Transitioning to whole milk

1) Are there any cons to transitioning to whole milk before one year? Mine are 11 months and weigh over 21 and 23 lbs. We were given the ok to start at 11 mos by the nurse practioner in our pediatrician's office a couple months ago, but we didn't actually see our pediatrician. I'm considering starting the transition now because the whole formula to milk switch and bottle to sippy switch is making me so anxious and I just want to get on with it already. Just wondered if they could some how suffer nutritionally if I start making the switch now. At least now if they don't eat well, I know they're at least getting what they need from their formula (though my daughter is a great eater, but my son who can be picky at times).

2) In doing this transition I was thinking on cutting out their middle two daytime bottles. They do still drink them - about 5-7 oz or so. So I know I can't cut it out completely. Just wonderd what the better approach is - replace the bottle with a sippy (which I have not had any success with in previous attempts), or plop them in their highchairs, give them a snack and a sippy of milk. I think the second option would work better with my two - is this a viable option, or is it unusual to have 3 meals, 2 snacks with sippies and then a morning and bedtime bottle at this age? I know my daughter would gobble up whatever I give her, but she probably wouldn't drink much milk from her sippy. Would this be a problem if she isn't taking enough milk in - or is supplementing with other forms of dairy enough to compensate?

And I'm wondering if doing both of these changes at once is too much? As usual, none of this is common sense to me!

 

1. If the NP gave you the go-ahead, I say go for it. We got the thumbs up at 9 months.

2. I think you should do what you feel most comfortable with. We did the milk/sippy transition almost simultaneously, so if you feel comfortable with it, go for it. Just know that for the first few days, they may not drink AS much, and after that it will most likely pick up again. My ped said they needed about 16oz of milk after 9 months of age.

GL!

 

I would say transitioning to milk depends on how much table foods your LO's are eating. Once they are on exclusively milk, their food is where they will be getting their nutrition from. So long as they are getting adequate nutrition that way, I don't see why it would be a problem. Especially since you already got the OK from the nurse practitioner.

Once I got down to my last 2 cans of Formula, I mixed 50% Formula and 50% Milk in their bottles. I offered them sippies constantly during this time. Once we were out of formula, I did away with the bottles cold turkey and went straight to sippies. The first couple of days were a little rough, and their fluid intake went way down. After a couple of days, once they figured it out that I wasn't giving them their bottles back they took their sippies just fine. We have been bottle free ever since, and it has been smooth sailing.

Good Luck with the Transition!!

 

QUOTE(Kyrstyn @ Feb 26 2009, 12:15 PM) [snapback]1206513[/snapback]
I would say transitioning to milk depends on how much table foods your LO's are eating. Once they are on exclusively milk, their food is where they will be getting their nutrition from. So long as they are getting adequate nutrition that way, I don't see why it would be a problem. Especially since you already got the OK from the nurse practitioner.

Once I got down to my last 2 cans of Formula, I mixed 50% Formula and 50% Milk in their bottles. I offered them sippies constantly during this time. Once we were out of formula, I did away with the bottles cold turkey and went straight to sippies. The first couple of days were a little rough, and their fluid intake went way down. After a couple of days, once they figured it out that I wasn't giving them their bottles back they took their sippies just fine. We have been bottle free ever since, and it has been smooth sailing.

Good Luck with the Transition!!



I'm at the beginning stages of this as well.

When you transitioned to the sippys....did you stop the bedtime bottle?? Or are you doing a bedtime sippy???

 

QUOTE(goldylocks @ Feb 26 2009, 09:51 AM) [snapback]1206577[/snapback]
When you transitioned to the sippys....did you stop the bedtime bottle?? Or are you doing a bedtime sippy???

We did away with bottles altogether. They get dinner and a sippy of milk before bedtime. I don't know if it was just a coincidence, but once I transitioned them they actually started sleeping better. I don't know if they were just more full from food or what?

 

At 11 1/2 months we went from warm formula in bottles to cold milk in sippies literally overnight. Just offer them milk in the sippies at meals, and you don't need to stress so much about the bottles. Initially their intake may go down as they get used to the sippies, but within a week they will be back on track. Also, most peds don't want them getting more than 16-20 oz. of milk per day anyway.

 

We transitioned to milk when they were 11 months old and they did great. :good:

Switching from bottles to sippys was a different issue here. My dd went to sippys with no issues whatsoever. :good: My ds would not drink milk from the sippy cup, so he stayed with bottles until 18 months. ardon: When we did the switches though we did it cold turkey. That seemed to be the best approach with my two.

Good luck and don't stress it too much. :hug:

 

If your pedi said it was okay for you to go ahead and make the switch then I'm sure it's fine! I just switched cold turkey and it worked really well for us. My girls do so much better with table food than they did with baby food that they've had no trouble with getting milk instead of formula.