Skip to main content

The Big Switch: One Month In

About a month ago, I wrote about our plan for switching Henry from formula to milk and from bottles to cups. We are halfway through the originally planned transition period, so I thought I should report on how it is going. As with many well-laid plans, we have had successes, surprises and re-adjustments along the way. Being a parent requires a lot of flexibility and willingness to adapt.

 First, the successes. Henry does not seem to have any qualms about drinking milk instead of formula. He has tried out coconut, almond, goat and cow milk. His favorite seems to be the cow milk, either as whole milk or as kefir milk. I also have a carton of hemp milk that we will open up tomorrow. 
Henry drinks almond milk with his lunch.
Since Henry seems to have no issues about switching to milk, I am happy to report that our family has purchased our last box of infant formula. We will phase it out completely within the next few weeks. While I had intended to exclusively breastfeed Henry, I am glad that formula was available when we needed it to help him grow and thrive.
Our last batch of infant formula. When it's gone, it's gone!
Second, the surprises. In developing our plan for making the transition from formula to milk, we forgot to factor temperature into the equation. We have always served Henry's bottles at room temperature or slightly warmer. When we tried to give Henry cold milk directly from the refrigerator, he was uninterested. To address this element, we have slowly been reducing the time we warm Henry's milk so he gets used to drinking colder liquids. 
Henry drinks a cup of milk with his breakfast.
Third, the re-adjustments. Henry likes drinking from cups at mealtime but he still prefers to drink from a bottle when he is really hungry. We have reduced the number of bottles to three per day, but Daddy and I agreed to focus on reducing his formula intake first and then phasing out the remaining bottles. As a result, we are currently filling his morning and afternoon bottles with a small amount of milk and his evening bottle with the last of the infant formula. After we use up the formula, then we will work to eliminate the two daytime bottles for cups. Our last step will be phasing out Henry's bedtime bottle.

I'll follow-up next month with another report on our progress.

This is the second in a three-part series. For the first post, click here. For the final update on our progress, click here.
Labels:

Comments

  1. JoyFebruary 8, 2013 at 12:39 PM

    It's very helpful to learn about Henry working on transitioning to milk and cups! My baby always has his pumped milk cold from the fridge or formula room temperature so that won't be his issue. But figuring out how to integrate cow's milk and eliminating the bottle is a bit daunting.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. UnknownFebruary 10, 2013 at 9:33 AM

      I'd recommend developing a plan for the transition, but be flexible. You may need to try a few different strategies to find what will work for your little one since they each have different preferences.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Baby-Led Weaning Cookbook

UPDATE (10/2/12): Unfortunately, I did not hear back from our original winner. Congratulations to our alternate winner for "The Baby-Led Weaning Cookbook" -- Robin Pfefer. UPDATE (9/29/12): I am happy to announce that Kashia Clopper is the winner of "The Baby-Led Weaning Cookbook". When I was first thinking about using the Baby-Led Weaning (BLW) model for Henry, I was unsure about whether it would really work. I was excited about BLW’s claims of less stressful meals that the whole family could share together. Plus, I was all for encouraging Henry to gain new skills by learning about the shapes, textures, colors, smells and flavors of food. This sounded ideal in theory, but would it work in practice? After some fun but ineffective attempts at letting Henry feed himself, I went in search of resources to learn more about BLW. I needed to learn how to prepare meals for our family in which Henry could participate. That’s when I found “ The Baby-Led
16 comments
Read more

Do Your Kids Eat Everything?

UPDATE (3/15/2013): Congratulations to Kia as the random drawing winner in this giveaway! Thank you to all those who entered this contest.  Before we began our food adventure with Henry, Daddy and I had many conversations about how to encourage Henry to become “a good eater.” After watching other parents constantly struggle with their toddlers, we wanted to know if there was anything we could do from the start to prevent picky eating. That’s when we read “ French Kids Eat Everything ” by Karen Le Billon . The book is an easy and enjoyable read about the year that Karen’s family spent in France and how it changed the way her family eats. The heart of the book explores the 10 French Food Rules for raising happy, healthy eaters. “French Kids Eat Everything” sparked numerous discussions at our dinner table about how our family eats. We have become more conscious of our assumptions about food and how that will influence Henry’s understanding of mealtimes. In addition, the
17 comments
Read more

Please Don't Feed My Toddler Cheetos

Our family has started a new chapter -- last week I rejoined the paid workforce! I am very excited about my new part-time job at a local history museum, coordinating field trips and special events. As part of this transition, Henry is now going to daycare three days per week.  Henry meets new friends and plays with new toys on his first day at daycare. Searching for quality childcare was a somewhat stressful experience. We visited 8 childcare facilities who had immediate space available for Henry to begin part-time care. I wanted to be confident that Henry would be cared for by experienced, nurturing staff in an environment that would challenge him to learn new skills and form friendships with other children. Of course, the added cost of childcare also had to fit within our family budget. While interviewing daycares, one aspect that I cared about was food. All eight of the facilities participate in the USDA food program , receiving reimbursement at a set rate for the meals they
5 comments
Read more