Trying to Wean My Daughter from the Breast, but She Doesn't like Cow Milk! Help?

Have you tried mixing it with breastmilk? That is usually the way to go. Start off with about 1/4 cows milk and the rest breast milk. Gradually up the percentage. You can also do soy milk. I wouldn't recommend rice milk unless there is a soy allergy, due to lack of nutrients. And can children this age really have Tums? I wouldn't give that to a baby.

I echo the mixing it with breastmilk and slowly switching to less and less breastmilk. Also I would NOT give my child tums as that changes the whole acid content of the stomach - Tums is not a calcium supplement even if it has extra calcium in it. Personally I'd veto the chocolate also - you don't want to be starting that this early because thats all she will drink if you start her on something so sweet. Its still a rare treat for my 4 year olds. Also you may need to try something totally different in the cup, she may not want milk but you can try water, formula, or VERY dilute juice to get her started on the cup. My kids - all four of them did better with straw cups than sippy ones.

Maybe you should re-consider your decision to wean? I think your child is being pretty loud and clear. Cow's milk isn't necessary in a daily diet, calcium can be from yogurt, broccoli and HUMAN milk. Human milk tastes much better and has tons more benefits to continue after 1 years old. Just imagine all the germy germs she'll be getting between 1-2 y/o that you can help her combat with your breastmilk. She won't be nursing as much (except at growth spurt stages as usual) by 14 months... why not try to wait it out?

Try something else. My son had a milk allergy, so we did rice milk. I tried all the other milks, goat, etc. but he would take rice. It does take a good 15 tries before they will take something new, so it may just be that you need to be more patient.

On the other hand, milk isn't' all that important. 1/2 tums every other day cuts it for calcium. Cheese and yogurt are great as well. My son isn't a big dairy drinking, I don't worry about it. He can get his fat elsewhere ---eggs.

NONE of my 3 daughters drank cow's milk. My doctor didn't seem concerned as long as they were getting vit D supplements and eating plenty of cheeses and yogurt. I just gave them water to drink.

My theory is that they don't like cow's milk because breast milk is so sweet. I wouldn't worry about it as long as she's getting enough calcium and vitamin D from other sources.

You need to figure out how to go about this of course. If you can pump and she'll start taking your milk in a cup then I would do that and only let her nurse at certain times of the day, she needs her mommy time. Then after she starts drinking the milk from the cup better start by adding just a bit of whole vitamin D milk to it.

In formula bottles we add 2 oz. milk to 6 oz. formula. That lasts until she is drinking it without incident and all the time. Then we go half and half, this one is the hardest for them in my opinion. It tastes most like regular milk and they balk at it sometimes. At this point once she is drinking it all the time you can go pretty quickly to the 6 oz. whole milk to 2 oz. formula.

My daughter was a little older when we weaned her off -- maybe 1 and a half years old -- but we mixed a little Ensure with milk. We gradually tapered off the Ensure until she was only on milk. I just didn't have enough to pump anymore or we would have added that. Turns out that she has a semi-milk allergy. She can have dairy in any form except for drinking straight up glasses of milk - and that includes mixing chocolate into milk. It makes her eczema flare up. We worked with a nutritionist at the hospital for the Ensure -- I cannot remember if it was a children's formula or not.

I'm not sure how you feel about formula, but I believe their are some formulas that take the babies out farther than one year. Have you considered soy milk, almond milk, or rice milk? They have a lot of vitamins, although they are lacking in the amount of fat that your daughter will need. She could get that fat elsewhere though if she likes cheese, and yogurt. Our daughters didn't take to cow's milk either, I tried really hard to get both of them to take it, especially with my first, I remember I would set out two bottles, one with soy, and one with whole milk, and she would take the soy milk every time. I think I even tried to do half and half, and it's like she still knew. Both of them dropped all milk completely by 14 months on their own. And now they are almost 6 and 3 and they drink almond milk occasionally, but other than that they get fat from yogurts and cheese and nuts and stuff in their diet. Hope this helps. It can be really frustrating trying to figure out what will work.

When I weaned my oldest son and introduced cow's milk, I mixed it with breast milk. at first I'd use 1 oz of cows milk and the rest breastmilk, then after a few days add more etc. This worked great he slowly got used to the taste and consistency. You can do the same thing with formula. There is no rule that he has to have cows milk at age 1, just that age 1 is the time to introduce it. Breast milk is still best for as long as you can provide it, of course it's a pain to continue pumping, but it's worth it if you can so it for a little while and it will help the transition!

Good luck!

When my daughter did this I went to powdered milk because it had the same consistency as breast milk - think and watery. She hated the formula and I wound up using that in cakes. No one around had a baby at the time that needed formula.

She is not a milk drinker but loves cheeses and things.

Good luck to you.

The other S.

I tried all different types of milk for my son and he HATED them!! So I bought soy milk and he LOVES it! It has more calcium and less sugar than reg milk too. You can get it for less than $3 a half gallon. Not sure if cows milk was to thick? Plus I think the soy milk tastes sweeter even though its less sugar? Mind you I only exclusively breast fed so maybe that's why my son was so picky? Now 18 months old and he still prefers soy milk but he will take a little skim

When I weaned my kids to cow's milk, they wouldn't drink whole- its MUCH thicker than breast milk. The Dr said 2% was fine. If the rest of their diet is healthy and complete, they really don't need milk.

Do you pump? It is easier if you do. Then you can add an ounce of cow's milk in the breast milk and up the amount until she gets used to it.

I would not wean her to a bottle. You'll just have to go to the work of weaning her off of that later. Have you gotten her to drink water or juice from a sippy cup? That's where you should start.

Get her used to a cup. After she's drinking from a cup, pump and put the breast milk in the cup. When she accepts it that way, start adding a little warm milk into the cup. Keep adding a little more milk as she starts accepting it. When you get to the 50% mark, no more nursing except maybe at night. Eventually, warm it less and less until she can drink it cold.

Good luck,
Dawn

Both my older kids hated cow's milk at first too, it is a radical change for them at first I think. I never mixed milk with my breastmilk, I used formula, even though I am breastfeeding mama. I always use formula after about six months as an occasional relief bottle when we go somewhere or when my hubby and I go out, so my kids have both liked it. I just did bottles with 3/4 parts formula and 1/4 parts milk for like a week, then 1/2 and 1/2 for a week or so, then 1/4 parts formula and 3/4 parts milk and then just milk. This has worked just great for both of mine, takes a month or so and then you are home free. I can't see why it wouldn't work just great with breastmilk mixed in as well. It is really normal for kids to be a bit shocked by the change but if you ease them in they do great. Good luck!