Introducing Baby To The Next Milk

Introducing Baby To The Next Milk

How is it even possible that Petit Prince is almost a year old? The past eleven months have just flown by with him, and here we are thinking about introducing cow’s milk for the first time. With The Heir, I introduced cow’s milk around 14 months old, and in that process I learned a little something about how not to go about doing that. As with everything for the first born, each step along the way is a learning experience, a chance to figure out what works and what doesn’t. Petit Prince, as the second baby, benefits from all the experiences that I had with The Heir. Each transition with Petit Prince has been approached with the knowledge and wisdom only a mom who’s done it all before could possess. In some ways, this has made certain things a little easier to work through, but every baby is different so sometimes what didn’t work for The Heir is exactly what does work for Petit Prince. Such is life as a mom. One thing I won’t be tackling the same way I did the first go round is the introduction of cow’s milk. One day, I just brought out a bottle, filled it with cow’s milk, and handed it over. Oh if I had only known! 

Here’s how the whole introduction to cow’s milk thing went down with The Heir. First, I grabbed any old bottle. Did The Heir take a bottle? Well, sort of. Over his first year, he’d had pumped milk in a bottle maybe 4-5 times at most. Blame being first time parents, or not having any grandparents in town to babysit, but whatever it was, The Heir simply didn’t have the occasion to use a bottle on even a semi regular basis. Yet for some reason, I thought I could just bring out a bottle at 14 months old, fill it with something he’d never consumed before, and he’d happily drink it up. Rookie maneuver, mom! Now to be fair, I didn’t need him to take a bottle or drink cow’s milk. He was still breastfeeding, and continued to breast feed until he decided he was done, but I wanted to bring cow’s milk into the equation. It was meant to be something he could have with meals, and as he decided to drop nursing sessions, I wanted to be able to add in a bottle of cow’s milk. Needless to say, The Heir didn’t take to cow’s milk in a bottle very quickly.

My next mistake was serving it to him cold. Sure, some kids like cold milk, but not The Heir. Honestly, why would he? He’d been consuming breastmilk at body temperature right from the tap, of course he’d prefer his milk warm. At the time, for whatever reason, it didn’t occur to me to try warming it up right from the get go.

Introducing Baby To The Next Milk
Cold milk? What were you thinking?

Having stumbled along the way with introducing cow’s milk as part of The Heir’s diet, this time I’m doing things differently. I have learned from my mistakes, mamas, and I want to share my wisdom with you!

First of all, let’s talk about when I’ll be introducing cow’s milk. This is something you should discuss with your child’s health care provider, but here’s what I plan to do. Last time we held off until 14 months old for one reason and one reason only. Italy. You see, my sister was getting married in Italy when The Heir was going to be 13 months old. Though he was eating solids really well at that point, I also wanted to make sure he was still nursing on that trip. The long flights combined with a big time change and food he wasn’t necessarily going to eat spelled a recipe for disaster. A disaster that only a source of nutrition and comfort that he was familiar with would resolve. At the time, I was under the impression that there was a chance he might wean himself if I introduced cow’s milk, and that would leave us SOL for comfort and ear popping on those international flights. Now I know it’s really unlikely that a child will wean just because a new milk has been introduced, but I was working with what I knew then! This time around, I won’t be waiting quite as long. Once Petit Prince is at least twelve months old, I’ll be planning his first sips of cow’s milk.

Introducing Baby To The Next Milk

Now about that bottle! This time I’m not just going to grab any old bottle. Oh no. This time I’m not only going to give him a bottle I know he’ll take, but I’m also going to let him use that bottle with water at meal times until it’s time to start with cow’s milk. Even if we don’t have a lot of opportunity for Petit Prince to need to take a bottle, at least this way he will be very familiar with the bottle in advance of it being filled with cow’s milk. I’ve already picked the bottle because it’s one he already latches onto quite well. It’s the Philips Avent Classic+ Bottle.This bottle is working so well for Petit Prince! The nipple is a narrower base nipple which is something he tends to go for over wide based nipples. What I like about it is that it is easy to clean! This is key for a bottle that’s going to become the go to vessel for cow’s milk. The bottle itself is nice and wide at the mouth with rounded corners that are easy to get into with a bottle brush and clean thoroughly. That makes for a more hygienic, healthier feeding every time. Not only is it easy to clean, but it’s also really easy to put together. There’s no losing parts with this bottle; it comes apart into just three pieces. The Philips Avent Classic+ Bottle isn’t just for older babies though, it makes a great bottle for breastfed babies, and a great bottle for colicky babies. The Philips Avent Classic+ Bottle is clinically proven to reduce colic and fussing all thanks to its new one-piece anti-colic system. It has an innovative valve built right into the nipple. No extra parts required!

Introducing Baby To The Next Milk

Finally, I’m going to make sure to warm up the cow’s milk before I put it in the Philips Avent Classic+ Bottle! He doesn’t drink cold breastmilk now, so I don’t expect him to suddenly be interested in cold cow’s milk either! Eventually he will transition to cold cow’s milk (after all, The Heir did eventually develop a taste for cold milk), but I see no reason to try to start him off that way!

Introducing Baby To The Next Milk

I’m hoping the addition of cow’s milk to Petit Prince’s diet goes a little more smoothly for him than it did for The Heir. I really feel like the right bottle introduced well in advance with just water will be the key to a smooth start with milk!

How did you first introduce cow’s milk (or a milk alternative) to your child’s diet? Was it a smooth transition for your baby?

You can connect with Philips Avent on social media by following them on Facebook and on Twitter. If you’re interested in learning more about the Philips Avent Classic+ Bottle just click HERE.

How would you like the chance to WIN 1 of 40 three packs of 9oz Philips Avent Classic+ Bottles? The giveaway is open to the USA & Canada (excluding Quebec, Alaska, and Hawaii) and closes on June 24th, 2016.

Philips Avent Classic Giveaway

TheMonarchMommy.com

Disclosure: I am part of the PTPA Brand Ambassador Program with Philips Avent and I received compensation as part of my affiliation with this group. The opinions on this blog are my own.

The Monarch Mommy Top Mommy Blog

45 Comments on “Introducing Baby To The Next Milk

  1. I will probably keep them for myself. I may give one to my sister. Thanks!

    • Thanks for this. My son is 9 mos tomorrow so I need to start thinking about this fairly soon. He uses a bottle about once a day with pumped milk but still doesn’t know how to hold it and hates it cold so I don’t dare make that mistake. Hopefully the transition goes alright but I’m not sure it will.

  2. I honestly don’t remember how I even introduced cow’s milk to my first. He breastfed until he was almost 2. With the twins, they had been taking bottles the whole time as I pumped. I love Avent bottles, and so did they! The transition went pretty smooth because they were so used to them, and now they love milk.

  3. Very smart to try a new approach the second time around! Who has time to deal with struggles with this stuff?? 🙂 Those bottles seem great. I don’t remember the transition, actually, but then again I don’t remember much through the new baby haze. ha

  4. I will be keeping them to use with my little one the way!

  5. I would use them for my little one. We are about to start going to daycare and could use extras.

  6. This would be a gift to my friend who has a baby boy 🙂

  7. I would use these for baby #2 who is due in 3 weeks!

    Thank you!

  8. Its a tough one my little one os 14 months old and he’s still breastfeeding i tried milk but he wasnt having it!

  9. I would keep these bottles to try. My son has always been a really cranky bottle drinker. This article was great. I always wonder how and when I am going to introduce cows milk and am so nervous! Will he like that milk better? Will he hate it? Will he still get enough nutrition since he is a picky eater? We plan on nursing for awhile more but when the day arrives I want to be ready!

  10. Thanks for sharing! My second is almost 10 months so will be making that transition in a few months, and my oldest is almost 11-years, so I’ve forgotten much of my baby wisdom! 😉

  11. I would use with my newest addition, arriving in July! 🙂

  12. I’m planning on mixing My wife’s breastmilk with cows milk.

  13. would go to my niece brittany who is due with her first child in September

  14. My little one is 7 months old so the thought of transitioning is on my mind! Thanks for the pointers! If i won, I would gift these to one of the many friends I have that are expecting!

  15. My brother and his fiancé are having their 1st baby so it’ll be a gift!

  16. I used Avent on my oldest kids 20 years ago! I would give these to a friend as my five month old is about to move on to sippy cups.

  17. I’ve heard great things about these bottles, so they will be used for my first, due in August!

  18. Definitely seems like something I would think about with my little one on the way. If I won I’d try them out with mine and spread the word, if he doesn’t take to them, I’d give them away or wait for the next.

  19. Great giveaway! I will use this prize for my own baby.

  20. I will keep them for myself for when we decide for our next baby 🙂

  21. i would keep these bottles to try with the baby im due with in november 🙂

  22. If I win I would share with a friend, I have a few friends with brand new little ones!

  23. I’m already an Avent bottle fan and would use them for my daughter.

  24. having second child in October so I would keep the bottles.

  25. If I win, I will give this to my cousin who has twins

  26. Planning on starting a family really soon after getting married (fall!) So i figured I should be a step ahead!

  27. I will used them for My Baby
    Cant wait to have him

  28. I’ve had 4 kids, and not one of them gave me a hard time about it at all! I did warm it up, and I used NUK nipples, and they were happy little campers!! 🙂

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *