How to Transition to Whole Milk?

I had the easiest time transitioning my son to whole milk. The day his pediatrician gave the go ahead to switch from formula to milk, I went home and hid all of his bottles (never used them again) and introduced milk with the sippy cup. He handled it VERY well. Never made a fuss about the milk or the bottle. He was a little hesitant at first about the milk, so we would put a very small amount of either chocolate or strawberry syrup to flavor it to his liking. In no time he would drink his milk with no syrup.
Good Luck

My daughter was on goat's milk and I tried switching her to whole milk and she was allergic to it.I just switched her straight to whole milk.

I know what you mean when you say that you want another mothers advice I did the same. My son has been on whole milk since he was 10 months old because he could hold down formula. But all we did was give him 2 different bottles he was only drinking 6 ounces so we would give him one bottle with 3 ounces of formula and 3 of milk and each day we just increased the amount of milk. I can say he loves milk. Hope I helped.

go straight to whole milk, my kids had no problem transitioning the day they turned 1. good luck. also, i warmed it for a while.

I would pick on to transition first. Sippy cup to bottle or formula to milk, so they don't have to do it all at once. If it were mee I would pick formula to milk first because formula is so expensive and they don't really need all those extra calories once they are eating food regularly. For my son I just changed one bottle every couple of days from formula to milk. I don't think he even noticed.

A little at a time! Week one, 7 oz. formula ~ 1 oz. milk. Week 2, 6 oz. formula ~ 2 oz. milk and so on. You can move it along a little faster if all goes well. He'll not really notice the change.
Good luck
S.

M.-
For my daughter who is now 22 mo. we completely changed her to milk only after her 1st birthday. I also did away completely with the bottle and only offered the sippy cup, she transitioned great and never asked for a bottle again.

Good luck!

M.
I have raised 3 boys and a grandmother of 3 grandbabies, raising the 2 yr old, when they all turned 1 I just switched over to whole milk the next day with no problems.

I would advise you to start out using three fourths formula and one fourth milk for a day or two, then go to half and half for a day or two, then one fourth formula and three fourths milk. Then all milk. You will just need to watch him and see how he is adjusting to it. My little boy didn't likr regular milk so we tried soy milk and he loved it. He drank soy milk for about six months and then I tried regular whole milk again and he would drink it. Not that you asked, but I would start putting all of his drinks in a sippy cup. He's a big boy now. Hope this helps and enjoy your new home.

Hi, my son did't like whole milk until i gradually introduced it to him. i started every week adding alittle more milk to his formula. the first week it was 1/4 milk to 3/4 formula. the second week it was 1/2 and 1/2. the third week was 3/4 milk to 1/4 formula and then finally the following week was all milk and he loves it. that was the only way we could get him started on milk.

You seem to have gotten a ton of advise. When my daughter turned 1 her dr said you can start her on whole milk. So I did as soon as her formula was done. She ended up getting so constipated that we had to go back and forth from formula to milk. Her dr said we just had to keep trying and trying... it did take a while. She is now on whole milk w/no issues.

My daughter Olivia had a hard time transitioning. Every time she drank whole milk she would get constipated. We started with half formula/half milk then went to full milk after a week or so. When she started becoming constipated (which was almost instantly) we would do half milk/half water and it still did't seem to help. We switched her to skim milk and she did fine, although now that she is not on the bottle I have a hard time getting her to drink milk at all. Some doctors told me the skim milk was a bad idea because she wouldn;t get enough fat, but after trying everything else, they relented and said as long as we were making sure she was getting enough fat in her other foods and was still gaining weight, it was fine. So best of luck to you.

My son is 13 months and when he turned one we just switched to whole milk. I did keep some formula around in case he had a reaction. We have had no problems at all and it sure is cheeper. Good luck to you.

Hi M.! Congratulations on your boy reaching ONE! Also congrats on going the country life--I wish I had the guts to do that. :-)

I switched my daughter to whole milk over a one-week period. I wouldn't mix the formula with the milk--too rich and calorie-laden, but instead I would just alternate, and over the week I would remove a formula serving a day, replacing it with a milk serving, until she was on milk totally. She LOVES milk!

Good luck!!!

Just go straight to it, it won't be a big deal to him unless you make it one, meaning, don't offer a choice, just do it.

Hi I had this same situation but both of my kids were on soy milk formula...i switched to the 2% milk first for a couple of weeks, and when I was confident that they were doing ok with it i moved to whole milk, my husband is mildly lactose intollerant and can only drink 2% so that is what we all drink now...but dont mix the formula and the milk together the milk now is for a drink when they are one they are not drinking the milk to get full...babyfood should do this trick...well good luck and hope you get it all figured out

When my son was about 10 months old, my mother and my husband's grandmother told me to get him off the bottle and off formula, you know how older moms can be when it comes to their grandchildren and great grandchildren (they know it ALL). SO I gave Riley a little bottle of whole milk and he got the FUNNIEST look on his face. So I warmed it up like I did his bottles with formula and he took it no problem. So the next day I did the same thing. He took it no problem. I also was told that you need to give your child vitamins when you start whole milk because they don't get all the nutritin (spelling might be wrong on that) they need like they get from the formula. So, that is how I did it. I just gave it to him. Amd with the bottle weening, I gave him a bottle in the morning and at night, but during the day I gave him a sippy sup still with more milk. Then after he could control the cup a little better I took the bottle completely away. Just a little advice from a young mother. Hope that you have as easy of a time as I did. Good luck!

my daughter went from breast to formula to eventually cows milk by 9 months, but i mixed organic milk with water 3/4 milk 1/4 filtered water, i would not suggest not buying regular milk that has added hormones, horizon is good

What worked for my kids is to put 1/2 and 1/2 (or 1/4 3/4 if they wouldn't drink it) mixed until they got used to that and then 3/4, 1/4 until they got used to that and then all milk. At this point I also did the sippy cup only at the 1/2 and 1/2 stage they will drink it if that is all that is offered, and they don't really need the sucking sensation any more at this point.

M.,

I hope that your transition is as easy as the experiences the other moms shared. My boys transitioned very well, but my daughter did not. If your Jody is like she is, I would like to offer my advice.

My daughter put up a huge protest at age 1 when I tried to give her cow's milk - mostly because I was weaning her from the breast so I could get pregnant again. She had drank from a sippy cup for 6 months with no problem, but when she realized I was trying to make her change, she put up a huge fight.

Other moms suggested giving her flavored milk - chocolate or strawberry. (That is the last thing a 12 month old baby needs, so I wouldn't advise it.) I finally just cut her off cold turkey. She didn't drink a sip of anything for three days. I was worried about her health and gave her lots of moist foods and dairy products to compensate. After three days she gave up the fight and didn't give me any more trouble. No adverse affects. Just be strong.

Best of luck,
S.

Just watch for reactions. Give a full dose of regular milk (milk tastes better than formula so kids usually go for it right away). Do that for a few days.

Be sure to do this when the kids are healthy and not sick. You want to watch for excessive gas, mucus or constipation. If you see any of these signs your child may not be able to digest the milk well. If thats the case try rice or soy milk, its still cheaper than formula.

My oldest was lactose intolerant. He was on Soy formula until he was three. We didn't make it full strength like for an infant. When he was three we tried milk again and slowly mixed it in with the formula. By then though he didn't drink as much maybe 1 or 2 glasses a day or just in cereal so it wasn't a big deal. He still isn't a big dairy fan and doesn't eat much cheese, yougurt or milk. I think thats ok as long as you are sure to give vitamins. I found these great kid vitamins that are gummy bears and the kids love taking them every day.

I also suggest taking the bottle completely away by 18 months at the latest. My youngest had some issues with the bottle and we finally just packed them all up and gave them away. We got one of those non-spill sippy cups that you sorta have to suck on to get it to let the contents out and he took that to bed, during the day he got a regular sippy cup. After a few months all the special sippy cups got "broken" and were regular cups too.

Good luck.

Hello, D. here, I have a 6 year old and you need to just put him on "whole" milk, no need to mix it.....plus "if" he even notices, he can give up the bottle & tell him now that he's a BIG BOY now, he has to use a sippy cup, my daughter preferred it and she even thought it was cool drinking what I was drinking and was so proud, I also have just the one child, I hope that helps, you don't need anymore formula or bottles, just give him the milk, and you don't even need to tell him......hope that helps....
D. Groves, Tx