Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Moo...beginning the switch to cow's milk

I decided that since we are only two and a half weeks away from Leah's first birthday and we are on our last can of formula that we should start the switch to cow's milk now. My plan was to give her milk in a sippy cup instead of formula in a bottle. I figured I'd replace the first bottle first - she takes that one before her morning nap - an hour or so after breakfast. And after a couple days I'd replace the afternoon bottle - which is before her afternoon nap - 1 to 2 hours after lunch. And a couple days later I'd replace the nighttime bottle - which is before bed - around an hour after dinner.
So this morning I poured 8 ounces of whole milk into a sippy cup about an hour before naptime, figuring that way it wouldn't be freezing cold straight out of the fridge. And I followed our normal routine. She took one sip and pushed the cup away. I tried getting her to hold it herself...wouldn't do it...and she normally holds the sippy cup herself to drink water. I tried warming it up just a little in the microwave (10 seconds and then shaking it well) - no difference. I tried giving it to her in the living room instead of the bedroom - no difference. I tried putting it on the floor for her to get and drink herself, just like she does with water - no difference. So I put her down for her nap - and she slept about an hour and 20 minutes.
Then I tried giving her the sippy cup of milk again. She took a couple of sips and pushed it away. I tried several more times and every time she would take a sip, shake her head and then either put the cup down or play with it - sometimes chewing on the bottom of it.
So I wondered whether it was the milk or the cup. I poured 8 ounces of milk into a bottle - right from the fridge, so it was pretty cold. She drank almost half of it. So I figured it's likely the cup that's bothering her - she thinks the cup is for water. Next stop - formula from the sippy cup.
Before Leah's afternoon nap I mixed 8 ounces of formula in her sippy cup. She drank almost the whole thing - at least 7 ounces of it - a normal amount for her afternoon bottle. So...it's the combo...she'll drink milk...she'll drink from a sippy cup...the two together was too much. Tonight I'll be trying half formula and half milk in the sippy cup.
And by the time we finish the can of formula...I believe we will have transitioned to whole milk from a sippy cup successfully.
Here was Leah's reaction to the milk in the sippy cup - she played with it:
She examined it from all sides:
And then she gave me the "aren't I cute? please don't make me drink this stuff. where is my bottle of formula?" look:
And maybe she decided to rebel after that...because she made it her business to empty every bin she could find at the Moxie Spot this afternoon...first the cars:
Then the blocks: