How do you switch from warm formula from bottle to cold cow's milk from beaker?

[tinyfeet]

There are numerous threads on this, but I can't find any with answers to my specific questions. I am preparing DD who is about to turn 1 yr old for 3 transitions:

1. milk from bottle rather than beaker (she takes juice from beakers, but we've never tried formula from beaker)

2. milk instead of formula

3. cold milk instead of warm formula.

Any suggestions on how to get all of these transitions done around the 1 year mark without too much resistence? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I intend to give DD half formula and half milk for a few weeks before completely switching to milk. Also, what is the advice on skim milk, 1%, 2% or whole milk?

Hi Tinyfeet,

Not sure how much help this will be but we moved countries on DS's first birthday so we had to change. The pediatrician said that we should just simply replace formula with cows (it's homogenised milk so I guess that's whole milk). DS accepted it very well. Since then (he's 17 months now) we have moved from bottle with teat to bottle with sipper. Though we had several tries at this because he got very cross the first couple of times so we had to go back to a teat. FYI we have slowly watered the milk down (as he gets rather a lot of catarrh and coughs at night). He now only has milk in the afternoon, in cooking and in his morning cereal. The only thing we haven't been successful with is getting him to drink cold milk. He hates it... but then again so do I so I just put boiling water into his cold milk. HTH

Hello tinyfeet - have you actually made any of the changes yet? You may find you have no problem whatsoever, my DS went straight onto beakers at around 8 months, he had been having one bottle of formula a day - which I never heated anyway - so when I stopped b/feeding he had his formula in a beaker (cold) & then from a year went on to cow's milk (full fat) - we experienced no difficulties at all. Good luck.

In my opinion - others may differ - it is best to go to beakers all the time - otherwise you may have a problem later on giving up a 'bedtime' bottle for example, which other people have mentioned on mumsnet.

Start with the easy one - definately whole milk.

As for the transitions, you might be surprised and find she'll drink formula cold anyway. DS was happy with room temperature milk from only a few months old, and after a while we stopped actively heating it - just doing enough so it wasn't chilled. Why not try just heating it a bit less and see how you get on, then gradually reducing the amount you heat it even more.

We did the formula to milk thing big bang style, as we'd finally established that ds was intolerant to be both cows milk formula and soya, so the next option was goats milk. From the very first time he was offered it, he was happy - so agian you'll probably find the switch less traumatic than you think.

I've just read Lindy's post, but I was going to give the opposite advice - I started with a beaker at lunch time; bottles for other feeds, then beaker at breakfast. We actually switched to a beaker at bedtime one night when ds was being awkward and refusing to drink his milk. I poured it into a beaker and he thought he'd won the argument and drank it.
I still warm the milk by standing the beaker on the bottle warmer, but sometimes he's too impatient and asks for it when it's still cold. He will drink it then, so I suppose I'll just stop warming it at some point.

Hmm, I think dd won this battle! We use full fat milk, warmed up from the bottle in the evening and from the beaker in the morning. OK so I guess I got my way for the morning feed... Basically I decided that I would rather she drink the milk than not, so stick with it as it is for now. I feel that at 16 months she is still a baby and am in no hurry to change to a beaker at night.

Thanks all for the advice. To answer your question, Lindy, I haven't started any of the changes yet. I'm a creature of habit and am dreading the change - I'm afraid I'm going to have problems. Sounds as though I should switch to room temperature formula now, if possible. Then switch to full fat milk. Maybe after she's taking milk for a few weeks, I'll switch to a beaker. A friend of mine had a really difficult time switching to a beaker when her dd turned 2 yrs old. She said that it is best to try to switch at age 1 because after 2 yrs old, the bottle messes up the baby's teeth. Is there any truth to that?

DS had no problem at all changing to cow's milk at a year and now that he's turned 2 (and given that he's a good weight) I have put him on semi-skimmed so that I don't have to buy two types - again no problem. The beaker was more of an issue but we got there. Currently he only has milk at bedtime and has started messing with it so this might disappear soon too.

We just changed one day a few weeks after his first birthday and he just got on with it. However the beaker effort was not as straight forward. We had tried him with beakers etc for his milk but with no success. However, he was ill last week and refused all his milk, when he was back to his usual self, I just handed him his usual bottle (Avent) with a spout instead of a teat - He was a bit miffed but didn't complain. He is also on warm milk, but not as warm as before he was ill and it's gradually getting cooler. BTW - He's now 19 months.

Try one thing at a time she'll soon let you know whats what and just because 'the book' says doesn't mean you have to follow it.

On the milk front, Whole milk is advised until around 5, as they burn fat for fuel (wish I did!!)
therefore need it to keep up their energy levels

Well, I had been giving room temp formula on occasions for a while so I knew that wasn't a problem - I think you're right to go for that first. IME the beaker thing is the biggest issue - ds used to have his bottles before naps and bedtime and refused to do a straight swap with the beaker. So I started offering him a beaker with (cow's) milk in at other times, whilst gradually phasing out the (formula) bottles - bedtime bottle last, just after he was one. At first it did mean a dip in his milk intake, but once all the bottles had gone, he started drinking much more from the beaker and now happily has that before his naps and at bedtime.
He never had cow's milk in a bottle or formula in a beaker - I thought maybe it would help to keep them separate - though in hindsight it probably didn't make any difference.

I know lots of 2-3 year olds who still have a bedtime bottle - I personally don't think its much of a problem wrt teeth, but I am glad that I got rid of them when I did - I'd imagine weaning a 2-3year old off a bottle would be more of an issue.

I really am dreading the switch to the beaker - sounds like it may not be too rough though. That's interesting about the whole milk, it would be really nice to only have to buy one type. I would like to try to start off with semi-skimmed. . . Here's another question - I'm sure it's answered elsewhere, but how much milk does DD need after 1 yr old? I grew up drinking something like 5 glasses each day, and my parents credit that for everything, especially for growth.

The other reason for giving whole milk and not semi skimmed is that the fat is where the Vit D in milk is found - it's a fat-soluble vitamin.
My ds is 13 months and happily drinks cold milk from a beaker with meals and warm (I suppose) breastmilk morning, midafternoon and bedtime. Seems to put him neither up nor down!

tinyfeet, you should definitely start with whole milk - as well as more calories it also has more fat soluble vitamins.
Quantity - well there seems to be a general feeling that 1 pt a day is the recommendation - although I have read various different quantities from 12oz upwards. I think as ever it depends on what else is being consumed, and on what your child will actually drink! My ds doesn't drink large quantities at a time, so I tend to offer milk throughout the day - with breakfast, at nap times and snack times, with supper and at bedtime. He gets water at lunchtime. Even so he doesn't usually drink more than about 2/3 pint through the day, which I think is fine.

Thanks, Elliott. A friend mentioned that in addition to the nutritional benefits of whole milk, DD will probably drink more of it for taste. So will start off w/ whole milk. Stupid question: How many ounces in a pint?

20 (fluid) ounces in a pint.

I hope this question doesn't sound offensive but I am genuinely interested in why, if your baby will drink from a beaker some parents still give a bottle sometimes? I just don't see the logic and I remember from experience that it is more difficult to thoroughly wash a bottle & teat rather than a beaker - even with a diswasher.

I don't want to sound rude, but I just wonder why - personally I loathe seeing 'big' babies with a bottle, but that is just me but I do know (and have seen it on mumsnet) that it can be really difficult to finally get your babies off bottles.

Tinyfeet - have you tried a beaker yet?

lindy> sorry not read every message on this thread but in relation to your question - my DS (16 months) can obviously drink from a beaker but refused - point blank to drink milk from one. We have tried and tried and tried (with different beakers, soft spouts etc etc) but he will not drink milk unless in a bottle. He just has one before bedtime and doesn't drink milk in the day so I am obviously keen to keep him drinking that one bottle for health reasons.

so with us it's not as simple as whether or not I'd prefer for him to drink milk out of a beaker - I suppose I could refuse outright to give it to him in a bottle but that seems mean to me and I'm not prepared to do it. I'm sure as he gets older it will change.

Just to add that dentists recommend getting rid of bottles altogether by 1 year old (not 2 years as recommended earlier in the thread). It's not because of misaligning the teeth but because of the sugars in milk and the way the teat is in direct contact with the teeth. Also never to give a bottle after brushing their teeth at night. And no no no juice in a bottle.

Yes - DD takes juice from the beaker. I have never tried milk from the beaker, but I have been the same dentist advice that Judetheobscure mentions regarding getting baby off bottle by 1yr. I am planning on it, but haven't done it yet.

In answer to the original questions : Definitely use full fat milk for toddlers, there's no reason why you can't warm the milk too until they get to like room temp/chilled. And my dd took mixed formula/milk for a few weeks (gradually decreasing formula and increasing milk) to get used to the taste. Right now (at 14mths) she drinks 3 bottles of full fat milk per day - approx 20oz.

My only problem is she will not drink anything else during the day - no water, juice etc and won't entertain the idea of a beaker. Have tried many different types. She has her avent magic cup every day in nursery like the other toddlers and she holds it but won't drink from it. Occasionally she will take a sip of water from our water glasses at meal times and she is getting quite good at sipping so i'm hoping she might go straight to a glass from an early age. But because of this I CAN'T not give her a bottle. I am happy enough with this as she drinks it quite quickly - within 15 mins and I think the major problem with bottles and teeth is with kids who suck and chew at bottles of milk/jiuce during the day and at night.

Hope this helps (and any suggestions of how to get my dd to drink from a beaker or any beakers that look like glasses welcome!!)

Bigbird, we also had a tough time getting dd to take the beaker - someone recommended we try juice first, so that is what we did, and eventually after having the beaker at every meal, dd finally took it and now takes approx. 4 oz of juice each day from the beaker. We use the Gerber trainer with handles, although we also have a couple of Platex beakers which dd also takes.

Bigbird, I am assuming you've tried very simple cups with a lid and spout but no valves? (ikea do a good simple one) Otherwise, if you are keen to try an open cup, you can get things called 'doidy cups' - mentioned on a previous thread if you do a search - which are slanted and supposedly easier to learn from. HTH

thanks guys. Yep - i've tried valve, non valve etc. She has on occasion taken one sip so I know she can do it but just throws it away then. I keep putting it back on the highchair tray and if I try to put it near her mouth she turns her head in disgust. She has her magic cup of juice every day now in nursery and still won't drink it. I saw a picture of the doidy cup but I think she won't like it cos it's not glass/see through. We have a pooh cup (no lid) which is white and she's not keen on that. I suspect she only drinks from the glass cos it's what we do. I have been looking for some clear plastic glasses but haven't found one yet. What would be ideal would be a clear plastic glass with like a rim inside (maybe one third way down) which would stop the water gushing out .... maybe with a few holes in it to let the water flow down the glass slowly !!! Maybe I should invent one !

Bigbird - you could try looking in camping/caravanning shops for clear plastic "glasses" which look like the real thing.

I had problems getting my DS to drink from any bottle or beaker as he was breastfed! We've more different types of drinking beakers than Boots! but I just persisted in offering, without any pressure, a soft spouted beaker occasionally throughout the day and he has started to drink more & more - this has been over about 7 months so it may not happen overnight for you. Now he guzzles his milk & water/juice quite happily & have given up breastfeeding completely at 10 months - only thing now is that he'll only drink out of the one type of beaker - no other one will do! Although he will take sips out of the Doidy cup - trouble is most of the fluid ends up over the floor! My advice - take your time, put no pressure on and if necessary back off & revisit it again in a couple of weeks time.

And I thought I was the only one fretting about milk drinking!

My dd is 18mths and (don't hate me) drinks formula milk first thing in the morning and at bedtime (before her teeth are brushed!) out of a bottle. I just cannot get her to drink cows milk (at any temperature. Throughout the day she drinks water/juice from a non-spill beaker and has done since she was 4mths. (Dd only went onto bottles at 7mths when I stopped breastfeeding.) I keep reassuring myself that she's happy and that she'll stop when she's ready. However, I'd be alot happier if she's drink cows milk from a beaker!

Any advice/suggestions?