Help! - Harrisburg, PA

Im in the process of doing that right now also. I started by giving my daughter 6 oz of formula and 1 oz of whole milk. then after a week I gave 5 oz of formula and 2 oz of milk, then a week later 4 oz of formula and 3 oz milk, then the 4th week 3 oz of formula and 4 oz of milk, 5th week 2oz of formula and 5 oz of milk, the 6th week 1 0z of formula and 6 oz of milk and then finally the 7th week it was 7oz of milk. Her Dr said its a gradual process, if you do too much at a time they will not drink it, plus there stomach needs to process the change. With my daughter she had problem processing the proteins in milk and is lactose, but this seems to be working, Im on the 5th week now and she is doing great, but also my daughter will eat anything ( except eggs) which she is allergic too, but try this and see if it works.
With the juice, well I wouldnt give her much it has a lot of sugar that will make there teeth rotten, but if needed and water to the jusice, whenever I give my daughter juice I give her half juice to half water and it works like a charm..Hope I can help

You should try soy milk. Many children are allergic to COW's milk. Soy milk has protein and fats that babies need. I use Silk Plain soy milk for my son. Let me know if it works for you.

N.,
I had a hard time getting my son off pedisure and on to milk (he was allergic to milk until he was almost 3) I eneded up mixing it half and half and then gradually decreasing the pedisure until he was drinking all milk. It was less traumatic and it was the easiest way to make sure that he was drinking enough.

Hi N.,
I know you've already posted a follow-up about how the transition to milk is going for you, but I just wanted to add a couple of things! My son is lactose intolerant and even had to drink soy formula from the time he was a newborn until he turned one. We tried giving him milk and he didn't like it or would have an adverse reaction to it like severe gas pains, etc. The doctor first suggested that we try a lower fat milk like 2% or 1% because sometimes the fat content can make the difference in how their body processes and reacts to the milk. Well, that didn't work either. So, my doctor said he wasn't worried about my son drinking milk as long as he got dairy from other sources. He will eat cheese, eat yogurt and other items like this to get his dairy. However, we have to be very careful when giving it to him because if he eats too much of it past noon, we're up at night with him in a warm bath up to his chest trying to soothe his gas pains! It still happens even now that he's almost 3! Good luck and just remember, not every kid drinks milk and they turn out just fine. Just increase the intake of dairy from other sources.d

S.

Hi N.,
I can really sympathize. We've never been able to get our two-year-old to drink more than a couple of sips of milk from a cup. She drinks everything else from a cup, but not milk. So, after about a month with very little milk (around her 1 year birthday, too), we went back to giving her milk twice a day in a bottle as part of a cuddle routine. We follow the bottle with a drink of water so the sugar from the milk doesn't sit on her teeth. Like a lot of compromises, it's not a perfect solution, but it keeps us all sane.

About the milk: we've never given our daughter straight cow's milk. She drinks goat's milk (expensive, but the powdered isn't bad and costs less), which most people can digest more easily. It's fortified with calcium and vitamid D, too. She does eat yogurt and small amounts of cheese made from cow's milk--yogurt especially is much easier to digest and so are most cheeses.

Also, from everything I've heard, you might want to cut back on the juice. The sugar in juice is bad all around and it seems to make kids refuse their milk and solid foods in favor of the juice. Our daughter's had juice a few times and, of course, LOVES it. So, we sometimes add a little juice to her water and she thinks that's great.

In any case--all kids are different. I'm sure you'll find the right thing to do for your little girl.

hi there N., my name is toni...soy milk is great for children & it comes in different flavors. bananas are good for the loose stools. juice, i'd add half water to... i'll have to chat later cuz i'm at chop right now my son had surgery to both hips, soo... have fun in the early years, its all a learning experience... god bless!!!

If you want to work on getting the milk in there more you may want to try mixing the milk and formula together. If she's getting 10 oz total, try 2 oz milk with 8 oz formula. Get her drinking that for a little and then gradually increase the milk and decrease the formula. If you do it slowly she may not notice as much and end up liking the milk. I worked with people in a pediatric feeding clinic and they use similar procedures to work kids into foods/textures/tastes they don't like.

As for juice, I've always been told it should be watered down at least half and no more than 1-2 cups a day. If she likes to drink water out of your water bottle, maybe try finding a kids water bottle thats similar that she may like. I know my niece would drink water/juice from a cup but refused her milk unless it was from a bottle until she was about 16 months old! Kid will be kids :) Good luck!

We are in the process of weaning our 1 yr old to milk. It went much easier when I stopped mixing the formula in and just gave him the milk. Now he takes it pretty well. We haven't given it to him in a sippy cup yet, that is our next hurdle. I don't know if you are mixing the formula with the milk, but you may want to just give her all milk, they seem to hate the mixing. There is no time limit as to when you have to get her off formula, so don't try to pressure yourself against some time clock. I would say to do the younger the better just because as they get to the 18 mo mark, they start to object to new things. Some kids never take to milk. My 3 yo still won't touch it to this day. You could put a few drops of chocolate syrup in to give it a different flavor, or with my 3 yo, we discovered she liked the yogart drinks, which have the same calcium. The other thing, is that when my 1 yo is getting a tooth, he won't drink much, maybe this is an issue with your girl also? good luck!

i see that people have already written this but i just wanted to let you know that what really worked for my son was to start with 3/4 formula-1/4 milk and when he got used to that i went to half and half and then to 1/4 formula-3/4 milk and then to all milk.. i started that a little before he was a year and when i got him off the bottle at a little after he was a year it was an easy transition to drinking a sippie cup of milk in the morning and one at night...it seemed to work really well and i also did that for the three girls that i used to nanny and it worked for them to so i would really try that..if he still wont take the milk i would def. check out a soy milk to see if that would work..as for the juice i always watered it down to 1/4 juice and the rest water and i would give as much as he wanted
good luck, C.

Mix it up. Do it half oz. by half oz. If she drinks a 10 oz. bottle, mix 9.5 oz. formula with .5 oz. of milk. After a few days, mix 1 oz. milk with 9 oz. formula. So on and so on, until she's completely drinking only milk. I don't understand why your doctor would recommend to give her the milk separately. Also, if the milk is cold, and the formula is warm, that might be the issue too. My son isn't ready for straight milk yet, but he won't drink anything cold...it all has to be warmed up to at least room temperature.

Hi! Please don't feel that you are running out of time - there is no set age that a child must be weaned. I'm sure it'll be nice on the wallet once the formula expense is gone but just give it time. Your little one may sense your frustration at this point and may be resisting the change even more. From my experience with my three little ones, it's best to take your cues from them. As strange as it sounds, they really do know their own little bodies. My son who is now 4 1/2 never reached for my food or put anything in his mouth that I didn't give him specifically to eat. It turns out he has a severe allergy to both milk & eggs. Now my girls are completely the opposite - they'd take anything they can find and ingest it!

Go with your gut feeling about the lactose intolerance but be wearing of going down the soy route. It's still unclear as to how much soy is too much but it is very high in estrogen and may affect puberty down the road. I'm not trying to scare you, it's just a word of caution. My son drinks rice milk, almond milk or hazelnut milk. Maybe try the Lactaid and/or one of these other types of milk. Perhaps your daughter just doesn't feel well after drinking the milk. I'd wait a few days and then try a new approach.

Good luck with this process. My youngest just turned 1 last week and I'll soon introduce dairy to her diet. I guess it could go either way!!

Since your daughter just turned one, I wouldn't sweat taking your time weaning her from the formula. Perhps instead of 2 oz. try just one oz. Then after she gets used to it, you can slowly increase it. The problem with juice is that unless you make it yourself, it's really just empty calories full of surgar. Do you water it down a lot by putting 1 or 2 oz. of juice and the rest water? If so, then don't worry about giving it to her, but if it's it more than that, you should probably try to limit it. I really wouldn't switch to lactaid or soy unless your doctor recommends it because then your child may never like regular milk or may develop an intolerance to lactose. Kids are tough and pick their battles. I was luck in that my daughter, who will be 2 next month, loved (and still loves) milk, but now I can't get her to eat regular food! As long as your daughter is getting all her nutrients, it will come together. :-)

Hi N.,

Where as my son went right to milk and loves it more than anything my sister-in-law had the same problem with all 4 of her kids. She ended up putting flavors in the milk. One liked vanilla, strawberry and chocolate. As they got older they grew out of it.

In the way of juice I don't give my son more than about a cup each day. Too much gives him upset tummy and the sugar makes him crazy

Also you may want to try yogart smoothies for the calc.

Good luck!

S.

Maybe you are suppose to do 2 oz of milk and join it with the formula in the bottle. Then slowly decrease the formula and add more milk.

My Daughter wouldn't drink "straight up" milk at the beginning either. We used a little strawberry syrup in it, and she loved it. But, I'm also not one of those super strict moms who plays by every rule. The Peditrician and I figured milk this way was better than none at all. She loves her milk now, but a mom had got to do whats best for her own kid, maybe flavored milk is the way for yours.

N. - Are you trying just 2 oz. of milk straight or are you mixing it with the formula? I couldn't tell by your description. If not, definitely mix it with the formula so the transition to milk will be subtle - rather than her experiencing a completely new taset all together. If you are giving her an 8 oz bottle - have 2 oz milk and 6 oz formula. If she still refusess that - make it 1 oz milk and 7 oz formula - whatever works best for her. Good luck - It will take time - but don't worry - she'll adjust.

What I did was mix the formula with milk. I did 1/4 milk to 3/4 milk for a week or so then I went to, 2/4 milk to 2/4 milk for a week or so then I went to, 3/4 milk to 1/4 milk for a week or so then after that it was just straight milk.

I don't have much advice, but I am having the same problem with my daughter (except it's nursing). She was born July 5. She will drink juice and water, but doesn't like milk either. I have found that she will drink it if I mix 50% milk and 50% Yo Baby yogurt smoothie, but they aren't cheap!

I have heard this is common.

I also noticed (as did some friend of mine) that the BMs change with more dairy.

Try putting one oz of whole milk in with her formula and decrease the amount of formula by one oz each time. I did this with my son who refused milk and had him on whole milk from a cup in about two weeks. Just do one or two oz's at a time and let her drink that ratio for a few days then decrease the formula and add more milk again and so on until she is only drinking milk. Also, if you try a sippy cup with a straw it seems to work well too, since it is something different then they don't refuse the cup all together. From what my Dr has told me at one year they can have 4oz of juice per day. I usually mix a little juice with water so he doesn't drink too much.

The runny bm is normal with whole milk, it takes their system some time to adjust. As long as she doesn't have belly aches or seem to be in pain she is ok. I am also lactose intolerant:) And if she's been taking milk based formula I'm sure she doesn't have the allergy.

The taste of formula compared to whole milk is very different. When weaning my children off of formula I would lessen the formula by one ounce and replace that ounce with the milk. After three days I would lessen by another ounce so that if your daughter consumes 8 ounces of formula mix 7 ounces with one of milk in the same container. Use the milk, formula mix to fill her bottles and cups. By the end of two weeks or so she should be down to just a couple ounces of formula to all most all milk. This helps them gradualy get use to the taste. Also it helps in identifying lactose intolerance. My four year old started vommiting after she was at half milk and half formula. She drinks lactaid now and is a happy girl. I hope this helps.

Hello,
I just took formula away all together during the day and kept the night and Am for a few more days. It seems cruel but as she was not in any physical health concerns we did it cold turkey. I did the PM and AM feedings over a weekend ( took them away b/c I was back at work and did not want to be up ALL night!).
I gave her milk in a cup for all meals prior to food so she would be most hungry. And then after 15-20 minutes when lnch or the other meals would start I gave her food. I never gave milk in a bottle and that helped she was off bottles within 4 days. I began on her 1st b-day exactly. I also stopped the before bed bottle and milk altogether when I stopped the bottle feeding water to her. My doctor would not allow juice till 3 but due to daycare she had it for snacks and I gave her that in a cup after she had gotten into the milk.
H.

Maybe try mixing the formula with the milk. 75% formula, 25% milk, then slowly wean the formula out of the milk. That way she is getting her milk without even knowing. Before long, she will be drinking straight milk and not even know the difference.