Transition to Whole Milk

krsnow · #1 September 13th, 2011, 08:48 PM

When you switched your LO to whole milk, did you do it gradually by mixing with formula over a certain amount of time? If so, for how long? Our pedi said to just switch cold turkey. I did, and my LO didn't want to drink it, he just threw the bottle. It was a weird day where his sleeping\eating was off schedule so he may not have been hungry. I waited and tried again the next day. This time he drank the whole bottle. My friend told me cold turkey is bad because the baby may drink it just cuz they are hungry but may later reject both formula & milk. So since Sunday I have been giving him half formula & half whole milk in every bottle. I'm wondering if I should continue this for a while or if I should decrease to 1/4 formula & 3/4 whole milk tomorrow. I really don't want to go out and buy more formula, I was hoping to be done with it by now!

Overall, it seems that he is not drinking his entire bottle like he used to. Not sure if whole milk is more filling or if he just doesnt like it.

noworries · #2 September 13th, 2011, 09:17 PM

We're still breastfeeding so I don't know about going cold turkey or mixing with formula. I'd say just keep doing whatever is working. Maybe try the 1/4 formula and 3/4 milk tomorrow and see how he does. If he does fine, keep gradually reducing the formula until you are on straight milk.

inyourhonor · #3 September 14th, 2011, 03:32 AM

We are slowly mixing it with formula. We are using lactaid whole milk because he didn't adjust well to regular whole milk. So we had to start all over again. My oldest had the same issues as well.

Bishop also doesn't like things cold. Which has been a big issue. We started at 1/4 milk, rest formula. Then 50/50, then 3/4. We are still on 3/4 and hoping to be completely off it soon.

mrsjl · #4 September 14th, 2011, 04:15 AM

with my daughter, we just mixed it until eventually she was drinking only milk. she had a bottle until she was almost 2. (milk, not formula)

with Nathan, we just gave him whole milk in a bottle cold turkey. he had a bottle for 3 weeks but his appetite pretty much disappeared, so I stopped giving him a bottle and started just giving him milk in a sippy cup. I cannot tell you how things have improved!

Irish_Wristwatch · #5 September 14th, 2011, 05:09 AM

we mixed the formula with whole milk, so he gets only whole milk during the day we do have him on a toddler forumla that he gets before bed just because he goes through phases of eating, like right now he only wants fruit snacks or cheese and i dont want him lacking any vitamins

Trish36 · #6 September 14th, 2011, 05:37 AM

I mixed milk with formula for a couple of weeks...half and half. Now she's on 2% milk and she doesn't drink as much as she used too either. I think it's because she prefers to eat other foods and she likes to feed herself. So she only gets about 20oz of milk during the day.

inyourhonor · #7 September 14th, 2011, 06:04 AM

Trish, can I ask why you have her on 2% now? I'm just curious

KMH · #8 September 14th, 2011, 06:08 AM

I started mixing half formula/half milk for a while and she didn't even seem to notice. I did that until her last can of formula was gone (didn't want to waste that expensive stuff!) and then went to all whole milk. She gets about 20 oz. a day.

Jeanie915 · #9 September 14th, 2011, 08:09 AM

We mixed it and gradually got to all milk over time. Hallie isn't a fan of cold so it's been hard. I put it in a straw sippy with some strawberry flavor and that usually gets her to drink it. She still gets a sippy of warm milk at night right before bed. She only gets about 15 oz of milk a day...on a good day. But she was like that with formula as well. She'd rather eat than drink.

mrsjl · #10 September 14th, 2011, 08:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeanie915

She only gets about 15 oz of milk a day...on a good day. But she was like that with formula as well. She'd rather eat than drink.

this is totally normal! kids don't need to only drink milk, they can get the same stuff from cheese and yogurt and other foods in their diets.

Luvgreen19 · #11 September 14th, 2011, 08:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KMH

I started mixing half formula/half milk for a while and she didn't even seem to notice. I did that until her last can of formula was gone (didn't want to waste that expensive stuff!) and then went to all whole milk. She gets about 20 oz. a day.

This

I also nuke a 6oz bottle for 15 seconds in the microwave. It's still cool, but it takes the edge off. Formula was always room temperature so I feel bad giving him a freezing cold bottle- however the times I have forgotten he doesn't seem to care lol!

M-n-MsMama0510 · #12 September 14th, 2011, 09:55 AM

we went cold turkey and its been great. I dont know exactly how many oz she gets of soy a day because I give it in a sippy and I dont know how much the sitter is giving. But the WIC lady told me kids their age should have about 2 cups worth of any type of milk a day.

mommydiva · #13 September 14th, 2011, 10:47 AM

We did a transition of about half and half from 11 months. So like the week of her birthday we were done with formula all together and bottles as well.

During the time I also started making the bottles more cooler prior it was always lukewarm.

Now she has no problem and she gets about 20oz a day. 1 in the morning, 1 after her afternoon nap and 1 before bed. I might split the afternoon one up to two different times.

hilachu · #14 September 14th, 2011, 01:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Irish_Wristwatch

we mixed the formula with whole milk, so he gets only whole milk during the day we do have him on a toddler forumla that he gets before bed just because he goes through phases of eating, like right now he only wants fruit snacks or cheese and i dont want him lacking any vitamins

this is what i've been doing
with the toddler stuff just to make sure hes getting the right amount of nutrients

we basically went cold turkey tho with milk, i'll nuke it for 20 seconds in the microwave to take the edge off, he doesnt like it super cold if its in his bottle

I<3HelloKitty · #15 September 14th, 2011, 04:40 PM

We are still breastfeeding, but we went cold turkey with whole milk once she started getting a sippy cup.

rainbow_brite19 · #16 September 14th, 2011, 05:03 PM

Jackson won't touch whole milk! We have tried it several times and he gags

So we are still nursing

TeresaSuperMama · #17 September 14th, 2011, 06:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by inyourhonor

Trish, can I ask why you have her on 2% now? I'm just curious

My pedi said 2% was okay if that's what we drink in our house.

For Natalie we switched for a week at 1/3 milk 2/3 formula, then the next week 1/2 and 1/2 and the 3rd week went straight to milk for most of the bottles and 1/2 and 1/2 for a couple.

Of course, now here we are back on formula again because she developed eczema which we think was from the milk, but that's what we did. Now that she's used to milk she'll drink other milk substitutes easier so I think when we switch again we will go more cold turkey.