weaning from bf to cows milk at 10 mth, advice please

[jacks mum]

ok I've gone through all of the threads and still have questions.

I'll probably get shot down for this but here goes....

my ds is 10 months and is bf. I work 2 nights a week and have since he was 2 months, I used to have 4 bottles of ebm in the freezer all the time by jsut expressing when I got home to replace the bottle he had that night. I've now got 1 in the freezer and finding it so hard to keep that going, not able to express much at all.

I had planned on bf until he was 12 months only because I've got this narrow minded thinking that I don't want to use formula I'd rather go to cows milk. I've heard of a couple of mums going to cows milk about 9-11 months. Has anyone else done this and if so so you need to water it down or just go full. He has cows milk on his breakfast, custard that I make and eats normal yoghurt.

He is on 3 feeds a day so is it possible to start by giving cm at lunch and still bf in the morning and night but then the nights I work can he have cm.

sorry if i've lost anyone in this thread just looking for advice without going to formula.

Thanks

[jembelina]

To be honest I'm not 100% certain. BUT, I think, provided he has a good, varied diet of solid food and you feel happy he is getting everything he needs, it should be fine. Don't water it down as then he will be getting less from it iykwim?? I would feel exactly the same as you about giving formula - not keen! I think replacing the lunchtime feed first sounds like a good idea. Maybe jsut give him a littel bit at first as well as bm just to give him the taste for it. He will probably be fine but it might be a bit of a shock going straight from bm to cm in one fowl swoop! Are you going to use bottels or a cup? Sounds like you are using bottles at night, may be a good time to introduce milk in a cup too, starting with lunchtime. Might make it a bit more of a novelty too if he happens to have any issues with it!!

Good Luck (and don't think you will get shot down for anything!!)

[lukaelmo]

I don't know either, but can't wait 'till someone who does comes along :laughing:

Can I second this question? :D

[Carlz]

me three?????:)

alot of people have told me no cows milk till 12 months as their stomachs can't digest it properly???
Mum said she had me on cows millk by 10 months??
:confused: :confused: :confused:

so i say just give it a go, see how he likes it, if it's not satisfying him he'll let you know i suppose?

[becca74]

I also have a sneaking suspicion that he should be fine with this....my 2nd son decided to abruptly stop bf'ing at 11 months, and this freaked me out as I had never bottle-fed him and didnt know how to get milk into him otherwise....he totally rejected my milk, absolutely refused formula, absolutely refused cows milk (I was even naughty, and in desparation I tried to give him a little milo in the formula/cow's milk, but still, total rejection), and he would only take water from a sippy cup (he rejected any fluid with flavour!)....

I took him to the child health clinic in desperation, and Thank God he would eat cheese and yoghurt, so the nurse filled me in on the quantities of calcium that you get from these things, and I just had to make sure he ate these each day....

He is 4 now, and still prefers everything to be totally bland! It worries me on occasion, as he is a bit skinny (though I am assured he is totally within the normal range).....I dont know why he is so different to his brothers, but I guess it is just his personality - he is a real individual.

So, maybe get advice from a 'professional' if you wish, but I have a feeling that your bub is old enough to cope fine..... if my 11 month old survived on water as his only fluid, giving cows milk has to be better than that ;)

I must say though, if you choose to just go with the cows milk, make sure it is the normal full-fat version....I have been advised this in the past. ( I think I have heard they should only have the full-fat version until they are about 2 years old)...

[the_queen]

I hated having Vallerie on formula too, so when she rejected it at about 9 months old, I was secretly happy but also worried about the old "you can't start cow's milk until 12 months" advice. I got advice from a trusted GP and also the Child Health nurse, and they both asked me:

1) Is she getting enough iron and calcium from her solids??

2) Is she eating well in general??

3) Is she generally well in herself??


Answers: yes, yes and yes. She was eating yogurt every day, cheese, plenty of red meat and vege's, etc etc. So I started putting cow's milk on her weetbix in the morning, I made sure she had at least 2 other serves of dairy products throughout the day, and made sure she ate enough iron-filled foods (ie meat, green leafy vege's etc) And I just sorta kept my eye on her, to watch for any signs of problems. But she was fine, and so we had no further issues! No more formula :smiliedance: oh, until she was old enough to be affected by TV advertising and started asking for stupid chocolate toddler formula :rolleyes:

The other thing, there is absolutely no history of any kind of dairy allergies in either mine or DH's side, no food allergies whatsoever, so that issue didn't concern me very much. But if there are any allergy issues in your families I would definitely be a little more cautious than I was.

:thumbsup:

[JE's Mum]

I know nowadays they say to avoid cows milk as a drink until 12 months because of the nutrition and the lactose content. I wasn't that keen on formula either but I wanted to replace the lunchtime bf with a cup before starting back at work. I started attempting this at 10 months and found he would only take my milk from a cup and wouldn't take formula anyway. I tried mixing milks etc etc but he still refused.

After a month of trying I spoke with an ABA counsellor about it because I thought there was probably no point dealing with formula at this stage anyway. She suggested trying him with a bit of cows milk from about 11 1/2 months. She thought it wouldn't be any drama because he was still having a morning and an evening breastfeed (not to mention other dairy) so he would be getting his milk nutrients from that anyway.

I still had a bit of a battle getting him to drink cows milk but I read a fantastic tip somewhere on bubhub and made him banana smoothies (cows milk, banana, Jalna vanilla yoghurt). Well he was more than happy with that and didn't have any problems with the lactose. After a a week I stopped putting banana in the milk but I have continued to put a dollop of vanilla yoghurt in it. He really likes it and he benefits from the extra fat.

I guess if you can tough it out until 11 months (I know it can be a pain, it felt like I was expressing the lunch feed for ages!) you can probably try from then.

[Goosie22]

I also think it would be fine, as you will probably still be doing your breastfeeding when at home I would try the cows milk in a cup rather than a bottle. Only to save all the rot of weaning from that too.

If you wanted to boost your supply to get a little longer from the BM you could try Feenugreek ( a herb from the chemist is comes in 1000mg and take it 3 times a day). Just a thought anyway good luck.

[lexi'smum]

Hi
we started lex on cows milk when she was around 9 months old, she was a good eater and a healthy baby and she took to it with no probs, I also wouldnt suggest watering it down either.
The other ladies have wrote some good informative posts so I wont go into anything, but just wanted to let you know I did the same thing with no troubles.
Good luck with it :)

[jacks mum]

thanks heaps guys you've really put my mind to rest.

I gave Jack cows milk from a cup yesterday at lunch, I did warm it a little though. He had some but I'll try again today without warming it. He drinks cold water and yoghurt so maybe he would prefer it cold. We'll see, only trial and error.

thanks again and there isn't any allergies in either side of our families so I haven't had to worry with that.

:smiliedance:

[Imsooverit]

JE's Mum, that's a great idea (about the banana smoothie). My DD refuses formula and cows milk. She's 11 months and is on 2 BF's a day.

What quantities of each do you make up and how do you give it? Sipper cup, straw cup or hold a normal cup for them?

[JE's Mum]

Hi StormT

Nowadays I am just using milk and vanilla yoghurt - I find the Jalna premium vanilla yoghurt best because it has no sugar but the vanilla still tastes a bit sweet and lots of fat! I usually add enough yoghurt to 150ml of milk to make it up to around 200ml (so about 3/4 milk, 1/4 yoghurt). I stir the yoghurt through with a fork to dissolve it. Initally I would add about a 4cm piece of banana and mix it with a hand wand thingy.:chef:

De didn't drink a huge amount at first (maybe about 80ml) but can drink a lot more now. At lunch time it can be anywhere between 80 and 180ml. I just go with him on that one.

At lunch time I give him his milk in a normal cup but when we are out and about, or if I am topping him up in the evening, I use a spout cup or the avent bottle with the green plastic spout attachment but I take out the valve so it just works like a spout cup anyway.

I tried mixing my milk with cows milk initially and it didn't work. I think he just thought it was an inferior version of my milk. Giving them something completely different that is a bit sweet seemed the go.

Good luck - I hope your bub takes to it too. :fingerscrossed:

[JE's Mum]

p.s. I usually warm his milk too. He will drink it cold but seems happier with it warmed but you can experiment with that!;)