Toddler Transitions- Lots of Questions! (mrsjessicamitchell)

MJM3108

So, Ben is going to be 1 next week! (I am only slightly freaking out) We began the transition to WCM last week. I am replacing formula with WCM an ounce at a time (doing each amount for one week) . So, my question is, when should I start the transition to drinking his WCM from a bottle to a sippy? We've only ever given him water out of his sippy/straw cup, which he drinks throughout the day. I guess we would do it gradually, replacing one bottle with a sippy for about a week or so at a time? Also, he drinks his bottles pretty quickly, while he "nurses" his sippy for a good part of the day. Have you found it takes your LO longer to drink milk from the sippy? Do you have them sit with you and drink it the way you would either bottle or breast feeding? 

I am also concerned about replacing calories after the transition. Typically, Ben gets up, has a bottle, then breakfast maybe an hour or so later. Sometimes he has a bottle before his nap sometimes only after- depends on how late he gets up/ if it's a weekday vs weekend/ etc, etc, etc. He's half and half on eating lunch. Some days he wants it, others he doesn't. Then a bottle after his afternoon nap, then dinner, and bedtime bottle. He gets between 24-30 oz of formula a day plus 2-3 meals and small snacks. Do I need to make sure he eats more often? Offer foods with higher calorie counts?

I just am starting to feel very overwhelmed with all these new "rules" for toddler years. I feel like I am just getting to the point where I know what I'm doing, and now everything is going to change. Thanks for reading my long, convoluted post with way too many questions! Please feel free to just tell me to read a book if you don't want to answer my 20 bajillion questions! Love you ladies!

martinimomma

I think there are many ways to handle the transitions, so I hope you get a range of responses to choose what might work best for you.

For us, we transitioned to a sippy while DS was still on formula, as he remained on formula longer than 1 year while we worked on diagnosing his food sensitivities.  I was worried about the transition but it wound up going really well.  We started with the bottles he got during the day first, offering the sippy instead.  He did drink it more slowly but it went well.  He got cuddles just like he would when it was a bottle.  Then we moved on to the morning bottle.  We did the nighttime bottle last and that one took a little work.  I think he was 16 or so months (?) by the time we got rid of the last bottle.  By 18 months or so he would sit on our laps while he had his milk maybe 75% of the time. 

We transitioned him to almond milk pretty much cold turkey, around the time we dropped the last bottle, and as it was tastier than Alimentum he loved it and the change was not an issue.

Our challenge as yours was and is making sure he gets enough calories as he is a lousy eater.  Unfortunately almond milk is not great for fat or calories (unless you get the highly sweetneed kind which is too much sugar IMO).  He has one cup when he gets up, eats breakfast an hour later or so, has one cup after lunch/before nap, and another cup before bed.  Lately he has turned down the before bed cup a few times. 

It is hard to start these types of transitions but once you get going, it sometimes goes better than you expect.  But for the extra time it took us to drop the bedtime bottle (which in retrospect was probably 50% him and 50% me) it went really well.  Hope it does for you, too.

chloebeth930

Gosh, 1 feels like forever ago I am trying to remember.  Currently for Lilliana we have milk at all three meals and then she can have water/juice with her snacks (one in between breakfast and lunch and then one between lunch and dinner).  It took us until she was around 1 1/2 to stop doing the bottle of milk before bed.  It had nothing to do with calorie intake but way more a hesitation on my DH part to have her "grow up."

 

As scary as it all seems it is mainly going to be trial and error, because let's face it every toddler is different. For Lilliana when it came time to figure out how much milk to give her I just filled her sippy up all the way and if she would drink it all and then not eat any food I knew next time to give her less milk.. and so on and so on.

MJM3108

Thanks for all the feedback, ladies! I feel like I have more questions now than I did when we first brought him home. Think I'm going to invest in a coy of Happiest Toddler on the Block.