Switching from Formula to Regular Milk...

Whole is the best but I once had a doctor tell me that a baby still needs the vitamins and they are sold in the pharmacy section. They are liquid drops to mix in the milk. I did this once...
My children are now 7 and 5! The are very healthy boys! Sometimes you just have to ignore the doctors.

When my children were about 9 months I slowly switched to Whole milk. In their first bottle (lets say they take 6oz) mix 1/2oz whole milk and the remaining 5 1/2 oz formula, do that for a day then gradually increase the whole milk in each bottle each day. They will slowly get used to the taste of whole milk. Then stick with whole milk until they can suppliment the vitamins with solid foods.

Whole milk is recommended until the child is two. They need the fat for brain developement. When I switched my son it was pretty easy. First I gave him sippy cups of milk at meal times. Then I started replacing his bottles of formula with milk. By the time he was a year old, he only had whole milk and only sippy cups, except for a bottle at 6 am....that one took a while to break. If she's used to warm formula, you can warm the milk and as you give it to her you can warm it less and less until she's used to it cold. Switching to milk is actually a pretty easy process....much much easier than switching from breast milk to formula! Good luck!

First of all, keep in mind that cow's milk is made for cows, and that your baby, once weaned from breastmilk or formula, does not have to start replacing that milk with cow's milk.

If you do, though, remember that until they are over 1 (actually older than that, but 1 is a standard) their bodies have a lot of problems breaking down the proteins in cow's milk. period. ORGANIC WHOLE milk is the ONLY kind of milk they should be given for that reason, (and the fats in it).
My twins are 16 months old, and one still nurses 2 times a day, the other about 2 times a week, but the only cow's milk they get is whatever might go into a food, (like mashed potatoes, homeade split-pea soup, etc). They drink water, water water, and occasioally a little juice or tea, mixed with water, from sippy cups.
And they eat "REAL" food (not processed foods)and are able to get ALL the nutrition that they need from that. They have been eating real food for their nutrition all along, and before they could chew it all up, we blended it up. Calcium, iron, etc can all be found in fruits and veggies.

I know my post may not be a popular one, but I am not trying to offend anyone.
THanks all!

Kids want to drink whole milk until age at least age 2. The fat in the milk stimulates brain development. we put it in my kids bottle instead of formula a couple times, if they were wanting to use their sippy cup we just put it in there. We did not mix at all just straight milk.

Now we did notice that at 2, when we switched back to skim (our usual milk) they drank more. It think that the lower fat content digests quicker so they don't stay full as long. Instead of a 1/2 glass they sometimes wanted 1 1/2 glasses.

I have a little boy that is will be 10 months tomorrow and I started introducing him to milk a couple of days ago. My son is the same way, we can feed him a jar of food and then give him some juice and 1-2 hours later he is hungry again. Just start giving her like 4 ounces of whole milk or 2% milk depending on what your doctor thinks is better for your baby and then if she tolerates like 4 ounces well then the next time give her like 6 ounces. My son is drinking 2% milk because he couldn't tolerate whole milk but I was the same way I couldn't tolerate whole milk either. Another idea is start introducing big people food, like mashed potatoes and gravy and stuff like that. Good luck!!!!!!

Waiting until 1 year is pretty much the standard. And they would start off with whole milk and should stay on it until they are around 2.

I never used formula or bottles, but around a year I started off with a little bit of whole milk and they took right to it. If your daughter doesn't like it one day, just keep trying the next and the next, etc.

I have 11 month old twins and 2 older boys and I would introduce a few bottles a day. They say its hard for babies to digest regular milk..but what did they do in the olden days? Doctor told me that whole milk is what our babies need for the brain development. Between the twins I feed them 3 times a day and they get a bottle of juice a day and about 4 bottles.
I would say take it at your babys pace, if she/he is fussy, then you know she is having a hard time digesting.
I warm their whole milk up before bed and nap.
Good luck
A.

Good for you for being a SAHM! I am also, to two little boys, and wouldn't trade it for anything (most days :) ).
As a dietitian, I would not recommend switching to cow's milk until one year of age. Formula is fortified with iron, which your baby doesn't get from milk. When you do switch, it's important that your little girl drinks whole milk, because the hight fat content helps with brain development. When they reach the age of two, they can drink any kind of milk, even skim.
Hope this helps!

When my daughter switched to milk I just switched it all together. Use whole milk because of the high fat and calorie content (unless you Peditrician says otherwise, my brother had to have 2% because he was a BIG baby ;)). I didn't have any problems just switching her over, and if you think about it, milk doesn't have all that extra stuff in it that causes all the discomfort in babies. If this seems to be a problem or she isn't taking to it, I might step back a little and try mixing the formula with the milk. The way I figure it is (and every mom who has ever tasted formula knows this) milk tastes so much better she might gobble it down and be grateful she diesn't have to drink the yucky stuff anymore!! Hope this helps! Oh yeah, if you're really concerned, call her pedritrician, that's what they are there for :)

I'm sure that you have had many replies to your question. But..the best way I think , and what the dr. had told me was to slowly start replacing formula with milk like 1-2 oz at a time...go for about 5 days then increase the amount of milk you substitute.
I would also say that your baby is hungry because she needs more than a little cereal with baby food...she needs some more 'food' . Excuse me if you take offense I do not mean to step on toes. It's just an observation.

I have heard of people adding regular milk to the formula a little at a time. What I did was give them regular milk with their meals. Then they would get used to the taste.

When I switched my daughter, I stopped the formula all together and just gave her whole milk. My doctor said that whole milk had everything that she needed. Milk might be expensive and buying 2 different kinds might be hard, but it is way cheaper than formua.

When I switched from Formula to milk, it was whole milk, and I did 3/4 formula and 1/4 whole milk for 2 wks, then went to half and half for 2 weeks, then I did 1/4 formula and 3/4 whole milk for 2 wks and then started the full bottle of whole milk.

That is what I did. He took it really well, and I did not have any problems!

Good Luck!!
T.

I was told to start with whole milk and then 2% at 2 years old. My daughter had a hard time with milk in general and was on soy for a while. We gave her bottles with 3/4 soy milk or formula and 1/4 whole milk for a week or two and then if she seemed to have no problems, like no diarrhea or vomiting, then we went to half whole milke and half formula and then 3/4 whole milk and 1/4 formula until she was totally off of formula. And by the way I totally understand! That stuff gets so expensive. It was great to switch her to milk!!!!

Good luck!

Hi B., I am mother of 3 boys OH yeah does get expensive buying formula so does milk..I started all my boys on whole milk didn't add formula but u may want to check with your dr.though. Have you heard WIC program they help you at with Milk and other items the main number 1-800-532-1579 that state phone number.
My boys are 17yrs old 14 years old and now I have 19 month old.YES am 40 yrs old.

Our Pedi wanted Vit D milk. Babies need the fat in the milk. I think we started with mixing 1/2 milk and 1/2 formula but our daughter was not picky and jumped right in.
Hope this helps
A.

Dear B.,
There are alot of ways to start introducing regular mild to a baby, it really depends on how well your child goes with it. I would start by mixing 1/2 and 1/2 and see if she even know's a differance neither one of my children did. Mine are 11 months and 5 years, both girl's.
Aftor that, Just switch it. There might be a differance at first in diapers but it takes a while for new things to get used to.

I know that you should use whole milk until your child turns 2. Then switch to 2%, and then around age 4 or 5 switch to skim. When they are younger they need the fat in the milk, but as they get older, they get fat from other places, and skim milk is the way to go. As far as introducing it.... I have no idea, lol. But, I am sure someone else knows.

Well your suppose to start with whole milk. Then when there two your suppose to switch to 2% because they think that it's to fatty for children but my son will be three and well he's still drinking it and he's not gaining weight. Plus whole milk has more witamins in it for stronger bones and what not. Doctors need to be a little more prcise with this kind of information. my son was off formula at around six or seven months because he was getting to sick from it so when I switched is when I also took him of his bottle. So start using sippy cups if you haven't already this way thre teeth don't rot. If she's strong enogh to hold a glass and stuff ffor her juice I wouldn't suggest putting that in a sippy cup because they tend to want everything in them and it's not good for there teeth cause the sucking action makes it all go around their teeth and gums as when we drink out of cups most of the the time it 's not sitting on are teeth. Just another tip. But definitley try switching her too a sippy cup when your switching from formula to milk.

HI B. , WHEN MY KIDS WERE LITTLE AND I SWITCHED THEM I FRIST WATERED IT DOWN ALITTLE FOR THE FRIST COUPLE WEEKS . BUT I STARTED THEM OUT ON WHOLE MILK ITS BETTER FOR THEM . PLUS HAS ALL THE STUFF THEY NEED RIGHT NOW . I HOPE THIS HAS HELPED ALITTLE SORRY SO SHORT.

I first gave our son is special formula to get him ready. It was the Enfamil 9-12 months. But when we switched we just gave him whole milk, doctors and books said this was the best. And he took to it really well. I've never had problems with food and him.

I started switching whole milk for formula at about 10 months. 1 year is the "standard", but each baby is an individual and is ready for things in his/her own time, so if you feel like now is the time, go for it! Jack was the same way as your baby...he could easily eat a 6 oz. jar of stage 3 baby food, along with something like yogurt, applesauce, oatmeal, etc. and still take a 6 or 8 oz. bottle. We were going through like 2 cans of formula a week! Start out with whole milk (they should have that until they are about 2, since they need the higher fat/cholesterol in whole milk for growth...it doesn't have anything to do with making them "smarter"). What I did is just start substituting whole milk for a few ounces of formula. At first I made a 4 oz of formula in a 6 oz bottle, then added 2 oz milk. After a few days I made equal parts (3 oz milk & 3 oz formula), then a few days later 2 oz formula, 4 oz milk. My son didn't seem to notice a difference, and we saw no "digestive issues". At around this time, I also started giving him more and more table food, and that seemed to help satiate him longer. Plus he really liked having what we were having for dinner. :-) After I did that, he pretty quickly went to just table food. Now might be a good time to start to introduce a sippy, if you haven't already. I don't have much advice on that one, since Jack was not at all particular about the vessel by which he received his fluids. Bottle, sippy, cup with a straw, regular cup, he didn't care. So I just stopped giving him a bottle and that was that. But I know some babies are attached to the bottle, and I don't have any experience with that. Oh, and if you're concerned about your daughter getting enough iron (as another poster brought up), you can continue feeding her iron fortified baby cereals, along with regular foods that contain iron, like red meat, fish and spinach (or any leafy green veggie). When I took Jack off formula, I asked the doctor about giving him vitamins and I was told that as long as he eats a variety of foods most of the time he will get all the vitamins and minerals that he needs (some babies will have some days when they only want to eat 1 or 2 kinds of food, and that is not a problem). Hope this helps!

M.

B.,
I have two sons ages 4 and 5 the 5 year old was a primiee. Both are very healthy and I started them both on 2% milk when they were 9 months old. I didn't like having to buy two different types of milk for my household because milk to is expensive. Switch them to which ever milk you use in your house if you like whole milk than use it. Hope this helps!! In the end it is you decision.

I am a Military stay at home mom to two boys 4 and 5.

I have three children. I understand where you are coming from completely. I started out my mixing half and half and they really didnt notice it. But at feedings, I would put whole milk in their sippy cups. Whole milk has more vitamins in it the 2 percent. As long as you are making sure your baby is getting the fruits and veggies they need, this shouldnt be a problem. They also have baby vitamins you can use also. AT nine months old, she should be able to eat most table foods as long as its not spicy or loaded with salt. Just chop it up in lil bitty pieces for her. Banana's are an excellant snack for babies. Just remember, babies need to snack between meals and as longs as they are eating healthy snacks she should be fine. They are growing fast and need to keep up with the energy they burn. Good luck!! I hope this info helps!!

I was told not to switch my son any earlier than a year, because of the chance of having alergic reaction. Something to do with the babies reaction to milk, and being to young for it. Is your doctor a pediatrician? Cause they know whats best for your baby and if you trust him, then go for it. But I however would wait. have you tried putting rice cereal in with the formula? or making a larger bottle? Also I use two percent milk when i do switch because i have bigger babies and i dont really think they need all the fat that is in whole milk. However if my babies where normal size then i would try whole milk cause they say its better for your baby.
good luck, and I'm just gonna be switching my son, cause he'll be a year on the 21st. Chris

There is no differences in milk other then fat content. Doctors want the whole milk as the extra fat and the added vitamins, which is said to help kids become smarter. (i forget how that works now) You are to give your child whole milk until they are 2, however if you dont have whole milk, then it does not hurt your child to have 2% or whatever. Also let me suggest starting her on table food, mashed up. I use a food chopper on my babies food to make my own baby food, once I knew they had no allergies. This saved me a lot of money and they ate whatever we ate, which made them feel more apart of things. (of course once my son got a taste for our food, he wouldnt eat it mashed up, he wouldnt eat at all unless his plate look like mine, which would scare me because I was afraid he would choke lol) I hope this helps!

I would wait until closer to a year to switch to whole milk for nutritional reasons. Milk doesn't have all the balanced nutrients like formula. I would suggest more foods!! One jar with some oatmeal isn't really that much. At nine mo. she should be able to start on a more regular pattern of eating (breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, supper, snack). Now is a good time start introducing regular, soft chewable, table foods, peas, cheerios, whole grain toast, yougart made with whole milk. whole milk cottage cheese,etc. And I don't know but have you tried offering her the baby meats? I know they look and smell nasty but most babies don't know that and I would often mix it with a veggie. Those dinners most baby food companies make have fillers and won't tend to stay with them as much. Of course if you are vegetarian this isn't an option. But I would definately add more foods to her diet at meals and snacks, but stay away from the stuff with added sugar it won't do anything for their appetite but make them hungrier later!! Good luck!