Transition from formula to cows’ milk

[Treasured]

My DS will be one in a few weeks and I’m thinking ahead to moving from formula to cows’ milk.

We currently use the prep machine to make bottles so they’re not particularly warm but of course, not cold either.

When I’m moving to cows’ milk should I be warming it up a little? I think how cold it is straight from the fridge might be a bit of a shock to him and can’t see it being very comforting before bed?

Obviously I know everyone will do it differently but just looking to see how others handled the transition

Just warm it in a pan for a minute or two is what we did.

We warm it here - either stand in a jug of hot water or 30 secs in the microwave and give it a shake.

After 12 months you need to get rid of the bottle. It doesn’t matter if the milk in the cup is warm or cold, it’s personal preference of your child. They don’t actually need to drink cow milk as long as they are getting 350 mg of calcium a day.

All ours point blank refused cows milk until they were over 2. We had to stick with the growing up milk until then, costly! The liked their cows milk cold rather than warm too.

I breastfed so may be different but I just started giving cold cows milk never bothered with warm. See what your DS will take!

He shouldn’t be having bottles after 12 months
He should be eating meals and milk should be just a drink
He doesn’t need a bottle before bed

At one we had warm cows milk in a bottle at bedtime. When we knew she liked that a couple of weeks later we swapped to a cup that she point blank refused to drink from. I tried a few different styles of cups including a cow print one that father Christmas brought which she was very excited about. Warm milk, cold milk, hot milk. It was a flat out no. I was fed up of washing bottles and if set my stall out that it was a cup from now on so I knocked it on the head and gave up. She got cows milk in cereal/porridge. Eats plenty of cheese and full fat Greek yoghurt etc. And calcium from other sources so i stopped worrying about it.

My eldest happily switched to fridge cold cows milk. My youngest still likes it warm. I microwave for 40 seconds.

We never gave cows milk in a bottle, to try distinguish it was something different. We used munchkin weighted straw cups with both girls. Both happily drank from them.

I found cleaning bottles a major pain in the bum, so I was happy to lose them ASAP!

I didn’t say that I would still be using the bottle? Only that he would be having a drink of milk before bed.

Thanks for all the tips on milk and recommendations on cups to move to - I’m also more than happy to me getting rid of the bottles!

Oh god. We use bottles 3x a day (19mo). He has a bottle 1/2 formula, 1/2 full fat milk. Makes it the right temperature. Also prevented any possible cow milk issues as we just kept it half half. Plus no worry about vitamin intake.

No I do not brush his teeth afterwards, he falls asleep with his bottle. Yes he has his own brush and brushes twice a day.

OP, deffo transition slowly. Cows milk had the opposite effect on my DD’s. DD1 - made her have an upset stomach. We switched fully back to formula & gradually introduced it again over two weeks (gradually reduced the formula oz & replaced with cows milk, one oz at a time for a couple days). All good.

DD2, it constipated her. We did the slow transition & still bothered her. But we upped the fibre & water intake and she was all good within 2/3 weeks!

Use a multivitamin. No need to keep paying for formula!

@ZooKeeper19

Oh god. We use bottles 3x a day (19mo). He has a bottle 1/2 formula, 1/2 full fat milk. Makes it the right temperature. Also prevented any possible cow milk issues as we just kept it half half. Plus no worry about vitamin intake.

No I do not brush his teeth afterwards, he falls asleep with his bottle. Yes he has his own brush and brushes twice a day.

DEEP GASP. Straight to MN prison for you!

We just switched over when we'd run out of formula. We heat it for a bit in the microwave so its semi warm. My son has it a 360cup, except before bed where he'll have bottle.

We moved straight on to cows milk when the last of the formula ran out and we warmed it for 30 seconds in the microwave, stirring midway.

Oh, and he still has a bottle for his milk as he has it once a day when he wakes up. Lots of stuff online about how babies shouldn’t have a bottle after 12 months but it’s once a day so I don’t think it’s an issue. The rest of the day he drinks water from an open cup or 360 just fine.