Advice for weaning 17mo from the breast (who still feeds to sleep)

[sambababy]

Hi everyone. Please can I have your tips on how to fully wean and introduce cow's milk?

I stopped breastfeeding my 17mo DD in the night only about a month ago. I've just got my bfp for DC2 and I want to start weaning her fully. (I'm in awe of anyone that continues throughout pregnancy and beyond but it's just not for me.) DD eats LOADS of solids, huge meals, but she was no-dairy until 1 due to a suspected allergy, and as a result I've struggled to get her to eat much dairy. She eats cheese in things, and cow's milk in porridge, cream in sauces on occasion, butter on bread, but that's it. Natural/greek yoghurt has been rejected whether I add fruit or honey, raw cheese too, and I don't really know where to start with cow's milk. I'm worried about her calcium intake when we stop breastfeeding.

She currently feeds twice a day for naps (feeding to sleep, it's another thing I need to stop and don't know how), again at bedtime, and sometimes in the morning too.

How did you go about introducing cow's milk? Did you warm it and when in the day did/do you offer it? I unfortunately was never able to express so combining to start with isn't an option. She's never taken a bottle or formula.

Thank you in advance for any suggestions you might have. It will be really helpful to hear your stories of weaning at a similar age.

[Rinceoir]

My almost 18 month old also won't touch dairy. She still breastfeeds 3 times a day or so also (but would happily bf all the time). I can't advise on how to get her to try dairy (I can't get my DD to eat anything) but I can suggest the countdown method of shortening feeds. Essentially start counting down from 10 when ready to stop, if she hasn't stopped by1 unlatch her. My DD now in latches by 9! I'm trying to cut down breastfeeding to encourage food intake, if your little one eats I would try not to worry too much about the dairy, and look for non dairy alternative sources of calcium

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

Neither of mine drank cows milk until about a month after stopping bfing so don't worry too much.

The current recommendation for a baby who isn't being is 300 ml of full fat cows milk per day but this can include milk in food.

Foods like sardines, tinned salmon (with the bones), green leafy veg and dried figs are all high in calcium. Some breads and cereals are also fortified, like ready Brek.

As for the feeding to sleep, I started with taking them out for a walk in the day instead of feeding and going out while DH put them to bed at bedtime.

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

Just realised how old your message is. How are you getting on now? Have you tried posting in infant feeding or speaking to a BFC?

[sambababy]

Thank you Rinceoir and Jilted, you're right I definitely need to make sure she is getting calcium from other foods. We saw a paedeatrician last week who said even with her current bfs, her calcium intake seems low. I tried adding milk into a smoothie but she didn't like it. I think I'm going to see if she'll eat normal kids yoghurts. I know they're sugary but she has virtually no other added sugar in her diet so I don't think it will do too much harm. So we haven';t made much progress yet...