Switching to cups for milk? (10 mo)

[~*Nicole*~]

Okay...so DD is almost 10 months. I know she gets her formula until a year. Her doctor suggested that once I switch her to cow's milk that I don't give her bottles anymore. Has anyone else been given this advice? DD has 3 bottles a day before her meals. I started to give her the breakfast and lunch bottles in a sippy cup. She has been drinking from sippy cups since 6/7 months and will take water and juice from them, but never a very large quantity, just enough to quench her thirst. Over the weekend she would drink about 2 or 3 oz of her usual 8 oz of formula for each meal from a cup but then she would get frustrated and throw the cups on the floor. On about the third day I gave in and gave her bottles b/c I felt she wasn't getting enough milk and she sucked them down!

Should I keep trying to use cups instead to make the transition easier for cow's milk or let her have the bottles? The nighttime bottle also is a very big going to bed indicator for her. She doesn't fall asleep drinking but it is a definite part of our bedtime routine so I don't know if that will mess us up if we switch that to a cup.

Lastly, I was reading about dropping to 2 bottles/milkfeeds at some point? Would that be just breakfast and nighttime then that stays? Should I be offering her the formula at the same time as her meals?

Sorry to seem so confused.

[babyboy26]

Hi!  My little Mikey will be 11 mos on Thursday.  My ped. also said no more bottles at 12 mos.  We were on 3 bottles, like you.  At 10 mos, I dropped the mid-day bottle, and just kept the morning and bedtime bottles.  It was really easy to drop the midday, I just started giving a morning snack, and that holds him until his usual lunch time.  We ran into some major teething issues about 2 weeks ago, and he outright refused the bottle and the sippy cup!!!  We had to get him to drink from a regular cup sitting in the high chair...messy and stressful!  After a few days, he did go back to the sippy, but would not take the bottle at all, so we just decided to get rid of them since he was close to 11 mos. anyway.  I've had to do some major rearranging to his feeding routine, but so far it is working well.  Here is what we do:

7:00 breakfast and milk in sippy cup
9:30 snack with milk in sippy
12:30/12:45 lunch and milk in sippy
4:00 snack with sippy
6:45 ish dinner and milk in sippy

Hope this helps!
Kara
 

[hjrmom01]

I just want to follow along since our ped said the same thing, to get rid of bottles by 12 mo.  H does great with water in a sippy but only will take about, at most, 4 oz of milk from a sippy.  Since cutting his first tooth he's refusing the sippy and will only take the bottle    Kara, do you do your solids and formula all at once, not separating them an hour like before?  What if he doesn't take his milk?

[~*Nicole*~]

Kara...how much milk do you give each meal in the sippy? So if I switch to cups and she takes less should I just offer her less each time but add in the milk in the cup at the snack times rather than water, etc.?  I think something like what you posted would work well for us. So although you had originally dropped the midday bottle, you have since moved from 3 bottles to 5 sippy cups during meals and snacks, right? Does your lo need anything right before bed? Or does he just get that last sippy cup with dinner and go to sleep without anything?

I think I will try again with the cups. I know she can do it. I think I'll offer 4 ounces each time and see what happens.

[my3girlsjde]

I used sippy's for my girls when they were 10 months with the milk so it would be different and they wouldn't get the idea of milk in a bottle. Nuby makes some with a silicone top and it is very similar to a nipple. I would give the girls milk in those and if they refused, encourage them once more. 2 refusals and I put it in a bottle and tried again the next day. At that point the girls were getting 4 bottles a day and I started with the first one in the morning for 4 days, then moved to the first 2 for four days etc. It was a little over 2 weeks and there was no real issues with either of the girls making the switch. I then did the same for the hard sippys (playtex kind) as the soft ones are a little messy and before they were 11 months they were both drinking milk from a hard sippy cup with no problem. HTH
Vicki

[~*Nicole*~]

I gave DD 6 oz. in a sippy today at breakfast. She drank about 4 oz. which is good. (hard to tell amounts b/c there are no markings on the cups!) but I will offer more at a snack before her nap and see how that goes. If she does well I might try lunch and afternoon snack, if not I'll stick to just the morning and gradually get around to lunch. I'll leave the night bottle for last I suppose. She can drink more independently with the straw sippy cups but doesn't drink as much from them, not sure if it comes out slower or is harder to suck....but she has never been one to tip back her bottle or a cup so the others she needs some help with. She used the Dr. Brown's natural flow this morning and did well b/c it comes out a bit faster but again I had to help her tip it towards the bottom when it got low.

[babyboy26]

I think it's great that she takes about 4 oz from the cup!  As for your questions:

Alyssa--Yes, I now do milk and solids together.  I used to separate them by about an hour, but since his bottle refusal, I had to change the routine!  I always offer the milk first, that way I know he's getting it in!  Then, I offer sips throughout the meal.  If he doesn't take much, I stopped worrying so much because he also gets it with snacks. 

Nicole--I put about 6 oz at each meal, but he usually only takes about 4 or so.  He loves his "real" food!!!  Yes, I agree with what you said, only put what she usually takes for meals, and you can add milk at snack times.  It works for us!  Yep, we have about 5 sippy cups/day, 3 meals and 2 snacks.  For the pm snack, I usually just give water if he had a decent amount of milk earlier, iykwim.  He doesn't need anything before bed...I was very nervous about this since he always had that bottle right before, but he has been doing great!  With adding the snacks in, it allowed me to push his dinner back later, so he eats his solids and drinks his milk around 6:45.  He really adjusted well.  In fact, after I get him up in the morning, he plays for 20-30 min while I get his breakfast ready.  He would probably play longer if I didn't pick him up and feed him!

I don't know about you, but I am in the U.S.  My ped. said that 14-18 oz of milk is good for this age.  Also, include in that what you put into the cereal.  As long as he's having enough wet diapers, I try not to worry so much these days.  It has been a struggle, as I am super neurotic, but I am learning to go with the flow...some days he eats/drinks more than others.

[hjrmom01]

Kara, I'm in the US, too...our GI doc wants H to have 25-30 oz of formula?! He gets about 20 on a good day. He's NUTS! I actually told he's more than welcome to come over and try to feed H that much!  Are you doing milk milk or formula?  I tried the sippy of milk with breakfast this am and he took about 1 maybe 2 oz...but maybe if I put him in the high chair fist with his sippy cup and then I'd offer the solids after he's had some.  I did a sippy 1.5 hrs later but he only took 2 oz from it so the rest he got in a bottle.  How do you work your naps into the routine? Are you worried he's going to wake from naps hungry?

Nicole, that's great that your DD did 4 oz in a sippy. Which kind do you use?  H has the Dr Brown's trainer cup and doesn't like it at all!  Does great with the straw sippy with water and maybe he doesn't like it for milk because he's used to water?  I've tried the platex sippy cups and he does ok with that but now that he has a tooth he likes to just bite the spout 

[momtonb&ab]

hey there! 

just my two cents worth....we switched to cows milk on paediatrician's recommendation at 10 months because their diet was so good and they were such good eaters.  our paed is great and he suggested just introducing cow's milk in the cup and getting rid of bottles as it is an easy transition at that stage.  he suggested hanging in there for a week to 10 days while the consumption from the cup is low and then as they get the hang of it it will come back up.  that is exactly what happened for us.  the first 3 days no more than an ounce or two at a time, then the fourth day (when i was starting to panick about low milk intake) it picked up a little bit.  they weren't back to normal consumption until about the 14 day mark really but they were no worse for the wear.   and by 11 months we were completely bottle free - no bottles at bed or anything!!!  it's been so easy since then.  they even weaned themselves from bedtime milk at 12 months and managed to keep it that way, so we do 3 meals and 1 snack per day (snack in the afternoon - milk to drink mid morning to help them get through) but that is all.....it is wonderfully easy and they are very content and fantastic meal-time eaters as a result!.

hope this helps.  hang in there.   oh, we ended up using just a first years cup with lid but no stopper for meal time drinking until about 14 months when we went to open cups- only use sippy for travel / when out.  seems to keep them less frustrated with getting the milk when they want it.   my personal opinion is that it is more frustration with the stopper than anything, and if you stick with no stopper and teach them to keep it upright you won't be long before they know not to spill it. 

[hjrmom01]

Did your lo's wake for milk in the night because they weren't getting much during the day?  I don't know how good of a solids eater H is....only does finger foods and is quite picky! 

[~*Nicole*~]

I asked about switching to cow's milk before 12 months and was told not to do it. Our ped said to wait until 12 months and if I really wanted I could try a week or two ahead of that but that is all.

We have done all cups yesterday and today except for the night bottle. When her milk intake is back up a bit I will try dropping the night bottle and just doing milk with dinner....which I think I will try to have later like you babyboy.

I may also try losing the spout. DD does well with a real straw instead of the hard to suck sippy cup straws so I guess it is somewhat frustrating when it's hard to get out.

Thanks for all the input.

[hjrmom01]

Nicole, I never even thought about using a real straw!  You're a genius!!!  How many ounces is Ava taking from the cup?  Do you do meals and snack time?

[babyboy26]

Alyssa--Good luck with the 25-30 oz, LOL!!!  We do some formula and some milk milk.  My ped. suggested I started trying a little milk milk here and there at 9 mos.  Those peds. are all so different, you know!  I think it's a good idea to offer the milk in the high chair first, that's what I do.  Sometimes he takes 4 oz right away, other times only 1 or 2, so I just keep offering sips throughout the meal.  I give formula with breakfast.  For his am snack, I give milk milk, and he usually takes about 2 oz then.  As far as the naps...he gets his am snack right before nap, so he doesn't wake hungry...although naps are a whole other issue for us, LOL!!!

I have tried some different cups.  I used a Nuby straw cup, which he took to well, but it was hard to get the milk out.  He did get it eventually, and did well, but they started to leak a bit and were hard to clean...too many nooks where the milk could get in and dry.  I just switched to the Munchkin straw cups (they don't have handles)...i love them!  They come completely apart and are easy to keep clean...no dried milk trapped in places.  The flow is much better too.  They do have a valve, but it is much easier to get the milk compared to the Nuby straw cup.  The straw is not as wide also.

[~*Nicole*~]

hjrmom-I am trying to follow something like what Kara posted below for the schedule. 3 regular meals and 2 snacks. So the last few days went something like this: (amounts given and what she actually drank next to each time)

6:30-wake and play in crib
7:00-breakfast and sippy of formula (6oz/about 3 or 4oz)
9:30/9:45-snack and sippy (6 oz/about 3oz)
10:00-nap
12:30-lunch and sippy (6 oz/about 4oz)
2:30/3:00-nap
4:30-snack and sippy (6 oz/about 4 or so oz)
Used to do dinner at 5:30---been pushing it back with this 2nd snack to around 6 with a sippy (6oz/about 3 or 4oz)
7:30 (give or take about a half hour either way depending on the pm nap)-bottle and bed (btwn 5 and 8 oz depending on how much she ate and drank at dinner that day)

She is doing better today with the cup and tilting it back and holding it easier without me having to help as much!

[hjrmom01]

Nicole, looks like Ava is really getting the hang of the sippy!  I tried giving H sippy cups with meals and snacks today instead of bottles...oh my was it a lot less stressful (well, sorta) and I didn't feel like H spent the entire day eating!  I used the Gerber Graduate sippy cup with a softer spout and took out the stopper...went well.  Did 3.5 oz in the am and 4 oz at lunch!  And then did about 2-3.5 for snacks.  So, not all bad. Your day looks a lot like what what we do!