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Formula and bottle weaning
We're almost to the one year mark so I'm starting to think about weaning them to whole milk and to a sippy. They currently have three bottles a day and a sippy with water during meals. They've been doing great with the sippy, but they really love their bottles, so I envision it being a challenge.
My plan is to start mixing the formula and whole milk together and then gradually lessen the amount of formula until it's straight whole milk. They won't drink cold formula, so I will probably have to warm the milk in the beginning. I'm just not sure how to adjust them to drinking cold milk. Any advice?
Also my plan was to make the switch and then once they are completely over the whole milk try weaning to a sippy cup. I would love to hear what you've done as far as weaning and how it worked.
Re: Formula and bottle weaning
J had formula in sippy cups & bottles throughout the day before I switched to milk. She always took room temp formula, I never heated or chilled it, but she had cool water & juice/water in sippies as well.
When I switched to milk, I left it cold. For the first 2 weeks (I did 2 weeks instead of 1 b/c she'd had a lactose allergy/sensitivity), I gave her 1/4milk to 3/4 formula, week 3 was 1/2 & 1/2, week 4 until I was done with the can of formula was 3/4 milk to 1/4 formula.
I did it pretty much exactly the way you described and it took FOREVER to get her off the bottle. She took water from any other type of cup but straight up refused to drink milk out of anything but her bottle. We got to point where you described she was totally on cold whole milk, weaned off her warm formula, that didn't take long at all, but she refused to give up the bottle. I kept giving her a bottle because she had weight gain issues and I figured it was better for her to be getting the milk fat & calories, however at her 18 month appoint (yes 6 months after the transition to whole milk) our doctor told us we needed to go cold turkey on the bottle. She didn't drink a single drop of milk for over 2 weeks, but finally started drinking it out of a straw sippy cup and now does fine with it.
So long story short....my advice is that once they are on cold whole milk, go cold turkey on the bottle and just give it to them in sippies, wish I had done it sooner!
oh yeah, by a year, J was down to 1-2 bottles a day. One when she woke up and one before bed. When she was on whole milk fully, I dropped the morning bottle. She had her bedtime bottle until she was 14 mo b/c I wasn't ready to take it away =/
I feel like N will be on the bottle for.ev.er. She does not like any sippy cups and honestly hates taking a bottle as it is. She'll be 8 months tomorrow & on a GOOD day, I get 12oz (of added calorie formula) into her.
Thanks for the advice ladies. I think i'm going to start mixing milk & formula today and once they are onto whole milk try to go cold turkey. Wish me luck!
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