Weaning Baby from Bottle/formula

Hi K.,
Well first off I'd like to say as long as the liquid is being offered if she is thirsty she will drink it. As far as water I would get her own little water bottle my kids drink water all day long including my 11month old as long as its in there water bottles its something special just for her. Second if its the formula she likes you could always try the next step formula I use Enfilmil next step for my son its just like milk with added nutriants or you could Rice milk.

We just went through this and gradually replaced our son's formula by about an ounce a week with whole milk. The transition took several weeks, but he's fine with milk. He may have been ok with just switching abruptly, but I had formula to use up and didn't want to waste it.

I wouldn't push too many changes on her at once. If she'll drink a milk/formula mix with a bottle better than a sippy, let her have the bottle a bit longer. When she's clearly ok with milk, start introducting the sippy. A few extra weeks on the bottle isn't going to make a difference in the long run.

If she's really not taking in very much milk, you may want to ask your pediatrician about vitamin D supplements at this time. Most kids don't get enough, and those who are picky about fluid milk certainly don't (yogurt and cheese are often made with unfortified milk).

They feed preemies with cups--they are bendy, but they are cups. Try a regular cup. Particularly the best, are the Tupperware ones with the flared lip--I have no idea why, but they really are the best at getting little mouths to not spill liquid out the sides.

At about age one is a very good time to give her the opportunity to (quickly) learn, with direct physical guidance from parent(s)!!, how to lift, tip, and swallow from a cup.

You have to be willing to clean up the spills (especially if you forget to watch her and she gets bored=>playtime!), but you'll probably get a lot more liquid into her.

I'm lactose intolerant, so my kids drank juice and water after they weaned. Now I've added the organic lactose free milk, and they like it alright (mostly I just use it for cooking)--but they really like it warmed, with a pinch of vanilla extract. (Those vanilla soy milk people are onto something ;)!)

Another thing to try is soaking her snack-cereal in milk (or juice), not so it's soggy, but just so it's carrying a bunch of liquid with every bite (those chex-type cereals and cheerios-type cereals usually hold up under this treatment). Fruit and some veggies, and all pureed babyfoods, carry lots of water too ...

Good luck :).

we did luke warm milk with chocolate powder in it until our daughter liked that, then slowly faded out the chocolate... and started making it colder. My friend did half formula, half milk for a long time and slowly faded out the formula. Don't give up!

You have gotten some really good advice here, so I won't repeat it, but I will say I had the same problem and nothing really worked. My baby went a few months with little drinking. She has never been interested in a bottle or sippy cup. Fortunately, it was in the summer, so we loaded her up on watermelon, cantaloupe, berries, and the like. She was otherwise healthy, so we had to give up a little. Once she hit about 17 months, she wanted to drink out of a regular cup, so we let her. It was a real mess at first, but now she is a happy 21 month old girl who drinks from a regular cup (even a glass at restaurants). The point is- every baby is different! If you are seeing wet diapers, all is well.

Hello,
When my daughter turned one she also couldn't quite get the hang of a sippy cup. For the transition to milk, I gave her 3/4 formula and 1/4 milk for a few days and slowly changed the ratios until she was drinking 1/2 and 1/2, then 3/4 milk and 1/4 formula etc. This helped her stomach transition to milk without problems and she didn't notice as much because she had formula mixed in. I continued to use the bottle for a bit longer and then we finally were able to find a sippy cup that worked. Some children find that the straw type are easier than the hard tops. I found the sippy cups with a soft nipple type top were the key for my daughter because she couldn't get the suction out of the others. After a few months she was able to use the regular kind with no problems. Good luck!

to introduce her to the flavor of milk, try mixing it with formula for a while. I started with 1/3 milk to 2/3 formula, then after a few days half and half, and then 1/3 formula, and finally whole milk. It takes a couple of weeks but it seemed to work great with both my boys.

Instead of swtiching completely, cut the milk with 1/2 formula for a few days, then slowly reduce the amount of formula to get her used to the taste. i would do that before I take away the bottle completely, then switch to sippy cup. My youngest (of 4) hated the sippy cup too, so we found a really cheap one at Walmart (like a $1 or something) that had a pliable top, similar to a bottle as the top was silicon, but shaped like a sippy cup. Once she mastered that we switched her to the regular kind of sippy cups. It was all about how the cup felt on her gums....

I started my daughter using a sippy cup around the same time she started solid foods (7m or so) and she drinks water from one ok. At 14m I still give her toddler formula in her bottle at bedtime, and goats milk in her bottle at naptime and in the morning (cow milk bothers her stomach). Just keep trying with the sippy cup, the more you offer it the more she will use it. I see nothing wrong with continuing toddler formula and a bottle for a while, maybe mixing it gradually with milk so she slowly gets used to the taste? I also agree with starting on a sippy with a soft mouthpiece. We used Avent sippys since they matched up with our bottles to interchange sippy top/bottle top (it's come in handy a time or two).

Honestly I don't know why most pediatricians (and parents) are so gung-ho that a baby has to wean off of a bottle/formula at 1yr. If it was breastfeeding and you kept doing it past a year no one would care. My daughter only has a bottle at nap/bedtime or if she is sick and not eating well and I am in no hurry to wean her just yet. She has shown with swaddling, pacifier and thumb sucking that she gives things up when she is ready. If by age 2 she is still not showing signs of letting the bottle go I'll start phasing it out. If she was using her bottle all.the.time like a security item (needing to carry it around, take it with her etc.) I would be more inclined to wean her now.

did you just suddenly completely switch over to milk? That is a sudden change and an be a shock for her taste buds and her digestive system. Try this. Go back to giving her formula for bit.. just to get her drinking again (you don't want her to become dehyrdated. Then slowly start adding milk, one ounce at a time to her formula so she can get used to the taste and her body can get used to it too. Work your way up to half formula and half milk and increasing that until she has all milk. Offer her water with every meal... along with her formula/milk drink. She will eventually get it. If you want to wean her off the bottle. Get rid of them.. and there are no options. Try various styles of sippy cups until you find something that works. Some kids are not used to the easy flow of fluid so the ones with the valves work well for that transition from bottle (sucking to get the liquid out) to the sippy cup (free flowing liquid).

Best wishes..

Jennifer

How many days has she gone with no formula? I think that it is typical for kids to resist the sippy cup and/or milk for a few days, which (according to the peds that I have talked to) is fine. Have you tried 2 percent milk instead, just to warm her up to the idea of milk? Whole is really thick, and she might transition to it better if she starts with 2% for a few days. Jsut keep offering it to her (perhaps tackle the sippy cup OR the milk issue first, then do the second one)

Hi,
From 13 months to about 16 months we did half formula/milk then by 16 months full milk.. took awhile but that is what worked for us.. I asked my doctor about the "toddler formula" and she thought as long as the child has a healthy diet than it is not needed and very expensive. Or my dr. also said we could do it cold turkey.. finally we did do the bottle cold turkey harder for my first child way easier for my 2nd child.. with my oldest child we did the bottle fairy trick and took all the bottles away and left a present (something from the dollar store) under her pillow for awhile.. My oldest didn't have the bottle taken away fully until 2.5 years and the dentist told us it was starting to affect her bite.. My second child 16 months and sippy cup.. I would use organic milk b/c the hormones in the other milk are not good. especially for girls.. My dr. recomended whole milk till age 2.. Check with your dr. every dr. is diferent.. also sometimes we flavored the milk just a tad with cholate..
Best of luck,
Lenc