Formula Feeding and Nutrition

I am now weaning my second child off formula. I started doing it at 11 months. I started with the first bottle of the day. Insteading of making 8 ounces of formula, I make the bottle with 2 ounces of milk and 6 ounces of formula. As long as it is not bothering him, every 4 or 5 days I replace two more ounces of formula with milk. Once that bottle is fully switched to milk, I will start doing the same with his afternoon bottle.
This worked well with my daughter. It never bothered her stomach, and she quickly learned to like the taste of milk.

You wean from formula to milk, and you shouldn't give milk until they are 1 year old. Then do it gradually by mixing in more and more milk into the formula.
Good luck.

Formula should definitely be fed to her till about a year old, i would say nine months is too young to start milk, her stomach is not ready to break down the proteins in milk.

But in about 2 1/2 months you can start weaning her by replacing a couple ounces a day with milk instead of formula. just mix it in with formula gradually till she's completely dribnking milk. You can do three days of adding 1 oz milk to every bottle or sippy cup, then 2oz, then 3oz and so on.

I would think they say wait until 12 months because cow's milk is not to be given until 1 year. Have you been to the doctor for the 9 month visit? Maybe ask then??

S.,

I agree, I strongly recommend that you wait till she is 1 years old to start her on any type of cow milk. Also make sure it is whole milk. Talk to your Ped. When I started my duaghter on whole milk she didnt even know the difference. Hopefully its this easy with your daughter.

Of course this is just my opinion, but there is probably a reason the experts suggest waiting until a year. My daughter couldn't be weaned until 15 months. Her digestive system could not process milk yet and she got terrible diaper rashes even with soy. Perhaps you could try and older baby formula and introduce a sippy cup for water to get her used to that.

i didn't have any problems really with weaning my daughter off formula to milk. what i did was around the last month of 2 of formula, i would sneak a bottle of regular (or skim) milk in here and there. and she never made any faces, no reactions, just drank it. and then once all the formula i had was gone (she was about 14-15 months old) i gave her regular milk. right now i switch her back and forth between whole and skim milk. her dr said is all has to do with the amount of fat intake she gets. so when i know she's eating something fatty (like mcdonalds nuggets when we're out much longer then planned and that's our only choice) i won't give her anything but skim milk. but if she's not eating that much fat, i give her whole milk. but please, watch out how much milk she's drinking. the dr's told me around 12-18 months they should drink 18-24 oz of milk, NO MORE then that. well, my daughter was drinking 24-40 oz of milk a day, so i started watering down her milk (regardless of whether it's whole or skim) and she doesn't seem to care about that either. giving more then the recommended amount of milk can hurt your child in the end. i was big on milk as a child, and now i'm anemic, and my daughter's iron levels were low too, but once i started cutting the milk with water, her levels went to PERFECT. it's still an early age, but don't make it a habit of too much milk (if she even drinks alot). well, hopefully you find your way of weaning. but it should be easy, just throw some regular milk in here and there the last month or 2. and please, keep her on the formula until at least 12 months...they don't get as many vitamins in whole milk as they do in formula.

You should be using formula for one year, after that it's whole milk until 2 years. When you start to switch, mix the milk and formual gradually.

When i weaned my daughter off of formula my doctor suggested reducing the formula by two onces to start substitue the milk for the two ounces of formula you are taking out so they get used to the taste steadily and not just switch all at once. Each week or two weeks do another two ounces. so the first week 2oz milk 6oz formula if the babie eats atleast 8oz. Then do accordingly with more milk. Good luck that worked with my daughter.

The best thing to do is talk to the pediatrician. S/he will tell you, better than anyone here (no offense) that your baby needs formula until at least 1 year.

At 9 months they cannot digest milk well enough. Also the formula has the fat, calories & nutrients your babies MUST have right now. Milk does not.

Even when my babies were down to 1 bottle a day before their 1st bday I made sure that 1 bottle was formula and that they drank the entire 8 oz.

As soon as they turned 1 I finished up the last of the formula and went straight to the whole milk. The doc agreed.

Good luck.
A.

You don't want to start cow's milk until 1 because it just doesn't have the nutritional value that a growing baby needs. When you switch over to whole milk this is how I did it. You want to do it slowly so you can watch for allergies. The day you start do 6oz formula and 2 oz milk for a total of 8 oz. Do this for 2-3 days. Then do a 4oz formula 4 oz milk bottle for 2-3 days. Then 2oz formula 6oz milk bottle for 2-3 days then finally 8oz milk. It takes a little over a week but you can watch of allergies just like when introducing new foods.

It really depends on what you doctor says. Usually you wait until they are 1 year old before switching to milk. My doctor had me switch to whole milk at 10 months because my daughter was severly underweight and we wanted her to gain some weight. Milk just doesn't have the essential nutrients that formula has. My 10 month old had no problems switching but then again she had already been stealing her older sisters milk cups when I wasn't looking so she already knew what it tasted like. My older daughter I started giving her a 4 oz bottle once a day for a few days to make sure there was no allergy and then she just liked the milk better that I had to throw out the rest of the formula I had because she wouldn't take it. Your doctor can give you the best advice though. Good luck to you with your daughter.

Breastmilk or formula is a baby's primary nutrition for the first year of life. It's not just a drink for them, it's where they get their necessary nutrients. Cows milk simply doesn't have what is needed to be your baby's primary source of nutrition. Even when a baby your daughter's age eats solid foods, the milk is still her primary nutrition and the solids are a supplement - at a year, this reverses. It can be tempting to switch early to cows milk to save money, but it's really not appropriate nutrition for babies under a year.
Although individual doctors may suggest giving cows milk earlier, they are not following guidelines and recommendations from the reputable pediatric and nutritional organizations.

I weaned my daughter at 10 1/2 months. If she's taking 8oz of formula, start with 1oz whole milk and 7oz formula. Do that for a couple days. Then move to 2oz whole milk to 6oz formula. So on and so forth until she is totally taking milk. Each time you put an ounce more of milk in make sure you do it for a few days. Good luck!

Starting Cow's milk before 12 months of age can cause serious complications. excessive ingestion of fresh cow's milk may contribute to iron deficiency by increasing gastrointestinal blood loss. Babies under a year are more at risk for allergic reactions. Good luck

I would continue to give the baby formula for another 3 months. Although babies are able to eat, the formula (or better yet breast milk) gives them a better balance of nutrients than what they would get from a limited selection of baby safe foods at this point. Good nutrition is vital to the development of her brain and eyes, and if you stop it too soon, she may not get what she needs. We fed ours formula until he was almost 18 months old, because he was slow to take to solid foods - he only liked a few things, and he didn't like any of the protein sources, just fruits and veggies. It is true that he took less and less as he started eating more solid food. We introduced milk slowly, at first mixed with his formula.