Author Topic: Weaning from Bottle  (Read 2092 times)

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Offline ladymugg

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Weaning from Bottle
« on: April 17, 2015, 03:25:55 am »
Hi there

My 12 month old daughter has about 250ml of formula first thing when she wakes up, and then again another 250ml at bedtime.

(Also I might giver her a smaller bottle for a snack if she is teething and doesn't feel like lunch etc, but that is rare).

At what age should I be switching things up so that she is having her breakfast (which comes now an hour to 1.5 hours after her bottle) as her first meal of the day, and/or her dinner being her last meal of the day?  I am not really sure what age this happens?

At this point she definitely enjoys and is ready for her bottle first thing when she wakes, and the bedtime bottle which usually is given about 20 minutes before bedtime really relaxes her.  Her hunger level when she wakes up is maybe habitual (not sure) but I can't imagine getting up at 6.30 am to make her breakfast of toast etc, it seems way too early (but of course would do it, if that is what is supposed to happen!)  I imagine her having breakfast with us at about 7 or 7.30 am ideally really.

I would be nervous to remove those first and last bottles prematurely but at the same time I don't want to continue it on longer than necessary, if that makes sense.

She doesn't seem to be liking cows milk much either I would add.  I have kept her on her Stage 2 (6 month) formula and plan to keep her on that brand/stage until she weans or gets into cows milk.  (I don't really feel like forcing cows milk on her, but it would be cheaper than formula so there is that).

Any ideas please?  She is a good snacker and meal eater most of the time, has a healthy appetite that is for sure.  EASY posted below this message for reference.

Thanks so much in advance!   ;D


6.30 am wake/bottle
7.30 am breakfast
9.30/9.45 am morning snack
10-11.30 am sleep
12 pm lunch
2.30 pm afternoon snack
3-4 pm sleep
5 pm dinner
6.15ish bottle (then bath, if there is a little bottle left she will have it after she is dressed for bed)
6.30/645 pm sleep
Mum to DD born April 2014 and DS born April 2016.

Offline Lolly

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Re: Weaning from Bottle
« Reply #1 on: April 17, 2015, 11:50:39 am »
Ideally after 1 you want to transition from a bottle to a cup of milk. If milk first thing suits you as a family then keep it, just remember that milk is a drink now not a food, so providing she is eating solids well then you can keep the quantity that suits her. They only need 12-14oz of dairy to get their needs met from 1 and it doesn't have to be liquid milk, dairy in food is good enough but liquid milk is easier to judge.

We stopped morning milk for my DD as she wasn't eating so it became a drink with a snack mid-morning, if your DD likes her milk and eats breakfast well then it's fine. I would definitely offer her breakfast with the family! My DD dropped her bedtime milk at about 20 months (in a sippy cup by then) but my DS still had a bottle at bedtime at 2.5, I would be guided by her, just clean teeth after milk before sleep!

With the cow's milk you can transition by swapping an oz (30ml) at a time so she gradually gets used to the taste. So make a 210ml bottle and top up with 30ml of cow's milk for a couple of days and then just make 180ml of formula and top up with 60ml of cow's milk for the next couple of days and so on until it's all cow's milk. They don't need formula after 1 and yes, it's much cheaper and easier to give cow's milk!

Hope that helps!

Laura


Offline ladymugg

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Re: Weaning from Bottle
« Reply #2 on: April 20, 2015, 04:08:01 am »
Thanks so much Lolly. 

I actually read your reply a couple of days ago but haven't replied, sorry!

The swapping out the formula for cows milk 30 ml at a time is GENIUS, and started doing this yesterday, no problems.  Will see how it goes but will gradually change that ratio as we go :)

I am still unsure how to drop out that breakfast bottle but will see how she goes.  If this becomes a natural thing over time then great, if not, I may need to start thinking about how to get rid of it as it definitely seems like either a really strong habit or a major thirst first thing.  (I'm guessing habit but I don't want to completely bamboozle her by removing it suddenly).

(And why didn't I think about cleaning teeth after bottle.  DUH.  She usually drinks 90% of bottle before bath which is when we clean teeth but it hadn't clicked with me that was pointless once she had the final few drops).

Any other ideas/thoughts mamas, especially regarding the first bottle of the day?

Thanks so much again, Lolly.
Mum to DD born April 2014 and DS born April 2016.

Offline creations

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Re: Weaning from Bottle
« Reply #3 on: April 20, 2015, 09:18:50 am »
Hi.
My DS still has morning milk at 4yo+ :)
Like your DD he really liked his big milk drink in the morning, not the second he woke, even as a baby he wouldn't take milk until about 30-60 min after WU, but even so it is very similar to your DD.
At 12 months he would have had his milk about 30 min after WU and breakfast roughly 1hr to 1.5hr later.  He always took a good breakfast, the milk never interfered with his breakfast appetite.
These days the times have changed quite a bit, he doesn't wake as early for a start so the milk is later, then I give breakfast earlier because we have to get out to nursery so these days it is more like
7.15/7.30 milk (he has a full sippy cup 200ml - for a year or two he had a drinking bottle with a straw in the top as it held more milk)
7.45/8.00 breakfast
In fact this morning (WU 7am) he was playing in his play room so didn't come down for his milk right away and by the time he was down I had already put out the breakfast so he had both at once (7.45am). But keep in mind he is 4yo. Once in a while he doesn't drink all the milk, usually he drinks almost all of it, once in a blue moon he asks for more.

I see no harm at all in your DD continuing to have her morning milk and also having breakfast with the family.  It doesn't even matter if she continues to have it in a bottle, the main point of switching bottles is to prevent LO walking around all day with a bottle which is bad for their teeth. If she just drinks it in a few mins and it's done (and all other drinks are served in a cup or sippy cup) then it isn't going to cause a problem.

It is still good for them to have a drink of milk each day even when they are older so don't worry too much about this.  At DS's nursery they give fruit or carrots and little cartons of milk with a straw at snack time. My DS took the milk carton a few times for the novelty value but then didn't eat his lunch properly so I suggested to him he skip the milk and have his water with snack instead which is what he is used to.

I did choose to switch from the bottle at 12 months for BT and 13 months for WU because I was sick of having bottles around and because I knew I needed to change our BT routine to get the brushing done after milk (we were doing teeth, bath, pjs, bottle, song, bed. It had to change so I decided to totally change, introduced supper of sippy milk and solid snack before the BT routine started. I did a gentle wean which took less than 2 weeks, no disruption to sleep, no upset, very fast though).  As your DD is taking most of her milk before teeth brushing I would just offer a bottle of water after instead.  If it's too upsetting then how about a gentle wean over a week by watering down the milk (just water down the bit she has after the teeth are done), a third water, then two thirds water, then all water. Once she is used to just water after teeth it will be easier to switch to a sippy of water rather than bottle or switch to a sport bottle.  Lots of people leave a drink of water by their toddler's bed.

The morning bottle I found harder to switch. DS really wanted the bottle and didn't have the patience for a sippy cup, he also really needed that big milk drink for his dairy intake.  I switched instead to a wide straw.  First by sitting him up for his milk (not laying), then popping a straw in his regular bottle, I had the teat ready to screw on quickly if/when he kicked off about it. It did seem harder but in the scheme of things it was still quite a quick and painless switch.  Once he took the straw in his milk bottle I switched the baby bottle for a kids water bottle. I tried a few different types, with straw incorporated etc but found I couldn't get the straw properly clean so settled on those fat bendy disposable straws in a range of colours. He loved to choose his own colour each day too (I always rinsed them out and kept them for crafts - we are still using them for crafts now!!).

By the time all his day drinks were in a regular open cup his morning milk was then in a sippy cup which he still has. Honestly my kid would knock over or just drop a full cup of milk like that and he is happy to have the sippy first thing.  When we went on holiday I took little milk cartons for his morning milk which he was fine with, novelty value again.

Hope this helps so you can decide what to do :)


Offline ladymugg

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Re: Weaning from Bottle
« Reply #4 on: April 20, 2015, 22:47:51 pm »
Thank you creations.

I really appreciate you taking the time to send me that information. 

I wonder if my situation is similar to yours or different - my daughter wants her bottle as soon as she is up.  Is this a habit I should be breaking does anyone think?  I get that she would wake up hungry but she gets quite upset if the bottle doesn't come soon after that first nappy change.

Should I decrease the amount I give her, either in the morning or night?  As I mentioned in my first post, she is having about 250 ish (who know) mls in those two bottles.  But am now for 2 days making less formula and topping up to the top of the bottle with dairy, it is about the same volume as before overall. 

Am experimenting with sippy cups as of last night's BT bottle.  I gave some of it to her in a sippy and then she lost interest so poured what was left (about a third) into the bottle so she could finish it.  I guess I need to do some more experimenting here as to which sippy cup suits this method the best... I have sippy teat style cups, a straw one, plus one of those no-spill 360 degree Avent Phillips ones.  She has no problems drinking water from a cup but I think that having the bottle in the sippy was a big surprised to her and she didn't relax the same as she does with a bottle.  So this morning I tried it in the sippy teat type cup and there were no problems, the only issue for me is that the cup is small compared to the bottle I make up, so I had to top it up toward the end.  (I had the formula mixed in the bottle so I could use the ml markers to make it up correctly anyway).

It is really helpful for you to tell me creations about the reason why they say transition to a cup.  I didn't know about that - I thought it was so the child could switch from the comfort of a bottle to the milk being a more functional snack or drink.  But very interesting. 

It is hard for me to get my head around - if she drinks less milk at BT or WU (BT in particular) am I likely to get night waking for hunger?  I would like to try your suggestion creations about offering water after teeth brushing.  Last night for instance she had drank about 75% of her bottle and then we were debating whether or not to finish the bottle after her bath (we usually brush teeth in the bath.  I am not locked into any kind of major teeth brushing routine by the way, my daughter is a late teether and up until two days ago only had two teeth, so we have only been brushing about 2 months total when those two teeth finally showed up).  So we relented and I gave her the rest of the bottle after bath, then we went back into the bathroom to brush teeth.

I'm just wondering if she doesn't finish the whole bottle (there was about 70ml left) will she wake up?  Or do I just need to get over it!!?

Sorry for the long novel of a post once again.  My "problem" isn't a big one, just a few things I want to get right in my mind.

Appreciate all the help everyone has given so far :)
Mum to DD born April 2014 and DS born April 2016.

Offline creations

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Re: Weaning from Bottle
« Reply #5 on: April 21, 2015, 21:41:26 pm »
It's very unlikely a healthy 12 month old would wake from hunger.
The only time I would imagine this is after a serious enough illness whereby very little food was taken for a number of days and then needs to catch up on the lost calories when they start to recover.
I'd almost guarantee she is not going to wake up hungry because she missed 70ml of milk.

I see no problem with her wanting her WU milk very soon after waking, I'd say she's just hungry :)
The amount she is taking now is fine - if it drops a bit (because she takes a bit less from sippy or straw whichever you end up with) that will also be fine, as laura said, she can eat dairy solids too, cheese yoghurt, milk pudding, milk/white sauces.

For now I would focus on keeping the milk before teeth brushing. You don't really want to be double brushing so I would do milk, bath and teeth then water. If you are worried (I find I worry over changes much more than necessary) do a quick wean, last night you gave 70ml after the bath, tomorrow only give 50ml (pour a bit out if needed) if the bottle is drained offer water (in a bottle is fine). Next night only 30ml milk, if drained offer water. Next night no milk after bath, just offer water in a bottle.  I think you will be surprised how easy it can be. Start now and you'll be done in a week.

WRT brushing, teeth can be damaged even before they cut through, I would be far more concerned about a LO taking sweet drinks such as fruit juice rather than milk but it's worth knowing that teeth can be effected before they cut.

Once you have the milk strictly before bath then you can plan/trial different cups etc.  Perhaps easier to handle this in two stages, moving milk to before bath first and switching from bottle to something else second?


Offline ladymugg

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Re: Weaning from Bottle
« Reply #6 on: April 21, 2015, 22:13:45 pm »
Thanks so much!

Last night (we are on pretty much opposite time zones it would seem) I just went for it, what she hadn't finished before bath I just didn't offer, thought what is the worst that can happen?  (yes I worry a bit much like you as well, don't we all - lol).  So I did milk, bath, teeth in bath, dressed her then put her down. 

And she slept to when she usually wakes up, sometime between 6-6.30 am.

So that will be my new thing - offer the bottle (which is now that sippy cup that I posted in that other thread, with the spout) morning and night, but whatever she doesn't drink just leave it.  It usually isn't that much.  And in the morning I'm just making up whatever fits in the bottle, it holds about 240ml max (the ml marker lines stop at about 200 then there is a bit more room). 

I think over the next week or two will slowly start making that WU bottle a bit smaller incrementally until it just a small wake up snack or whatever you want to call it.  I am mixing in some cows milk on top of the formula once mixed anyway as suggested earlier and that is working well.   

Thanks so much for your help and support and advice! :D
Mum to DD born April 2014 and DS born April 2016.

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Re: Weaning from Bottle
« Reply #7 on: April 21, 2015, 22:15:34 pm »
Sounds great :)


Offline ginger428

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Re: Weaning from Bottle
« Reply #8 on: May 07, 2015, 13:47:26 pm »
Hi there, Lady, again.  ;) We must have great minds... haha.
I know this was about a month ago for you, but wondering how did the milk transition go??? I've tried a few methods and it hasn't been working. Going to stick to a time and if he still refuses might try the formula/milk ratio.

Which cup did your LO end up liking for the milk?

Offline ladymugg

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Re: Weaning from Bottle
« Reply #9 on: May 07, 2015, 18:33:52 pm »
It worked really well.... We are up to one scoop of formula (60ml of water) then the rest of the cup topped up with milk.  To be honest I could probably stop adding formula completely but I still have about a quarter of a can of formula to go so may as well use it up.

I haven't tried milk without anything added to it but it pretty much tastes the same as straight milk to me at that low level.

The cup we use is still the one I mentioned earlier, it has a spout with a slit... Might experiment with other cups once we are on full milk, just taking it thing at a time :)


Mum to DD born April 2014 and DS born April 2016.