Need Tips on How to Introduce Whole Milk

You might consider that as long as a baby is nursing four or more times a day there is no need for any other milk at all.

Also, if you want to take the introduction of dairy slow so you can judge his reaction, try yogurt or cheese first. YoBaby is a good brand. Yogurt is more digestible than plain milk and has probiotics that milk doesn't. That also eliminates the need for a bottle which would later present another 'weaning' stage - just go straight to a sippy if you need to offer beverages.

Plus, you should know that there's no magical need for cow's milk that suddenly arises at the age of one. Or any age. Cow's milk isn't actually a necessary part of the human diet at all, if you want to wait or just not worry about it, it's ok. My five year old has never had any plain milk and probably never will. I don't drink it either. People can live and be perfectly healthy without it! :)

My daughter is one, and we are still nursing. We love it too, and I am glad as we come into the winter flu season that she is still receiving my antibodies for her protection. (btw, adding coconut oil to your diet can make your milk even more protective for him, and do the same for you as well).http://www.emaxhealth.com/4/689.html

I will continue to nurse til two at least, because of the recommendations of the World Health Organization and the Academy of American Family Physicians - they advise parents that a child weaned before the age of two is at increased risk for disease.

There is a wonderful community of breastfeeding moms at http://mothering.com/discussions/forumdisplay.php?s=&..., they also have a Child Led Weaning forum for those of us that do not practise mother-led weaning.

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I nursed until 14 months, the last couple months just once or twice a day, at 1yr I tried whole milk, and goats milk to no avail. You might try a mixture of the milk and your breast milk to ease him into it. I ended up just giving my son a lot of whole milk yogurt. He's 3 now and still doesn't like milk, but loves his yogurt and an occasional smoothie, which is fine with me, because of all the good probiotics in yogurt. So give it a shot but if he's not a fan, know that is fine too.
(=K.

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About checking for a reaction, if your son has been eating cheese, yogurt, cottage cheese, pudding, etc., then he's already been exposed to dairy products and probably fine with it (or you would have noticed a reaction). If he has not had those foods, you might want to start with them. I've also heard of mixing formula/breastmilk with whole milk as a transition. And one more tip--when you decide to stop breastfeeding, drop one feeding at a time instead of just stopping cold turkey. For me, when I started dropping feedings, it took about 1-2 months to finish.

By the way, when my babies switched to milk, they really didn't like it and wouldn't drink much, which seemed to be a real problem when they weren't breastfeeding anymore. But our pediatrician said that as long as they were getting calcium from cheese, yogurt, pudding..., that they would be fine, and they were. They started drinking more and more, and now they love milk.
Best wishes!

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Happy Birthday to your little guy!

I would try out other dairy products first to check for reactions. Cheese and yogurt are good ways to start. Most stores now sell at least one brand of organic yogurt that are reasonably priced. Try a fruit flavor you know he already likes (peach?). After a 3-4 days of that with no reaction you can move to some cheese mashed up with potatoes or whatever. Once you are sure he doesn't have a milk allergy, just give him a little milk in a tippy cup. Don't worry too much about how much he drinks since you are still nursing. Once you and he are ready to ween he'll be getting plenty of calcium from various dairy products.

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I breatfed for 17 months, while trying to introduce Whole Milk to my daughter. She ended up being slightly intolerant of it (diaper rash whenever she gets regular milk). So we ended up using Vitamin D, Lactose free milk (instead of Soy). We used Sippy Cups, as she was never a bottle drinker. And we simply got her used to the milk first, before cutting out any nursings. I even started at 12 months, and it still took til she was 17 months to complete wean her. But that was partly because I wasn't ready. She would develop the rash, we'd stop the milk, let clear up, then try again. It was pretty clear it was the milk so I tried Soy. No rash. But I'm not comfortable with her having that much soy after researching it. So after a couple months, I'd try the regular milk again, with the same rash. She can eat yogurt, cheese, etc. with no problem; it was only the milk. So don't be surprised if you seem to notice the same thing. I was so happy to find the Lactose free whole milk!

Then, when I realized I was no longer feeling calm and happy while nursing, but rather stressed and irritated, I knew it was time to wean. But that's another post ;-)

Good Luck!!!

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My dad (of all people!) had a suggestion for us and for my brohters child. If you are pumping at all, then add 1 oz of whole milk to a 6 oz bottle for a few days or week (whatever works for you), then every week, add one more oz milk and so on until they are drinking a whole bottle of whole milk. And too, try some with cheerios if they are eating those. Put it in their oatmeal... things like that.

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introducing whole milk while my girls were still nursing and it gave me peace of mind knowing they were still getting the nutrition from breastmilk while they were testing out moo milk, esp. because they took a while to develop a taste for moo milk. So from my experience having the overlap was good because I wasn't worried about them having to drink "enough" cows milk. I've heard some parents suggest warming the milk first instead of taking it straight from the fridge and I tried that but didn't really notice much difference in how much they drank, I think they just had to decide for themselves that hey this stuff isn't bad and by the time they self-weaned at around 15 and 18 months, while I wouldn't say they were just slurping down the cows milk, they *were* drinking more of it than when they first started at age 1. Plus they like yogurt and ate cottage cheese with fruit so they weren't lacking for calcium sources.

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Congratulations and Happy Birthday!

My daughter just turned one last month. I was concerned how she was going to handle any dairy since she didn't react well to soy yogurt at 9 or 10 months. I slowly introduced milk or soy milk in foods that she ate and also tried a couple small bites of soy yogurt and she did fine at one year. Her first milk was half soy and half non-fat organic milk in a sippy cup. Once I knew she liked that, then I tried whole organic milk cold and she loves it.

As for breastfeeding, you'll know when you're ready. I'm still breastfeeding at least twice a day (before bed and when she wakes in the morning), but I was ready to stop the daytime and middle of the night feedings.

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I tried introducing the whole milk slowly with all 3 of my girls with my youngest being 1 on the 3rd of this month. I would gradually build up each week until all she got was whole milk. It will also allow your body a chance to slow down on its milk production. Good Luck!

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i say go goat milk. it is more like breast milk and better too :) some kids will reject cows milk. just give a few ounces a time at a certain of day...and in the same cup/bottle. it can become part of your routine that way. good luck.

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Hello. I would suggest you start off with soy milk. Its sweet like our breast milk. I did that with my son and I also breastfed him till he was 13mo. He took to it very well and then I just introduced regular milk. I feel it helped the transiton from our milk to cow milk. :) I hope my advice is helpful. Goodluck. :)

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First off, Happy Birthday and congratulations on making it through the first year!
My doctor told me to give my daughter watered down milk to start with at meals or just during the day when you would generally give him water or juice. Gradually cut back on the amount of water you add to it and eventually he will be drinking just milk. My youngest will be one on Sunday and already drinks milk (partially because she steals her sisters cup) but still breastfeeds a couple times a day and lots at night.
Hope you have luck with the milk!
J.

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Have you given your son breastmilk from a bottle yet? If not, you might want to try that to be sure he's okay with the nipple; you don't want to confuse rejection of the bottle with rejection of the milk. Wen you're ready to stop nursing, start with a mix of 1/4 cow's milk, 3/4 breastmilk (warm the bottle so that it's not cold from the cow milk). After several days to a week, if things are going well, go to 1/2 breastmilk and 1/2 cow milk. After about another week, go to 3/4 cow milk, 1/4 breastmilk, and after several more days all cow milk.

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If you have not been using a bottle, I would not invest in one at this point. Start putting breast milk in a sippy cup. Once he gets the hang of the cup, start adding a bit of whole milk to it.

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I love Deborah T's advice. Ditto.

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Happy birthday to your son. The way we introduced whole milk to our girls, were by offering her a little at a time. First we gave her some with cheerios or any other cereal she ate. Then we would make her a cup with half breastmilk and half whole milk and they all did fine. If you feel more comfortable just put more breastmilk than whole milk, until you add more each week and before you know it, he will be drinking whole milk only.

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Congrats making a whole year breastfeeding!!! You go, girl!
Neither of my kids had problems when switching to whole milk. I got brightly colored sippy cups and gave them those and they'd drink it! :) I continued to nurse my daughter until she was 14 mo and we were both ready... I did use toddler formula sometimes with her because there were times that I was away from a fridge and needed to give her something to drink and it works great! She is still a milk drinker at 5 and we actually have to watch her because she will drink too much if we let her! :) My son I weaned right at 1. My best friend was getting married and I used the trip to wean him. Neither of us were ready... I actually probably could've picked it up when we got back despite not pumping (I was that full!!!) but decided we'd cut the cord and didn't. I regret that. He never liked whole milk as much as his sister. We toughed out the year and he went to 1% at his second birthday and drinks more milk now. He is still the first to ask for water or juice, tho. You might try other dairy and see if they have a problem and if not, then just get him a sippy cup he'd love and go for it. But keep those last few daily feedings as long as you're both enjoying them! :)

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Just start with a couple 2-4 oz bottles a day then increase as you are ready.

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Happy Birthday to your DS! It's amazing how fast time flies and how many things babies learn to do in their first year! when I transitioned my daughter, and when she transitioned her FIVE children, we started out by mixing whole milk with water, about 1/2 and 1/2, or formula/breastmilk. We then slowly made it a little more milk until eventually it was all milk. I would say change the ratio of milk to water/formula/breastmilk about every week until eventually you're at straight milk.

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