Milk change

[bubs765]

Hi, I'm wanting to wean baby to cows milk at 12 months as recommended and night wean at the same time. How would I even begin going about this? I will likely google it and get some answers off some websites but some first hand experiences would be great :)

Please help me too. My son is 1 on Wednesday. My health visitor said just literally change his milk that day. My friend explained that her son was keen so she gradually added it to formula an oz at a time for a short while and now he is fine. Regarding the weaning I would love my son to drop his 5am bottle but I'm not pushing him just yet. I think I will get him used goes milk first and take it from there. He sleeps from 7 till 5 then back down till 7 so I can't really complain. He drains the bottle and goes straight back to sleep so I think he still needs it and to be honest he isn't full on 3 meals a day so think he needs the extra calories. Sorry I jumped on your post x

And so sorry for all my spelling mistakes. Chubby fingers. I'm sure you get the jist x

At 12 months you should get rid of bottles and introduce 2 snacks a day. The snacks may help with the over night feeding. I would do this before night weaning. Are you ff or bf?

My children are allergic to cows milk so it was specialist formula and oat milk for us but we did the change gradually adding. Dc1 it was switched completely within about 10 days, Dc2 took 4 attempts over 8 months to switch she would completely reject even the smallest amount. I tried soya, almond and oat all rejected. Her dietician wasn't worried but recommended trying again in another month, at 20 months she finally started to accept a little bit. Think it was another month or so before she was swapped over.

Dc1 was also switched to a munchkin 360 cup, dc2 I'm still trying and spending a fortune at over 2 to find something she'll drink the milk out of rather than a bottle. The dietitian was also not worried because it's more important she has the milk for calcium content, but vegan alternatives to cheese don't have calcium so it's harder to get their recommended dose.

I did bf to cows milk. No bottles, straight to sippy cups (the Tomee Tippy ones). My first was not keen and I upped his dairy in food because he'd only drink water from a cup. He eventually started drinking milk at about 18 months. His younger brother was easier because he just wanted to copy his big brother. But as long as water intake is good and diet includes plenty of dairy you don't need to stress about drinking milk. I had already night weaned by then, think about 9 months. I did it by sending in Daddy to cuddle them. Other people try offering water only at night.

@Thatwentbadly I'm ff. So can I cut out the bottles of formula cold turkey without weaning slowly? He will drink cows milk from a sippy cup in the day, then at night should I offer cows milk in the same cup? Or just water? Thank you for taking the time to reply
I'm pregnant and due when he is 14 months, hence the rush to cut out bottles!

@TooMinty thank you he is 9 months now so I may begin to night wean. How much was your lo having at night before you did? He's having 2 bottles atm, I'm guessing if I just offer water then he will eat more in the day if he needs extra calories to compensate?

I think you only need to do it gradually if he doesn't like the taste of milk compared to formula. If he's happy with milk then just swap to sippy cups straight away and enjoy not having to buy formula or make up bottles any more 😊
If you were breastfeeding you would want to do it gradually for your own comfort/health. But this isn't something you need to worry about when ff.
I agree with feeding more during the day to help cut the night feed, I used to do a bowl of porridge for their supper (washed down with a cup of milk too for the one that would take it).

Lovely thank you so much for your advice!:)

Yeah two feeds at night sounds similar but I can't remember the timings now. Mine ate loads during the day so I was comfortable night weaning. I did a combination of spoon feeding and finger food so I could be sure most of each meal made it to their tummies! If you are doing fully baby led weaning where they feed themselves you'd maybe need to keep more of an eye on formula intake as lots of food can end up on ground or hair rather than tummy 😂

[quote bubs765]@Thatwentbadly I'm ff. So can I cut out the bottles of formula cold turkey without weaning slowly? He will drink cows milk from a sippy cup in the day, then at night should I offer cows milk in the same cup? Or just water? Thank you for taking the time to reply
I'm pregnant and due when he is 14 months, hence the rush to cut out bottles! [/quote]
I would do the day time changes first. Remember there is calcium in cheese, yoghurts and forfeited bread too. DD1 was ff and she needed milk over night until she was 13 months.