Weaning DS (20m) to cows milk - how?!

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I've decided to gradually wind down the BF over the next few months but I'm a bit unsure how to get him on to cows milk. He's (infrequently) had formula since about 8m old (like once every couple of months) and never refused it from the bottle, but he will not take cows milk.

I have tried cows milk in a beaker/sippy thinking that it's better to get him straight onto that rather than cows milk in a bottle and then try to wean him onto a different cup, but he just takes one sip and then refuses the rest. It's Daddy trying this btw - not me as he just wants to BF if he sees me.

I'm all in a tizz as I don't know what to do for the best. I don't want to suddenly stop BF at night - I wanted to start with just one night at week, gradually moving up to 2 and so on, but the only way I can think of getting him onto cows milk is to gradually mix with formula but I'm guessing he would need it to be over a period of a week or two for it to happen and then I'm worried my milk would have dried up by then.

Should I persevere with cows milk but in a bottle so it's vaguely comforting or just keep with the rejected beaker. Aargh, I never thought this would be difficult. Help please?!

What worked for my DCs - who like yours refused cows milk at first - was to start with whatever cup/bottle they like best and mix breast milk with cows milk at first - perhaps 8 parts breast milk to 2 parts cows milk. I wouldn't start with e.g. the night-time/before bed feed, but perhaps some milk during the morning or with lunch.

Then, next time you try it, mix say 3/4 breast milk to 1/4 cows milk, then half and half, etc until you're only adding a little bit of breast milk... then you can drop it altogether, and swap to a sippy cup.

While DC gets used to the taste of cows milk from a bottle/cup, you can still bf so you can still have the (lovely) night-time bf feed.

Good luck.

I'm planning on doing the same (DS is 15 months). Apparently at nursery he drinks cows milk in vast quantity but can I get him to drink it at home...nnnooo!
I'll watch with interest!

I'm planning to start weaning DS (nearly 12mo!) on to cow's milk not long after the first birthday. He has been exclusively BF (straight from the source, refused bottles from the word go) so I'm quite apprehensive about the whole thing...

Good luck OP - willl also be watching with interest!

I have just stopped feeding dd2 at 20mths, she won't drink much cows milk, I'm not that bothered tbh. She has milk on cereal and gets plenty of dairy from other sources. It hadn't occurred to me to be worried about it until now!

When I was still breastfeeding her she wouldn't have ANY cows milk from a cup, but since I've stopped will now have a few mouthfuls on an evening, but mainly just because she wants to be like her big brother and sister who drink gallons of the stuff :D

Thanks for all the input. Looks like sticking to the bottle culture is the way to go although I'm not sure how much success I'll have trying it in the day. Bottles have always been night-time & daddy so he may still refuse from me. Worth a go though. If he won't try then I may do it every other night at bedtime and hopefully my milk won't dry up that quickly.

I only worry twinkle because he's a very poor eater and the only dairy he'll have is yoghurt and even then only every couple of days. Cheese is a big no-no for him so sneaking it in is hard! He is partial to strawberries and cream though so maybe that's the way to go ;)

Good luck lovechoc and Chipotle - let me know how you get on :)