transferring on to cows milk and goodbye to bottle!!!!

[blackwater]

Please, i could do with some help,  my ds is still having 3 formula bottles and has a great appetite.. He will eat cereal with cows milk some times for you but you couldn't bank on it!!  have given him tastes of milk spits it out have added a tiny drop in his bottle and doesnt drink it,  he is good to drink from a beaker water only but has started waking the odd night and is thirsty, so the days i try to cut down his middle bop he wakes,  have put water in a bottle during day to sort this  and he does drink it, tried formula in a beaker wont drink it   so realy just wondering what other ways i can try???    my dd who is 3 wouldn't drink cows milk or goats milk or strawberry milk too hence on formula too long and has a very watered down form. bottle now going to bed  which def has to be stopped!!!! another story !  and dont want to go down this road again any ideas or tips would be great   thanks a bunch   xx

[blackwater]

Hi forgot to put in ds age he is 16 months   thanx 

[Lolly]

Have you tried very slowly weaning to cow's milk? You can do it by swapping the milks and oz (or half oz!) at a time - for example in a 6oz bottle you would do 5oz of formula and 1oz of cow's milk, leave it like that for a a couple of days and then do 4oz of formula, 2oz of cow's milk for a couple of days and so on.

How much is he actually taking in bottles - he only needs 12-14oz of dairy a day to get his needs met and that includes what's in his food. You could cut out the middle formula bottle and he won't miss it from a nutrition point of view.

I would stick with a morning and bedtime bottle for now until you have managed to swap him to cow's milk but drop the daytime bottle. Offer water in a cup but not in a bottle. When he has got used to cow's milk you can offer it as a drink with breakfast in a cup, if he doesn't drink it and he's eating foods like cheese and yoghurt it's not a problem. The bedtime bottle isn't a real problem providing you are brushing his teeth after he has drunk the milk, many toddlers have a bottle for a while yet - my DS was just over 2.5 when he dropped his!

What do you think?

Laura

[blackwater]

Thanks Lolly i think i will try adding half an oz and slowly transferring.. should i cut down gradually the middle day bottle or just cut out??  ds not great on cheese but takes yogurts and eggs might start grating more cheese in to his meals  his not like his sister who would happily eat cheese all day for you..  thanks for your advice  i always feel better when i have a plan   xx

[Lolly]

It's up to you really - if you think gradually decreasing would be better do that - I don't have the patience for that so I would just stop offering it and offer a snack and drink instead!

Laura

[Hserry]

Dear ladies,

I saw a hint of a cavity on one of my dd's molars:( I was heart broken and now realized that it is probably her bedtime bottle. I give her bottle after she drifts to sleep so I can't brush her teeth bec she would be fast asleep. I feel so guilty that I am doing that. She plays in her room, we read books and then she sucks on her thumb for a tiny bit and then sleeps. Tonight after seeing the cavity I didn't give her the night bottle and I am terrified she would wake up hungry:( advice please:(

[londonmum2012]

Hi Blackwater have you tried the beakers with a soft straw? We have a nuby one which DD much prefers to the usual sippy cups. I think maybe because they don't have to tip their head back to drink.