Introduce formula at 11 months, or straight to cows milk?

[OneAndOneMakesThree]

My DS is 10.5 months and I have been exclusively pumping since he was 8 months (before that I mostly pumped with one BF per day). My supply has been slowly decreasing and I think my body is now telling me it is time to quit pumping. I have a small amount of EBM in the freezer, which will probably last 2-3 weeks. So, DS will be 11 or 11.5 months before I need to supplement. Do you think I should move straight to cows milk, or give him formula for a while before moving to cows milk? Also, can I just switch when the EBM runs out, or would it be better to introduce a bottle of cows milk/formula earlier so that he has a chance to get used to the different taste?

As you have all the paraphernalia I'd do formula just to give him that extra nutrition or whatever it is that determines the no cows milk until one year rule. It wouldn't matter to finish the box past the one year mark, obviously.

I would probably try him on it before too - do straight formula from a carton first and if he hates it you can revisit your decision. If he'll take cows milk it might be easier to switch straight to that, but I doubt he would as formula is sweeter.

Respect BTW for marathon EBF effort!!

Id go straight to cows milk. As long as he's eating a balanced diet for nutrition, then it's pretty much just a drink (not food)

I am pumping for my ds 9 weeks, after a rocky start and top ups he refused the breast so I just pump his feeds. It's nice to hear of other pumpers out there