Starting milk

Crystal - posted on 08/02/2009

My Ped. said to start adding one oz whole (organic) milk to bottles (at 10 months) and offer her some with meals. She rarely takes the milk with meals, but if its warmed up she will. The Ped. said not to replace formula, but start adding milk in, cuz at one year she should b off the formula and the breast.

Monica - posted on 08/01/2009

well i think once reading all these other replies i realize that this is the conversation i jumped into and all the answers where here,great info and i already feel better after reading the replies of other mothers, thank-you

Priscilla - posted on 07/30/2009

Thanks- this is a great feed (no pun.) I was going to post the same inquiry and everyone's repsonses have been really helpful. And, I didn't know what HOMO milk was either. I thought babies are supposed to start on whole milk- was just going to pick up a quart of that to experiment. Is that not as good as the buttermilk "kick" added? My daughter's already eating cheese- loves cheese, not as crazy about yogurt, but likes yogurt. Anyways, thanks again Erica for starting this conversation!

Connie - posted on 07/30/2009

Keep trying Amber! They say it takes a baby at least 10 tastes of something before they really can decide if they like it or not, so be persistent!

Amber - posted on 07/29/2009

What do you do if they don't like milk. I only have tried it once but he wasn't having it. I gave it to him at supper.

Cindy - posted on 07/29/2009

My son started weaning himself off of BM at 8 1/2 months so we went to formula without issue. He's had yogurt and cottage cheese so I wasn't too worried about dairy allergies. I started him on whole milk (4%, homogenized, organic) over a week ago and he's almost 11 months old. I know they recommended waiting until a year, but I don't think there's a magic switch that flips on their first birthday! I mixed 3 oz of whole milk with 3 oz of formula mixed with water (6 oz total) for breakfast for a week. This week his morning bottle was all cow's milk. Next week I'll probably make his lunch bottle 1/2 formula & 1/2 cow's milk and continue on until I get him completely switched over.

Connie - posted on 07/29/2009

My little guy started to wean himself off BM at about 9 1/2 months, he no longer wanted it and started to bite me...especially painful as he had 8 teeth by that time! We started giving him homo milk along with other dairy products, he loves yogurt, cheese, cream cheese and cottage cheese. He didn't seem to have any upset tummy or problems digesting it, and there is no history of allergies in our families. We felt it was a great time to make that transition to milk as he would no longer nurse, and it's worked out well for us.

Melissa - posted on 07/29/2009

I started all my kids on milk when they no longer want formula. I know the dr.'s say wait till a certain age but my son hated formula from about 8 months and now at 10 months he drinks only milk. I started slowly to make sure no allergies and then a little more and now that is all he wants!! Just depends on the child's tolerence and parents preference!!

Joann - posted on 07/28/2009

i did it with my 10 month old and just watered it down like you would apple juice and he loves it.

Shannon - posted on 07/28/2009

"homo milk" means homogenized milk with a butterfat content of 3.25%

Amber - posted on 07/28/2009

OK........ what is homo milk?

Shannon - posted on 07/28/2009

I was thinking of switching my son to homo milk too..... I am in the process of starting to wean him off BF and he is not liking the formula.... I have to pump and mix the formula with some breast milk in order for him to take it. The only thing that is keeping me trying the formula is because my son is on the small side for weight (10th percentile.... although he is in the 75th percentile for height.... tall and slim...lol) and I think it would benefit him to have the formula for a little while......
I know my sister-in-law goes to a breastfeeding clinic and they told her that she could start giving her daughter homo milk at 10 months.

Amber - posted on 07/28/2009

I am also considering giving my son cow's milk. The Doctor, of course, say wait til he's a year old but every child is different. My son doesn't want he's formula. It seems like the perfect time to switch him but I haven't done it yet. I was at least going to wait until he's 11 months.

Jennifer - posted on 07/27/2009

i have given my son skim milk already at 6 months but of course it was only a tiny bit

have done this every week 2-3 times so that when he is old enough he will start drinking milk right away. it should be ok as long as it is a very little amount i did not give my son more then a teaspoon full of skim milk

Rebekah - posted on 07/27/2009

I've been giving my son whole milk since 9 months and he still gets formula. He absolutely loves it. Once my son hits 11 months, I'm going to start weaning him from formula to milk. I'll start with his afternoon and work my way to the morning bottle, since he gets a sippy cup of whole milk before bedtime.

Kirsten - posted on 07/26/2009

My son has porriage for breakfast and I have started to give him cow milk instead of water and he loves it, I have had no problems with allergies. I am having trouble getting him to drink in just in a sippy cup though. He is only breastfeed twice a day, morning and night.

Erica - posted on 07/26/2009

Yes I can call her dr's office with questions anytime day or night and I take advantage of that, I was just looking for input from fellow mothers. I do plan on calling them to see what they think. I appreciate your input and I'm glad I'm not the only one considering this.

Kim - posted on 07/26/2009

Our pedi told us we could start our son on homo milk when he was 10 months and so we gave him a little which his snack in the afternoon to start. At this point, we've also removed his "lunchtime" bfing and give him homo with his lunch instead. The plan is to slowly remove one bfing at a time. My pedi explained it to us this way....cow's milk is harder for baby's to digest but at this age, they can handle it...but the fear is that ppl will just switch them right over to homo and they won't get all the stuff they need from bm/formula so that's why they recommend a year. It made sense to me!

Danielle - posted on 07/25/2009

My daughter's doctor said that milk can be started at eleven months. I am breastfeeding and looking to drop the midday feeding when I go back to work next month. I teach school, my pumping amount is not impressive and time is not plentiful in my day. I plan to try a second stage formula until her first birthday. The doctor said I should substitute milk for formula or breastmilk at a regular feeding. I know that my doctors office prefers I call them with questions, do you have a similar situation available? Your little one sure is a cutie! Good luck :)