Need Help with Milk “Rules”

If he is 12mo get rid of the bottles and use a sippy cup. He should be drinking cold milk from a cup just like we do. Put 3 - 4oz in the cup at a time. You can always add more.

Why not give him his milk in a sippy cup with meals? At this point I think you should start to wean him from the bottle. i wouldn't worry about heating it either.

I always just smell the milk and if it smells off I throw it out. I find that happens pretty quickly at room temp.

With my 12 month old I didn't micowave at all. However after it touches her lips I let her work thru it for an hour. If I can tell she's not interested in it then I pop it back in the fridge. Have u tried slowly moving to cold milk? Every sippy cup I slowly decreased how long I microwaved it.now she loves loves cold milk.

I smell it. If it is organic milk from the grocery store, it is Ultra Pasteurized and can sit out until the next ice age without going bad. (ok, maybe not that long, but a long time.) If it is pasteurized, you've got a couple hours. If it is raw, I'd check with the dairy-- but you will know when it goes bad!

Don't remember any "rules" but why not just give him a smaller amount to start if he never finishes it?

OK...No pressure on getting rid of the bottle! They are still babies at 12 months old..what's the rush? Each baby is different and each mom likes to go at different speeds. Start replacing some bottles w/ cups and proceed as you see fit. Yep...no strict rules. At this point you can relax a little and just enjoy him!

I have to agree to use your judgement, I just smell my kids milk cups.
And actually at 12 months it's recommended that your toddler (baby) only consume 16-24 oz of whole milk per day. The rest of the time maybe try introducing water. And now is a great time to start out with a sippy!

Also wondering why you heat it? That's only creating more work for you!
Good luck Mama!

I used to keep track of how much milk the kids were taking per bottle...the morning bottle was always a bigger one, then the next one was maybe 5 oz., then the next was another 5oz., etc. Evening bottles were always big, too (8-9 oz.). Chart it for a few days and see if there's a pattern-then make the bottles according to that so you are wasting less.

That, and if he's got enough teeth and can stand eating solids pretty well-you should probably try to cut down on the milk anyway...now that he's 1. I know I stayed with milk longer for my firstborn because she had no teeth until she was 15 months, but she did eat a lot of soft foods in the meantime.

My son is 12 months old, our pediatrician and GI doc, recommend 18 to 24 oz of whole milk/day. So, He gets a cup at breakfast, one at dinner, and one before bed. The morning cup he sometimes finishes an hour later - after about an hour I dump it. My advice would be to use a sippy cup, give it with meals and bedtime, 40oz of milk is an awful lot and his appetite will be diminished and he won't eat the variety he needs to get his nutrients. Just my opinion. Ask your pediatrician if they think he should have that much milk.

S

It can go back in the refrig when he's done with his bottle. Since he's probably on "real" food, like table food by now, why don't you lower the milk to 4-6 oz at a time -- let him have a drink, but don't overload the bottle when he doesn't generally drink that much.

I don't know about any rules - I just smell it or taste it. I do have two suggestions . . . First, ask your pediatrician about cutting back on his milk intake. Ours told us no more than 16 oz a day at that age. It's not the full meal that breast milk or formula is, so they need to be getting nutrition from other sources. Secondly, wean him off the heating thing - the sooner he adjusts to cold milk, the better off you'll both be. I have one who still doesn't like it right out of the fridge, so I try to remember to pour it 15 minutes before meals.

Yep--I agree--cut down the amount. No need really to warm it--unless he likes it like that. I warmed my son's milk and had it in my head that HE wanted it that way--imagine my surprise when I gave him a cold "bubby" and he never even noticed! :-)
I'd start with half--you can always give him more.

Right or wrong-I always looked at the guidelines as "very best case scenario for modern times on the super safe side" and took them very loosely.

I wouldn't throw it away unless it had been baked in the car for too long, reheated more than twice (even then I think it would be OK since it's only slightly heated-but I would try to use the stove or bottle warmer to avoid weird microwave/plastic toxins when possible) I've been known to smell the bottle that's been sitting out for hours and use it if it smells fine. Running out of milk is so annoying-especially pricy organic milk, which is what I use. I just think of it in the context of centuries of people drinking milk through hardships and famines, and none of them would have thrown out a few ounces unless they were rotten.

Well for starters, you're putting it in the microwave. :P BAD mojo, don't do it.

Hi E B

The milk thing is different. I keep my grand daughter and now after she eats breakfast she takes very little milk. So I started waiting a half hour or so and then offering the milk - she usually drinks most of the milk that is left after mixing it with her cereal.

Then she decided that she didn't want the baby cereal. So now after she eats breakfast - cheerio's and cold milk like her big sister - or pancakes - I give her about 6 oz of warm milk. No day is alike - sometimes is all goes and other times - there is 2 - 3 oz left. I pop it in the refrigerator. I add to it a couple hours later - up to the 8 oz - heat and give it to her before she goes in for her AM nap.

So the short report is - offer less milk and refrigerate what is left. As they grow - adjust. If you are pouring half of the milk down the drain - cut back.

After the nap bottle I do dump what is left. Adding to it once and reheating I can do - after that - I start fresh.

Enjoy that little one. As a grandmom I know how fast the time goes.