Switching to cow's milk

[LynAnne]

My DS is now a one year old and I'm thinking of making the switch to cow's milk but looking for advice. He's been formula fed three 8oz bottles a day (morning, mid afternoon and before bed) for a while now and has started to look for less. I always give him water with his lunch and dinner to keep him hydrated and he can drink anything from 4-6oz of that along with his three meals and snacks a day.

I was planning on cutting out his mid afternoon milk and offering a snack and water instead anyway but now I'm thinking about transitioning him onto cows milk at the same time. Did you make a straight switch? How many oz of cows milk did you offer? (I somehow struggle to imagine him drinking as much of it as his formula). When during the day did you offer milk? I was thinking first thing in the morning and as supper before bed.

Any thoughts appreciated.

 

[Witchrose]

My son was also on three bottles of formula at that age. I'd been planning to do a gradual switch (cows milk at one meal for awhile, then also at a second meal, etc...). But the day I first offered him milk for the first time, he liked it so much, that I just offered it to him later that day again. And as it turned out, I never made up another bottle of formula again.

I'm sorry, but I don't recall how much I gave him. I'm guessing it might have been something like 1/2 cup to 1 cup serving. (4-8 oz). But not sure.

 

[SarahBear]

Do you do the bottles with meals or separate? I was never a bottle feeder, so I can't speak from direct experience. At that age, nursing was my kids' main form of hydration and happened separate from mealtimes. Offering a drink at mealtime just evolved over time. I can't remember exactly how it started. I suppose as babies they developed an interest in my drink so I started helping them with my cup. At about a year old, they were working on gaining cup skills and mostly spilled it when given their own. At some point shortly after a year old they were able to use cups and were offered... probably water... Whenever they were able to make a choice, they were given a choice between milk and water. I didn't have a specific strategy or time line, so it's sort of hard to remember exactly. So, if the bottles are separate from mealtime, you can just start offering something else during meal time in a cup and start cutting back on the amount in the bottles. Overtime, you can continue to increase the amount in the cup and decrease the amount in the bottles. Exactly how fast or slow will depend on you and your child.

Edit: Also, don't worry too much about him taking to milk if he likes water. Doctors and dentists prefer that kids don't drink too much and primarily drink water.

 

[LynAnne]

Bottles are separate from mealtimes. He tends to have about 8oz about 8 am, breakfast at 9-9.30am, lunch is between 12:30-1pm and I offer water here. Then in the afternoon he has another bottle about 3pm although occasionally he drops this bottle or only has 5-6oz. Then dinner are 6pm with more water offered and a final bottle about 8 pm when he goes to bed. I was thinking of making that 3pm milk a drink of water and a snack anyway as it seems to be the one he is least fussed for. Maybe even drop down to 6/7oz of cows milk in the morning and evening as he is finishing the 8oz less and less.

 

[loeylo]

When we switched Gracie from formula (we can't use cows milk but used almond milk as she's allergic) we replaced 1oz at a time, then when we were on pure almond milk we transitioned from that to water 1oz at a time. Tonight is our first night without a bedtime bottle. It's not going well, lol.

 

[Babybum35]

My dd (2) switched gradually. She has not really had a lot of formula but did and continues to breastfeed on and off day and night. When we swapped we went to a sippy cup and put only a couple ounces or so of milk to let her try. We offer a drink at every meal mostly milk or water and just breastfeed on demand. With a formula baby I would do the same so at breakfast offer a milk drink with all meals and just gradually cut back on formula feeds.

 

[george83]

With ds1 I changed 1oz at a time until it was all milk and took ages over it. With ds3 I was slightly more relaxed and swapped much quicker. I tried not to offer milk at a meal time - although probably offered it afterwards if they hadn’t eaten much - and then gradually the more they ate the less they wanted bottles and so I stopped offering. I think it partly depends on the child though my 6 year old still likes to have a cup of milk in the morning before his breakfast

 

[nessaw]

At 1 my dd was also on 3 bottles of 7oz a day-morning, pre afternoon nap and pre bed. I did half formula half milk for a couple of days which she was ok with then went full milk-200ml. We cut the middle one down to 100ml then to nothing about 6 months ago. Still on 2 bottles at the mo.

 

[ClairAye]

Mine had their bottles as usual but I switched to cows milk over 9 weeks (they both took 9oz bottles) by replacing 1oz of formula with 1oz cows milk each week until the bottle was all cows milk.