I don't understand what's supposed to happen at one year...

[raggedymum]

So I've heard all sorts of things about 1 yr being some kind of change point:

• food is fun until one
• milk is the main source of calories until one
• you can give cow's milk at one

But what is actually supposed to happen? I'm BF DD, and she just turned one. Obviously things aren't going to change overnight, but am I supposed to do something?

Should I be giving her cow's milk to drink with her meals? So far she just drinks water with meals. Or do I just carry on as we have been, and she'll slowly BF less and eat more? But then when does she get cow's milk?

if you want to carry on bfing, then do so. When you (or your DD) decide to stop, you can replace those feeds with a cup of cow's milk. But she should now be getting most of her calories from food so you just need to ensure that she's not filling up on milk (breast or cow's) at the expense of actual food.

I stopped bfing at exactly age 1 (the teeth scraping was getting too much!), having already replaced one feed (after nap) with a cup of milk - I simply replaced the remaining feeds (morning and bedtime) with a cup of milk. At age 3 she still has a cup at night; we're trying to drop the morning one as she definitely eats more breakfast if she hasn't had milk already, and she occasionally asks for milk in the day which is fine.

Her main 'drink' should be water, so water with meals, out and about etc.

She doesn't have to have cows milk though you could offer her some from time to time if you like. Just carry on with bfing along side food for as long as you like. Food should be taking over as the main source of calories but I wouldn't stress if it takes a while

"she'll slowly BF less and eat more"

Agree, you don't need to do anything if you're happy to carry on. You don't need to actively reduce feeds to encourage her to eat more solids- the amount of food your DD eats will gradually increase as her milk intake remains the same so the proportion of solid food to milk will change IYSWIM. If I'm explaining it badly, there's a brilliant graph here. As she starts taking more solids she will gradually reduce how much milk she takes. This can take as long as you want to, you can just leave her to it or gently reduce the number of BF she has and offer other foods instead.

My two haven't really had cows milk much, the eldest doesn't like it and the youngest- well, she'll drink anything but I just don't really offer that much. It's not an essential part of their diet, they get calcium from other sources like yoghurt, cheese etc. And breastmilk obviously!

I'd like to just throw a spanner in the works by saying that my dd2 is still feeding throughout the day and all of the bloody night despite being on 3 meals a day and copious snacks!! Dd1 was the same, her bf frequency never reduced all that much and then she self weaned. Dd2 also slugs down gallons of cows milk. (She is 22 mths and I started leaving cows milk for her bottles when I was at work from 12mths)

How old was your DD1 when she self-weaned? They can go on for ages! DD1 has only just started cutting down and she's 4.6yo. They do cut down on their own but it can take years which is not always what the mother wants to do; it's OK to cut down feeds yourself but if you do nothing at all they will still wean- eventually!

Agree, you don't need to do anything if you're happy to carry on. You don't need to actively reduce feeds to encourage her to eat more solids- the amount of food your DD eats will gradually increase as her milk intake remains the same so the proportion of solid food to milk will change IYSWIM

Thanks! Okay, I guess we'll just keep on as is, then. She still nurses quite a bit, but mostly evening/overnight as I'm at work during the day. Perhaps DH could offer her some cows milk with lunch or something, but I guess he doesn't have to. I drink milk with breakfest, so as she grows older I would guess she'll want to copy me, but no hurry, I suppose.

And that graph is really good. I like the visual.

DD2 never has, she's 12 she won't drink milk never has apart from breastmilk. she feed for years. She loves yoghurt and will put a bit of milk on cereal and eats a tiny bit of cheese. She managed quite happily.

DH hates milk too.

We changed nothing at one and DS was mainly having BM at that stage, very little solid food. In fact, it's only been quite recently (he's now 22 months) that he reliably has three meals/day + snacks here and there. He only drinks water and orange juice and has cows milk only in his porridge or cereal. I remember reading on Kellymom somewhere that you should aim at approximately 50 per cent BM/50 per cent solids at 18 months moving onto 20 per cent BM/80 per cent solids at 24 months. I think we're right about on track in that respect..