When to stop formula

[Kaye03]

Im looking at starting formula for my 9mth baby. Silly question, when baby is 1yrs, do u carry on with formula, only give cows, or mixture of both?

It doesn't matter. From 6 months if they are eating a full healthy balanced diet they don't need any kind of milk

Rubia where did you hear that? Milk should be their main source of calories and nutrition right up until their first birthday!

I was wondering the same. DD is almost 1 and has cut down to only one bottle before bed but she absolutely hates cow’s milk so it’s probably going to be a case of staying on formula until she’s ready to drop that feed entirely.

My hv advised me: use formula up till 1 for whatever bottles they're still having, after 1 you can use cows milk + a multivitamin as well

Rubia is totally wrong by the way- cows milk fine in food from 6 months but should not replace formula or breast milk before a year old; babies need the nutrition.

We switched to cows milk at a year old.
Much cheaper than formula!

I don't know any 6 month olds who were eating a full balanced diet from 6 months old though Rubia. Do you?

its up to you really OP but breast milk/ formula should remain a major part of their diet until they turn one.

I started giving formula at around 6 months old, then started to introduce cows milk around 11 months old alongside formula. I gave up formula completely around 12 months and DD dropped cows milk in a bottle at 13mo through her own choice but still has it occasionally as a drink from a sippy cup.

My dd is 10 months and they just drop bottles when they're ready to, you have to use formula though till at least one as that's their main nutrition source

We dropped bottles at the same time as switching to cows milk (12 months)

From the paediatrician and nutritional expert my son was seeing when he was a baby, backed up by multiple independent doctors. The milk up until 1 thing is just because most babies aren't getting a full healthy balanced diet

We did a full immediate swap at 11 months under dietian advice. DD did not seem bothered but she did not have much milk any way

Rubia that may be the case for YOUR baby. The NHS guideline say a baby should be weaned from 6 months. There is no way a baby who has just started weaning will have a balanced diet. Milk still makes up a large component of the babies diet.

Current advice is that from 1yr onwards you can give cows milk.

Are you currently breastfeeding?

We weaned ours off formula by mixing with cows milk then gradually changing the ratios until the formula was gone. I think you have to stage changes over a few weeks to let their tummies settle. Out of my 3, DC1(not b.f) was fine, DC2 (b.f and formula) had a tough time lots of D&V (discovered many years later she was lactose intolerant) and DC3 (b.f then moved to formula around 3mnths) had loose stools with every ratio change but has been ok on cows milk from 14 months. Sometimes they don't like all the changes either so become quite fussy. I'm not sure how it would work for you if going from breast to formula now then to go to cows in such a short timeframe, but there is formula that continues in stages up until 4yrs I believe.
Maybe you could try keep the formula for a bit longer rather than immediately transitioning to cows. When DC1 was younger we had to wait until 2yrs to wean onto cows milk anyway.

They don't drink quite so much milk now they're eating 3× daily so you'll save a bit of money on the formula.

By the end of 6 months any child can have been weaned on to 100 different fruits and vegetables, grains, beans and legumes. More than enough to sustain a healthy balanced diet, no milk of any kind. It happens more commonly than you might think.

RubiaPTA if you look at the NHS website it says differently.

www.nhs.uk/conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/understanding-food-groups/

Food before 1 is just for fun - that's what my HV said! My son is a fussy eater so I kept him on follow on formula until he was 2.5, just so that I knew he was getting the vitamins and iron he needed. He only had 1 beaker a day,

My ds1 stopped formula a few weeks before his first birthday, just because he finished the formula we had and it seemed pointless to buy more for just two weeks. He was only having one bottle at bedtime at that point though.

RubiaPTA I started weening my son at 6months but he hardly ate anything. He's 8months now and much more interested in food but still needs milk (he's breastfed). It's not that suddenly at 6months they start eating and stop needing milk. They can't get everything they need from the small amounts of food they are eating, and milk is still their main source of calories and vitamins etc. At about one it swaps over and they get more from food than milk.

As for the OP I assume that you can swap to cows milk at one but could carry on using formula. It's just that they shouldn't have cows milk to drink before 1

If a baby is having an adequate and balanced diet then they will probably quite naturally reduce the amount of milk they consume. A baby might be ‘fully weaned’ before a year old, for example my DD was only drinking a 4oz bottle before bed at 10 months old (she also has vitamin drops). At this point the doctor said perfectly ok to move her on to cow’s milk, however, she hates the stuff and won’t touch it!

It’s a gradual transition from only having milk to getting enough nutrition from food, that’s why it typically takes 6 months and why 1 year old is given as the guideline.

Rubia’s ‘advice’ is just bizarre though. No way is a 6 month old that has been weaning for 3-4 weeks getting enough nutrition from food. Even if they have been introduced to 100 foods which sounds impossible as it’s 3-4 new foods a day, they eat such tiny amounts that I have a hard time believing any HCP would advise dropping breast or formula milk in favour of cow’s milk or as per the latest post no milk whatsoever

At 9 months I would reduce bottles but still give formula and around 11 months start to mix cows milk it and gradually increase the cows milk ratio over the month and around 1 year old try and give more soppy cups with full fat cows milk during the day

Rubia highly doubt your 6 month old was eating enough of anything to sustain a full, varied diet with enough nutrients. I would love to see ANY dr or nutritionist that recommends this.

Op, keep giving formula until 1, and they you can make the switch to cows milk, either gradually or in one go depending on how your baby takes it. Cows milk can be used in cooking from 6 months.

I wouldn’t have been happy that any of mine were getting sufficient nutrients through food until about 1. And that is the official recommendation... breast milk or formula as the main source of nutrition until 1.

Ds is 11 months and we’re just starting the transition.

I’m half and halfing his bottles with formula and full fat milk and will gradually put less formula and more cows milk in so that by the time he’s 1 it will just be cows milk.

They need a minimum of 21 oz a day so rather than looking at it as dropping a feed I just try and make sure he gets that much. He tends to have a full bottle before bed, a few ounces in the morning with his breakfast and 6/7 ounces before his afternoon nap.

What 6 month old is having a well balanced diet that has all the nutrients and calories they need. Most 6 months olds I've met spend most of their time smearing food around rather than eating it.
Breastmilk/formula till 1, then you can move onto cows milk etc. Most kids reduce their milk intake during weaning as they start to take more actual food in.

Ds had formula until a year and a half. First milk from birth to 6 months. Follow on milk from 6 months to 1 year. Then toddler milk from 1 year. We stopped when he wasn't drinking it anymore.

You just reduce formula give more cows and do it that way or you can put some formula into the cows milk so they get used to the switch over,I would stick with the up until 1 guidelines.