The 9-12 months - bottles and milk

[NewYearNewName2024]

My baby is turning 9 months and I've read A LOT online about things regarding moving away from bottles etc, and I just wondered if anyone could talk me through what they did?

My main questions are:

• when did you give formula in anything but a bottle?
• how did you transition from formula to milk at 1?

At a year old we used up the last bit of formula and threw the bottles in the bin. It's was cups of cows milk from then on. It's really not a big deal! When you're ready to make the change (after a year old) replace bottles with cups and formula with milk.

We went to a sippy type cup and toddler milk at about 1.

So sounds like the straight swap approach??

She currently has a straw cup for water, so I was wondering if I should do some formula feeds in that to get her used to it more before also changing to milk?!

We've not tried open cups yet, I've ordered some (and am looking at waterproofs for us all as can imagine the carnage!).

I switched from formula to cows milk gradually. On our last tin of formula I started diluting it out by preparing 6oz of formula, adding 2oz of cows milk, 5oz of formula, 3oz of cows milk and so on.

DD 17 months is still using a straw cup and a bottle before bed. I should really transition to an open cup but as you say, it’s total carnage!

I switched gradually to a sippy cup with my first. He had an evening bottle until about 18 months when it became a sippy cup. I think I made the switch to cows milk pretty soon after age 1. For my second he won’t take a bottle, so I use a weighted straw cup - which I really recommend as a half way between a bottle and sippy cup - and then am gradually introducing a sippy cup (he’s not a year old yet).

It needn't be total carnage.

Google "EZPZ tiny cup", it's absolutely magic. They use it so intuitively and it's really easy for little hands to use. Start by filling it only a quarter of the way at a time and never more than half way.

When they transition from that to using normal cups, again don't fill them like you would an adult cup. Even now at 2 and a half I don't fill cups more than half way for my toddler, it's just inviting trouble!