Day weaning at 11 months

[MilkyWay123]

I am returning to work from mat leave in about 6 weeks and want to start tapering off my baby’s breastfeeds during the day (happy to continue feeding overnight for the moment). She has 3 meals a day and I breastfeed her mid-morning and mid-afternoon (and at bedtime and 1000 times a night but will continue those for now…) Do I need to swap out the day time feeds for formula or could I introduce cows milk one feed at a time? My little girl has always been a bottle refuser and worried about getting her to take either at this stage 😬 but just wondering what people’s thoughts are. It seems a lot of faff to try to get her to take to formula for just a month but I know the recommendation is 12 months for cows milk as a main drink, but I wondered if it made any difference given that she would still be having breastfeeds over night. Thanks!

At 11 months I swapped the mid-morning bf for a snack, then at 12 months the mid-afternoon one for cow's milk

Don't even try a bottle at that age. Straw (with no valve) or open cup is your best option. But if she is feeding tonnes overnight it's likely she will just reverse cycle and not have milk during the day and have more at night. I would replace with a snack

At this age I'd just swap the milk for food and water.

While you're not there baby won't need or ask for milk. They might ask for a mega feed though when they see you again.

It is recommended formula or bm til 12 months.
We switched in food and milk at a similar stage to your proposal - but he was a food monster, so switching food for milk was no issue.

Realistically, there's nothing wrong with a bit of cow's milk at that age. I gave mine a cup of milk at 11 months in addition to BM. I have a paediatrician friend who said totally fine, as did my HV.

Thanks all, really helpful advice from everyone. I think I’ll start to offer a mid-morning snack now and in a couple of weeks look to replace the afternoon feed with a cup of cows milk. Here’s hoping I can get her to take her morning nap without being fed to sleep 🙈