Ready for whole milk??

Question

I asked this question earlier about whether or not my daughter is really ready for whole milk. She is ten months old. She weighs 23 lbs and has two teeth as well as she is a professional crawler and will probably be walking soon as she attempts to stand by herself frequently and pulls herself up on everything.

She usually eats rice cereal for breakfast, two jars of baby food for lunch (meat and fruit) and also the same for dinner. Overall she drinks about 25 ounces of fluids. However, my problem is that for the last four weeks she will not drink her formula. She may have an ounce or two but she always ends up throwing her bottle down if formula is in it. (She still prefers drinking juice or water from her bottle but if formula is in it, she turns her face as if she doesn't like it.) My point in saying all of this is that I think she is telling me that she no longer wants formula and she does eat a lot of solids. If anyone else has had this problem please give me some expert advice.

I don't plan to rush my daughter off of the bottle as I know she isn't ready for it because when I offer her drinks in a sippy cup she usually just plays with the cup and still has little interest in it.

Answer 1

It sounds like she is ready to me! If she's only wanting juice and water, then I would just give her 2-3 oz of whole milk just to ease her into it and see if she likes it. You could also try starting with mixing half formula and half whole milk. They say that whole milk should start at a year old and you can call the ped. just to have peace of mind, but I'd say 10 months is close enough. You might also want to start her on sippy cups with the straw....just so she'll try it instead of turn her head the second she sees the bottle. Good luck!

Answer 2

Try giving her formula in a sippy cup. Do not wean her onto whole milk until she is closer to her first birthday. She still needs the vitamins from the formula. Whole milk only has calcium, and is fortified with vitamins A, D & E. If you look at the formula can, you will see that formula has more nutritional content than whole milk.
Growing infants, need the extra vitamins in formula at this critical stage.

My question to you is, if she is drinking 25 ounces of fluid a day, what is she drinking? Juice should only be limited to 4 ounces a day and should only be put in a sippy cup. If you are giving her a lot of water, it is ok that she has some but I would limit the water and give her formula instead. Maybe give her 20 ounces of formula and give her 2 ounces of water and the other 3 ounces could be juice.

This could be a perfect opportunity to get her ready to wean from bottles into cups. Still offer her formula in the bottle, and if she does not take it put it in the cup. Put her juice in the cup and water in the cup.

I hope this helps. Good Luck to you and your little one.

Answer 3

my sister in law (who has 3 kids) started giving her children whole milk before the age of 1, and they are all fine! It's great that your child is ready to move away from the formula, as long as she's getting her nutrition in her solid food diet. I would always talk to a doctor before making any final decisions though!!!

also, if your daughter is somewhat refusing the bottle (with formula), just get rid of the bottle altogether. It will make life easier in the long run, believe me! Put all her drinks in a nuby sippy cup, and she'll hardly notice the difference. Good luck!

Answer 4

If she isn't eating much for solids I wouldn't take away the bottle. Switch to a stage 2 formula like Enfamil Next Step Lipil (I think Carnation makes one as well). She clearly is not ready to go to milk.

Stop offering juice and water in bottles. Make them sippy cup only items, she won't fill up on them as much- as they don't offer her any nutritional value.

Answer 5

Did you check with your doctor to see if this is ok? My son is 8 1/2 months old and he throws his bottle now too. I will see the dr. next week and I am going to ask about when to add whole milk. I think most doctors will tell you to wait until they are a year old, but it is always worth checking out to be sure. Good luck!

Answer 6

Your sweet little girl is now beginning to draw her need for calcium from her foods so continue to always offer calcium rich pureed foods. As far as the whole milk, did you know that humans are the only living beings that continue to give our young milk long after the lactation period has ended? So in actuality, the Designer made the body to no longer NEED milk. Now calcium IS necessary for proper growth and strength of the bones. Remember learning that in high school? :) Dairy actually inhibits the absorption of iron, so watch your little one and lay low on dairy. Even the school system in Georgia came to the conclusion that their school children were so depleted of iron b/c of too much dairy and they no longer recommend nor push milk. <--that was free info! lol Anyway, you are thinking and a good mother will always listen to what everyone says then make up her own mind. Have fun with your little One.

Answer 7

yes, she is in small doses. My son is 9 months old and his doctor recommended we give him some...and he weighs 26 lbs, not quite walking yet and eats lots of solids.