Formula to Milk - Ithaca, NY

I have 3 babies...19, 17 & 8.
breast feeding only for the 1st six months,
next we included water in a sippie cup at 7 months (still breast feeding)
juice at 9 months (still breast feeding at night).
Then about 10-11 months we started milk (soy) in a sippie cup - breast feeding at night. You can use lowfat milk. Also, I understand there is a wonderful transitional milk-powder with a close nutritional content to breast milk.
We weaned off the breast at 12-14 months and continued milk, juice & water in a cup.

I gradually introduced milk with formula. Both my boys were drinking water and juice well before the age of one. I never watered my juice down. If you by Juicy juice it is 100% juice with no added sugar. If you havn't already done so, introduce the juice and water in a sippy cup.

I have a son who will be one in March also. I also have a three year old girl. When she was one I transitioned to milk but it was tough. It was helpful to do it gradually. I started with a quarter milk and the rest formula. Every week or two I would up the milk and lower the formula. We eventually got there. She was slow to get teeth, only three at a year. For this reason I kept offering her milk bottles on the same schedule as formula until she got more teeth and could eat more substantial food. By the way, if you are using soy formula either use soy milk or lactose free cows milk. I started giving watered down juice but only in a sippy cup. This motivated her to learn how to use them. Hope it helps, good luck.

all 3 of my children took formula one day, and whole milk the next without any problem. i give him about 3-4 milk bottles a day, and usually water or juice/water with lunch and dinner. usually i give a bottle when he first wakes up, at nap time, and at bedtime, but sometimes he wakes in the middle of the night for one. hope this helps.

Hello T., I have been a registered nurse for 33 years. I have raised two beautiful children, ages 29 and 27. Neither of them had any cows milk after they weaned from the breast. In response to your question, I must say, that all animals, humans included intake milk as infants/babies,when and only when it is impossible for them to eat any other way until their teeth form and they can chew. That is the purpose of milk. All animals produces milk for providing nutritional support for their young before they are able to chew. After a child is weaned, and can chew, the infant no longer requires any milk. The need for calcium can be met through many other foods, especially dark leafy greens, almonds, figs, sesame butter, and many other beans nuts and seeds (check internet for amounts and types of foods). Cows milk and dairy products create mucus upon which the body harbors bacteria and infection. Breast milk is alkaline, therefore staves off disease that can only multipy in an acid environment. I encourage you that when your child is weaned, and can intake solids, that is the time to stop all forms of milk, especially cows milk which of course is formulated for the growth of the baby cow (calf), not humans. Cows milk is the number one allergen and serves only to cause a mucus based environment upon which many viruses and bacteria can multiply. Your child will be much healthier without cows milk. Try instead, almond, sesame, soy milk if a milk type product is desired. Water is however the only liquid needed in thehuman diet.

i used formula till she was 1 then i just switched her she did very well on it. the wic lady told me to wait till 13 months so she go the full year but she got to where she wouldn't drink it to well so i switched it. good luck with it
C.

The transition from formula to milk was very easy for all 3 of my children. However, the hard part was the transition from the bottle to the sippy cup. He will probably like the milk better than the formula so that could be incentive to use the sippy cup. I would recommend never putting the milk or the juice in the bottle, go ahead and take him off (keeping him on the bottle could lead to cavities in his teeth). They really dont need a lot of juice, it is full of sugars and it gave my kids diarrhea.

Hey T.! Congrats on the 1 year marker! Came faster than you thought, hoped, or wanted huh? Here is what I did. I started mixing the two. Giving mostly formula with some milk. This is what my ped recommened. As the week went on I just kept mixing a little more and more til he was on milk. I don't think that he should have as much. You can call your doc to see how much he will need. So yes, he should have juice, water, things of that nature. I always do milk, next time cup is empty, juice, water, milk, juice, and water. Hope that helps!

T.
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You can try 1/2 formula, 1/2 milk until he is one year. Formula contains more nutrients than milk. With my first child, I did 1/2 and 1/2 at 10 months. With my second, I went 100% milk the day she turned one (I ran out of formula!)

With regard to quantity, once he's eating table food, make sure he gets his nutrients and then milk or water as you would drink after a meal. My girls are into water. They drink milk at breakfast and before bed. During the day it's water. No juice, it doesn't have a lot of nutritional value. But then, seek your pediatrician's guidance.

T., I council WIC (Women, Infants, and Children) clients on nutrition. I would suggest when he turns 1 year, introduce milk in small amounts at mealtimes. Gradually increase milk while you decrease formula until the formula is depleted. He will need whole milk. One year olds need the fat in whole milk for brain growth that is still developing. Then age 2 and up, the lower percent milk is a better choice. Right now is a good time to introduce the sippy cup if you haven't yet. This will make the transition from the bottle alot easier. I hope this was helpful. If you have any other concerns, feel free to ask. Have a blessed day! A.

My grandson drank LIPIL (soy) formula so our doctor recommended using the next step forumla rather than regular milk. These babies still need more nutrition from their formula which regular milk does not give. Introduce him to sippy cups as the newer ones are phenominal because the spout is softer like the nipple he's been used to then gradually make the change. John Michael drinks about 3 to 4 of the 8 oz bottles of milk daily along with juice in his cup. John Michael was one year old on January 9 2008.

J. M

I am a mother of 2 beautiful boys and when I switched them from formula to milk with my boys I did the gradual change and added water and juice into their diets only one flavor at a time, so that if they have an allergic reaction you will know what caused the reaction. Good Luck and I hope that helps.

My boys went straight from formula to milk. The transition was pretty easy, they had already switched from a bottle to sippy at 11 months, and from warm formula to cold at around 9 months. And yes, you don't want to give him as much milk as formula, talk to your pediatrician to see what they recommend, but about 16 oz a day sounds right. Water and juice sounds great (and I think your son should be able to drink juice without it being watered down around a year, except for OJ). I was also giving my kids gatorade and powerade at times by a year old as well, usually when they were sick, but there's another drink option. Good luck!

We waited until our twins were 1 year old before switching to milk, as giving them milk before then can lead to milk allergies. We started in "quarters"... let's say you give them an 8-ounce bottle per "meal". For the first 3-4 days we would give them 6 ounces formula, 2 ounces milk. Then it was half and half for four days, then 2 ounces formula to 6 ounces milk, then straight milk. We took about 2 weeks to do it total, because we figured there was no reason to rush and we wanted their systems to gradually adjust to the change.

We don't give our kids straight juice - even now that they are 2. I dilute the juice 1/2 or 1/4 of the sippy cup and the rest is water. They usually drinks 3 cups a day, 2 of those are just water, the last is either milk or a juice/water combo. And yes, you can replace milk with other drinks. Your son will be hungrier though because the milk is not as filling, so feel free to give him more finger foods in place of drinks.

Also, when you switch him to milk, he will probably be drinking less overall than when he was drinking formula as his main source of nutrition. That's normal. Good luck!

Sounds like you've gotten some great advice. I would add that you watch him carefully once you start adding whole milk. My son is lactose intolerant and we found out because he had major digestive problems (intestinal and stomach pain) for hours in the middle of the night once we switched him to whole milk. Also, watch out for allergic reactions.
L.

Hello T.:
I suggest that you seek advice from your daughter's doctor as to what he or she think you should do. By keeping the doctor in the loop can help if a problem arise. Every child reacts differently. Good luck and GOD bless.

hey what i had done when my daughter turn 1 is i mixed her milk with formula for about a week i did like a half half mix and i also gave my daughter juice but i watered it down it last longer that way i also did half and half with her juice. half water half juice they way i look at the juice milk deal is i would givemy daughter milk with breakfest, juice with lunch and dinner then when she was thirsty inbetween i would alternate juice water and milk. also if he can drink through a straw try buyin some of the sippy cups with the straws i had my daughter broke from a bottle before she was 1. hope this helps u out any

My son is 13 months now. I have nursed him since the day he was born. We recently switched to whole cow's milk. Since he has nursed for a year now, he refuses the milk from a bottle. We have to offer it to him in a cup. Our pediatrician recommended at least 24 oz. of milk per day. She also advised us not to give him more thatn 4oz. of juice a day. I use apple juice and add 4 oz. of water to dilute it. Our doctor said that sometimes babies who drink juice and water tend to not eat solid food as much because it fills them up. The more we offer the milk, the more he accepts it even though he still likes to nurse for comfort.
Hope this help.

T.,

It happen all at once in our home. All three of my children did not want formula after just a few days, but they were all soy fed. But i would check with your doctor before you make the switch to be sure there is no reason not to switch to milk.

My doctor told me no juice. It has too much sugar and not enough nutrition. He also said kids who drink juce are much more likley to be obese. We went with milk in the sippie cup. I never gave anything other than formula in their bottles. My kids gave up the bottle in one day all of them just before they turned 12 months. None of them ever missed it.

Have fun with your little one
M.

Hey T., I have a daughter who is 14 months. I started my daughter on whole milk the day she turned 1 year old. I gave her a bottle during the day to see how she would tolerate it. She seemed to do fine so that night i gave her another bottle of whole milk and from then on she has been on it. And to answer your other question, no he doesn't need the whole milk as often as the formula but make sure he gets at least 20 ounces a day. The reason he will not need so much milk is because he will get other nutrients from the different foods he will be eating and the juices. Well I hope that I helped you out.

S. W.

Generally a doctor will suggest starting with 3/4 formula and 1/4 milk. Do this for a few days and then you can add more milk and less formula. This helps their body to make the transistion smoothly. Your son should already be drinking water, but if not you definitely want to offer him water once you start milk to help keep his BM's regular. The amount of bottles he drinks of milk is going to depend on how much solid food he eats. Milk is filling all by itself, so if he's not eating a lot of solids one day he may drink more milk. And vice versa.

I did it gradually by mixing 25% with 75% formula and then increasing to 50/50, then 75/25 and then 100% whole milk. It probably took about a week or so. I did it more for me than for her, I wanted to be sure the transition was a smooth one although she loves milk. We actually had to go back on toddler formula after weaning from the breast milk first b/c she had a hard time getting enough solids - a very picky eater! I'm told by our pediatrician to not give juice until they are fully established on a good solids diet and that really they don't need juice at all since they fill up on that quickly and then won't eat as well. You should still be getting 20-24 oz of whole milk in a day at that age I believe. I would definitely keep your pediatrician in the loop in case you have any weight gain issues like we did.

Hi - My daughter is coming up on 16 months now. We waited a little past a year for the transition since she had a GI bug around that time and I have a lot of food allergies - we wanted to wait until we would be able to just see the effects of the change to milk on their own. What we ended up doing was slowly diluting the formula with milk. So day one we took 3 of her 5 bottles and made mostly formula with one ounce of milk - then did this with all of then. We basically made the whole transition over about 7-10 days just making more of the bottle with milk until they were 100% milk. Subbing in some juice (diluted w/water) with snacks seems to be ok since they seem to get a lot of nutrition from solid food and just a few bottles (ask your peditrician what is the minimum). We try to dilute her juices so that she does not get too much unnecessary sugar. Hope that helps. Good luck!

I was told by my daughter's pediatrician that I should not give her so much milk. She said I should be giving her more water and not so much milk. That was 3 years ago, so I don't remember the ounces of milk that they should be getting, but not as much as they were getting formula. Something about a vitamin D overdose.... Anyway, she loved milk so it was hard, but not impossible.

Hi T.:

It needs to be a gradual process. What I did and my third son in now 15 months is if you give him an 8 ounce bottle start with 7 ounce formula one ounce whole milk - do that for a couple on days, then 6 ounces formula, 2 ounces milk and do that for a couple of days and so on. Since this is your first you need to pay attention to see if he has a reaction to the milk. Some kids do. I have been lucky and mine have done the switch without a problem, but I have friends that their kids have reacted to the milk and developed allergies. Just do it slowly and you will be fine. As you introduce foods he might drink less milk., water is super fine and I water down his juice a lot.. usually juice has a lot of sugar, makes them hyper. Good luck...

Hi T.! The transition for my daughter was very easy. One day she had formula in a bottle and the next she had whole milk in sippy cup. She had no problems at all with the change. We give her water throughout the day and 8 oz of milk during breakfast and dinner. My ped. recommended just giving her a total of 16 oz. of milk a day. I believe too much calcium could cause problems. My ped. also recommends that we limit the amount of juice we give her. Juice is soooo packed with sugar. If you give him juice, dilute it with some water and limit the amount to only once or twice a week. Make it a fun treat!!!

Obviously, all children are different! I hope your transition is an easy one. Good luck!

The biggest issue we had was going from warm to cold. If you are still warming his formula, you may want to stop, and just let it be room temp or even just out of the fridge.
Once we overcame that obstacle, there was no problem.
As for the juice and water, is he already using a sippy cup at all? You may want to introduce that now also. Just let him play with it at first. My son was very particular at first that only milk be in a bottle and only juice be in a cup. I had to use the Nube sippy cups that have the very soft sipper-thingy, much like a bottle nipple, to transition that.
So, I guess the bottom line is...Yes, it is a gradual process, but not in the way that you think. Every child is different. What worked for me may not work for you. GOOD LUCK!!!!

Our ped said we could either slowly move him from formula and bm to whole milk by mixing the two and gradually increase the amount of milk OR just switch cold turkey. It would just depend on how he liked it. Well a few days before he turned 1 we were at a friend's house and he got hold of another kids sippy of whole milk and downed the whole thing. So he obviously didn't mind the change. I had him finish off the last can of formula and we never went back. Our ped said he should be drinking between 16-24 oz whole milk/day, and no more than 4 oz juice.
Happy B-day to your big boy - comes fast doesn't it!

I just did it gradually. I would use 3/4 bottle formula and 1/4 milk for a day or two and then slowly increase the milk. My daughter didn't have any trouble switching. My doctor told me not to give her much juice because she would fill up on that and not eat as much. There is a product in the baby section at Wal-Mart called Fruit Splashers. It is actually water with just a little fruit juice. This is what I gave Mackenzie. Also, make sure to limit citrus juices because they have a lot of acid. Hope this helps!

Most pediatricians don't recommend a lot of juice...about 4 oz. a day. I still water down juice for my kids. Milk gives my toddlers diahrea, so I just went to the "toddler" formula. He gets about 12-18 ounces of that a day and the rest water or very watered down drinks...your pediatrician will let you know how much juice is OK.
Your choice to do milk...just watch to make sure it doesn't give him diahrea...if not, milk is fine :)
J.