At 13 months from breast to formula or straight to cow's milk?

[monkeysmama]

Good morning

I have been exclusively bfing dd for 13 months. This week I tried giving her three (at different times) Aptamil #3 ready made up cartons in a bottle. She's used to ebm in a bottle & was fine drinking it though it didn't make her sleepy like my milk does. I tried some powder version twice which she refused.

I intend to keep breast feeding for another few months but would like dp to keep givign her a bottle in the night and am fed up of expressing.

Can anyone help with

• how much milk should she be having (& how do I know if she is bf?)
• should I be giving her formual or cows (or other) milk at 13 months?

Many thanks
MM

At 13 months? Go straight to cows milk. There's no reason not too. You could use Growing up milk if your concerned that shes not getting enough goodness but if she is healthy and happy, and eating well then there is no reason to waste your money tbh.

Don't worry about how much either. At 13 months she will eat when she is hungry, and stop hen she is full. You would only need to be concerned if she was loosing weight or not eating properly.

Thanks LPP - I've read around a bit and seeing as she's a big fan of varied food and is going to be bf a few times a day anyway I can't see why I'd need to give her formula.

Hi monkeysmama

The carton milk is much sweeter than the powdered variety and my dd preferred that too, but she did take the powdered version after a couple of goes. Try the morning milk feed first as your dd will be hungry and thirsty so hopefully more likely to take it - this worked for my dd.

In theory it is ok to go straight to full fat cows milk, but my dd like a few of my friends toddlers who were also bf upto and beyond a year, found that the cows milk gave them wind, so introduced it very slowly in small amounts at first, eg on the breakfast cereal.

As for quantities, my hv said she should be having up to 20 oz a day - no chance for my dd she just doesn't have that big an appetite.

Hard to tell if you are still bf - how many times a day are you bf? Try making up a few oz at a time, if she finishes it quickly, make another couple and so on till she doesnt want any more.

Word of caution though, too much milk can suppress appetite for solid food.

You have done fantastically well to bf for 13 months, maybe if you are introducing other milks now, it would be a good time to stop and give yourself an end to the expressing!

DD never had formula, but found the stage between 6 months and 12 months tricky. You've got to 13 months, which is brilliant

my dd never had formula either. we switched to cows milk when she was about 11 mo as i was finding it too hard to express enough for her nursery days. i still bf her when she wasn't at nursery. but it was only about 3-4 feeds per 24 hours at that stage. also we gave her cow's milk in a sippy cup rather than a bottle.

i was happy enough she was eating a varied diet and you can count milk on cereal, yoghurt and cheese etc as part of their "milk" intake - i think it's supposed to be a pint a day or thereabouts.

good luck and well done!