switching to cows milk at 10mo

[Odysseus]

Is the only problem with switching to cows milk you need to be careful re iron levels?
And something to do with potentially having an allergy effect?

Has anyone swapped to cows milk earlier than the recommended 12 mo?

Its to do with the nutrients e.g. iron and other vitamins rather than the allergy effect. It depends how good a diet your lo has as to whether they would be ok switching early. I gave the odd drink of cows milk before 1 year but didnt switch over totally till my lo's were 1 year old.

AFAIK the risk is that the baby won't get enough calorific energy if cow's milk drinks are introduced too early - breast milk/formula are more calorific/energy dense than cow's milk, which is why why the advice is to only use cow's milk as an ingredient until 12 months. Cow's milk isn't a good source of iron.

I'm no expert btw, this is just what I've picked up from Mumsnet and NHS advice.

Hmmm well I don't think he's getting the recommended intake of breastmilk as I seem to be drying up - and I don't really want to go down the formula route.
He's been having cows milk in his food since 6 mo, I was just hoping that I could switch fully to that instead.
Fingers crossed my boobs can hang on just another 8 weeks!!!!!

DD was barely drinking any milk by that age anyway despite my best efforts so I switched to cows milk at just before 11 months.

She was eating like a horse and I reasoned that she was eating as much then as she would when she was 1.

Odysseus, what makes you think your supply is a problem? Again, I'm no expert but I thought by 10 months the supply was so well tuned that your baby would get all they need, even if that's in just a few feeds a day.

This is very interesting to me as I may well have to wean off the breast before 12 months (depending on when we schedule our next round of IVF) and I'd really prefer to avoid the formula route if possible. My son is about to turn 6 months so plenty of time to see how he gets on with solid before before making up my mind.

Oh, I see - why do you think you are drying up, is it him losing interest or are you pregnant/on the combined pill/etc? If he's losing interest himself then I probably would offer cow's milk as a drink but not specifically try to get him to take it e.g. at bedtime.

10 months is still quite little though.

Flipfantasia - I express every day and the amount I'm getting out is decreasing. He's feeding for shorter times so I think my body is tuned to what he wants...he just doesn't know the NHS guidelines!!

mrsjuan DS's appetite is not a problem at all, eats a huge variety so will take comfort that he's probably getting the right mix of things.

Ah, okay, I would be inclined then to just carry on as you are - are you expressing so that he can have breastmilk while you are at work? I would probably stop expressing now and just feed him directly. You might find that he feeds more anyway. At ten months he should be fine without any milk feeds during the day. If you are going out in the evening etc I wouldn't see a problem with giving cow's milk for the bedtime feed, it's not like it's every day.

I didn't express daily but I found that 10 months was around the time that it became difficult.

I express at work - I won't miss doing it!! He has a frozen pouch whilst I'm at work, then I freeze what I've expressed etc...

On the days I'm not working I either give him a feed at 2pm, or express whilst he's having his lunchtime nap and then give it to him in a beaker.

He's gone off one boob completely so that has pretty much dried up. I kept expressing it for a wihle to try to keep it going but to no avail. Just call me Mrs Wonky Boobs...!

If you are worried about drying up why not feed directly on the days you don't work and express whilst he eats lunch/has naps? Some women tend to see a decrease in pumping output as baby gets older as supply is well established and a pump just isn't the same as a baby as getting milk out of a breast. Don't forget amount expressed is not indicative of amount of milk available.

Slight hijack; so would it be okay to give cows milk along side lunch / dinner? DS won't talk water from any bottle or cup I've tried, and I'm wondering it maybe he'd take cows milk instead. Just to get some extra fluid into him.