Author Topic: Switching LO to whole milk in a cup  (Read 1759 times)

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Offline Sam-n-Max's Mommy

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Switching LO to whole milk in a cup
« on: April 04, 2011, 11:33:31 am »
Hello ladies,

I was wondering if anyone could help me sort of figure out a plan for weaning my son (who turned 1 last Thursday!) off of formula and moving him over to whole milk.  We have our 12 mos well baby visit on Friday, but I wanted to start giving him milk this week.  He has been very resistant to using a sippy cup or straw cup, so he always drinks from a bottle at this point.  I've gotten him to take a few sips of water from a regular cup, but nothing substantial.  How would you go about this? If he already drank from a sippy, I'd just put milk in there and see if he takes it, but if I start putting it in his bottle, is it going to make it harder to get him to ever take it out of sippy cup? Not sure if I should be making both changes at once.

Currently, he takes a bottle with formula when he wakes up, a small one at breakfast (usually just a few ounces because I put his medicine in it, but will likely be able to drop this soon because he will probably go off of Zantac), one at lunch, and one at dinner.  I also give him a bottle with juice or yogurt juice in it mid morning and mid afternoon, sometimes he takes it, sometimes he doesn't.  He doesn't really love juice or water, but will drink it if he's in the mood.

Any thoughts on how I should proceed?

Thanks!!
Nicole

I am just modifying this post a few minutes later as I tried to mix milk with his formula and he refused to drink it.  This isn't going to be an easy one, is it? ;)
« Last Edit: April 04, 2011, 12:12:33 pm by samsmommy3312010 »
--Nicole
(formerly samsmommy3312010)

Offline kiansmam

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Re: Switching LO to whole milk in a cup
« Reply #1 on: April 04, 2011, 12:47:17 pm »
hi, i see your little one still takes formula during the day. Have you tried just one in the morning and one at bedtime. My little one is 13months and still has his formula in bottles. Cow's milk doesn't agree with him at the moment. TBH I find alot of ppl push lo's onto sippy cups etc.....quite quickly. I personnaly would be putting his cows milk in his bottle's first until he gets use to it. Then go forward onto a sippy cup a bit later. Hope this helps  

p.s Give it a little time and graduallly add milk and formula together, your lo will take time to get use to it. Does he have normal cows milk with cereal?
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Offline Sam-n-Max's Mommy

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Re: Switching LO to whole milk in a cup
« Reply #2 on: April 04, 2011, 15:41:55 pm »
Thanks,  kiansmam! Actually, he has been on a cereal strike for about three weeks now (he has been teething molars and is VERY particular about what he will and will not eat), so I haven't had the opportunity to mix cows milk with it..just formula in the past.  I may try cereal again soon because the molar has cut, so I'm thinking he may go back to being less picky (hopefully).

I haven't tried to give him two bottles a day yet..I'm going to start working on weaning him off of the breakfast and lunch one so we're down to two.  Thank you for your help!
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Offline FroggyMom

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Re: Switching LO to whole milk in a cup
« Reply #3 on: April 05, 2011, 14:54:31 pm »
My LO is almost 16 months old, and we also started the switch from formula to cow's milk around his 1 year birthday.  Our pediatrician told us to follow this plan in making the switch:

- mix 1/4 cow's milk with 3/4 formula for several days
-mix 1/2 cow's milk with 1/2 formula for several days
-mix 3/4 cow's milk with 1/4 formula for several days
-then move to all cow's milk

I did this with my ds, and he did not have a problem at all in making the switch since it was gradual.  However, it may not work that way for everyone!

Also, we had a slow transition moving from the bottle to the sippy cup as well.  I started giving ds a sippy cup with water or juice in it (never gave formula in it...that was always in a bottle) around 9 months old or so just to let him get used to it.  He never really drank much from it.  As you mentioned, he is also not fond of water or juice (still won't drink plain water at all!).  I let him play with the cup as well.  He finally started taking to the sippy cup around 12 months old.  At first, he drank from sippy cup for breakfast, lunch and dinner....and had bottles at wake-up and bedtime.  Then, we phased out the morning bottle, and finally the bedtime bottle.  Once my LO was used to drinking out of the sippy cup, he had no problem giving up the bottles!

Also, what kind of sippy cup are you using?  I had to buy several kinds before I found one that my ds would drink from.  We used Nuby sippy cups that have soft nipples like the bottle.  Eventually, we switched to a hard nipple, and he now regularly drinks out of the TILTY cup.  This cup makes the transition to a regular cup with no lid easier as well.

Good luck!  :)

Offline Sam-n-Max's Mommy

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Re: Switching LO to whole milk in a cup
« Reply #4 on: April 05, 2011, 15:31:48 pm »
Thanks, FroggyMom! I have a question.  So, DS gets a bottle of formula when he wakes up, a small one at breakfast, a big one at lunch, and a big one at dinner.  (If he takes one at snack time, it's juice, although as I mentioned, it's hit or miss).  He dropped his before bed bottle awhile ago (mostly because he eats so close to bedtime and wasn't hungry anymore).  As far as meals go, he has always gotten a bottle first and then solids.  I had tried it the other way around, but then he didn't drink as much formula and the ped said he needed to have at least 24 oz a day.  Now that we're transitioning to whole milk, should I give the bottle after his solids (like right after)?  And as I try with the sippy cup again, should I limit it to snack time at first and not substitute with a bottle if he doesn't drink anything (this won't make a huge difference in his liquid intake since he doesn't regularly even drink the juice out of a bottle).  Sorry for so many questions, I must seem so incompetent :(

We have tried the Tommee Tippee and Playtex sippy cups.  Most recently, we've been trying a straw cup.  He initially would put the straw in his mouth and chew, but now he just pushes it away.  One day I went to Babies R Us and bought quite a few sippy cups, so I just went through the bag to see what I have, and found one that is actually clear (and not either tinted a color or opaque).  I'm wondering if this might help since he can see that the same thing that goes in his bottle goes in there too.  We'll see. :)

Thanks again!
--Nicole
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Offline FroggyMom

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Re: Switching LO to whole milk in a cup
« Reply #5 on: April 06, 2011, 00:14:21 am »
I definitely do NOT think that you are incompetent!  I am a first time mom and always have tons of questions!  So, I do not have a whole lot of experience....but I can let you know what has worked for us!  :)

At 12 months and before, I was giving DS his solids first and then his formula/milk right afterwards.  I had been told that if he drank his formula/milk first, then he wouldn't eat as much solids.  I see that you tried that with your LO, and it didn't work before.  It may be worth a try again!  (Now, DS takes turns between eating/drinking as we do because he is old enough to point to which one he wants!)  Be sure to ask your pediatrician at your 1 year check-up this week because my memory is a little fuzzy....but it seems like my ped told me around 20 oz of formula/milk a day at 12 months.  At 12 months, my DS was drinking 4 oz of milk/formula 5 times a day (morning, breakfast, lunch, dinner, bedtime).  He had juice mixed with water for snacks.

As far as trying with the sippy cup again, I did limit it to snack time at first because I still wanted DS to get the appropriate amount of milk/formula.  At first, I would substitute with a bottle if he didn't drink it because I felt bad!!!  However, I read things that said don't substitute with a bottle, and they will drink it if thirsty because it's the only option.  Since you said your LO doesn't regularly drink juice with snack anyway, this could be a good way to go!  Start with sippy cup with snack and don't substitute with bottle if doesn't drink.

As I'm typing I was wondering what types of juice you have tried.  DS HATES apple juice, and that is what I was putting in his sippy cup.  One day, I decided to try other types of juice, and the sippy cup was not a problem anymore.  DS likes pear juice, apple banana juice, white grape juice, yogurt juices....

The clear sippy cup is sure worth a try!  Hope it goes well!  Just make sure that it has a soft nipple like the bottle to make the transition easier.  If clear cup doesn't work, try the Nuby!

Good luck!  :)

Offline Sam-n-Max's Mommy

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Re: Switching LO to whole milk in a cup
« Reply #6 on: April 06, 2011, 19:40:23 pm »
Thanks, FroggyMom!  This was really helpful.  I found the Nuby in my bag of unopened sippy cups and tried it today. He was playing with it, so that's a start!  Thank you again!!!
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Offline FroggyMom

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Re: Switching LO to whole milk in a cup
« Reply #7 on: April 10, 2011, 03:26:04 am »
So glad to see that your LO was at least playing with the Nuby!  My son really liked that sippy cup!  Hope you can find one that is acceptable to your LO!  Has he tried to drink out of it yet?

I also saw where your son was having trouble tolerating the whole milk.  I am sorry to hear that, but I know that it doesn't always agree with everyone....or everyone is not ready for the switch at the same time.  Good luck with everything!  :)

Offline jendewit

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Re: Switching LO to whole milk in a cup
« Reply #8 on: April 18, 2011, 00:29:39 am »
I totally agree with Froggy Mom about the switching to whole milk. As far as transitioning from a bottle to a sippy cup, I switched DS to milk first and then I moved on to the cup situation.  What I did is I bought a Born Free sippy cup because it looks like a bottle but with handles and the "nipple" is softer.  I gave him the sippy at breakfast only, for a few days, then I moved to two meals and so on.  He took to that cup with no problem.  The only thing I did was make the hole in the end a bit bigger because it wasn't coming fast enough for him.  He is 16mo and is still using that cup but will also use a normal sippy with no problem.