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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

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Original poster

Stopping bf at 12 months - baby won't take cows milk or formula

14 replies

jacobsmummy3110 · 27/09/2015 15:15

Hi everyone. I'm new to mumsnet and wondering if you might be able to share some advice about how I can stop breastfeeding when my son turns one.

My ds is 11 months old and is still having 3 breastfeeds a day (7am ish, 2pm ish and 7pm ish) alongside 3 meals a day. For the past week i've been starting the process of weaning him off the breast as i'd like to stop breastfeeding when he turns one or there abouts. We'd like to try for another baby next year so i'd like a few months of having my body to myself and get my periods back before trying.

I would like to offer cows milk when he turns one but he's only 11 months at the moment so I thought i'd try replacing his afternoon feed with a cup of formula to ease the transition but he completely rejected it; he spat it out looking disgusted and cried hysterically (we tried this several times). He drinks water from his cup so I know his cup isn't the problem, it's the contents. Quite frankly it was a bit of a disaster so I thought i'd scrap the formula idea altogether. I then decided to offer a sip of cows cows milk (just an oz or so) in his sippy cup at breakfast to get him used to the taste. He was more susceptible to the idea but still not overly raved. Therefore, i've reverted back to just carrying on as we are, 3 breastfeeds a day. It's got me worried because I don't know if i'm ever going to be able to stop feeding or how on earth I go about it?

Sorry for the long post and thank you if you got this far.

OP posts:

LittleBearPad · 27/09/2015 15:18

Don't panic!

Is he used to having cows milk on cereal or in porridge etc?

Does he eat cheese, yoghurt etc?

Try to up these first and see what happens.

Will he take a bottle?

Snossidge · 27/09/2015 15:19

If you switch to cow's milk he will get used to it. Or you can just put milk on cereal, in cooking, give him cheese and yoghurt etc. He only needs about 300ml a day, which is pretty easy to do. Give him a vitamin and don't worry about it.

Artandco · 27/09/2015 15:26

It's fine, as long as he is having plenty of dairy at 1 year he will get the amount. So milk in porridge, Greek yogurt, some cheese.
Also for calcium You get lots from legumes, leafy greens and seafood. So you can always just add more of these into diet.

Original poster

jacobsmummy3110 · 27/09/2015 15:28

Thank you for your replies. He has never taken a bottle but took to a sippy cup really well and takes water regularly from his cup. He eats a lot of yoghurt, cheese and has milk with porridge and weetabix etc so is getting plenty through his diet. If he's getting enough milk in his diet but won't drink milk from a cup is this a problem? What happens at bedtime, do I just literally put him to bed without any milk after his bath? He feeds to sleep at bedtime (not ideal I know, it just happens as he falls asleep on the breast).

OP posts:

Artandco · 27/09/2015 15:35

You should be able to still feed a few times a day though still if you want and have a baby. Ds1 stopped feeding overnight at 4 months, but still fed on demand 7am-11pm. Ds2 was born when eldest was 15 months and eldest still fed morning and night at least until 3 years

Only full on breastfeeding day and night night hinder conceiving

MigGril · 27/09/2015 15:36

Does your DS take dairy in other foams ie, in cerial, yogarts, cheese and sauce? if yes then you don't really need to replace his feeds with anything. ideally you'd carry on breastfeeding until the WHO's recommended 2 years. But you've done a fab job to do 12 months, nurtritrantly your baby doesn't need formula after 12 so go with cows milk.
Sometimes it takes a bit for them to get used to it, other never will take it. But don't be tempted to try and sweeten it as some may suggest as long as they eat well it's not the end of the world of they don't drink milk.

Snossidge · 27/09/2015 15:48

It's up to you, there's no rule that says babies/toddlers need milk at bedtime.

howabout · 27/09/2015 15:55

As pp say no problem if enough dairy and other calcium sources in food.

On stopping bedtime feed this was the last one I dropped and I just started gradually adding in more story / cuddling in time till they sort of forgot about bf at bedtime. Took a week for DD1 and DD2 at about 14 months but a bit longer for DD3 as she was more attached to the whole idea and I wasn't quite so ready either

museumum · 27/09/2015 16:00

My son wouldn't drink out of a bottle but accepted cows milk in a cup of it was warm.
I got him onto cups of even at bedtime first (so dh could put him to bed when I had to work late), then we moved to warm cows milk in the cup at bedtime, then lastly we dropped morning bf at about 13mo.

museumum · 27/09/2015 16:01

"Even" should read ebm in my post above. Sorry.

Original poster

jacobsmummy3110 · 27/09/2015 17:55

Thank you everyone for your replies. I'm so torn because I don't really feel ready to stop and could quite easily carry on for months but at the same time, it would definitely be nice to have my body to myself for a few months before getting pregnant again! I didn't even consider not giving milk at bedtime so it's reassuring to know that I don't necessarily "need" to if he's getting the calcium he needs through his diet. I haven't tried warm cows milk yet either so I will try that. I think i'll try to wean off the 2pm feed and the morning one after that and maybe keep feeding at bedtime until 14 months or so and see what happens. Really good idea about extending cuddles and story time - I shall try that! Thank you everyone for your help. Very much appreciated.

OP posts:

WombOfOnesOwn · 28/09/2015 17:34

Have you considered mixing your expressed breast milk with cow's milk or formula? Start with 80-90% breast milk, then sloooooowly incorporate more "other" milk sources.

Mrscog · 29/09/2015 16:18

You might find your periods return if you cut out 1-2 of the feeds anyway which might help :)

TripleRocks · 30/09/2015 16:33

My eldest also refused cow milk as a drink when I tried to introduce it at age 1. She never did take to it and is now a healthy nearly 5 year old. I was told at the time that 2-3 portions of dairy per day via their diet is more than sufficient. I since have discovered after having a dairy free DS, that there are plenty of good non dairy sources of calcium too.

Feeds wise, I would try cutting out your least favourite feed or two first and see whether your periods come back. You possibly wouldn't need to stop altogether, in fact many women don't need to.

I was feeding DD once a day when iI fell pregnant with DS. She self weaned naturally when I was about 4 months gone and Ifound it a laid back transition for both of us. Good luck

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