Transition to sippies with milk

When do you give the milk? Like with meals or with/as snacks? When do you do water? What do you give them when they first wake up since they are used to a bottle of formula? Do you do it gradually or cold turkey? What would a typical snack be now?

My boys are 11.5 months old and have 4 bottles (first wake up, after 1st nap, after 2nd nap and bedtime). They are on 3 solid meals with an occasional snack. I was thinking of switching bottle #2 and #3 to a sippy of formula in their high chair with a snack and offer sippies of formula with meals. Then switch cold turkey to milk when they turn 1 and gradually phase out the morning bottle and the evening bottle.

TIA for any advice!

 

Our transition went SUPER easy, much better than I had expected. My boys would never take formula from a sippy cup, so when we transitioned to sippies, we went straight to milk. We went cold turkey around 11.5 mos, so I guess I'm not much help on the formula/milk part.

Around 10.5 mos, I dropped their afternoon bottle & switched it to a sippy (we were only on 3 bottles per day at that time & I can't honestly tell you how we went to 3 because I don't remember...we did it back around 9 mos). They didn't like having a sippy before nap...it usually frustrated them more...so I completely dropped it within a few days. Our schedule then included a morning bottle, milk in a sippy with breakfast/lunch/dinner, a mid morning snack (after their morning nap) with a sippy of water & a mid afternoon snack (after their afternoon nap) with a sippy of water, & then a bottle before bed. When they started fighting their bedtime bottle, we decided to go cold turkey & just handed them a sippy cup. They actually did ok!

Now they get a sippy of milk when the wake, with all 3 meals, & at bedtime. At first, their intake was low & I was worried, so I mixed 1-2 oz of vanilla flavored Pediasure into their cups. Not only did it taste better & made them drink more, but it was stocked full of the nutrients they weren't getting from formula. They continue to get water or watered down juice with their snacks.

We've actually had to start limiting their milk intake the past few days. Instead of offering BIG sippies in the morning & at bedtime, we are giving them smaller cups. They're getting a little constipated. If they drink a LOT of milk when they wake, I tend to give them water with breakfast instead. I just kinda go with the flow. It's nice to not worry about their intake...instead worrying about them getting too much !

HTH!

 

We went cold turkey from 3 bottles per day to sippies with milk. I was very nervous because one of my girls is sort of resistant to change. They used to get one bottle immediately upon wake up so as soon as we started sippies, I brought the sippy in with me and they drank that while I changed their diaper. Every now and then I would try waiting to give it to them and eventually, they got used to waiting for it until we went downstairs.

In the beginnning, I would offer my girls their cup several times throughout the day to get them used to it and to get them drinking enough. Their consumption dropped drastically in the first week and then gradually increased.

 

We phased out the bottles.

We never gave anything except formula in a bottle. So any water or milk came in a sippy cup. I started first cutting out the mid-day bottles, then the first bottle of the AM and the last to go was the last bottle of the day. The twins were off the bottle and only milk/sippies by 13 months and Liam by 12 months.

Good luck!