How do I transition BF-milk-guzzler onto cow's milk at 1 year?

[MrsJamin]

10 and a half MO DS is having 4 BFs a day, early morning, pre-morning-nap, pre-afternoon-nap and bedtime. Each feed takes quite a while and won't settle to have a nap/bedtime without it (although doesn't fall asleep on me). I want to give up BFing at 1 year so I have 6 weeks- eek! Also it's only just gone down to 4 feeds, a month ago it was more like 6-7. Therefore it seems that he will still probably have 4 milk feeds at 1 year, so how do I do this:

1. Which feeds should I transition first? I presume pre-nap ones, the morning one first and then the afternoon one?
2. Should I mix expressed milk with cows' milk or just substitute cows milk straight away?
3. DS can drink from bottle and sippy cup - which should I use?

Advice would be so welcome - I would ask my HV but I don't really trust their advice alone (especially since hearing that they only have an afternoon's training on BF )

bump

1. the first feeds that changed with ds were the mid-morning and then mid-afternoon
2. I gave straight cows milk
3. I would use a sippy cup as it is recommended to stop bottles by 1 year anyway

p.s. I bottlefed so hope that doesnt make a difference.

Who says you should stop bottles at 1 year?

anyway - to OP I agree that the easiest ones would be to start with the nap times.. could you keep BF morning and bedtime for a while and just offer cows milk/water during the day?

Lucky you having only 4 feeds still, it's still completely random here. I am going to start to give ds cows milk once in the afternoon, then once in the morning as well and hope that he will drink enough so that he cuts down his daytime bf too . I'm doing the afternoon one first because his morning feed is quite a big one whereas he tends to snack during the afternoon.

Like you not sure whether to do cup or bottle, will probably start with cup but if he isn't drinking much from it may go to bottle.

DD was ff from 5 months so quite different but with her I had to mix the cows milk with formula because she wouldn't drink it to begin with-I started off half and half then gradually reduced the formula. Am hoping ds isn't the same as I am pathetic at expressing!

Thanks for responses. I think I'll start with a cup and see if he settles from a nap after that. I'm just aware that a BF is quite soporific and that a drink of cows' milk from a sippy cup won't have anywhere near the effect, whereas a suck on a bottle may be somewhat halfway. Perhaps also I'll just try cows' milk without any EBM as he might just take it. Also do I warm it if it's in a sippy cup? I guess it's a similar thing that if it's cold and he'll take it then I might as well try it.

He doesn't need milk at all.
Mine never had it after finishing b/feeding. Just cheese,youghurt and whatever came in cereal.

I can't go from 4 large feeds to nothing- he does need milk! He has cheese, yoghurt and milk in cereal anyway.

MJ I am in a similar situation with my 11mth old DS. He also has approximately 4 feeds a day but if we're out he wont take his mid morning feed so only has 3.

I might be wrong but perhaps Moondog means that he doesn't actually require milk to have a balanced diet. It would mean a different routine to not have milk before his nap but as long as he's getting all the vitamins from his food really cows milk doesn't offer a great deal of things.

I would like to continue the morning and night time feed though so my plan is to settle DS in a new routine of cuddles and a story before his nap/bedtime and change his nighttime feed to before his bath so he's still getting my milk but not associated with sleep routine at all.

He doesn't need it physically.
Whether he needs it or a gradual decrease of it emotionally is another matter.

Am in the same position as MrsJ., counting down to 12mths so that I can cut back on BFing and just am/pm feeds. Have tried offering the LO some cow's milk already (in small quantities, from a beaker, along with older sibling's afternoon drink) just to accustomise him to the taste/temp, but to no avail. He takes it in, then dribbles it back out.

However, have decided to persevere with offering it over the next few weeks, as nutritionally he doesn't need it, but gradually he might get used to the flavour. I know they can get their calcium from other sources, but I know what MrsJ means when she says it doesn't feel right to cut back from lots of breastmilk to no milk (of whatever variety) at all.

Also, am a bit worried that when I do want to cut out BFing altogether, he'll miss out on a filling bedtime drink (and may wake up more in the night). Also, at the moment, I use BFs during the day in lieu of other "snacks". So, he has about 4 or 5 feeds as well as three good meals. Personally, I think milk is a healthy drink for little kids, and makes the basis of a good snack, so I would have to be more imaginative if he wasn't getting milk of any type in the day - and at the moment I'm too sleep deprived to be that imaginative