cows milk ok for 10mo BF baby while I work?

[only1mica]

What do you think....I have HAD it with expressing, I have been doing it since she was 8 weeks old pretty much everyday. Since then I have been working 2-3 days and away from her for 6 hrs at a time.

But starting on monday I will be doing 3 days full time, drop off at 7.30 pick up at about 6. There is no way I can express enough for her. :no:

She is fine with milk in cereal etc....I am leaning toward YES....what do u think?

[2littlemonkeys]

i think thats fine we went on to full cows milk at 10 months and were fine with it
if she has been having it on her cereal should be fine maybe just start giving her one bottle a day to try it but i would say go for it :-)

[Nomsie]

Your daughter- your choice :) If you are happy and comfortable with it, then that is your answer! :yes:

[dondons]

IMO it would be fine, I have been in a similar situation with my DD2 and it worked out well. I stopped BF DD2 during the day when she was 10.5 months. I was just so over it. She was a very irregular feeder, and would only take it without any distractions (ie in her room with the door closed and light off). So instead at about the time of her arvo feed I offered her cows milk in a cup. She didnt really miss a beat. 'They' say you shouldnt intro cows milk as their main milk until 1, however I think supplementing one or two feeds doesnt count as 'main milk drink'.

[only1mica]

that's what I thought - if its not her main milk source, it should be ok.
In all honesty I dont think she will have much more than 100ml all up in that time - she is not a huge expressed milk in bottle fan anyway.

thanks!

[bubbyboy]

I wouldn't - but that's just me.

[Square777]

Hi
Hope you don't mind me popping in, was just having a read.

I'm no expert but I know my SIL got 'told off' so to speak, when she put her son on cows milk before he was 2. He wasn't breast fed past the first month or so, so I'm not sure.

But it was my understanding in general that unitl they are older, cows milk isn't enough for them, they need the calories/nutrients etc found in formula.
I could be completely wrong, but perhaps the breast feeding association or your local midwife centre or GP could give you some advice.

Ie if cows milk is ok to supplement breastfeeding, or if you still need a fortified supplement at that age?

Good luck :wave:

[jasserben]

My DS1 was formula fed till 12 months & as soon as he turned 1 I gradually introduced powdered milk (Diploma). It has some extra vitamins & minerals that normal full cream milk doesn't. Then when he was about 1.5 I put him on just full cream milk.

I'm still breastfeeding DS2 who is 11 months but he has full cream milk in his cereal but I'm going to start giving him a cup of milk for his daytime feed. I will use up a tin of back-up formula I had first but only because it's there & I paid for it. If I didn't have it, I'd put him on the powdered milk. You might find she might not like straight full cream milk cause the formulas & powdered milk are sweeter.

At the end of the day it's your baby & your decision & if it feels right then there's your answer. If you find it's not agreeing with her, you could always put her on formula for a couple of months & gradually introduce the powdered milk or plain fc milk.

[Hollywood]

I would wait until 12 months for the cows milk, perhaps just give formula until then. I found this info for you:


It is recommended that you keep your baby on breastmilk, infant formula or follow-on formula for her first year. Once your baby has reached her first birthday, you can, if you want, start to give her full-fat cow's milk in a lidded beaker.

Why wait?
It is important to wait until your baby is one year old, as cow's milk doesn't contain sufficient iron to recommend its use before then, although small amounts of cow's milk can be used in cooking from six months. Infant formula milks and follow-on milks contain more iron and vitamins than cow's milk, and are the only alternative to breastfeeding for the first year. After the first six months of breastfeeding, breastmilk is not a good source of iron, so breastfeeding mums should make sure that weaning foods contain plenty of iron. This means using foods such as lean red meats, iron fortified breakfast cereals, purées of dried fruit, and tofu in your baby's diet.

[amandaw]

I was in the same boat but at 9 months. I still breastfeed my DS morning and night but needed the day time feed 3 days a week. DS refused a bottle of any sort (expressed milk/formula/anything). With the advice of CHN we skipped straight to a sippy cup with cows milk...I just had to add .15mls of Pentavite (a liquid toddler vitamin) to it so supplement the nutrients that deking was talking about.....not the end of the world since it wasn't a complete swap to cows milk (so he was still getting 'full strength' nutrients/calories through breast feeding), but still made me feel better about the situation

[JabberJaw]

I wouldn't :no: but its your child :) I dont think cows milk provides enough nutrient for a bub that young, if you are going to comp feed i would be more inclined to go with formula which substitutes the daily requirements necessary for a baby that age.

[Mrs Nietzsche]

My DS is 10 mths, he has cows milk when I make porridge - I make it with cows milk - but if he has any more than that he gets runny light poos, so I'd say he can only tolerate a certain amount. Can you not use formula? Cow's milk has lots of calcium but not much omega 3 etc - good for growing big dumb animals but not humans.

[Hollywood]

My DS is 10 mths, he has cows milk when I make porridge - I make it with cows milk - but if he has any more than that he gets runny light poos, so I'd say he can only tolerate a certain amount. Can you not use formula? Cow's milk has lots of calcium but not much omega 3 etc - good for growing big dumb animals but not humans.

My DS was EXACTLY the same as yours. He is only JUST getting over that, and finally now his poos aren't runny with cows milk (in big quantities) and he's 2y4m! Just a couple of days ago I tried him out with a warm Ovaltine made with cows milk, and for once in his life his poo was relatively normal (that is to say, it is always normal, but until now if he has a big cup of cows milk 24 hours later he would have a runny poo IYKWIM). Until now he could handle cows milk only in small amounts used for cereal or cooking (he is still BF too).