Transition from formula to milk

sporty

Sat, Jan 16 2010, 8:03 pm

So DD just turned 11 months and I have 4 weeks till I start her on regular milk but I wanted to make myself informed on what happens for that time in case things are too hectic.
Right now she takes 4 bottles of formula a day of about 5 oz. each. They are: first thing in AM, after her morning nap, after her afternoon nap and before bed. She also eats 3 good meals.
So what happens when you take a baby off formula and start the real milk? Do they still take the bottles at the same times just instead of formula you fill it with milk?

Mirabelle

Sat, Jan 16 2010, 8:06 pm

IIRC, I think we did half and half for a bit and then just switched. I was really worried about the whole thing and it actually went really smoothly. We also transitioned her from bottles to sippy cups at that point. Literally one day we just stopped giving her bottles and hid them and I don't think she noticed...

sporty

Sat, Jan 16 2010, 8:13 pm

Thanks for the response.
Ah yes, the whole bottle thing is another issue......
I wanted to try to wean her off bottles. She doesnt even hold them herself - I feed them to her each time! I thought by now she'd hold her own bottle but she doesnt even want too.
I introduced sippy cups. I give her a cup with water at each meal and she learned how to drink from it but she only drinks a tiny amount each time.
So one time I filled it with formula and gave it to her during one of her "bottle" times and she got angry and yelled and threw it on the floor. So I put the formula back in a bottle and gave it to her and she drank the whole thing....so she didn't want the milk from the cup.
Perhaps when I transition her I will try the milk in the cup I am just worried she will take the tiny amount whereas from a bottle she takes a lot more.....
What is the normal amount of milk to start with? Is 5 oz. right or do they say give a cup (8 oz.) each time?

sys

Sat, Jan 16 2010, 9:57 pm

my daughter is 10 months old and I recently started giving her formula instead of nursing. (dr wanted this, said my milk might not be giving her enough) and I didnt want her to get used to a bottle so I also introduced her to a sippy cup. but I only give her juice in it for now.

Mirabelle

Sun, Jan 17 2010, 3:41 pm

Our DD was holding her own bottle at this point, but I do think that sippy cups are much easier for kids that age to hold and are designed as such.

JessicaA622

Wed, Jan 20 2010, 9:56 pm

My son just turned a year old a few weeks ago. He had been on 3 8oz bottles of formula a day (morning, mid-day and night). When we switched him to milk we took away the mid-day milk (we gave him water in a sippy). For the other two bottles we did 1/4 whole milk + 3/4 formula for a few days. Then 1/2 milk 1/2 formula for a few days, then 3/4 milk 1/4 formula for a few days then we just switched him totally to milk. We also switched him totally to sippies after that.

Ronit

Wed, Jan 20 2010, 10:07 pm

DiznyIma wrote:

Same here, although I was still nursing sometimes too.

amother

Tue, Jan 26 2010, 6:45 pm

when we switched our girls from milk to formula we decided to also change the bottles to sippy cups. We figured why upset them twice. So we did the change and they refused to drink the milk from the cup. I panicked and called the Dr. She said keep at it, and DO NOT give in. She said worse comes to worse they won't get milk for a little while, but they will be hungrier so they will eat more food. The girls did not drink milk for 2 weeks and finally gave in. It was all worth it in the end.....me and dh are of the belief that we are in charge of what we do, the kids don't dictate to us. So, they were stubborn at the beginning and in the end it was fine!
Good luck!

amother

Tue, Jan 26 2010, 6:45 pm