I have a 29 month old and a 10 1/2 month old daughter. My 10 1/2 month old wants to eat and drink everything her big sister does. Currently not such a problem and I let them share sippy cups (apple or orange juice--- 50% juice and 50 % water) and offer my 10 1/2 month old similar foods to her older sister as appropriate. However, I will not allow my older daughter to share her milk. She is very good with this but my baby is getting more and more insistent on getting to her cup (she pulled to stand at 6 mos and is quickly learning how to climb). How important is it to wait until exactly 12 months old to give milk? Will it really make that much of a difference on her ability to process/digest milk in only another month and a half?
Thank you for all your responses. I guess I wasn't as specific as I needed to be but you did help to answer my question. To clarify, it's the cup she wants not what's inside. When she takes the cups and there is juice inside, I do nothing, and my oldest doesn't mind sharing. When she grabs the cup and there is milk in it (if my oldest forgets to put it on a table) I have been taking it away. Trust me, I have no problem allowing her to work through frustration when she is told no. However, she is quite advanced physically and is quickly learning how to make bridges and ladders out of furniture or toys to get to things out of her reach and I am not always an arms length away. She does have her own sippy cups as well but she grabs for the nearest cup to her. She has already had yogurt and cheese for about 2 months now with no problems. I have always continued with our regular nursing schedule and have never used other fluids as a substitute. That being said, after all your comments I decided to allow her to drink milk from her sisters cup (she always takes just a few sips anyway) and see how she reacts to it. If diarrhea insues, I will not allow her to do it again for some time. Being that she has had quite a bit of dairy and reading what others of you have experienced I am no longer concerned. Thank you so much for taking the time to respond!
Do you mean they are drinking out of the same cup? If so, this will lead to cavities due to getting each others saliva
She will be fine , let her have some so she get's used to the taste.
I tried to give milk to our daughter at about 10 months, and it went in and all came out as diarrhea. She just could not handle it.. Instead of giving your daughter milk in a sippy cup, why not give her breast milk in the sippy cup. Her sister will have milk in her cup and the baby will not know the difference.
I had to stop breastfeeding my first born when he was 9.5 months old and he refused to drink formula. We finally got him to take formula, but he was on whole milk by 10.5 months old. Now, he was in the 90% for his age (height and weight) and he was a good eater, so I wasn't concerned about the calories/nutritional aspect of switching to milk early. But he never had any issues with the milk and still drinks it (and yogurt) with no problems. If you try whole milk with your daughter and she doesn't have a bad reaction, then her body is probably ready for it.
Another idea would be switching both girls' milk to goat's milk. I never got to that point, but when we were struggling with feeding my youngest I had A LOT of moms tell me how goat's milk worked wonders with their kids. Now we know my youngest has food allergies and that's why he wasn't doing well with the formula. Trust your instincts and talk to more than one pediatrician.
I know moms will disagree with this but I started giving my son milk at 10 months. Not a lot but just a little with dinner. My doctor was ok with this when I told him. I gave milk to all 3 of my boys before age one and none of them have ever had any issues with it. As long as your daughter doesnt have any health issues a little milk wont hurt her.
There is not a magical day of age that makes milk okay one day when it was not okay the day before...LOL. If you want to start transitioning from formula to milk then I recommend you start out adding 1/4 milk to 3/4 formula and let that go on for about a week, then half and half for a week or two, then 3/4 milk and 1/4 formula. This way you'll give her time to adjust to the new food and give her tummy enough time to decide if it can handle it or not. You may not have to deal with the runs, white poop that will stink up the neighborhood and make you puke from the stench, her not puking it up, etc.... Then at about 12 months she'll be off formula and totally on milk. If you fill their tippy cups in the kitchen and sit them down on the table how does she know it's not the same as her sisters?
I do have one observation on what you have posted. You are the adult. If you don't think it's appropriate then she has to learn to deal with the frustration.
I started at 11mths giving my daughter 1 ounce for a few days with her formula and just kept adding another ounce every 3-4 days. Now she is a year and I am just putting in 2 ounces of formula per bottle until the formula runs out. My husband tried to give her more milk than formula one day and she had a lot of diarrhea. So we went back to the slow transition. It seems to work well and I figure I need to use up the rest of the formula anyway. I say transitioning is the best way to go, but formula and milk can be given in a sippy cup too. Good luck, your the mom and you know what is best for your baby
My second son has been stealing my older son's sippy cups since he was 6 months old. Including his milk cup. He has had NO problems with digesting the milk. I don't believe its a digestive issue. (Before formula if a baby wouldn't breastfeed they would feed it milk). I believe drs are afraid parents will switch their babies entirely to milk b/c it is cheaper than formula. This is bad b/c milk does not have as many nutrients as formula does. THey want to make sure babies are getting all of their vitamins. So, it is fine for her to drink milk from a sippy cup now as long as you also continue to offer her bottles of formula.
I wouldn't make the switch from formula or breast milk to cows milk quite yet but if your little one has had other forms of dairy like cheese and yogurt a sip of milk from your older daughter's sippy cup will be okay but you risk the chance of your youngest refusing formula or breast milk they need the nutrition from it and cows milk just doesn't have it.
Is it the milk she wants, or the sippy cup? Can you get them matching cups, and put formula in your baby's cup? Just a thought... My 16 month old also wanted her older brother and sister's cups, but I only give her water with just a splash of juice for flavor, so I got her her own thermos straw cup, and she didn't notice the difference in juice. She was just so excited to have her own big girl cup.
