Try doing milk half the time...and slowly introduce it. He may not take it right away anyway, so if you start off with just a few feedings a day (like lunch and dinner) then he'll be ready in 4 weeks for full time milk.
I am a SAH mother and nurse. I switched by son (now 3) a bit earlier than the 12 months also. What is 4 weeks?? 12 months is just the guideline, it is not a hard fast rule. My son is very bright and sociable (even with 4 weeks less of formula).
45 oz. of formula is quite a bit of fluid intake. Is he drinking so much b/c he does not like, or you are not offering much in the way of solids??? Sounds like maybe if you increases his solids...he would drink less. If he is not "eating" much...he will probably try to drink his calories with the whole milk too!
If there no history of allergies... go ahead with whole cow's milk. But, make sure he is getting solids/table food as well. You know your child better than anyone else.
I personally would say, no.
Only because I have learned that the pasteurising process makes it very hard for our bodies to use the calcium in the milk. If you can get raw cow or goat milk from a good and knowledgeable source that is the very best next to mommy's milk!!!
God Bless
Hi! My pediatrician put my son on cow's milk at 9 months. We waited to 10 months. It worked out great for him. We buy organinc whole milk. Good Luck!
Hi Julia,
When my son (now 14 months) was 11 months old I started mixing formula with 1 oz of milk, and see how he reacted... About a week or so later I added an ounce more.. Then kept on adding it every week to see how he reacted. So by the time he turned one he was on cows milk totally. He has adapted really good to the cows milk. Pediatricians always suggests waiting until they are 1 year old then go cold turkey, but I learned with my daughter when she was younger (now 9 years old) the hard way and we did the cold turkey thing! It didn't go very well with her and she didn't like it much! But as long as he is actively eatting other foods you should be good. Yogurt is also another thing you can try if you haven't already. They are wonderful and my son loves it! Shredded cheese is another fun way of eatting and has a source of milk in it as well :)
Good luck!
We started our son on milk at 11months. What we did was not just completly but started introducing to him. At first he wasn't to sure of the taste butstarted getting used to it so within the month I had him switched. First we mixed formula & milk, then after a week we started giving him 1 or 2 bottles a day. Now I still give him 1 bottle of formula a few times a week just because of the nutrients. Our pediatrician said it wouldn't hurt to get him started on milk, they all seem to have a different opinion. 1 told us to add rice to his bottle to get him to sleep through the night where as another said never do that.
There is no harm to start him on the milk, just try to give him formula at least a few times a week.
I actually started my daughter (who is now almost 13 months old) on cow's milk at 11 months old. Everytime she played with one of her friends, who is about six weeks older, she would always try to drink the milk from his cup. Since she was showing such interest I just went ahead and switched her to milk and at the same time took her completely off the bottle as well-previously she had been using a cup and bottle. Anyway she tolerated the switch to cow's milk just fine and my pedatrician did not seem concerned when I told her at my daughter's one year check up that she had been on cow's milk for the past month. She just said my daughter should not be drinking more than 16 ounces (I believe she said 16 oz but check with your pediatrician) per day. My daughter does drink whole milk and not the reduced percent milks. Hope this helps!
Why not substitute water for a formula once a day? Or give him half the amount of formula then give him water for the other half one time a day? It's good for your son to choose water as a drink and this will get him more accustomed to it. It will also save on the amount of formula you give him, which should get you through the next few weeks until he's one.
Della Sue
No! Don't! It has to do with the development of allergies. Also, Organic is the way to go.
I agree with previous posters who said that your son probably doesn't need 45 oz of formula a day. At that age my son was probably eating about 24 oz a day. The rest of his fluids was water. Try a bottle or 2 of water a day to replace some of the formula. And it probably won't hurt to give him some cow's milk too but if he isn't drinking a good amount of water already try to start getting him used to this. My son drank more water than milk after he was a year old anyway and it is good to get him used to drinking it. That should save you some money as well.
I waited the full 12 months to switch my oldest over but my youngest I started at about 11 1/2 months. Both times though I started by doing 1/4 milk 3/4 formula for a few days, then increased to 1/2 and 1/2, then 3/4 and 1/4 and finally straight milk. It took probably about a week and a half to two weeks to switch completely over. That way it's easier on baby's tummy and hopefully he won't have any problems with digestion.
I was looking on Beechnut.com this morning and read this...Although you may wonder if it's okay to make the switch to cow's milk now, you should wait until your baby is one year old. Cow's milk contains too much sodium and protein for little ones, and may interfere with your baby's iron absorption. Wait until your baby's health-care provider tells you it's okay to start cow's milk.
Some information for this article was provided by "Solid Advice: A Handy Feeding Guide." published by Beech-Nut Nutrition Corp.
Hope this helps!
Allison
When my daughter was born, she could not tolerate ANY type of formula, and believe me, I tried them all. After a "old wives tale" (my mother in law used for my husband who was also intolerant of formula), I had my daughter on milk early (10 or 11 months old). The same goes for each of my 4 grandkids. Each child is different, but try it and see. I would suggest using whole milk for them for awhile though, because the doctor did tell my daughter that the vitamins in whole milk plus the fat was good for babies' growth.
Unless there is a medical or dietary reason that you didn't mention, you should be good to give him a feeding or two of cows milk now. I wouldn't suggest switching all at once though...maybe one feeding for a few days, then two, then three etc. That way, if it is too much for him he doesn't have a lot in his system too quickly.
When my son was 11 months old, my pediatrician had told me to start mixing the bottles but he didn't like it that way. I had to give a bottle of one or the other at a time...he would take either one by itself but not mixed together. With my daughter, he said wait until she was 1 year. I started giving her some milk here and there just before that. Both had no problems.
I started to transition my daughter to cow's milk at 11 months. She was on cow's milk only by 12 months but it does take them awhile to adjust to the taste so I would start now and wean you little one off the formula.
Hi Julia,
With my first child my pediatrician told us at her 9 month check up that we could start weening her to cow's milk! I was so surprised and not quite sure so we waited another month and then started putting an ounce of cow's milk in with her formula and so on and I believe she was completely on cow's milk by the time she was 11 months, so go ahead! My son is almost 8 months old and we'll be starting the weening process in another 2 months. Good luck!
We were living in Germany when my daughter was 6 months old. We couldn't afford to buy formula so I put her on whole milk. It did NOT hurt her at all. In fact, she has NEVER been sick, perfect health and has always been an A/B student throught school. Thanks for listening.
You should not be giving your baby nursery water. Water with added flouride is not appropriate for babies. It's also an unecessary expense. Many groups are trying to ban the sale of nursery water. See this link or google it: http://www.ewg.org/node/25951
It's never too early to take your baby off of (man-made) formula. When formula replaced breastmilk, it was all about the dollar. Corporations could make money off of what God gave free. If your baby is eating solids, as you described, don't even replace the formula with cow's milk, especially if it is not organic. If it is organic, then use it as a drink with meals and make sure that real juice is also one of his drinks. Give your baby vitamins as a supplement. Often-times doctors have stock in the very thing they are prescribing or advocating.
I switched both of my daughters at 11 months and they were fine :) I would go for it. Formula is SO expensive. We started by using 1/4 bottle cows milk and 3/4 formula, then moved to 1/2 cows milk and 1/2 formula, and so on, until they were fine with a full bottle of cows milk. Hope this helps!