What Next After Weaning?

If you're trying to wean from the bottle at the same time, I would just go ahead and introduce the milk in the sippy cup. You also don't need to use formula if you want to mix half and half, just pump and use breastmilk if you would rather her have that. My daughter wouldn't drink milk from a sippy cup for a long time. We tried every kind out there and she just wouldn't do it, so be aware that this might be a problem. She would drink water out of them but not milk! We ended up having to give her milk in a regular cup and she would drink it that way because she also took forever to learn how to drink from a straw. It was really messy, but at least we got some milk in her!

My daughter weaned herself at 10 months old. She also stopped eating baby food and wanted table food. I think she just got really independent all of a sudden and just didn't want anyone feeding her anymore. She was using a fork and spoon by the time she was 13 months old! Anyway, good luck with the weaning process. My daughter made it pretty easy for me and it sounds like you won't have any problem either.

Has she ever been on formula? I was told by my ped that you should stay with breastmilk and/or formula until they turn one. I started mixing half formula or breastmilk and half regular milk at first (didnt want to shock the system and have constipation issues)...It seemed to work great. Then you should keep them on whole milk until they are about 2. The littles ones really need all those vitamins and fat content that we dont! Congrats on successfully breastfeeding.....

I make a mixture of whole milk yogurt, plain soy, and goat's milk (you can buy quarts in the dairy case)...my breastfed daughter loves it and she doesn't have any problems with digestibility. It also gives her the extra fat that she needs.

Lactose isn't generally a problem with babies (there is lactose in your breastmilk)...it is a specific protein that causes the problem.

I would avoid mixing your breastmilk with any other dairy. The iron in your breastmilk is highly bioavailable, but the calcium in cow's milk could interfere with absorption and can lead to anemia during this period of rapid growth. Your babies extra iron stores are also being depleted by now (generally).

My 16 month old still nurses during the night...we just went two whole days without a naptime nursing (woo hoo). I will continue to night nurse for at least a few more months--an extended business trip in October seems like an ideal time to finish.

Don't count out the toddler nursing...not every kid lifts their mom's shirt! Now is the time to start with some manners and you can continue nursing as long as you want.

Good luck. It is good that you are thinking about these things ahead of time and it sounds like you are on the right track.

Well my little man is about the turn 13 months and we had our last bedtime nursing last night! I did what the previous mama posted. I started weaning at a year and just replaced his afternoon nursing with a bottle of half milk half formula. Then I replaced the morning nursing, now the night will be replaced as well. Each week I cut back on the formula and this morning he just had his bottle with straight whole milk. This process took me about three weeks or so. I like giving him milk because I feel it is really good for him and I have no problem with any lactose intolerance and he has been doing just fine. Now next week we will be starting to get milk in a sippy cup, joy! Best wishes to you I am sure you will get a variety of opinions on this subject!

K.,

I breast fed my baby until he was 10 months and I had the same reservations you had about my child lifting up my shirt, but if your not ready, then I would put it off. Fortunately, mine started teething and biting me really bad so I felt I had no choice but to wean him because he started hurting me so bad and I thought that he would be a bear about it as he had not previously been able to take a bottle, but oddly enough he started taking the bottle and I think that it was harder on me to wean than it was on him. Now as far as what to feed your child next is tricky. My son could not digest any of the baby formula I bought (even the expensive ones made for digestive problems). I then remembered that my older son had the same problem and we put him on goats milk and it worked wonders and even though my older son was 2 at the time, I went ahead and tried it with my baby and he stopped having the stomach problems, the diareah and everything, so I would recommend that. You can get goats milk just about anywhere now, however it is a little expensive but it is worth it. I hope this helps!!!

Congrats on nursing!
You've gotten some great advice
My only addition would be to be aware of any family allergies, like cow dairy. I would start her on rice/soy milk and goat yogurt - almond milk after she turns a year (barring any nut allergies) and then cow's milk later. So many kids have cow dairy allergies but grow out of them...
just some thoughts
Your local LLL chapter is a great resourcce and would likely have some women who have weaned previous children - great place for ideas!

HTH
K., mama to
Catherine, 4.5y
Samuel, 19m

I just stopped nursing 2 weeks ago at 9 months. I have learned there is an unnecessary amount of corn syrup in formula (up to 60%) So i did a little research and found that whole milk was suggested but Raw Milk is the best alternative. Ive never tried raw milk and was a little hesitant but i use it now and it tastes just like whole milk just with more fat which baby needs! i looked up www.realmilk.com for a local dairy farmer.