How to get my kid off formula?

My son will be 18 months in December and I cannot wean him off of formula for anything. My husband and I have tried mixing it with regular milk, we’ve tried giving him water all kinds of ways, we’ve tried apple juice, orange juice, and he will not drink anything except formula. He was fine with the formula and regular milk being mixed, but he won’t drink regular milk by itself. I don’t know what to do! Any tips?
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First, I know it’s hard but you can’t let your child out will you! They really should not be drinking formula after they turn 1. They should be getting most of their nutrients from food and a max of 16-24oz of whole milk until age 2. After 2 they should be drinking 16-20oz of low fat or skim milk. I promise you, your child will drink when they’re thirsty!

Help a mama out and respond anonymously on our forum. How to get my kid off formula? - Mamas Uncut

We started to dilute it down gradually… so from 4 scoops to 3.5, then a week later 3.5 to 3 …etc until it was water x

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Maybe mix Honey with his milk to sweeten it and warm it up still for a while.

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They make toddler formula

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Put a little bit of ovaltine in his milk. It’s full of vitamins. He should have more food and less milk either way.

Cut it cold turkey! Give him no choice and he will adjust.

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My daughter won’t drink milk so we’re doing almond milk :woman_shrugging:

I quit cold turkey with my son but also offered regular milk, chocolate milk, and strawberry milk

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Not to sound mean, stop it cold turkey. if he’s desperate enough for a drink then he will drink it.

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Try the toddler stuff

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Toddler milk, almond milk.

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I stopped my oldest on bottles the day before she turned 1 year old. Never had an issue with it.

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Slowly take away the formula if your doing 6 oz bottles do 4 oz formula 2oz milk after couple days 2 oz formula the rest regular milk and just do it till it’s all regular milk it took about 3 weeks for me to get my son off formula

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There’s toddler formula

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Try almond milk, my son loves almond milk much better than regular milk. Or I know enfamil makes toddler formula. Don’t give in to the baby formula he will get used to it.

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I don’t think you should mix formula with milk. That’s a ton of calories. If he doesn’t like milk you could try almond milk or oat milk.

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Maybe warm it🤷🏽‍♀️ slightly

Cold turkey. Just stop.

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I did it gradually.
Week 1 — 3/4 of bottle formula, 1/4 milk
Week 2 - 1/2 and 1/2
Week 3 - 1/4 formula, 3/4 milk

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Cold Turkey. That’s what we had to do. We offered milk. He. Went half a day and finally wanted it.

Oat Milk unsweetened. It’s naturally sweet and even nicer then Normal milk

Lol if he’s truly thirsty hell drink anything, stop buying it and stop giving it to him. He’ll eventually drink whatever you give him.

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If he was drinking the formula/milk mixture then stick with that but keep increasing the milk to formula ratio daily until it’s mostly milk he’s drinking. By that time you should be able to successfully eliminate the formula all together

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Mix the milk with the formula like you have and slowly start adding less formula until it’s all regular milk. If he still protests, it could just be something little, like shake it or stir it (whatever you do normally) and then give it to him. That’s what worked for us. Good luck!

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Cows milk isn’t even necessary. Just stop giving the formula. My daughter has never had a glass of cows milk in her life. She drinks mainly water

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If you don’t buy and offer it…he cant have it. Just make sure you’ve got lots of options…believe me he’s not going to go thirsty but if you’re concerned about dehydration give him melon or cucumber slices…any wet fruit/veg .

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We just stopped with all 3 of ours. No bottle once formula is gone. Switch to sippy cups and they will drink if they are thirsty.

Slow process…1 oz at a time milk and formula until you are at 7 parts milk 1 part formula

Cow milk is NOT a necessity… Actually it’s hard to digest for most people… Because we’re not baby cows… :woman_shrugging: Maybe try plant milk? My youngest 3 kids have never had cow milk.

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Just stop giving it. Offer milk only he will get thristy and drink it

Graduate the milk and formula. He takes this much formula and milk next week or the week after put more milk versus the formula. And so on. Sippy cups if you think they are ready v

There’s a formula for older kids also

He will eventually when u stop giving into him, hes neatly 2 so dosent need Manby panbing, offer him alternative an when he wants a drink he will drink it, formula should be stopped at 12months, dont be mixing.

All of my kids got ‘sick’ when we switched to whole milk, upset stomachs, we slowly introduced it an ounce here and there. Then as they were 1.5-2 yrs that’s all they consumed. :roll_eyes: to this day sometimes my 6 yr old will only drink chocolate milk in a day, no food, just chocolate milk.

Maybe it’s a sign that they don’t like cows milk? Maybe try a different alternative. Very rarely do I drink milk, I don’t like the taste or how it sits in my stomach.

Just left my little boy on it until he was ready to stop it all together, he couldn’t tolerate it as was on anti-reflux milk xx

Slowly mix it. Equal milk and formula and then a little more milk and a little less formula until it is all milk.

You may need to continue it warm it.

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Try powdered milk and tel him it’s formula, put it in a can and see if it’s works.

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Trying adding a little more milk to the formula bottle each time and removing a little formula. Also the kind of milk you buy matters! My daughter hates regular milk so i bought her or
organic with DHA by horizon and she looooved it. My second has a milk protein allergy so she drank almond milk. Plenty of choices out there!

My daughter wouldn’t drink milk by itself. Once she was 1 yr and I cut off formula the only thing I would EVER put in her bottle was milk. She didn’t like it so she ended up weaning herself from the bottle. Also, I gave her a sippy cup with juice or flavored water in it since she was 4 months as well so. :woman_shrugging:

Nothing wrong with staying on the formula sure there’s formulas thats 2 to 3 years old so if there is that then they can still drink it its only extra vitamins do it when babys ready

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Almond milk is the only thing my 1 year old would drink to get rid of formula

Start regular milk and formula 50/50, then over the course of a week,
add more milk and less formula each day. By the end of the week he should be drinking milk.

Are you giving the milk cold? Try warming it up. It’s the only way my baby would take it.

my 2 year old loves almond and coconut milk

Tea with a little milk and a small amount of honey

I would try adding a little bit of chocolate syrup.

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Wean the milk in slowly and then wean the formula out slowly. An ounce at a time if you gotta. Pretty soon he’ll be switched and won’t notice.

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Oh snap. I just straight up made the change at 11 months. He drank out of a cup. Wasnt a fan. Did it anyway.

I have a suggestion: stop pushing him to “grow up”. He’s a baby, for crying out loud.

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Try something else. My daughter loves almond milk

Try 2 things one is ask him if he’s a big boy. If he says yes then tell him big boys don’t drink baby drinks. If that doesn’t work then just stop giving it to him
When he gets thrist enough he will drink other stuff.

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1 can Evaporated 32 oz water tablespoon of white karro syrup…

Feed him regularly to keep him full. In the morning do oatmeal and fruit, snack graham crackers and yogurt, lunch chicken noodle soup with cucumber spears and dip maybe carrot sticks when he’s a little older and can chew better, afternoon snack fruit cup, and then dinner and let him feed himself, do a bath and then bedtime. Or if you don’t feel he’ll get enough then feed him and when you feel he had enough let him finish his plate by himself.

A very gradual wean should do it. Start with the half and half like you’re doing, and then each day or few, just add a smaller amount more, even just one ounce at a time. That should make it nearly unnoticeable for him.

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I just didn’t give it again after 1 yr. Put regular or almond milk. In a sippy and then a sippy of water. He will drink when he is thirsty. Milk isn’t really needed at this age special cows milk.

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There is a formula for when they are over a year. My kids liked it but it sped up the transition of whole milk.

Warm up the milk. My oldest liked it warm.

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Move him to toddler formula and do a slow wean.

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Toddler formula was amazing for us

Switch him to nido, it’s from 1-3 years old

Just do it. Give him milk and don’t give him anything else. Keep offering the milk. He’ll take it eventually.

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Switch to toddler formula. There is a lot of different kinds. I just would suggest to put it in a sippy cup not a bottle

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He needs whole milk, stop giving him formula…you’re the parent, he’s not the boss

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Transition it with milk. Slowly add milk to it

Dilute it with milk and keep making it weaker and weaker with the milk stronger

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My first daughter had to use nido

We used natrel lactose free homo milk warmed up. It’s a tad sweet

I’d just be careful giving him too much milk Bc that can cause constipation.

Nedo brand (by the Mexican foods in most stores) has a formula made for toddlers and it’s pretty cheap. It’s made by Nestle

Cows milk is nasty and is for baby cows. Did u try almond or coconut milk

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Do it gradually, 6oz formula - 2oz milk for 2 weeks then take away 2oz formula and add 2oz milk until it’s just milk. If that don’t work ask your dr

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I think you should question your child’s pediatrician or see if the pediatrician can refer you to a nutritionist. After reading all these different opinions, you’ll just confuse yourself even more. :woman_shrugging:t4:

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My daughters son was the same way. She stopped giving him the bottle and put his milk in a sippy cup. End of problem.

I’m a “mean mom” I just took formula away from mine cold turkey about a week after she turned 1. She was biting the nipples off her bottles so it became a choking hazard so we went cold turkey. She only cared for a couple days before she totally forgot about it.

Have you tired slowly adding more milk and less formula until it’s all milk? Since he will drink it mixed.

We did toddler formula from 1-2 yrs old then slowly mixed it with milk until it was all milk. My now 6 yr drinks 3 glasses of whole milk a day.

Just stop giving it to him, my son refused to drink milk by itself at first but eventually he learned if he was truly thirsty thats what he had to drink :woman_shrugging:t2:

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My son also would not wean from his formula.
It’s expensive, so at 2 years I went from lactogen 3 to lactokid.
He weaned himself off 6 months later.
Its really good for them, he also didn’t drink anything other than formula or water.

Don’t give him formula anymore.
Cold Turkey

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Just take it away. If he is eating 3 meals a day of solids and some snacks he doesn’t need the formula. Quit cold turkey. He won’t die of thirst and will give in to something rather it be another form of milk, juice or water.

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Just don’t give it simple I wouldn’t muck around mixing half this and that lol soon enough he will learn

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I used a little chocolate syrup in my granddaughters bottle of milk and that worked I just gradually put less and less into it

Milkshake? My Mum used to make them with fruit and ice cream with the milk. I was still breastfeeding at 19 months so don’t fret for now.

Good grief it’s not that hard to do just take it away completely…don’t give him the choice. He will drink when he is thirsty. Be the parent. No reason they should be on formula over a year.

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My daughter wouldn’t switch to anything else, I tried slowly switching to milk, water etc, one day when she was almost 2 she just stopped taking the formula and wanted water. She weaned herself in a day and since that day she has refused it. I know that isn’t much help, but I was concerned and then she just stopped when she was ready.

I gave my son formula till he was almost 3 that’s when he stopped wanting it. It won’t hurt him. But the way I slowly started cutting him down was mixing more and more milk into it

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Just gradually reduce the amount of formula by 1oz every week until he is drinking full milk

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I had to do it really slow w my 3rd baby. I started w 1/3 milk the rest formula then after a week I did 1/2 n 1/2 for a week n so on until u add no more formula!

Stop giving it to him

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Cold turkey. At 12 months old we stopped formula and switched to homo milk

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Just stop giving it to him.

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My daughter had this issue so when I did, I would put a little bit of strawberry mix or chocolate mix in it just to give it a different flavor did this for the first few days and she was off of formula and onto regular milk. My three boys did the cold turkey without any flavors of any kind.

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Cold turkey. He has to eventually.

My daughter was the same! She’s just over 2 and we JUST got her (mostly) off formula. She hates EVERY type of milk, I tried literally everything lol. We just stopped doing all of her day bottles. We had tantrums for 2 or so days, but we do still do her night bottle. But that is the only formula she gets (which I also plan to stop).
People were EXTREMELY fucking judgemental over it, just like I see in these comments. People act like you’re beating them. It’s perfectly okay to let them choose when they’re done. While formula after 1 isn’t necessary, it’s sometimes needed. Don’t let people shame you for doing what you believe is best for YOUR kid.

Lol my daughter would NOT just drink when she was thirsty and was super difficult to switch too…
We ended up doing one ounce of milk and the rest formula in her bottle for a week, the next week 2 ounces milk, then 3 and so on every week until it was fully milk. She’s been drinking it fine now for 3 years, never liked it warm and hates chocolate milk

Quit cold turkey, or decrease the formula ounce by ounce each week by mixing it with milk. If you’re still having issues, call his Dr and they should he able to give you other ideas

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without being rude most people are just afraid of the tantrums your child will survive without it and eventually drink anything else when thirsty let your child know that no means no

I switched to toddler formula until 3 as it had the necessary vitamins that toddlers miss in their diet and my daughter was only offered water at meals.

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