Transitioning to Cows Milk

Something which gets asked a lot is how Zac began transitioning onto cows milk. So this blog post will take you through the steps of this transition (this is by no means the right way or only way – just how we did it). Zac was formula fed prior to this, so I will be writing from the viewpoint of moving from formula to cows milk. I have enlisted the help of a fellow blogging mum, Mollie (Bea and Me) to share her experience from a breast feeding point of view to help any other breastfeeding mums looking to make the transition (You can read her story further down!)

NHS Advice

Cows’ milk can be used in cooking or mixed with food from around 6 months but shouldn’t be given as a drink to babies until they are 12 months old. This is because cows’ milk does not contain enough iron to meet babies’ needs.

Whole milk should be given to children until they are 2 years old, as they need the extra energy and vitamins it contains.

Once your baby is 1 year old, feeding from a bottle should be discouraged.

You can find the full official NHS guidelines and advice here. 

Feeding History

So I thought I would just give a little background about our situation before starting the transition. I wasn’t able to breastfeed Zac so he has been exclusively formula fed from around 2 weeks old. At around 3 months old we discovered that he had reflux and so from this point he was on Cow & Gate reflux milk. He was always a really good sleeper and from 6 weeks old he slept through the night without any feeds. When Zac turned 6 months old we began baby led weaning. At this point Zac was on 5 x 8oz bottles a day (roughly every 3 hours). Once he began weaning he gradually started to naturally drop bottles himself. By the time he was 11 month he was on 2 x 9oz bottle a day, one as soon as he woke up and one just before bed.

Introducing Cows Milk

We introduced cows milk into Zac’s diet when he was around 7-8 months old. I began by adding whole cows milk to dishes such as porridge, scrambled egg and omelettes.

When Zac was about 11 months old I decided to introduce a little bit of cows milk as a drink. It is important to mention that I did not substitute any of his formula for cows milk. He was still drinking the same amount of formula (18-19oz) which meets the minimum required amount of formula recommend (18oz). I simply added an additional small drink of cows milk in the morning. He would wake up around 8am and have his 9oz bottle of formula. About 1-2 hours later I would give him his breakfast and instead of giving him his drink of water with his breakfast, he would have a beaker/sippy cup with a few ounces of cold cows milk.

I purposely put it in a sippy cup and gave it to him cold as I didn’t want him to think it was a ‘bottle’, I just wanted it to be a drink with his breakfast.

To begin with he would only drink a mouthful or two, but he was gradually drinking more. Just before Zac turned one we decided to try and swap his morning bottle for his drink of cows milk. He didn’t seem to miss his bottle at all (I think I was just giving it to him out of routine-habit rather than him actually wanting it). Zac now drinks around 5oz of cold cows milk in the morning in his beaker/sippy cup. He will drink this before/during and just after his breakfast. We continued to give him 10oz of formula milk before bed.

As he didn’t seem to have any reaction to the milk we decided we would completely transition him onto cows milk once he turned one (it was actually just after as I wanted to use up the last of his formula – you need to get your moneys worth!).

When we transitioned his bedtime bottle from formula to cows milk, we decided to keep it as a ‘warm’ bottle. We thought this would help him get ready for bed. As we had always used our Tommee Tippee Prep Machine for formula bottles I wasn’t sure on the best way to heat up the cows milk.

We were then kindly gifted a Milky Meter. You simply put the Milky Meter in the bottle with the milk and pop it in your microwave. The Milky Meter measures the temperature of the milk and the flashing indicator light tells you when the temperature is right and you should stop the microwave. This gives you a warm baby bottle in seconds while avoiding hotspots. Genius!

To begin with Zac was a bit sick – not loads. Just a tiny bit of milk would seem to come back up shortly after a bottle. This is probably linked to the reflux he had when he was a baby. This seemed to stop after a couple of weeks.

Zac is now 13 months old and still drinks around 5oz of cold milk in the morning and a 10oz warm bottle in the evening just before bed. I will soon be changing his bedtime bottle to a sippy cup. However at the moment he drinks more milk than a sippy cup will hold! But once it reduces I will make the change.

Baby Vitamins

It is important to also mention that when weaning onto cows milk (or when your baby drops below 18oz or formula milk a day) vitamins should be introduced.

We have been using the Haliborange Baby & Toddler Multivitamins. We simply add 5ml (1 teaspoon) to Zac’s bed time bottle. Once he drops his bed time bottle I will continue to give him these vitamins either orally using a syringe or I will mix in with a yoghurt during the day. You can also add to water, but I feel the flavour may be more obvious and it is more difficult to make sure he is drinking a whole bottle of water.

Transitioning from Breast to Cows Milk

Written by Mollie from Bea and Me Blog

Feeding History

I was really worried about weaning Bea from the boob to cows milk. Bea had always been really reluctant to take a bottle, we tried giving her a bottle of formula and expressed milk multiple times from birth. When I returned to work when she was 9 months, she rarely took a bottle whilst I was gone and would just feed from me when I was home.

Introducing Cows Milk

Just before she turned 1 I was going to be away for 2 nights, we decided this was the best time to wean her fully from breast to cows milk. Despite my worry that she wouldn’t like the taste or that she would completely refuse to drink it, she loved it. Her first bottle went down a treat, I have never seen her drink something so quick! It was such a relief that she enjoyed it. Bea has also never been a big eater so it was nice to know she was getting enough nutrients.

The change from breastfeeding to cows milk also meant sleep for us. Bea slept really well until the four month sleep regression. From four months she woke up pretty much every hour. Since day one of her having cows milk she slept through the night. This was incredible as we hadn’t had a full night sleep in the last year. It also meant that Dec could help with putting her to bed and we could start a bedtime routine, as she wasn’t so reliant on me anymore.

The change also meant introducing bottles; Cleaning bottles and ensuring we always had bottles with us when out, was all new to us! Before all I needed was my boobs!

It can be quite daunting to go from providing your child with food & comfort, to giving them a bottle. However, for us weaning Bea from breastfeeding to cows milk in a bottle was a really positive experience.

Thank you Mollie for your ‘weaning from breast to cows milk’ story! 

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