After BFing... Cow's milk or follow on formula..?

[MrsMong]

LO is nearly a year and happily down to 2 BF a day.

It's now the right time for me to start the process of stopping BF'ing. I'm glad I've done a year, but ready to stop. So....

Do I move her to cows milk, or a follow on formula? What are the pros and cons of each?

Any advice on how best to do it? She has never ever taken a bottle, and just about manages a sippy cup (of water), but can't manage any other cups (fussy madam!!)

Obv I will drop one BF at a time - any suggestions which goes first 7am or 7pm, and should I just replace with substitute milk? Shoud I also introduce milk in a cup during the day?

What were your bedtime experiences when you stopped BF? I don't BF to sleep, but about 40-50% of the time she falls asleep feeding (the others she goes into cot awake). BF is her wind-down at the end of day.

Thanks ladies x

I also BF for 12 months. My instinct was to go with cow's milk:

• 100% natural
• normal
• lots cheaper
• why should a perfectly healthy baby need a fake milk product? (ie follow on milk - I'm not getting into a debate on FF vs BF a newborn!)

DD has a balanced diet and gets all her nutrients, including iron, from normal food. I personally feel follow on milk is a marketing strategy designed to get me to spend money (I should emphasise DD is a healthy child and doesn't have any particular dietary needs).

Have you tried a tommee tippee cup? My DD wouldn't have maanged a sippy cup at that age. We also warmed the cow's milk rather than giving it to her straight out of the fridge - she seemed to prefer that.

And finally, on the bedtime wind down, I'm sure you'll be able to find lots of lovely alternatives - maybe cuddling and singing a gentle song, or reading a story, or telling her about her day (first we got up and you ate some weetabix, then we went to playgroup and you played with the little kitchen things etc), or putting on a lullaby CD, or just cuddles?

I think the nighttime feed was the last to go with us.

Good luck!

I went straight to cows milk and managed to skip bottles.
Tried lots of cups, but kept coming back to the tommy tippee one.
Like Wigeon, I warmed the milk to body temp.

I second the cow's, and the Tommee Tippee. When my son stopped bf at a year, we rocked him to sleep for a few months, with songs, then gradually did less singing and put him in awake. Probably didn't need to do the rocking, but it was so enjoyable for all of us.

Well done for all your feeding, and great to not have to wean from the bottle either.

Assuming your child eats a good diet, no reason to need anything other than cow's milk.

DD is still bfed morning and evening (she's 2 and a half) but doesn't feed to sleep anymore. She likes books, a cuddle and a hand on her tummy until she nods off. I think if it's consistent and comforting, you're halfway there.

I also BF DD for 12 months. I gave her a cup with cows milk and she sat on my knee and I helped her drink it so we still had that cuddle time IYSWIM.
I hope to do the same with DS.

My DS went onto cow's milk, which he enjoys, even straight from the fridge. Weirdly, he dropped the night feed himself not long after his first birthday. He's now 14 months and only has a breastfeed first thing in the morning. I think it will be a while before he gives that up - it's really the only way to settle him and get him happy when he wakes up irritable.

I seem to be slightly going against the grain here, I gave my DD follow on milk. (Very possible that I was taken in by the marketing ploy! Gullible, moi?)

Definitely milk in a cup - don't start bottles now.

You don't need to give much milk as a drink (if any) if baby is getting it in foods eg breakfast, puddings, cheese, yogurts etc.

Definitely no need for follow on milk.

I'll add to the number who BF to 12 months then moved straight onto cows milk and a tommy tippee beaker thingy. He refused to take a bottle, and so we let him have room temp milk whilst we read a story or watch ITNG.

I though the night time settling would be the biggest problem, but the first night my dh settled him, and we had no problems. I think he was ready as well as I was, which made things straight forward as I hadno battles with it (to my surprise!)

Thanks everyone. I'm not sure how much I'll actually get her to drink from a cup, but she does have milk in her cereal, a babybel or petiti filous and one meal with a cheese sauce (altho her appetite is small) every day. Do you think this is enough milk / dairy product?

Should I also offer her milk to drink during the day instead of water?

Also, when do you stop giving milk to drink on waking and at bedtime?

Now all I need to do is decide which feed to drop first.... I guess there are pro's and con's for both and I just need to work out which is best for us

x

Milk in a cup and definitely cows milk, for the same reasons as already posted.

Haven't weaned, so no experience to give you about that, but from what I've read all children are different. Some drop bf very easily, whilst others are much more attached. I think it's just a matter of giving it a try and seeing what happens.

I dropped the evening feed first, as I was returning to work and needed DH to be able to settle ds for the night without me there - it also meant I had longer to break the milk feed/sleep connection (though he surprised me by doing it quickly!)

I started seperating the milk feed and sleep by a story/dh settling him, then started to add in his bath as well, then just stopping completely.

He was always less fussed by the morning feed, so when I came to stop that he just got offered milk in a beaker when he woke. You may need to bring breakfast earlier, but ds didn't seem fussed.

Just do which ever suits your day first.

I'm not planning on stopping a milk drink in the morning or evening - just moving the morning milk to be with his breakfast.

Good luck!

DD is 2 and still has a half beaker of milk with breakfast and after her dinner before we go up for bath and bed. She has water for the rest of the day.

I dropped the night time feed first as she mucked around on that and bit me (I was PG so I think my milk had changed flavour) but she still fed nicely in the morning so we kept that one going for longer (nice and warm and snuggly).