Weaning Baby at 1 Year Old - Questions on Switching to Formula/whole Milk

The American Academy of Pediatrics directs parents to feed children whole milk up to age two. More generally, the Academy recommends that parents do not restrict any fat or calorie intake for children under two years of age, except on the advice of your child's pediatrician, because fat is necessary for brain development.

My son & I are working on the switch to whole milk ourselves. We've been breast-feeding for a year, and supplementing with formula for the last month or so due to a decrease in milk supply, but I plan to phase out the formula in favor of the cow's milk.

My son is vehemently anti-sippy cup and we are also phasing out the bottle, so we're nursing morning & night, pumping once during the day and working on using a regular ole cup at meals & snacks. The cup is offered every time food is offered. It's messy, but he's starting to get the hang of it and I think he likes the fact that he has a cup- just like everyone else at the table. He takes it every time, regardless of what's in it (milk, water), and does his best. Perhaps your son wouldlike a cup? We're just going to take the transition slowly and see how it goes. Without using a bottle, it's hard to tell exactly how much fluid he's getting, so I monitor his wet diapers and bowel movements. As long as he has lots of wet diapers and no constipation, I think he's ok. But, I should mention that he's in the 50 percentile for weight, so I'm not as concerned about hitting that 16 oz mark as you are.

How is your son's eating? Sounds like he's a good drinker, if he's been nursing for 12 mos, but is he eating enough to keep pace with his energetic toddler lifestyle? Maybe that's a good place to introduce more of the calories and nutrients that he needs, as opposed to continuing formula. Though, I would do whatever my doctor suggested. Good luck!

I just switched my daughter from formula to whole milk. Babies are supposed to be on whole milk until they are 2 years old (all reputable pediatricians will say the same thing). My daughter is 13 months old and I decided to keep using the bottle for the morning milk and use sippy cups throughout the day and it seems to be working. The 1st time I tried to give her milk she refused it, which I was surprised because most kids love the taste of whole milk. I then tried mixing it with formula (1/4 milk and 3/4 formula) and then a week later switched to 1/2 milk and 1/2 formula) and she took it easily. She now chugs down the milk by itself, so I think it takes a little adjustment. Mix the breastmilk and whole milk and see if that works. My friends baby will not take milk at all, so she makes sure to include yogurts, egg, cheese in his diet also.

when my daughter turned 1 i nixed the bottle (formula) and went to whole milk. it took a few different sippy cups til we found one that she liked. she wasn't a great milk drinker to start with so made sure her meals had things like yogurt and cheese. the doctor said if i made something like mac n cheese, french toast, scrambled eggs.. reakky anything that calls for milk, to use whole milk.

your baby doesn't need formula. if i had breastfed exclusively that long, I'd skip formula all together. no need for it. don't be so worried about his weight/height and make your decisions based on that. as long as he's overall healthy... there's no need for anything but breastmilk as you've done and switching to regular cow's milk. (whole or not... that's another topic)

G.,
I have three teenagers, who were all on whole milk by your sons age. They go thru spurts where they weigh enough, and spurts where they don't weigh enough. Right now both of my youngest need to weigh at least 10lbs more, they have been growing in heighth only lately. Their doctor does not seem
concerned. Anyway, I would do what the Dr. says, and if your son accepts the milk cold, more power to ya. Start giving him more solids, and see what he does weight wise.
Don't be suprized if he does not want to drink milk if he catches cold. It makes the mucus thicker anyway.
W.

Hi G.,
My advice would be to make the change to milk slowly (this advice was actually given to us by our pediatric GI -- son had a sensitive gut). Go 4-5 days with 1/4 milk, 3/4 breastmilk; then another 4-5 with a 1/2,1/2 mix; then 3/4, 1/4, then 100% milk. Also, you might want to only change one variable at a time. You might want to transition to milk in a bottle. Our son is extremely thin (was born eary at 2 lbs, 6 oz), so I get the concern about his weight big time! We had a powder we were supposed to add to his bottles (he used bottles until at least 18mos -- can't entirely remember when we switched). You might want to ask his doc about Pediasure. Our ped GI wanted our son on it. It's downside is that it is high in sugar (but it sounds like the calories would be good), but it is full of protein, calcium, vitamins, etc. Our son's tummy was sensitive to both milk and soy milk at that age (fine w/ milk after about age 3). For us, Pediasure was a lifesaver. Yes, it's like a milkshake and others will criticize it, but, if his doc agrees, your son may be one of the kids, like mine, that can really benefit from it. Another issue could be the sippy cups. The valves in those things are rediculouly strong. The docs and occupational therapists at the developmental clinic at CPMC (preemies as young as ours get free developmental assessments for the first three years -- our son is fine) suggested we completely skip sippy cups (have you ever tried to drink from one? Yipes!). We went from bottles to straw cups. A 1 yr old might not be ready for a staw cup, so you might want to go with a bottle. I've also heard of people removing the valves from sippy cups. Our son did have oral motor skill defecits that affected his ability to eat solids. We had no idea, as he was an early speaker and seemed fine. He just wasn't eating well. We went to a feeding clinic where we were able to work on this issue and bring him up to speed. Perhaps your son has week cheek muscles (ours did) and tires out. Worth asking your ped. The most important question is whether you son is staying on his personal growth curve for weight. If so, our docs said we did not need to worry too much. It's when they fall off of their own curve (ped can explain this, but basically his curve should be the same shape as the avg curve, even if it's way below that curve) that docs start to worry. As a disclaimer, our son was not as tall as yours. He was around 40th percentile in height (adjusted for his due date) and about 10% for weight. Given the larger disparity your son has, you might want to get a second opinion from another ped. Just so you know, at almost five, our son is 42 inches tall and 34 lbs dripping wet! He is a strong, energetic, healthy kid. We just need to be sure his pants have adjustable waistbands! He is even quite athletic. Also, keep in mind when you look at the percentiles that many kids in the US are overweight at a very young age. At the same time, check your son's growth curve for weight (you doc should be keeping one in his file). Also, if all docs determine your son is okay, I highly recommend reading "Child of Mine" by Ellyn Satter (I might be spelling her name wrong). Our ped GI recommended it. Especially for parents of very thin kids, it is so easy to accidentally act in a way that can lead to your child having an unhealthy relationship w/ food. The book was soooo helpful and has also been recommended by ped nutritionists who have spoken to our preschool community.
K.

Hi G.,
I had to try several sippy cups before we found one my daughter liked. It ended up being Gerber. I would skip formula and go straight to whole milk. Not only does formula taste AWFUL,(I tasted it myself) it is expensive. You can also try mixing breastmilk and cow's milk, slowly decreasing the breastmilk until it is all cow's milk. Make sure he is eating a variety of solid foods now and I bet his milk intake will increase. If you're concerned about how switching to cow's milk as far as his weight, call his doctor to be on the safe side.
Sincerely,
L.

I think I would switch him off of bottle and boob and onto whole milk. You may need to play around with cup types to see which would work best for him. Whole milk will help him gain weight. My youngest brother was a preemie and his dr. had mom put him on whole milk as soon as possible. Not only was he put on whole milk, but it was milk straight out of the cow. Once whole milk is his only beverage choice he may not be as picky. It may be a rough couple of weeks though. Throughout the transition keep offering him as many other dairy products as you can to help suppliment.

First of all, he doesn't need whole milk. Goodness! It probably tastes think and heavy to him after breast milk. No matter he wants water instead. Try 2% because that is much easier on their little stomachs and the consistency is closer.

Unless your child is grossly underweight, no pediatrician is their right mind recommends whole milk anymore and hasn't for years. The calcium in 2% or even nonfat milk is the same as whole milk. The fat content is just higher in whole milk.

Give it a try - Hang in there - +B+

My daughter will be 1 on the 27th of this month and she refused a sippy cup also, except to play with. She got a hold of her older cousins cup with straw and once she figured out how it worked, that is all she will use now. She always wants to eat what we eat, go where we go, so I guess it just made sense that she would want to drink the way she saw us drinking. We still give her milk for naps in a bottle, but all other liquids are from a cup with a straw that I cut to fit the cup. She needed supervision with the cup at first but now I use a cup with a lid and straw and she can use that one on her own without the chance of spilling. Switching to whole milk is better for 1 year olds since it has more fat and they need that for their brain development and it will help put weight on. As I'm sure you know how active these little one year olds are, they can burn those calories pretty fast!
Good luck, I hope it works.

Hi G.-
Have you tried a straw cup yet? Sometimes they take to those easier than the sippy. I would skip the formula and go straight to whole milk to avoid yet another transition later. It can take a little time to transition from the breast/bottle to a cup, but if possible, stop the bottle all together too. You can suppliment other high calorie things if you are concerned about his weight and you can use whole milk in oatmeal and cereal to help with that intake.
As I'm sure you know, he will drink if he's thirsty. It's the experience that will be hardest for him to break.
Good luck!!!!