milk just fine, there's no point in mixing :)

Also, I don't agree with putting honey or chocolate in the milk yet. Our pediatrician said that even though she is a year old, it is best to wait as long as you can before you give them honey, chocolate, or nuts (peanut butter) because they can develop allergies.

My dr. told me that I could switch the kids to Vitamin D milk when they turned 1. My kids did just fine with the change. Vitamin D gives them the nutrients that they still need.

dr. don't like to see babies after one on the bottle or formula. what i did with my son was about at 11 mths. i would give him one sippy cup with milk for like a week and then the rest was formula. then the next week it was 2 and so on. with the table food thing it seemed i could never get things cut up enough so i would put it in my little chopper thing. that worked GOOD. for sippy cups i HATE the gerber ones with teh little white plastic thing because if they drop the cup right it falls out. i use THE FIRST YEARS from w-mart are tareget. they come like 2 a pk. and there is nothing under the lid to come loose. hope this helps

B.

Our pediatrician said not to put our kids on whole milk until they are 1. They had been on formula since pretty much day 1 and it only took a couple of days for them to get used to the whole milk. I wouldn't worry too much until you have to. If they are thirsty enough, they will drink the milk.

has she learned how to suck out of one yet? you might try practicing on a staw a little. they all chew on them.

Hi V.! I transitioned my son over at one and it was a piece of cake! I did it just like Nicole, mixing them for about a week and then he was fine. We also had a hard transition to "real" food because my son also choked/coughed on baby food. My doctor said maybe it was a texture thing...good luck!

What worked for my kids was to start putting 3/4 formula to 1/4 milk for a couple days then 1/2 and 1/2 and then only 1/4 formula and 3/4 milk then switch to all milk,that way it's not such a sudden change for their bellies to handle and they get used to the taste.If you start to notice she is getting constipated cut back a little on the milk and talk to your doc.but i'm sure she will be fine. As far as baby foods go my oldest was done with baby food by 10 months but my middle child still will sneak some baby food from her brother and shes almost 2! If thats what makes her happy and shes healthy then i'd ride it out for as long as possible.
Good Luck!~N. J.

Hi V.!

Congratulations on your sweet girl turning one. It's so exciting at this stage because they start to learn so much all at once and become more and more independent. You would be surprised how much she is watching you and wants to copy Mommy. You should be introducing her to table food because your pediatrician will want her to reduce her milk intake to 8 ounces or so per day- a typical amount that she can drink on her own. You don't have to use a sippy cup unless you want to (go straight to a regular cup that's her size she can handle-like a small juice glass)and if you do not bother with the sippy cup- she will develop other skills more easily. I would start her with mashed potatoes and peas (small early June peas are soft), and apple sauce, yogurt, and bananas. Jane's first vegetable was actually avocado (she liked it!) and her first fruit was bananas (it is now her favorite). I like bananas because they are easy to transport and you can just break it off in small pieces. It's soft so you can mash it if she is still lacking teeth. As long as she has front teeth you can help her use them to chew by holding the food to her lips until she can chew through it. Her gums are now hard enough she can gum the food to swallow. Yogurt is a big hit here. She likes it all, but I like to get the Yoplait whips.

Just before Jane turned one, I started giving her Silk (organic vanilla), which is soy milk and she loved it! I even started to drink it and use it on my cereal. Then as we got closer to her first birthday, I started introducing her whole milk, small sips from a small juice glass. She really enjoyed it.

Now she is a hearty eater, she's in the 95% percentile growth wise and she has NO food allergies.

During mealtimes, I fix Jane a plate and she sits with us at the dining table, she made a big mess initially, but now she feeds herself very independently and seems to enjoy doing so with confidence. She is now 17 months old. I hope this helps. Good Luck!

Assuming that your daughter doesn't have ANY MEDICAL problems at ALL - go for it mamma! Take that baby off of forumla and stick her on whole milk!! If your daughter has any medical problems please address this with her pediatrician first. Medical problems include allergies to foods - and skin disorders!!

I transitioned my little one when she was one. But, unlike the other moms, I just went for it. Once I ran out of formula, I started on whole milk. I didn't ever mix the two. I would warm up the milk a little since she wasn't use to drinking anything cold. She did just fine with it.

When my daughter turned one, I started to give her whole milk before bed. I added honey (about one teaspoon for 9oz) or chocolate syrup. She preferred honey, which is better for her :), but now she drinks it without anything.
Maybe your daughter is not ready for table food, and if you give her anything make sure it's in very small pieces and it's soft and easy to swallow. At the beginning I tried to give my baby spaghetti, pieces of banana and fries (yeah, I know not that good for her, but it was very good to teach her how to grab food).

Good luck!