Weaning to Whole Milk - Canal Winchester,OH

When I weaned my son I started with 1/4 whole milk and 3/4 breast milk. Then after a week I went to half and half. Then the next week 3/4 whole milk and 1/4 breast milk until he was eventually only drinking whole milk and it went incredibly smoothly. Their tummies are so sensitive you need to work them into new things.
Good luck!!

Hi A.,

Whole milk ~ indeed, all dairy ~ hurts a lot of tummies. It's not a natural food for human beings, no matter how organic or wholesome it is. Some of the most common problems associated with it are heartburn, tummy aches, and constipation or diarrhea, and it can also contribute to chronic pain issues.

My doctor, and Integrative M.D., suggests that all of her patients avoid dairy products all together. She began her practice as a pediatrician who specialized in treating children with learning, behavioral, and developmental disabilities. She was alarmed at the traditional medical community's recommendation to throw a pill at those very young children, so she began to do research on managing conditions as much as possible with a wholesome diet, supplements, and exercise. Her young patients showed so much improvement that their parents started making appointments with her to manage their conditions, and she now has a family practice here in Columbus.

She is not against medication, but prefers to use it as a last resort. Everyone I know who has sees her has had tremendous success with her Diet for Life plan. If you're interested in it, please send me a private message, and I'll send the outline along to you, with some good tips for eating out and sticking with the plan. It has changed my life.

When I started to wean my 3 kids I always went to formula then to 2 % milk. The higher fat content in the regular milk could upset his stomach I know it does mine. What else is he eating? Since he is older than mine were when I weaned them I think you could probably skip the formula and go to 2% cow's milk.
What does your peditrician think?
Good luck

He could have a problem with cow's milk. I would consult the pediatrician for advice about trying organic soy milk or something else.
Also, give him the milk in a sippy cup so that he doesn't get attached to a bottle at this late date.

It's possible that the tummy ache could be a sign of a diary intolerance, especially if it's accompanied by loose stools. If this is the case though, he'd have this reaction with all dairy products. I don't know if milk is the first one you've tried to introduce; if it isn't, then most likely it isn't a dairy intolerance. If you've given him dairy based yogurt and he's tolerated that, he should be able to tolerate milk too. Also, if it's a dairy intolerance, switching to 2% won't help. My children are all allergic to milk protein, so they drink soy milk. We use the Very Vanilla Soy by Silk - it's available at Giant Eagle (and probably other major grocery chains). The kids love it, and it's actually fortified with a lot of vitamins and minerals (more than cows milk). Try mixing the breast milk with the whole milk first, but if he continues to have problems, try the soy. Note, if you do decide to discontinue the whole milk and try the soy, it takes about two weeks for all of the dairy to get out of one's system, so he could still show signs of the dairy problem for a couple of weeks after you stop giving him the whole milk.

It does sound like an intolerance to milk. My children both stopped drinking milk as soon as they stopped taking a bottle (breastfed for less than a year) with formula. We settled on rice milk for the occasional cereal or smoothies or cooking but don't use milk. I understand goat's milk is gentler and can be tolerated by some who don't tolerate milk so that may be something to try if you are inclined to give milk for some reason. Another option that may prove helpful is to add a probiotic before or to the milk. Culturelle worked well for us when the girls were young and we now use Complete Probiotic from mercola.com or Vinco which can also be found online.

I think you should stick with the whole milk, but you can start mixing that with breastmilk to help make it easier on his tummy. The other thing you can do is use Mylicon.

When my oldest was about that age, she was in daycare and there were kids who really needed that transition period from breastmilk or formula to whole milk.

Good luck!

With both of my kids, I would mix 2 oz of whole milk with 6 oz of formula (or breast milk in your case) for 1 week. Then the next week, I would mix 4 oz of whole milk with 4 oz of formula. Then the 3rd week I would mix 6 oz of whole milk with 2 oz of formula. Then the 4th week would be all whole milk. The transition needs to be slow. He could be swallowing a lot of air because the milk is not as thick as breast milk and may be drinking it too fast. Plus it's cold. That's why slowly mixing cold milk with warm breast milk will help him transition better without belly aches. Now if he begins having diarrhea (especially with blood), then he may have an allergy to milk. Good luck!! :)

Some kiddos may have an issue with cows milk protein, but don't worry too much about the transition - your breastmilk is all the milk he needs at this point (you've done wonderfully to breastfeed him!) You can continue to work on the introduction of different types of milk, but don't be overly concerned if he doesn't take it right away - keep working on it slowly and see how he adjusts. Next Step toddler formula is a marketing ploy to keep moms thinking they need to buy "toddler" formula for their kids once they outgrow baby formula. Hope that helps - good luck!

I haven't weaned, I just added whole milk at meals and snacks. Skip the bottle and do it in a sippy cup so she really understands that it's different.
Try not giving milk for a week and then try soy or almond milk, if he doesn't have any reaction it's probably a cow-milk intolerance you just need to hold off a few months and try again at 18 months, then 2 years until it doesn't bother him.
Has he had any trouble with yogurt and cheese? Processed milk products tend to be gentler and you can skip drinking milk altogether if you feed lots of other whole-milk products. I'd just keep on nursing for the time being. They say the second year is as beneficial as the first.

A.,
I struggled with the whole transition to whole milk thing to. Here is what I personally decided through my own research. 1. You don't have to give your child whole cow's milk. What they need is protein, calcium. I would suggest instead giving him plain whole milk yogurt once a day. The cultures in yogurt help the system digest the lactose in milk, which can be hard for many people. My son loves plain yogurt. 2. Try rice milk. It has the same calcium as milk. I would limit soy milk. I used to think it was an equally good alternative, but there is some question as to how the phytoestrogens in soy products affect humans chemical balances of testosterone/estrogen, etc. If you read more about it, it does make sense. 3. If you do want to give some milk, which I give like 1 sippy of milk in morning and then rice milk for the afternoon sippy, consider using an organic milk, or if its available at your grocer, Snowville Creamery is a local dairy, whose cows are purely pasture fed. The cow's diet (grain vs. grass) can affect our systems too. The milk is pasturized at the lowest, yet safest level, leaving more nutrients in the milk. Your son's system might handle this milk easier. I purchase it at whole foods. I just feel good about giving him that milk. Hope this helps, and good luck.

I recently changed my 14month twin daughters from straight breastmilk to whole milk. I just mixed the breastmilk and whole milk, gradually decreasing the breastmilk ratio every 2-3 days or so. They did absolutely fine!! And now I'm done pumping, just last week. The girls never got stomach aches, but I would think he probably didn't take to the first option. If you do try cow's milk, use whole/Vitamin D milk. Good luck!