Weening from Formula

well, my son is almost 12 months and about a week ago I started replacing 2 of his daily bottles with a cup of milk (about 6 oz.) So now he eats breakfast in the morning, like pancakes or eggs and he finishes w/ his cup of milk. I give him a 6 oz bottle before his nap around 11:30/noon (after he eats a little food). He then eats a meal around 3 and gets a small cup of water or milk w/ that (maybe 4 or 6 oz) and then dinner around 6:30 in which he also gets a little bit of water or milk. He then gets a 6 oz bottle before bed (7:30) but most of the time he is full enough not to even drink it all. He always goes to bed w/ a full belly. Babies/children should be able to sleep through the night by now w/o waking up hungry..try giving her a full dinner w/ milk closer to her bedtime (and i think 10 or 11 is so late, but maybe that works best for you guys??) and a smaller bottle at night - eventually she wont even need the bottle. You may have to give her a cup of milk before bed but thats no biggie. It should be whole milk too..they need the milk fat for their brain development.

My doctor took my daughter off formula at 12 months. You start by giving her 1/2 whole milk and half formula in her bottle. And just increase the whole milk and use less formula each time you give her a bottle. In a few days she should be getting all whole milk and no formula. Hope this helps.

I got WIC too and after the first year of formular they changed the vouchers to whole milk. Call the WIC office and make an appoinment to they can make the change.

After age 1, usually the pediatrician suggests moving from breast or formula to whole milk. They really do need fat for brain development as someone else mentioned. Some people suggest a transition by mixing milk with formula, but others say it's fine to just switch over. It's also a good time to switch to cups from the bottle. Mine are 3.5 and 2 and sometimes like to have a cup of milk (though mine would never take cow's milk - they will only drink soy) before bed. I think they usually recommend 3 servings of milk a day for little ones. There's not a real need to break that, but you should be brushing her teeth after the milk and before bed so the sugars don't sit on her teeth all night. Ours will drink their milk before going upstairs for bedtime routine. They do get thirsty in bed sometimes so they both take a sippy of water to bed. But that won't hurt their teeth and that way, they can just roll over and take a sip without really getting up in the middle of the night.

My pediatrician had me start at 12 months reducing the amount of formula with whole milk. For instance, the first 3 days to a week I would fill the bottles with 3/4 formula and 1/4 whole milk, the next three days or second week (depending on your timeframe) would be 1/2 and 1/2, third week 1/4 formula and 3/4 whole milk and finally all whole milk. I read that kids need whole milk until 2 years of age and after 2 years of age can get 2%, however, I would discuss that with your pediatrician.

S.

Give her a bottle of water to put her to bed, never give anything else at bedtime, it will rot her teeth out. If she is getting enough to eat, she shouldn't be hungry. Are you feeding her solid foods?

Most children are ready for Whole Vitamin D milk at 1 year of Age, and WIC will provide that for you what my childrens dr Told me to do was Fill the bottle up with Formula4 oz then Milk4z (mixing it is fine) and lower the formula ratio to milk as the weeks go by.

From my experience I've learned that children should be taken off of formula around 1 years old and switched onto whole milk. There's something in the whole milk (I think fat) that helps with brain development. I believe until 2 years old they are supposed to have that. I would maybe try giving her whole milk before bed. She should be able to sleep through the night without being hungry at this point. I know mornings can be hectic and a hungry child can matters much worse. I haven't tried it, but what about carnation instant breakfast or pediasure, maybe even the drinkable yogurt. Something liquid that's a little filling that you can put into a bottle.

She still needs the milkfat for brain development. I think they recommend 24 oz of whole milk a day, or equivalent servings of yogurt or cheese. You should switch gradually though to not shock her tummy.

I find that if I eat right before bed, I'm more likely to wake up during the night hungry. Maybe give her her last bottle of milk an hour or so before bedtime and see how that works.