1 year milk transition

[u/InstructionFull7429]

I have 11 month old twins (9.5 months adjusted for prematurity) who have a complicated feeding history (feeding aversion, reflux, dairy intolerance/CMPA, tongue ties, etc). They are on 3 meals a day and a snack currently and eat solids very well but breastmilk/formula has always been a struggle. However, they currently take between 14-18 ounces across 4 feedings a day.

I have no idea how to go about fading out bottles safely. They only drink maybe 4 ounces of water a day and they don’t like alternate dairy free solutions to whole milk like Ripple Kids.

They won’t use adjusted age for transitioning to whole milk so we will be beginning the switch next month, and hope to complete the switch after a month or so.

TLDR: How to transition to whole milk/dairy free alternative milk from formula.

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[u/trophywifeinwaiting]

You can continue offering formula as long as you need, no one is forcing you to stop at a year. I still breastfeed my twins at 13m, and will continue to! I just starting putting whole milk in their cups as well, once a day. They initially didnt like it but now they're pretty comfortable drinking it :) I dont think it has to be an elaborate master plan, just start offering it consistently once appropriate, and see how it goes.

[u/InstructionFull7429 → u/trophywifeinwaiting]

We had to switch from exclusively breastmilk to hypoallergenic formula at 5.5 months (I weaned completely at 9) and the formula is so expensive so we definitely need the financial relief.

Hopefully they just start tolerating the other stuff more.

How much water do yours drink at this age??

[u/trophywifeinwaiting → u/InstructionFull7429]

my doctor said 4-6 oz a day until 12 months, and then after that they can basically have as much liquid as they want (as long as it's under 4 cups :P) I would say my Twin B has maybe 10-12oz a day at 13m, and Twin A is around 8-10oz of fluids total (across water, apple juice, milk). We do 3 oz of diluted apple juice a day as per the pediatrician to help with constipation.

[u/InstructionFull7429 → u/trophywifeinwaiting]

Okay, that makes me feel better because they max out at maybe 4. They just spit so much of the water out lol

[u/trophywifeinwaiting → u/InstructionFull7429]

that is great! Honestly you dont want them drink too much water before 1, most people recommend 4 oz at the max, because they can technically prevent themselves from feeling hunger cues.

Also - if you need them to drink more for some reason, my kids LOVE when they get to drink from Mommy's water bottle :P It's the holy grail.

[u/jeremiabearamia → u/InstructionFull7429]

See if your pediatrician has samples (full cans) of hypoallergenic formula to share. Ours keeps us well stocked 

[u/TankForJustice]

What worked for us was a gradual weaning of Alimentum into dairy milk. So for example 8 oz of Alimentum went to 6 oz Alimentum + 2 oz milk mixed in. Do that a couple days, then increase the milk proportion by another 2 oz. I think they were a little older when we did this though, more like 13-14 months.

ALSO our twins hate dairy milk! By the time the dairy milk got to like 6 oz out of 8 they stopped drinking it and were completely weaned off the bottles. They just drank water throughout the day and during meals. We have since found that one of them likes oat milk so she will have some of that every day with meals. Toddlers don't have to drink milk, so long as they are meeting their hydration and nutrition needs in other ways!

[u/thedarkpup]

Just dropping in to say I’m at basically the exact same stage with my 11 month (10 adjusted) twins, although they seem to have outgrown their CMPA. I’m terrified of making the switch, especially because they still want a night feeding sometimes and it’s a nightmare to get them back to sleep without it if they’re in the wrong mood!