Hellobee Boards Topic: How do you transition to cow milk?

Hellobee Boards Topic: How do you transition to cow milk? https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Mon, 06 Apr 2026 00:24:46 +0000 Mrsbells on "How do you transition to cow milk?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-transition-to-cow-milk#post-2772254 Thu, 07 Sep 2017 18:58:46 +0000 Mrsbells 2772254@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @agold: DS turns one next week and we started offering him a sippy cup of almond milk a couple weeks ago. Those dont replace his bottles though. he just took it right away snowjewelz on "How do you transition to cow milk?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-transition-to-cow-milk#post-2772252 Thu, 07 Sep 2017 18:43:35 +0000 snowjewelz 2772252@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @agold: I think at 12 months it was drink warm milk sitting in my lap in the living room. The go upstairs to change diaper, into PJs, brush teeth, then read books. We coslept so then it was just lights out and she rolled around with me there. agold on "How do you transition to cow milk?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-transition-to-cow-milk#post-2772238 Thu, 07 Sep 2017 17:52:56 +0000 agold 2772238@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @MrsSCB: Thanks for this tip. I am not pumping much any more, so I'm going to stop that soon. Maybe next week. I don't want to night wean, but I'm newly pregnant and just anticipating that I may have to stop at some point. But otherwise, I suppose I will continue to nurse her at night and in the morning until that time comes. @snowjewelz: @HeartAbandoned: Thanks. Can you tell me what your bedtime routine was an in what order? HeartAbandoned on "How do you transition to cow milk?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-transition-to-cow-milk#post-2772236 Thu, 07 Sep 2017 17:22:34 +0000 HeartAbandoned 2772236@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @agold: We didn't totally wean right away, so I continued to nurse at night & first thing in the morning. Once we were ready to wean I replaced the nursing with milk in a straw cup, and eventually moved to water at bedtime. snowjewelz on "How do you transition to cow milk?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-transition-to-cow-milk#post-2772095 Thu, 07 Sep 2017 11:16:18 +0000 snowjewelz 2772095@https://boards.hellobee.com/ We started giving her warmed milk in a straw cup to start off bed time routine. MrsSCB on "How do you transition to cow milk?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-transition-to-cow-milk#post-2772071 Thu, 07 Sep 2017 09:00:29 +0000 MrsSCB 2772071@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Are you trying to wean entirely? Sorry if you already said and I missed it. I don't pump anymore and F drinks milk at daycare, but I still nurse before bed. If I wanted to wean, I think I would start trying to moving nursing to earlier in the bedtime routine, so maybe nurse and then put on PJs, and then put in crib. That way she could start getting used to not nursing right before sleep and it might be easier to remove it from the routine entirely. agold on "How do you transition to cow milk?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-transition-to-cow-milk#post-2771998 Wed, 06 Sep 2017 18:16:16 +0000 agold 2771998@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @HeartAbandoned: What do you use to put your baby to bed or nap? I always nurse my girl right before her sleeps, although, she still is awake when I put her to bed. HeartAbandoned on "How do you transition to cow milk?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-transition-to-cow-milk#post-2771997 Wed, 06 Sep 2017 18:13:32 +0000 HeartAbandoned 2771997@https://boards.hellobee.com/ At first I tried mixing cow's milk & breast milk, and had the nursery heat it up as usual, but DS refused to drink it. So we tried giving him cold cow's milk in a straw cup, and we've never looked back! SweetiePie on "How do you transition to cow milk?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-transition-to-cow-milk#post-2771942 Wed, 06 Sep 2017 14:46:34 +0000 SweetiePie 2771942@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @agold: Oh and as for timeline - we started at 14 months and were totally transitioned before 15 months. My ped said ideally done with bottles by 15 months, DEFINITELY by 18 months. I went with 15 months because I agree with @ShootingStar: that the longer you wait the harder it is. I'm sure I could have even done earlier but my fear of him being an amazing sleeper made me really cautious (he was solidly 7pm-7am and I was afraid, but like I said it was a nonissue). Additionally there is an 18 month sleep regression so I really wanted to get this transition out of the way before that so I could be confident that his antics were from the regression and not because of the bottle. agold on "How do you transition to cow milk?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-transition-to-cow-milk#post-2771922 Wed, 06 Sep 2017 13:37:58 +0000 agold 2771922@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @ShootingStar: Good points. Thank you so much. I will totally take this into consideration. ShootingStar on "How do you transition to cow milk?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-transition-to-cow-milk#post-2771920 Wed, 06 Sep 2017 13:29:09 +0000 ShootingStar 2771920@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @agold: I've never really heard of bigger babies needing them longer. That seems counter intuitive, because bottles deliver large quantities. I could see doing it with an underweight baby I guess. But there's no need to put WCM in a bottle. And the longer you use bottles for, the more attached they can become to them. If you eliminate them early, they're never missed. agold on "How do you transition to cow milk?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-transition-to-cow-milk#post-2771919 Wed, 06 Sep 2017 13:24:08 +0000 agold 2771919@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @SweetiePie: Thank you! This is really really helpful. @ShootingStar: Ahh... okay. Bottles are unnecessary, I get it. But don't some big babies continue to use bottles? SweetiePie on "How do you transition to cow milk?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-transition-to-cow-milk#post-2771770 Tue, 05 Sep 2017 21:55:33 +0000 SweetiePie 2771770@https://boards.hellobee.com/ My ped recommended only changing one variable at a time. So consider contents, temperature, and vessel all separate variables. So that if they reject you know why and can address it. (Is it the milk, the temp, or the cup? If you change all at once you won't know.) We started with a 75/25 formula to milk ratio. Every other day we tweaked it until we were finally 100% cows milk. Took about a week. During this we kept it in a bottle and warmed per usual. Once he was on cows milk fully, I worked on getting it into a straw cup. Started by dropping the two afternoon (11am and 3pm) bottles and replacing with lunch/snacks accompanied by a straw cup of milk. Took to it no problem. Then tackled morning bottle by just doing breakfast a little earlier and giving him straw cup. No problem. Night time was scariest, of course, but it was a total non-issue. I just decided to give him milk in a straw cup DURING books instead of After with the lights off. He just sipped it while we read and I wiped his teeth/gums down really well. Once I was confident (honestly maybe a week?) that he didn't need that at all to replace the bottle I just stopped. I didn't want to create a bad habit/hygiene with the milk and his teeth. So once his teeth are brushed he gets nothing but water now. As for temp, I didn't really do that as separately as the above. I think as we got to more and more straw cups of milk wth meals and such I just stopped heating it and it was fine. Again, a nonissue. All in all this was one of the easiest transitions we had and I had truly stressed myself out about it. For no reason! As for the worry you'll surely have about the ounces of milk (typically they take way less in a straw cup than scheduled bottles), don't worry about it. My ped assured me that the concern is calcium, not hydration, from the milk. Yogurt, cheese, veggies, etc can all provide calcium so just make sure she has a balanced diet and all will be fine 👌🏼 mrsbubbletea on "How do you transition to cow milk?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-transition-to-cow-milk#post-2771765 Tue, 05 Sep 2017 21:12:08 +0000 mrsbubbletea 2771765@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @ShootingStar: great advice! ShootingStar on "How do you transition to cow milk?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-transition-to-cow-milk#post-2771758 Tue, 05 Sep 2017 20:24:49 +0000 ShootingStar 2771758@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @agold: Bottles are just unnecessary. You don't need your baby to take 4-8 oz of cow's milk several times a day. Offer milk and if she drinks it, great. If she doesn't take to it then do more cheese and yogurt. As long as your baby is eating a varied diet and drinking sufficiently from cups, you don't need bottles or milk. Littlebit7 on "How do you transition to cow milk?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-transition-to-cow-milk#post-2771702 Tue, 05 Sep 2017 14:56:05 +0000 Littlebit7 2771702@https://boards.hellobee.com/ We switched to wcm around 1 year, but switched to straw cups at about 10 months She gets about 5 oz of wcm in the morning and 4 before bed, but I'll probably decrease that once we start potty training. She's 2.5 I zap the milk for 20 seconds but this isn't for her taste...I do it only so the milk doesn't leak out of the straw cup (it was a news flash to me that temp was the culprit, not the cup) When we switched we mixed bm or formula over a 3 day period with wcm BSB on "How do you transition to cow milk?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-transition-to-cow-milk#post-2771688 Tue, 05 Sep 2017 14:00:19 +0000 BSB 2771688@https://boards.hellobee.com/ We put the milk in a cup/bottle and placed that in a mug with hot water. We had an electric kettle that quickly heated up the water that we've used during their formula days. When we switched from formula to cow's milk. We did it gradually. 3/4 formula to 1/4 milk for 2-3 days and eventually got to 100% milk. alphagam84 on "How do you transition to cow milk?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-transition-to-cow-milk#post-2771686 Tue, 05 Sep 2017 13:53:29 +0000 alphagam84 2771686@https://boards.hellobee.com/ We started by doing 1/4 cold milk mixed with 3/4 warm formula in a bottle then gradually going to half and half then 3/4 cold milk and 1/4 warm formula. Seemed to work really well. Once we were completely on cow's milk we moved to sippy cups. littlejoy on "How do you transition to cow milk?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-transition-to-cow-milk#post-2771684 Tue, 05 Sep 2017 13:46:31 +0000 littlejoy 2771684@https://boards.hellobee.com/ We are vegan, so I was planning to do hemp milk instead. Our pediatrician is not vegan, but recommends skipping cow's milk. At 12 months, LO was eating a ton and I was sure she was getting adequate nutrition. But, if she wasn't eating as much (and a big variety of foods), I absolutely would have transitioned to a plant-based milk. She's 3.5 now and eats like a freaking ant, so we offer her soy and hemp milk from time to time. :wink: gingerbebe on "How do you transition to cow milk?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-transition-to-cow-milk#post-2771682 Tue, 05 Sep 2017 13:43:27 +0000 gingerbebe 2771682@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @Mrs. Lemon-Lime: Yeah the Gizmos are the only ones I use. The straw portion comes away from the bottom of the cup for cleaning (although it stays attached to the lid with a loop so you don't lose it, which I love), so if you don't push the straw up in to the valve on the lid all the way, it can leak. But it also then prevents your kid from sucking anything up the straw, so its pretty easy to tell if its in there correctly or not. DH and I usually fill the boys' cups, secure the straw to the valve, and then give it a suck ourselves or have the boys take a sip to make sure its in place before putting them in bed. Mrs. Lemon-Lime on "How do you transition to cow milk?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-transition-to-cow-milk#post-2771668 Tue, 05 Sep 2017 13:18:25 +0000 Mrs. Lemon-Lime 2771668@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @gingerbebe: does the Gizmo leak less than Camelbak? LO is on his second Camelbak and he must be doing something to them because this one leaks too. gingerbebe on "How do you transition to cow milk?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-transition-to-cow-milk#post-2771667 Tue, 05 Sep 2017 13:12:06 +0000 gingerbebe 2771667@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @agold: DS1 just dropped his bedtime milk on his own when he ditched bottles at 12 months. He just hated the bottles and never looked back. We just had him practice drinking water out of an open cup in the bath for a little extra hydration and gave him a straw cup of water when we tucked him in. DS1 also dropped the first thing in the morning milk at the same time. He just wasn't that into milk until maybe 18 months when he developed a taste for it. (He was weird though, he started self-weaning around 9 months and was barely drinking 12-16oz a day by the time he was 12 months old). DS2 is my milk lover. We dropped bottles around 12 months for him too, but he still liked bedtime milk. So we gave him a straw cup of warm milk and rocked in his chair before bed for 2 weeks, then we moved the milk to earlier in the night routine, like right after bath when he's running around in his clean jammies but before songs and tucking in. Then we reduced the amount of milk in the cup. Now we just give him a big cup of milk at dinner and let him wander the house with it if he wants to and he usually drinks all of it before his bath. He still demands milk as soon as he wakes up, but he went from sucking down 6-8oz to something like 4oz now. We give both boys a full bottle of water in a straw cup in their beds/cribs - we use the Contigo Gizmo straw cup as we find it leaks the least and my 15 month old has been able to drink out of it just fine since he turned 1. delight on "How do you transition to cow milk?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-transition-to-cow-milk#post-2771666 Tue, 05 Sep 2017 13:06:14 +0000 delight 2771666@https://boards.hellobee.com/ We just started the transition at 10 months. I just offer him cold milk throughout the day in his sippy. He's been drinking water for a few months in his sippy. I'm back to work this week and he isn't nursing enough that I'd be able to pump much anyways. I'd say he is only having 3-4oz a day of WCM at this point but eats big meals. He still nurses 1-2x a day as well and I'm hoping to keep going with that awhile longer. He often pushes the cup of WCM away, I don't think he loves it yet, but he'll have it if he's really hungry. krispi on "How do you transition to cow milk?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-transition-to-cow-milk#post-2771662 Tue, 05 Sep 2017 12:58:56 +0000 krispi 2771662@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @agold: We still give her a sippy cup of milk about 30 minutes to an hour before bedtime, and she's 2 now. I know that's supposed to be a no-no once we start potty training, but it helps her sleep better, and we're all about getting her to sleep! (We do brush her teeth afterward, so it's not immediately before bed.) Mrs. Lemon-Lime on "How do you transition to cow milk?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-transition-to-cow-milk#post-2771661 Tue, 05 Sep 2017 12:58:32 +0000 Mrs. Lemon-Lime 2771661@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @agold: yes, we were still giving a bottle ( then sippy) of cold WCM at bed time until he was about 15 mos when his pediatrician told us to stop. WCM isn't too thick to drink through a bottle nipple. agold on "How do you transition to cow milk?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-transition-to-cow-milk#post-2771648 Tue, 05 Sep 2017 12:38:48 +0000 agold 2771648@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @krispi: Did you give her a sippy of milk at bed time? @ShootingStar: Why no milky bottles anymore once you switch to cow milk? The sippy cup seems like something totally different than bottles to me. @gingerbebe: Ahhh.. your baby. How did he drop the bed time milk? And did you give the milk in bottles or cups? @littlejoy: So interesting that you skipped cows milk! I am not sure I can provide a good enough diet without the milk. I want her to get the nutrients of milk. @Mrs. Pickle: I would love to be able to just give cold milk! Thanks. @Mrs. Lemon-Lime: Thank you for these tips specifically on the como tomo bottles. Did you give cold milk in the como tomo at bed time? krispi on "How do you transition to cow milk?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-transition-to-cow-milk#post-2771641 Tue, 05 Sep 2017 12:26:00 +0000 krispi 2771641@https://boards.hellobee.com/ We transitioned gradually, over a week and a half or so. We started mixing mostly formula with milk and gradually decreased the formula and upped the milk. By the end, she was drinking cold milk from a sippy cup. (She was already familiar with sippy cups though.) sauerkraut on "How do you transition to cow milk?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-transition-to-cow-milk#post-2771631 Tue, 05 Sep 2017 12:04:33 +0000 sauerkraut 2771631@https://boards.hellobee.com/ I mixed my remaining BM/formula stash (I was supplementing with formula at that point) with other milk (I actually used both plant based milks and WCM interchangeably), increasing the amount of other milk and decreasing the temperature over a few weeks. I also started giving milk in cups with meals and snacks at the same time. DD never balked at any of it and transitioned really easily. Depending on whether you want to ditch the bottle, I think you could do whichever is easier for you. ShootingStar on "How do you transition to cow milk?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-transition-to-cow-milk#post-2771520 Mon, 04 Sep 2017 19:05:38 +0000 ShootingStar 2771520@https://boards.hellobee.com/ You don't really transition from breastmilk to WCM. You transition from breastmilk to solids. WCM should be introduced just like water - in a cup alongside meals and snacks. Mrs. Lemon-Lime on "How do you transition to cow milk?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-you-transition-to-cow-milk#post-2771518 Mon, 04 Sep 2017 19:02:34 +0000 Mrs. Lemon-Lime 2771518@https://boards.hellobee.com/ We used Comotomo with Fast Flow nipples when he transitioned from fornula to WCM. I gave him WCM & formula maybe for two bottles. Then WCM during one bottle entirely, then formula another. LO didn't have a preference. We finished out the formula before it expired (ready to feed only last a couple days in the fridge) and then just gave him WCM. Around the time we made the milk transition we also moved him from a bottle to a sippy cup. I think he drank from a sippy exclusively about 2 weeks later. We did not give him warmed formula or milk. FYI Comotomo bottles take a long time to warm up. Once we realized the warm bottles were producing still chilled breast milk and formula we stopped even trying. Daycare didn't get much better results even with a crockpot and finally stopped trying.