Author Topic: Questions about weaning off of formula/bottles....  (Read 727 times)

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Offline cam621

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Questions about weaning off of formula/bottles....
« on: June 04, 2006, 15:22:55 pm »
My 11 mo dd will be 1 yr in about 2 weeks.  Her formula intake is naturally decreasing by the day as she is eating much more solids now.  She has been taking 4 bottles a day (1 around 6am, then 11am, then around 3-3:30, then 6:30-7pm).  But the last 3 bottles have been rarely finished these days and takes about 3-4 oz of each, if that.  So, I was wondering, can I just completely drop a bottle feed or 2 during the day and start giving her sippy cups of milk with her meals instead of her formula?  THen maybe just give her formula during the morning and night feeds?  Will she be getting enough nutrients?  I am really trying to feed her balanced meals during the day, but as you all know, that is very difficult with an 11 mo :)  She is actually really good at the sippy cup, but only drinks water from it now.  When I tried to put formula in it, she wanted NO part of that.  Is it the same with milk typically? 

Any advice on how to start this weaning process will be extremely helpful!
Thanks in advance!
Jackie

Offline tylersmommy

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Re: Questions about weaning off of formula/bottles....
« Reply #1 on: June 04, 2006, 18:52:02 pm »
We started with Tyler at about the same time as your DD. First, we put whole milk in one of his bottles for a couple of days to make sure he'd drink it. Once we knew he was okay with drinking it, we dropped a bottle and replaced it with a mealtime sippy of whole milk, waited several days for his appetite to adjust, then did the same with another bottle. It took about 2 wks, then all we had to get rid of was the bedtime bottle, which was actually much easier than I thought. It took him awhile to really drink from the sippy, he only took little dainty sips and wasn't getting near enough milk so we made sure to offer it a LOT during the day (not just at mealtimes) and give him plenty of dairy foods to make up for it. A few days after all the bottles were gone, he started drinking really well from the sippy. From what I've heard, that's pretty common...it's like they know they have another preferred way of drinking (bottles) and will hold out for that if they know it's coming.

As for nutrition, if you offer her a good variety of healthy foods, she should be fine. It's easy to start obsessing about what they eat once the formula's gone, espcecially because their appetites and preferences are all over the map, but it all usually evens out!
Melissa
Mommy to Tyler, 12/30/03 and Mackenzie, 10/17/06
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