How did you switch to whole milk? DS refuses!

jjcrew2006 · July 2011

I've been attempting to make the switch from formula to milk and DS doesn't want anything to do with it. I've tried a sippy several times and a bottle (even though pedi told me not to do this).

What method worked for you? I'm tired of buying formula!!

Dreamsicle23 · July 2011

Just go cold turkey, and don't offer anything else to drink for a few hours. If he gets thirsty enough he'll drink it. Don't get bullied into dropping $$$ on formula. Some kids never drink milk either. You can make sure he gets a lot of cheese and yogurt.

08summerbride · July 2011

Some people have success mixing it, and just decreasing the ratio of formula to milk. We did not have success with that however. The only thing that worked for us was what PP suggested. We just picked a day and offered nothing but milk in a sippy cup, and eventually she got thirsty enough to drink it (after a morning of refusal and fussiness). It was definitely as stubborn thing, not a dislike or intolerance to the taste.

A friend of mine read that after 2 days of offering nothing but milk, the body will start to crave it and they will drink it. (I don't know where she read this or if there is any truth to it)

Corinne13 · July 2011

We were having issues with DD going to the bathroom so right before her 1st birthday the dr pulled her off all formula and dairy products and had us try Rice Dream (it's milk-like drink that is made from rice) we had her on that for a week to rule out a dairy allergy. When we realized it wasn't the dairy that was causing her tummy touble we put her straight onto whole milk and she loved it. She had never had milk before that. Maybe try the rice milk for a few days and then ease your DS into the whole milk.

mrsseguin · July 2011

We mixed whole milk with formula for about 1.5 weeks. We slowly added more milk and decreased the formula. We didn't bother getting rid of bottles until he was 1.5 years old. I would take one thing to change at a time.

jaemiller · July 2011

We started by mixing formula with the milk. 75% formula, 25% milk for a few days and then slowly adding more milk and less formula until you are doing all milk.

MrsPhunk · July 2011

mrsseguin:
We mixed whole milk with formula for about 1.5 weeks. We slowly added more milk and decreased the formula. We didn't bother getting rid of bottles until he was 1.5 years old. I would take one thing to change at a time.

This is exactly what I was going to write. We took a little longer for the transition, but for no particular reason other than we had a "free" (one of my friends' LOs stopped using the very formula we used so she gave us a ton of factory-direct product which was SO useful) container to use up. We only did milk in bottles and sippies for water, then when we went to cups for milk it wasn't that bad. Good luck!

meg1974 · July 2011

I went from BFing to WM so it might be different for me. DD refused WM for about 6 months. I just made sure she got her calcium and milk fat from whole milk yogurt and cheese. I finally got her to drink it by giving her milk mixed with carnation instant breakfast. I slowly diluted it so that it was just milk, and after about a week she was drinking just milk.

TiffanyBerry · July 2011

While DD is still breastfed, she has zero interest in cow's milk. She'll drink almond milk or coconut milk occasionally, and is losing interest in yogurt. I don't sweat it. I make sure she gets a wide variety of foods, plenty of water, and am not too concerned. (I'm lucky that she'll eat other calcium sources - like lentils, etc.)