Breastmilk for my toddler who was formula fed?

[olivia40404]

This might be a strange question!

My first baby was formula fed, she’s now 21 months has around 8oz cows milk in the morning and the evening.

I have a huge freezer stash of breastmilk as I am breastfeeding baby no2 (now 8 weeks old) and whilst i was having to pump in the beginning I built up a large stash.

My toddler wouldn’t drink my breastmilk as it is, I did offer it to her, but could I mix part breastmilk with cows milk? I’m thinking it would save me wasting it, and for the goodness and benefits her having it. But obviously my body was producing it for a newborn so is it even any good for a toddler? Is there really much benefit?

It will absolutely be good for your toddler - human milk for a human baby

You could mix it with cows milk, or you could make porridge with it, or a milkshake with banana/berries. Whizz it into a frothy mixture with banana and freeze it as ice cream! If you're really keen, you can make yogurt with breast milk, though I have no idea how!

Anecdotal but when my 3yr old was coming down with a cold I gave her a cup of my newborn's breastmilk and she was back to perfect health the next day.

The worst bm will be is a drink equivalent to cow's milk - no-one would say there is no nutrition or benefit to a child having a drink of cow's milk, so of course your milk can only be as good / better

I do this I mix expressed milk in my 3 year olds toddler milk half and half

He was fed till 2.5 but I wanted him to continue to get the benefits so when I had new baby I expressed ! If he’s unwell I give extra and it really helps.

Oh yes, do it! My 3 year old drinks milk I've expressed for my baby sometimes. She was breastfed, but hadn't had any for about a year and then started again.

If your baby has come into contact with any bugs or germs, the saliva from their mouth communicates this via breastfeeding and your milk adjusts to provide more immunity to your baby for that particular virus. Bearing in mind that your toddler and your baby are most likely being exposed to the same germs, then if your toddler drinks breastmilk, they will receive the antibodies too

P. S. Although I've just seen your milk is from a previous stash, so the last bit isn't so relevant to your particular situation. But still great for your toddler!