Making the Switch from Formula to Milk

I would start with one thing at a time, otherwise it may be too overwhelming having to give up everything he loves at the same time. First get him to the point where he will drink straight cow's milk out of a bottle. Once he is completely off formula and has been drinking milk from a bottle for a couple of weeks then switch one bottle a day to a sippy cup. I switched out the morning bottle first because my daughter always woke up thirsty. After a week or 2 switch another bottle feeding to a sippy cup. The most important thing is to not give in and give him a bottle once you've eliminated it. Even if he refuses the sippy cup don't worry he won't dehydrate and it won't drastically effect his health. He needs to know that a sippy cup is his only option. You may get some tears or a tantrum but you can't give in. If you eliminate the bottle gradually the transition will be much easier on everybody and soon he won't even miss the bottle.

Hi C.- the only sippy cup that my son would drink milk from was the Nuby. We tried out many different types of cups but since this one was so similar to a bottle, it worked out really well for us. When it came time to transition away from the Nuby sipply, we began to use the Nuby soft straw cups & the Fogo soft straw cups. Now at 2.5, we still use soft straw cups when on the go.

Good luck!

This can be a very difficult transition for some childen. Try adding a little chocalate or strawberry syrup to his milk, than gradually slip him into the whole milk by adding less and less to the milk over a short period of time.

I'd suggest just doing one thing at a time and, to take off some pressure or anxiety, try not thinking about what the doctor said. My MIL said the bottle to sippy cup thing doesn't really matter until 18months. So I took that advice and just moved my son to milk & sippy over a period of 3 months (12 - 15).

After a few weeks of transition between milks - half & half (BM and whole milk), one day we just switched and he didn't seem phased by it.

We kept using a bottle and gave him milk at the same time as I would BF. Then we switched to only morning and night whole milk from a bottle (warmed up, around 13 months), with water from a sippy during the day.

Then we found a sippy he would take milk from - the born free one - and I just kept him on it - no more bottles. Again, he didn't even notice.

Now he is sippy morning and night with warmed whole milk and he will now drink cold milk during the day from any sippy cup. (As long as they get minimum 16 oz plus dairy during the day, their needs are being met.)

So now at 15 months, we are phasing out the night milk and giving more milk during the day, and phasing out the warmed milk.

Long story short, gradual transitioning combined with a committed switch to the new item one day worked well for our family. No drama, no fuss. Wish you all the best!

It took me while to get my son off the bottle. At 14 months he finally took a NUBY soft spout sippy cup. After 3 weeks on that I gave him Gerber Take and Toss Sippy Cups and they worked. Those were the only sippys that worked for me....I always gave him juice in a bottle- and I never had trouble with the transition to the sippy with that...my doctor told me that as long as I got him off the sippy by 15 months- it would be fine. Try the NUBY cup- that might help. My son also hates water- I always have to put a tiny bit of juice in it for flavor.

A friend of mine took her son to the store and let him pick out his own sippy cup and low and behold....he drinks milk from it now. Just a suggestion. Personally, I have no experience with it because my daughter is only 8 months old.

Good luck!

Just so you know, kids do NOT need milk. As a matter of fact, many allergies are now known to be caused by milk proteins...
http://www.drbriffa.com/blog/2005/03/27/milk-and-bone-hea...
http://www.rense.com/general63/milkmyth.htm
But, if you want to give him/her milk for their second year of life for the benefits that usually kids eat very little and therefore do not get many nutritional needs, you can always give chocolate milk, most kids will drink this. But I recommend not more than an 8 oz cup a day. Most get their intake of dairy through yogurt and cheese. Too much milk proteins causes gastrointestinal issues for some. Hope that helps give you info that you may not be getting from your pediatrician. I see a homeopathic and a regular pediatrician. m

Hi,
I also agree to ~gradually~ switch to milk by mixing the formula w/ milk. 1/4 milk: 3/4 formula for 4-5 days; 1/2 milk: 1/2 formula 4-5 days; 3/4 milk; 1/4 formula etc. You should use his bottle for this so he is more receptive. When he's used to straight milk, try a straw cup. My twins refused sippys but LOVED using a straw once thet figured it out. Playtex has a good one w/o a valve so they don't have to try so hard to sip on the straw, or try the disposable straw cups from The First Years (I think that's the brand). After they get the hang of that you can switch to a straw bottle with a valve so it won't leak if tipped over.
Good luck!
K.

Stick with only water in the cup. You don't want to get him hooked on juice! If he keeps refusing a milk cup keep trying but it's better to have a bottle of milk vs no milk at all. He'll give it up when he's ready

The dr. is right. He should be off the bottle by 14 months. The longer you wait the harder it becomes. You have to just STOP. He'll eventually drink his milk in the bigboy cup or get his vitamen D in other sources. Don't worry mommy. He's no different than any other toddlers.

Hi C., We mixed Stonyfield Farm Smoothie with milk and our son drinks it like crazy from a sippy (and he would refuse milk). About 1 oz of smoothy to 10 oz of milk. It adds just the right amount of sweetness and is still healthy. Don't beat yourself up about the bottle; our doctor said that she has seen too many children develop a hatred of the all important milk because their bottle is taken away too soon. Our son is 19 months and still takes a bottle before bedtime (at night). We brush his teeth afterward (before he falls asleep). I am aware that many doctors do not agree with this, but it works for us (and our pediatrician, who is often touted on this board and other boards, says we are doing great). I am pretty sure that ds will be able to give his bottle up on his own by the time he is 24 months because the amount is going down.

One evening this summer, I made both of my children milkshakes - milk, a very small drop of ice cream, and strawberries. My daughter was about 14 months old and exhibits the same behavior as your son except that she is still nursing. In any case, I put her milkshake in a cup with a special lid and straw top. She downed it in 30 seconds! I don't know if it was the flavor of the milkshake or the cup with the straw, but I've since made her "milkshakes" with only milk and ice - sometimes yogurt or strawberries or bananas - and it's always a hit.

Neither of my kids liked a sippie cup so I bought them a straw cup. We like the playtex ones that have a cover that rolls over the straw. It costs around $4.00. My kids loved them. By 12 mos. both my kids were down to one bottle at night and we did the 1/2 and 1/2 thing for about a week then went to straight milk for a week then stopped the bottle. It was just not offered. Maybe let him pick the cup. Also, cut any juice you give him with water. I always did 1/3 juice to 2/3 water. The juice is too sweet for their tastebuds, and we all know they don't need all the sugar. Hope this helps!

I had a similar situation with my daughter. When she was a year I was determined to make the switch from both formula to milk and from a bottle to a sippy cup. She had been drinking water from her cup so I knew she could do it. For about a week I went with half formula half whole milk gradully getting to all milk in her bottle. Once she was ok with milk in her bottle I put all the bottles away and only used a cup. Out of sight out of mind. I had two rough days of her throwing major fits refusing milk in her cup but then it was done. After those two days she was happy to drink her milk out of a cup.

Hi C.! Based on my experience, I would suggest doing one thing at a time. First switch him to formula. Then switch from bottle to sippy cup. My son had a rough time switching from bottle to sippy cup for milk - he took water or juice in it just fine. So we ended up having to go cold-turkey for him to switch from bottle to sippy cup. That might be the harder switch, from my experience, but every kid is different!
Good luck!

Our dr recommended a slow transition from formula to milk. We did 4oz formula + 2 oz milk, then 3 oz of each, then 2 oz formula + 4 oz milk until we were just at milk.
once your son is 100% transitioned to whole milk in the bottle, take away one bottle at a time and replace it with a sippy. At the time of this transition our daughter was on 4 bottles/day. Here's the order we took them away: 11am, 3pm, 7am, 6pm (bedtime). We took away one bottle/week and had no problems. The whole thing took 1 month! Good Luck!

They make those transition cups where the lids are not hard plastic it is soft rubber. Maybe try using those. My daughter was easy getting off a bottle that is all I did was take it away and give her a sippy of water at bed time and it worked great.

But I would try a few different cups and see what happens and limit the bottle to only at night. Then after awhile don't put milk it in only water

The straw cup worked for my son too. He would not drink milk in a sippy cup. He would drink water or juice in a sippy, not milk. Maybe it is texture thing?? Good luck.

My son was a champ at drinking his bottle, but onto milk & not so much. We started mixing the formula with milk and gradually weaned him off formula. (I think he was 13 mos by the time he was drinking just milk). I clung to the bottle & broke him of it by 15 months. We also tried the Nuby, but it's basically a bottle. He really liked the take n toss cups. They were easy for him to hang onto & they aren't as restricted as some other sippys. I was nervous about his intake, but then I read somewhere that when they're on whole milk they only need something like 10 oz per day, and he was getting that no problem. We started offering him only the milk in his cups & he eventually started drinking it. He still doesn't drink as much milk as he ever did formula, but I think with all the nutrition in the real food he eats, maybe he just doesn't need it!

Hi C.! I think you've gotten similar responses to mine. My son was like yours: he'd take milk in the bottle and water in the sippy just fine, but would drink very little milk from the sippy. I also tried different cups and even tried chocolate milk in the sippy. I ended up hiding the bottles and going cold turkey. It really only took a couple of days. The most reassuring advice was from his pediatrician that milk is not a substitute for formula, and some kids just won't be milk drinkers. It's primarily for calcium and vitD, which he can get from cheese, yogurt and even fortified soy products.

Try a different kind of cup. We do only put water in the sippy cup. We use a straw cup for milk or juice.

We just went through this with our son. First I went to whole milk in a bottle, then I started helping him learn to drink from a straw. Within a week he was drinking completely from a straw and off the bottle.

sometimes it is the sippy cup too. try a different type. with both of my daughters we had no problem once we found the right cup. the ones that have very hard tips are hard to transition to from a bottle. try the nuby or the avent magic we used both of these and giving up the bottle was a breeze. good luck!

Hi C. -
you will definitely need to mix formula and milk - example:
8 oz bottle -
6 oz formula
2 oz milk - and do that for a week; next week do
4 oz formula
4 oz milk - again for a week
2 oz formual
6 oz milk - again for a week
8 oz milk - and by this time he should be used to the milk. it is different that the formula.
keeping all that in the bottle because that is what he is comfortable with during this transittion.
but it sounds like you will have to buy different kinds of sippy cups - to see what he would like. my daughter at first - would only use a sippy cup with a soft sippy part - NUBY (you can get a walmart) worked really well - and did the transition for bottle to sippy cup that way - and then we let her know that bottles were only for naps and bed time - and then the disappeared for naps and eventually we gone for bed time.
good luck - it is hard - but you need to have patience during the transition. it will happen.
K.

The suggestion from our pediatrician was to wean him off formula to milk by using a mixture of both and gradually switching to more milk than formula until completely milk over a 3-4 week period.

We did the sippy cup switch after the switch to milk. Trying to get them to change too many things at once can be overwhelming for them.

We've always given my son a mixture of 50-50 water and juice and he loves it. I like it too because he gets less sugar with the same amount of liquid.

We made the switch from the bottle to the sippy cold turkey. He was a little constipated at first because he resisted, but it all worked out.

If your son is drinking water from the sippy okay, it's not a big deal if he goes without milk for a while during the transition. Just give him some extra yogurt and cheese to make up for the calcium he's not getting from the milk.

If you give him a choice, of course he's going to take the bottle. Make the choice for him, and it will take a lot less time to make the switch.

When he refuses the milk in the sippy, explain to him that he's a big boy now, and he's all done with bottles. It's milk in the sippy or no milk. After a few days he'll give in and make the switch.

To do the switch from formula to milk, I did two ounces at a time. If he was drinking 8 oz of formula, 2 oz would be milk and 6 oz would be formula. I did that for a few days and then it was 4 oz and 4 oz and then it was 6 oz of milk and 2 oz of formula... you get the idea.

Let's see, I switched my first born before he was a year old and when I was trying to get rid of the bottle, he got a cold and then BYE BYE bottles. Since milk was the only thing he drank in them and when you have a cold, milk makes you all phlegm-y, no more bottles. That was the best day ever!! I was sad he was sick obviously but it was an easy switch to make. With my youngest, I just took the bottle away and said it's sippy cup time. I tossed them right after he turned one. Neither one was keen on the idea of no bottles but it's best to take them away before they can actually talk and constantly ask you about their baba. Just toss them. He will drink when he is thirsty!

I had a hard time switching my daughter off of breast milk (in bottle) to regular cows milk--she would have no part of it no matter how I disguised it..I had an old fashioned pediatrician who I loved u ntil she moved out of state. She told me that within 2 weeks she will do it if you give her no other choice. It was hard (and I mean hard!) I think there was 2 days I dont think she drank anything besides small sips of water--she still doesnt like water, but boy does she love her milk....after the two days, she slowly started taking the milk. The next job was to get her off of the bottle which I transitioned into every different sippy cup they made until she liked (& I liked--the only ones that didnt leak were the gerber & playtex)& I tried all of them. I presented this at dinner & before bed & with quite a bit of reluctence in the beginning (about 1 week)she slowly started to take it. Hope this helps--basically patience & consistency & not giving up.. I did call my pediatricians office with any concerns during this time & they were extremely helpful!

C.- Have you tried doing 1/2 milk and 1/2 formula to get him used to it. That is what we did for all 3 of ours and it has worked out great. Do you warm the bottle or give it to him at room tempature? I think the easiest way is to give it to him right from the fridge and then do cold turkey on the bottles. Go straight to sippy cups. He will be okay, he will know quick that is how he gets something to drink. Or you can start with one bottle and go from there?

Good luck

My dtr is not much of a milk drinker. She will drink about 1/2 glass a day. She gets her calcium and vit D from other sources. I used to giver her Yo Baby when she was a 1yr old. She also likes to eat cheese. Initially put milk in her sippy cup until she was able to use a straw (better for thier teeth). Better not to put milk in the bottle and just use the sippy cup.