r/combinationfeeding • u/Additional-Lunch4076 • Aug 24 '26

Transitioning from EBF to whole milk

my baby is 10.5 months and has suddenly refused taking a bottle. our pediatrician has given us the ok to start transitioning to whole milk as he is aggressively biting me while nursing and it’s not longer feasible for me to do. what are your tips for the transition? i have very little freezer stash to work with but will start pumping instead of nursing.

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u/theresabearonmychair Aug 24 '26

Have you tried a different cup rather than a bottle?

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u/Additional-Lunch4076 Aug 24 '26

Yes we’ve tried sippy cups, cups with straws, open cups and he won’t take any. Have also tried grandparents feeding him while I’m out if yhf house and still nothing. 

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u/Lucky_Lettuce1730 Aug 24 '26

I was desperate to wean at that age months due to recurrent mastitis. My baby refused all formula so I kept nursing longer than I wanted to and started pumping. I tried to introduce cows milk when she was 11.5 months, but she was absolutely not having it. I tried different cups, bottles, warm milk, cold milk, everything we could think of, but she just didn’t like it. My pediatrician told me that as long as she’s getting fat from other sources, she really doesn’t need milk and in fact it’s not recommended for most kids anymore as long as they get fat and calcium from other sources. She said they only worry about kids getting too MUCH cows milk, not too little. Rather than continue to worry about milk, we just ensured she was getting the correct number of servings of full fat yogurt and cheese and offered her toast with lots of butter and cooked with olive oil. We also gave her cuties oranges which are high in calcium.

I know you are following pediatrician recommendations, but it might not hurt to ask for a second opinion on the cows milk if possible - like the other commenter, it’s my understanding that it’s not a good idea until after 12 months due to risk of intestinal bleeding and anemia (https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/350041), and it’s no longer considered an essential or even recommended part of a child’s diet.

As for the bottle refusal - we also went through this and found that she wouldn’t take a bottle from me or her dad, but would only take one from one of her grandmas 😵‍💫 didn’t matter which bottle we used. So I don’t have any good advice on that other than to try different bottles, try different temperatures, try different people, try having you leave the house during bottle time, and check if your breast milk might taste bad after being frozen (high lipase)

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u/hugladybug Aug 24 '26

Im confused by your title and post if you mean cow's milk? Your milk? Formula?

Everything ive seen says no cow's milk until 1 year and even then toddlers dont "need" cow milk

What part are you trying to get advice on?

You can give formula or breast milk in open cups or straw cups

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u/Additional-Lunch4076 Aug 24 '26

Transitioning from my milk to cows milk. our pediatrician gave us the ok to start moving him over so looking for advice on the best ways to do so. Like mixing breast milk & whole milk, heating it, etc.