Transferring from formula to cow's milk

[Lippy Chick]

Hi all,

My daughter is 16 months and I can't get her to drink cows' milk at all.  I've tried it in a bottle warm/cold, tried it in a cup, warm/cold.  To no avail.  She just spits it out each time.  How can I get her to transition from formula to cows' milk?  She has two milk drinks a day, a 7 oz bottle in the morning after breakfast and one 8oz bottle before bed.

Hoping you can help.

Pauline

[Lolly]

Have you tried gradually reducing the formula in the bottle and adding cows milk? We  are currently weaning my LO's reflux formula to cow's milk and have got his morning bottle to 2oz formula/4oz cow's milk and are working on the evening bottle (currently 6oz formula/3oz cow's milk incase he throws it back up as he has done previously ). I have been exchanging 1oz for a few days then doing another one! seems to be working ok so far!

Laura

[Lippy Chick]

No, I haven't done that.  I had heard you can do that, but then I think it says somewhere in the BW not to do this, don't really know why.  So you definitely think this is working?  It sounds like it.  Also do you use a cup rather than a bottle?  I can't get her to drink milk from the cup at all.  She drinks water from the cup but not milk.  Do you alter the oz for a few days and then decrease/increase again?

Thanks for replying and answering, very helpful indeed. 

Pauline

[Lolly]

We are still on bottles. I tried his morning milk in a sippy a few weeks ago - cue major tantrum! He only has a morning and bedtime bottle and has a variety of straw cups/sippy cups and open cups in the day so I'm leaving the bottles for a while! He won't drink milk out of anything other than his bottle and as his weight gain hasn't been great for a long while I want to keep those milk calories up for as long as I can.

I hadn't read not to mix the milks - I wonder why? Oh well, I can't see any reason why not maybe someone else will know!

I have been changing the ratio slowly, because of the possibility of throwing it all up for us but also to adjust to the taste. I have changed 1oz for 2 or 3 days then changed another oz. I didn't touch his bedtime bottle until the morning bottle was down to just 2oz of formula/4oz cow's milk as when we have tried this before I think I went to fast and we had to go back to just formula. Like I said, so far so good - it's going down and staying down!

I hope it works for you if you decide to try this way - for me it felt like a nice gentle way to get him used to something new!

Laura

[shellsyd]

Hi,

I would love to hear more on this, struggling with the same situation. I have tried warm cow's milk in a sippy cup and my 13 month old spits it out. Our regular schedule is 7 oz (sometimes in the morning and 8 oz before bed- all in his bottle. Tried formula in sippy cup and he wouldn't drink it.

What do you mean by exchange 1oz? Do you mean in 7 oz bottle use 6oz formula & 1oz cow's milk? Do you think it's best to focus on the transition to cow's milk and once accomplished work on giving it in a sippy cup? Or just deal with both issues at the same time?

Anyone out there have any information to support not mixing milk with formula? Otherwise, I think I might try this.

Thanks!

[irish3680]

We also used to gradual approach of weaning Ella from formula to cow's milk. It took us a little over 2 weeks to make the switch completely. The first 5 days I did 1/4 milk and 3/4 formula. The next 5 days we did half and half. The next 5 days we did 3/4 milk and 1/4 formula. Then went to 100% milk. She didn't notice or care and it went very smoothly. Good luck!

[mommy2mason]

Hello,

We had the same issue with my DS. He loved drinking water out of a sippy since he was 6 months but refused milk or formula out of it. He'd take one sip and push it away. He had a morning and night bottle until just a little after 12 months. I dropped the night one first for a couple days and then the morning bottle. I could tell he did miss his morning one as when he got up he would keep looking at the chair I usually gave it to him in and whining. Then I just started holding him in the same chair with his sippy of milk for awhile and now he usually likes to roam around the house with it.  He didn't start drinking cow's milk out of his sippy until I dropped his bottles. I was worried about dropping the bottles in fear that he would wake up hungry or something...but he didn't. There were a few days where he didn't drink much other than water but I guess he realized he wasn't getting anymore formula because then he started guzzling the cow's milk from his sippy. I think it just took him not getting any bottles to realize he needed to start drinking the cow's milk. I also didn't want to have to worry about weaning from cow's milk in a bottle to the sippy, so I just went straight to sippy and he did really well. Now he loves his milk! And after how much he seemed to hate it in the beginning I never thought I'd say that!

Amy

[Lolly]

I decided to switch the milk first then work on the bottles - possibly! I like our morning snuggle time and daddy gets bedtime snuggle time, we clean teeth straight after the bedtime bottle so I'll probably be guided by him as to when to change!

Laura

[Lippy Chick]

Thank you all for your replies.  Very helpful indeed.  I have been wondering whether to go straight to a cup with the cows' milk.  I was trying to get her to drink it from the cup.  However, her two bottle feeds are about the only times she sits down!!!  ;-}

We're going on holiday in a couple of weeks so I think I'll do the switch when we get back and do it gradually as you suggest.

Does everyone still give a morning milk feed?  We do and have no plans to drop it yet.  What kind of age do you drop that morning milk?  She has breakfast when she wakes up (a full bowl of muesli) and then has a bottle of milk on top of that.  That does her until lunch.

Thank you all again.

Pauline

[We Three]

Hi Pauline...
   I did our switch gradually too, mostly because my dd had been allergic, so we wanted to try the switch slowly to look for problems. But I think I would have done it that way regardless, just because it's so new to them, you know?  I'd also stick to one "big change" at a time, I think that's important. So if it were me, I'd replace an ounce of formula with an ounce of milk, (so if it was a 6 ounce bottle, there'd be 5 ounces of formula to one ounce of milk) then wait a week, then go to 2oz milk/ 3 oz formula and so on. If she won't take that first bottle, then maybe back the milk down to 1/2 ounce and go from there.
  My dd is 19 months, and she still has her morning bottle and her bedtime bottle. This is totally because I am not willing to give up that time with her just yet.     She takes her cup no problem for snacks and at mealtime, but I need that cuddle-time still!! She wouldn't miss the bottle at all, I'm sure, she was never very attactched to it.  I'm the one who'd be crying!!!!   
  We do the milk first thing when she wakes (I have not given a thought to stopping that...?) and b'fast about 30-45 minutes later.
  And yes, I'd enjoy your vacation and tackle this once you're settled back at home and in your routine.
  HTH!!

[Lippy Chick]

Amelia1227, I know what you mean about not wanting to stop that snuggle time.  My husband does the morning milk and I do the night milk.  Although it only takes about 15 mins now, it would be a shame to lose that time.  She's not a very snuggley child, rarely sits down long enough, so it kind of feels like our time.  Alice has water in a cup with meals and through out the day, but not milk.  We're thinking of introducing the milk in a cup when she's used to the flavour and giving it to her with meals as well as water, to see how she goes.  I think you're right about holding off until after the holiday though.

Thank you again.

Pauline

[Sarahlolly]

Hi

DD is 18 months now and has 1 x forumla bottle now (sometimes 2 depending on numerous things!)

We brought it in by giving it to her as a drink with her meals.  However she does love cold drinks and would always take a sip of whatever we were drinking, so I switched to milk as a drink for a while too!  I think that was the biggest help to getting her on to cows milk.

We also made a big deal of cows milk, but still giving her formula so she didn't feel like she was missing out.

Now she drinks loads of it and does ask for milk while pointing at the fridge as I think she now prefers it.

Good luck!

Sarah x

[Lippy Chick]

Sarah,

Thank you. I think at some point we want to introduce milk to meals too.  The thing is Alice always drinks her milk slightly warmed.  We've tried giving it to her cold and she screams the place down.  What do you think about the switch from warm to cold?  Ahhh this is all so complicated.

Pauline

[Sarahlolly]

How about a very special cows milk cup - one with a curly wurly straw?

DD loves drinking out a a straw and has a couple of cups with those bendy straws that go round and round the outside - she was able to choose them herself from the shops (and hold them constantly until we got home when she could use them!).

I think for us the difference was that it was cold (as opposed to her formula) so she knew the difference.  We always call it Cows Milk too instead of just milk so she's knows what she's getting.  She doesn't start taking a sip and realise its something else.

I've found with DD that the more special I make something, and the bigger fuss I make about it the more interested she will be - she's definately a praise girl and we regularly give her a round of applause for just about anything!  So for milk we go, Wow, have you had some cows milk?, You are such a clever girl, How did I get a girl as clever as you?  Drinking all your cows milk up!  YEY!!  Do you want some more!  And it didn't matterhow little she had at the begninng - the clapping really made her want to have another little sip!  It can take some time but its something new and most children dont like new things at first!

Sarah x

[Lippy Chick]

That's a good idea about having a special cup.  I did that, I bought a different coloured cup for the cows' milk.  However, she just spat it all back out again, no matter how often I gave it to her. 

Hope Alice has as much success as you all have had.

Pauline