Switching from breastfeeding to cows milk

[Livingoffcoffee]

Feeling a bit clueless about how/when to start switching my DS from breastmilk to cows milk. Please help mums (and dads) in my phone!

He's 10.5mo now and still has at least 2-3 feeds a day (sometimes has one bottle of expressed milk at nursery, sometimes he's not interested in it). He's a terrible sleeper, so can have 2-4 feeds in the night too.

How do you make the transition from breastfeeding to giving cows milk though? Is it better to not even start till he's 1yo? Do you offer cows milk with meals or in-between, as you would with breastfeeding? Do you use a bottle, or straight to a cup (he's pretty good with water in a free flow cup)?

FTM feeling clueless! Help!

There's probably more than one reason for waiting until they're 1 but mine was that breast milk contains so many things that your baby still needs and formula is fortified to meet that need too.

With my 2 DC I kept the bedtime feed until around 14/15 months with both of them and slowly replaced feeds in the day. My DD had cows milk for her one feed in the day from about 11 months because she was still getting breast milk. DS was a little younger when I returned to work, around 10 months so he had a small beaker of formula for his midday feed and then when he was 1 I just moved onto cows milk.

Sorry, not much help as I didn’t breastfeed until then but as far as I know it’s advised that you stick with breastmilk or formula until 12 months - so I wouldn’t start just yet although you’re not far off. DS was formula fed and on about 3 bottles a day by 12 months, sometimes just two so we did an easy straight switch to cows milk. We still used bottles but if yours can drink water happily from a cup I would just use a cup. I don’t know how much of a transition it is when your bf though - to him it will be two completely separate things so one doesn’t really replace the other. I would ask for more advice on how to go about reducing feeds if that’s what you’re looking to do.

You can't give cow's milk as a drink until 1, so you will either need to wait another couple of months or give formula.

When i swapped, DS was already having expressed milk with DH or childminder, so I had a relatively easy time. I mixed the breastmilk and cow's milk, and gradually changed the ratio over a few weeks. DS didn't seem to notice, but he did get the runs for a couple of weeks while his tummy got use to it.

At around 12 months I started by swapping the bedtime feed to cow's milk so that DH could start doing some bedtimes as I had done them all up till then!

I carried on breastfeeding overnight and during the day until that was established and then started to offer cow's milk instead of breastfeeding in the day. Overnight feeds were the last to go at about 18mo.

Just one thing to keep an eye on, we found that too much cow's milk made DS really constipated so we ended up switching to oat milk. Just something to watch out for as it took us a while to work out what was wrong!

Thanks all. I don't mind waiting till 12mo...just trying to get a plan in my head.

Why are you going to have cows‘ milk?

We never fed our dcs cows’ milk after weaning from breastfeeding.
They had a month or two of soya based follow on milk, and then just water (no juices)
Lots of green leafy veg for the calcium, magnesium, iron, and vitamin D.

Strong bones. Perfect teeth, no cavities, no fillings.

Cows’ milk is for rapidly growing calves and is full of growth factors and hormones which are very unhealthy for humans.

Even calves don’t drink cows’ milk after they’re weaned- they eat green leaves to put on muscle, and build strong bones...

Maybe have a rethink? Asian diets don’t include dairy products and their breast cancer rate is much lower.

It’s not obligatory to drink cows’ milk... there are plant / nut based alternatives which are much healthier.

*Why are you going to have cows‘ milk?

Why indeed! What an unusual idea...

Mine were both having 4 breastfeeds a day at 10 months. At 11 months 1 swapped the mid-morning one for a snack. At 12 months I swapped the mid-afternoon one for cow's milk in a lidded beaker or a babychinno if we were out. Neither of them seemed to even notice the change. No big deal.

At 13 and 14 months I did the same with the first thing feed and then the last one before bed feed.

Just in case you’ve been under a rock for years, @pinkblueberry, here’s an easy to read article for you about how consuming dairy is unnecessary and damages your health.

75% of the world don’t drink cow’s milk.... so not so unusual at all... eh?

The thing baby is going to struggle with is the feeds at night.

Cows milk from 12 months old.

Is he fully on 3 meals a day and healthy snacks?

Change one feed at a time, you can do that now, so for example, drop that middle of the day one now in preparation for the change

Then i would do cows milk in morning and before bed warmed if preferred.
Does he have a bottle at the moment, if so, i would do the milk in the bottle for afew months first, then eventually moving onto a beaker

@IrridiumFlares funny thing is, I don't drink cows milk, but doctors here do still recommend it for babies - so am following their guidelines.

@DecemberSnow Thanks - that's really helpful. I know it's not till 12mo, I just like to prepare and have a plan!

He's on 3 meals a day + snacks. With 1 midday bottle of expressed milk (when at nursery - from me on weekends). I think he'll be ready to drop that midday milk soon, so by the time he's 12mo will only have morning and evening (and overnight- but that's a different story!)

Do you offer milk with meals, as well as replacing morning/evening feeds with milk?

Well @Livingoffcoffee I understand, and without being facetious, maybe you need to change your doctor.
My doctor is a also a paediatrician (and Asian if that makes any difference) and she recommends no dairy milk at all, for anyone.
She says you can expect a lot of mucus build up as a response to the large proteins in cows milk with increase the risk of sinus, ear and lung infections.

A lot of children and babies who drink milk have ear infections and persistent sinus trouble, and phlegmy coughs, which are entirely avoidable. Long term dairy consumption has been proven to extract calcium from bones, NOT add to it.

My doc is a young mother herself, and is perhaps more up to date on the research than yours? Not every doctor knows about babies, nor diet, for that matter, unless they’ve taken specialised internship and additional training.

The fact that we drink cows milk and give it to babies after breast milk is very unusual! It’s just been normalised. Doesn’t mean it’s not weird though.