[Wisdom]

Our DS will be 12 months next week, which is when our doctor says he'll be taken off formula. He's still taking formula in a bottle twice per day, morning and night, but I'd like to begin transitioning him to whole milk now and give him a small amount in a sippy cup in the middle of the day. Do you think it's ok to add whole milk
1) without consulting his doctor first? and 2) while he's still taking formula? I want the transition to whole milk to be a good one and want him to get used to the taste of whole milk before the forumula stops.

[OakShannon]

I'll be curious to hear what people say. We're transitioning our son too. He turned one yesterday! He stopped using a bottle a few weeks ago, but he still drinks formula from cup. We're just finishing what's in the open can. I've given him whole milk in his cup, but he didn't seem too crazy about it. I've started mixing the two in order to gradually get him used to the taste. I've also started cooking his morning oatmeal (his usual breakfast) in the milk. I figure that will help and it gives him additional nutrients as well.

[Stormster]

Our transition was super easy. We did it at 11.5 months because we were travelling later that month and i didn't want to haul the formula. He literally didn't miss a beat though I occasionally gave him toddler formula which really wasn't necessary.

I definitely look back and realize of all the transitions this one was the least eventful. And our son was on A/R Formula (specialty formula) as well.

[KyliesMommy]

I too transitioned my daughter right before her 1 year birthday. I mixed formula with whole milk for 2 days and would then give her a bottle of just whole milk once a day and within a week she was transitioned and bottle broke by 2 weeks after her 1 year birthday

[nikkianni]

We transitioned before DD was 1. I forget exactly when but I think we started milk at about 11 mos.
DD too was very easy to switch. She was on specialty formula and once she got a taste of milk, that was IT. She switched to milk and a sippy within 48 hours. We'd planned to switch gradually but her plan wasn't in sync with ours so we just went with hers.
Now if only potty training is that easy....

[Wisdom]

From what you all have done, I think I'll go ahead and start giving him whole milk at lunch time to start the transition. He's already using a sippy cup for water and sometimes formula, so the cup won't be the problem. I just hope he likes the milk. He loves familiarity and with food he's extremely particular. As far as weaning him from the bottle, I don't think the night time one will be the problem, but the one he wakes up for at 5am is my big concern. I'm still working out my plan for how to wean him off of that bottle. If you have any ideas on that, feel free to let me know!

Thanks for the input!

[jules17]

We were so worried about the transition with both of our sons. I gave them their night milk (only whole milk instead of formula). Neither one missed a beat - it was if they had never had anything different!!

(I did keep some formula on hand, for possible transition issues and if they got sick.)

[Stormster]

i'm not a big believer in rushing off the bottle though I'll let you know if I still feel that way after E sees the dentist at the end of the month.

[sheababy]

Yes it's ok to transition now. We know several people who did this although we went cold turkey.

DD was on the bottle until 16 months. She goes to daycare so after 12 months she did not get a bottle there and we started not allowing it when we were out and about. Soon she was down to only the morning and night bottle. Then we did away with the morning bottle. Around 16 months we starting telling her "You're a big girl now so next week-no more bottles". When next week rolled around, we had removed all the bottles from the house. She screamed and cried for about 20 minutes, made DH take her out to the kitchen and open all the cabinets so she could see there were no more bottles. It took her about 1 1/2 to get to sleep and she started using a pacifier again but it was surprisingly easy.

Now she uses a pacifier instead of the bottle for comfort but she is using it less and less and our dentist said she did not get rid of her daughter's pacifier until age 2 so we are not too worried about it.

[jules17]

Originally Posted by Stormster

i'm not a big believer in rushing off the bottle though I'll let you know if I still feel that way after E sees the dentist at the end of the month.

We didn't take the boys off of their bottles until 18 months. They started sippies during the day, but still a night bottle (followed by brushing teeth).

It was more for me than for them. I am so excited for our match so I can crack those babies out again!

[tweetybirdus]

We starting mixing whole milk 50/50 with her formula and then decreased the formula and increased the whole milk until it was 100% whole milk. She did pretty well with that. It took about 3-4 days.

[Cjmeck]

My daughter just turned a year old 12-28 so this is fresh in my mind I started giving her a small amount of whole milk at meals starting about 11.5 months old. Luckily, she loved it and had no bad reactions from it. So after about 4-5 days or so I'd increase the amount gradually until by her birthday she was getting 100% milk. And now, not only is she off formula (thank you God! I needed the money) but she's off bottles too. Its going great and was a very smooth transition! Goodluck and enjoy your almost toddler.

[aclee]

I gave Ty a sippy cup with a small amount of milk in it about 2 weeks ago (maybe more?). I didn't dilute it with formula because it we were going to have any milk issues I wanted to know, and sometimes they can be hard to diagnose as a child gets weaned on to milk. Ty was MSPI so I wanted to see if that was still there.

It wasn't, and I've just integrated milk with meals in a cup about once a day since. I use whatever we have around because Ty is still on formula.

Once Ty goes to just milk, I'll start making trip to the dairy for organic whole milk.

[mondk]

We started Enfamil's Transitioning formula around age 9-10 mos. We started whole milk around 11 mos. We had no problems...Joshie loves milk now and we do mostly sippy cups during the day but he still has a bedtime bottle...it is really hard to wean that last bottle away....anyway, he is fine but I'm anxious to see what he weighs at his next well-baby on the 21st. He's mommy's little piggie with all the rest of his foods.

Blessings, Michelle

[rd200]

We transitioned our son when he was just about a year. i put whole milk in a sippy cup at meal times, and he had used a sippy for a while for juice so then i just did that for a few days and then off the formula off the bottle all at once. he didnt have a hard time without the bottle, i just took it away and didnt give it back. he absolutely loved milk and to this day at 7 still will drink milk over anything else. good luck. i dont think you need to consult your doctor either, i mean, if you think there is a problem or the kid isnt adjusting well, then ask, but i dont think this warrants a call to the pediatrician. Rach