Will a weekend of cows milk be okay?

[LuckyStar511]

My LO is just over 11 months old.
He is breastfed and eats 3 meals a day. He’s a really good eater usually.

This weekend, my husband and I are going away to an adults-only wedding. My in laws are looking after the children.
I know babies shouldn’t have milk as a drink until they’re 1, but would it be okay for my LO to have cows milk just for the weekend? He has it on his cereal and in cooking etc.
I can’t imagine he’ll drink much, but he will need some before bed almost definitely.

I would express breastmilk but he won’t drink it. My milk changes when it has been chilled or frozen and becomes very metallic and soapy sometimes too. It’s a bit of a curse! Haven’t been away from him since he was born and now starting to get a bit anxious about the weekend.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Yes, he’ll survive!

Why don't you leave him ready mixed formula cartons which have extra vitamins etc?

Why not get formula? Cows milk doesn't have the same nutrition, so I would just get some ready made stage one formula in for the weekend.

Agree with pp, he's already had it on cereal so you know he's not allergic and it's only a weekend so he'll be fine!

You could use ready made formula, but I probably wouldn't bother for such a short space of time.

I'd use pre made formula in this instance. I've read that vanilla extract can help with high lipsm milk but never tried it myself

Ready mixed formula

I’m fairly certain they can switch to full fat cow’s milk as their main milk once they’re 12 months, can’t they? If so, then I would just use cow’s milk, yes. 3 weeks or so really won’t make any difference I don’t think!

As a one off I'd give cows milk but for multiple feeds I'd give formula

Thank you everyone.

I’ve tried formula in the past when I had to leave for 5 hours. He wouldn’t take it. I thought cows milk because he’s already familiar with the taste of it etc. and when he’s one, I’ll be going back to teaching for 2 days a week, so he’ll be having cows milk on the days I’m not there. And then hopefully he’ll catch up with breast milk on an evening - if he still wants it.

He eats really well and has a varied, balanced diet.

Maybe I’ll get them some formula too so they can try either.
Do we try to introduce a bottle at 11 months?! Or let him have it from a beaker or open cup like he has his water?

At so close to 12 months old he'll be absolutely fine on cow's milk.

I'd do cows milk too at that age, just for a weekend

I'm very old now and years ago we gave babies cow's milk much much earlier than this with no issues whatsoever. As a scientist I can also tell you that the digestive system will not distinguish between milk as a drink and milk in cooking. He will be perfectly fine!

Use a beaker, don’t introduce a bottle now. Does he drink water from a sippy cup etc?

@crumblingschools yes he drinks water from a sippy cup independently and from an open cup with support 👍🏻

Yeah he'll be grand. My eldest stopped breastfeeding literally halfway through a feed at 10 months and never went back and never took a bottle (not for want of trying obviously). She drank no milk at all for well over a month and then started drinking cows milk from a sippy cup at a year. Not ideal but no obvious problems and she loves milk now.

Absolutely fine, a year is guidance but in your circumstances it's different anyway as it's just a weekend. I did exactly the same

I agree that at this stage it's unlikely to be an issue. The main reason that cows' milk is not recommended as a main drink until 12 months is that it isn't nutritionally complete enough and for a short period at 11 months I doubt that's going to be a problem.
However, have you tried scalding your expressed milk? The issue is that your milk contains a high amount of the enzyme lipase which breaks down fat It's quite common though some people only notice the change if their milk has been frozen for some time and some babies don't care and will drink it anyway. Mine used to change within a few hours and my babies wouldn't touch it unless scalded first. You need to heat it to just below boiling- until the first bubbles start to appear on the surface but it's not boiling and then cool it quickly. Google "excess lipase" for more info.

@MrsAvocet thats so interesting - thanks!
Yes it was so frustrating as I have a freezer full of milk that won’t be drunk 🙈
If I express going forward, I’ll definitely try scalding it. Thank you!

I think you'd be fine but you could also mix 50-50 expressed breastmilk and cows milk, if you have EBM in the freezer anyway. Then you'd get the benefits of the EBM but the cows milk might mask that freezer taste.

We mix formula and breastmilk a lot with my LO. When he's around 12mo we'll probably use cows milk instead.

As long as you know he's def not allergic then it sounds fine!

It'll be fine. Both of mine started refusing milk from around 10 months old. Saw the paediatrician with DD1 who said this was fine and that the reason the advice is 12 months is because before this age the amount of food babies take varies wildly and formula is more nutritious than cows milk. But as long as they’re eating 3 balanced meals a day, consuming dairy in their diet and taking vitamins then it’s really not an issue. And you’re only talking one weekend! Don’t worry about it and go enjoy the wedding.

Liewood do really good silicone cups with a lid and silicone straw. It’s what my breastfed, bottle refusing child started using around 10months for milk. They can tip up and make a mess but far less than open cup and easier to drink that beaker I think.
And drinks more than in open cup

That's a shame. You might still get away with using it in cooking so the taste is disguised by something else. Seems a shame to waste it and it's not "off" as such, just tastes funny.
I had a similar experience with my first but scalded all my ebm with my second and third babies and it worked a treat. You will see all the articles say not to use a microwave but I had no choice. I needed to scald it at work as I worked long shifts and it would be changing by the time I got home and a microwave was all I had available at work. As far as I could ascertain the only issue with microwaves is uneven heating and difficulty controlling the temperature but I just used to blast it for 10 seconds swirl and repeat until it was getting the first few bubbles on top. Then I put it straight into a cool bag with ice packs and put the bag in the fridge. Not the recommended method but it worked for years for me! If you are doing it at home obviously it will be easier and you can use a small pan on the hob instead. Might not be worth the hassle at this stage but if you have another baby definitely give it a go.

Just a little update - we did it!
my husband and I had a lovely weekend at the wedding and our children had a great time with their grandparents 🥳
The baby didn’t drink much cows milk but he ate loads apparently. And he’s certainly making up for the lack of breastfeeding over the last 24 + hours 🙈😂