Every Tuesday, local experts answer questions about your health, your kid's health and related issues. If you have a question, e-mail me.

Today, Dr. Mike Steiner of the N.C. Children's Hospital fields a question from the mom of a one-year-old.

The question: My son just turned 1 year old and I would like to start weaning him off the bottle and formula. Currently he is still taking 4 9-10 ounce bottles daily of Enfamil Lipil as well as 4 meals and juice/water/snacks in between. What are the appropriate guidelines for doing so. I don't want to overwhelm him by changing too many things at once. Please advise!

The response: There are no specific scientific guidelines for how to accomplish what you’re in the the process of doing, but there are some things that have worked for lots of people.

I assume that your child has no medical problems and is in a healthy, typical weight range right now. Assuming those are true, then I can offer a few suggestions.

I would first transition him to whole milk, and then wean him off the bottle after you’ve done that. He shouldn’t need formula anymore, so the easiest thing to do is try to just immediately change over to milk. Most kids just change over to milk without any problems and without needing a slow transition.

Occasionally, parents will prefer to slowly transition kids by mixing a regularly mixed formula with milk for a while to transition (for example, ¾ formula, ¼ milk for 2 days, ½ and ½ for 2 days, then ¼ formula, ¾ milk for 2 days, then to milk).

I would also suggest changing his feeding schedule a little bit. It sounds like he’s eating more frequently than he needs to. I would start moving toward a 3 meals and 2-3 small snacks type of schedule. I would offer milk toward the end of a couple of the meals and maybe near bedtime.

The recommended amount of milk is only 2 cups, and no more than 3 cups, per day. So you should move toward giving him less milk than you had been giving him formula. He doesn’t need (any many people feel shouldn’t get any) juice, and most kids in this age range don’t need extra water, though it won’t hurt to offer it to him.

Remember, you want to offer small amounts (the size of his palm is approximately a serving) of lots of different foods including lots of fruits and vegetables. By offering him healthy foods before milk and beverages you’ll actually increase his intake of a wide variety of important nutrients.

Most kids at this age are developmentally ready to just switch from a bottle to a sippy cup. There shouldn’t be a need to slowly transition him, and if you wait until he already is used to drinking milk, he will just drink it from the sippy-cup. If he takes less milk for a few days during the transition that’s fine.

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