When do you Incorporate Cow's Milk instead of Formula for 11.5 month old?

[raquelatx]

Hi again-

My son is 11-months old and still drinks formula. When is it time to transition to cow's milk? And do yall recommend whole or is 1% fine? And as far as
baby cereal, he still has that for breakfast with formula and with a fruit mixed in. Is he getting to be too old for it?

Thanks for your input.

[mickey44]

We were told to wait until a year to start cow's milk.  Our lo is turning one on Tuesday so over the weekend we started with cow's milk in her sippy with breakfast and supper instead of formula but she still gets her two formula bottles (one in am and one before bed).  Next weekend we are going to cut out that am bottle and then do cow's milk in her bedtime bottle.  We were also told by pediatrician to use whole milk.

As for the cereal, I don't think he is getting to old for it, the baby cereal has more iron then our stuff so we are going to stick with it for a while yet.

HTH

[raquelatx]

Thanks so much. So next weekend she will no longer have a morning bottle, having only 1 bottle of cow's milk  at night? And throughout the day, she'll also have cow's milk in a sippy, right?  How many ounces are you giving her in a cup/bottle?

What does she eat for breakfast? I just need to be sure my son gets enough to eat before cutting out a bottle... and that's what scares me. Isn't it almost like taking away a meal when you take away a bottle?

Thanks again!

[Lolly]

From 1 year milk needs to be a drink rather than a meal as it can cut their appetite for solids. From 1 year we did two bottles with DD - one at wake up and bedtime and offered a sippy of milk as a snack to replace her afternoon milk bottle. She wasn't eating breakfast so well so we then swapped to breakfast first then milk. Now, at just about 16 months we have stopped the morning bottle bacause of her reflux issues (on peads advice) but offer a sippy with her food. She has a sippy of milk either with lunch or in the afternoon but only takes a few oz and has another with her dinner. She still has her bedtiem bottle and generally drinks 8oz.

You may find you need to transition to cows milk by swapping an oz of formula for 1oz of cows milk at a time and do it gradually over a week or so.

Laura

[raquelatx]

Thanks, Laura... this can be all so confusing!   My son currently eats a meal, breakfast, lunch and dinner, and then about an hour later, has a 5 oz bottle.  With his meals, he will have a sippy with either water, or 1/2 juice and half water.  Maybe I'll make those sippy cups milk now and try to cut a bottle now.   I just feel like if he eats breakfast at 8:30 for example, (as little as he eats), not eating again until lunch time seems like he'd be starving without that 5 oz bottle!! Does this make sense?

[Lolly]

Definitly makes sense! You can swap the bottles for a snack instead. We have breakfast pretty early because of the school run for DS so DD will have cereal about 7.30 then she will have a second breakfast of toast/ yoghurt and a sippy of milk about 9.30/10 ish which will tide her over until lunchtime!

You could offer milk in a sippy instead of the bottle and offer a dairy based snack as well.

Laura

[raquelatx]

Perfect.  I will try to get him drinking more out of a sippy. A problem that I could foresee is the fact that when he uses a sippy (3 times a day), it's usually just for a few sips... doesn't equate to the amount of a 5oz bottle that he drinks, for sure.  

[Lolly]

It takes practice to get the milk in them from a sippy! You could try different cups like a straw cup or if you are feeling brave an open cup! DD has been using a sippy since she was about 5 months and has no problem drinking anything from one but still only takes a few oz. Their daily intake includes the dairy in food so if you add in dairy based snacks and add more dairy to foods he will get what he needs.

That's also the main reason I'll keep her bedtime bottle for as long as she wants - I know she is getting a decent serving of milk at least once a day! Now DS is in nursery he gets a carton of milk at break time - a chunk of calcium I don't need to worry about gettting in him!

Laura

[raquelatx]

Haha.. that's cute; a chunk of calcium.   Yeah, maybe I'll just start a little at a time since that's all he seems to drink anyway!

Thank for the help and I'll keep yall updated.

[raquelatx]

One more question: when serving yogurt, is fruit yogurt okay, or does it have too much sugar? what kind of yogurt do you offer?

[Lolly]

I started giving full fat plain yoghurt/ greek yoghurt and mixed fruit puree in it. Now she gets the children's yoghurts and I try to get the ones that are highest in fat and lowest in sugar - you can give what you are comfortable with and I personally think if the rest of their diet is low in sugar it's ok.

Laura

[raquelatx]

okay... that really helps.  thanks again.