if you don't want to give formula, do you have to breastfeed till baby is 1? confused!

[Gemmitygem]

Just wondered about this as intending to start weaning DS at 6 months.. I realise you start gradually and their main food remains milk, but somehow stupidly hadn't quite realised that this probably means you have to either bf or give formula till they're one, as can't have cow's milk before then, can you?

I really enjoy bf but was looking forward to cutting down a bit cos am working full time and having lots of stressful expressing sessions at work..

sorry if it seems like a stupid question. also, is formula basically just adapted cow's milk? would feel bad giving it just cos of being lazy, but honestly hadn't envisaged bf for a whole year...

any tips appreciated

where did u read about that...any links....

prettyc, local milk is pasteurised, a lot of UHT but you can get fresh. We splurge on German milk though, just to be on the safe side. One reason for this is, I was heating up some local brand of milk and it began to smell strongly of fish (cos cows obviously must be fed on fish meal). This was doubly worrying because it's a hell of a long way from the sea, so that must have been some seriously well travelled fish. Yuk!

suejones, yes, am back in Almaty.. not the best time of year but spring will soon be on its way.

weasel milk could be very funny! You could in fact keep a trained lactating weasel, so the baby could just grab it to feed

Almaty was positively tropical compared to Ust! It was a releif to get there, thought the fifth floor walk up flat was a challenge with a one year ols and shopping. On the upside - I lost weight!

gosh suej you must be the only person to lose weight living in Kaz. All those fatty soups and 'manti'. We've larded out quite a bit (apart from the post-baby stuff, I mean).. It's not what you'd call a healthy cuisine!

Yes but I lived on boiled egg rolls, spaghetti bolognese (home made) and stress and didn't realy buy anything precooked. Did eat out a lot in Ust at the local cafe where everything was fried but the portions were so tiny that it didn't seem to matter.

And if we European thought the portions were tiny, man, the Americans were gobsmacked!