When and how do you switch milk

[Yawner247]

Dd is 9.5months so got a while to go yet but thought it wise to start finding out!
Dd has cows milk in porridge at breakfast and supper and has around four breastfeeds a day, when she is one do you switch to cows milk instead of BFs, is she likely to still be having four milk feeds? Or is there better alternatives like soya/rice milk...just wondered what other people's experiences were? She drinks water from a beaker/cup now so would you put it in that or something else?!

Unless she's allergic to cows milk protein, I don't see why you can't give normal cows milk. Problem with the alternatives are they are usually lower in fat (at least the oatley I looked at are semi skimmed). And they do need the fat in their diets.

And how many milk feeds she will have depends on how well they are eating solids I think. DD at 11mo has two, but she doesn't demand it, I just offer mid morning and mid afternoon to keep her intake up. If your LO at 1 aren't eating much solids, and still having 4 bf during the day, I'd be reluctant to switch all to cows milk. It's not as nutritious as bm.

Good Q, I've been meaning to ask too.

DS is nearly 11mo, BF morning & evening and has a bit of formula in the afternoon (I work).

He eats solids brilliantly, has pretty much what we do plus extras.

So, if no-one minds, I'll just lurk until a wise mn-er advises

Thank you I think we could drop the dinnertime feed and it wouldn't be missed so I'm pretty confident at one she will be having less BM feeds but you never know! Fat is good and needed indeed

If you are happy to carry on with the breastfeeding I would just do that, you don't need to swap from BF to another milk at one.

If you have been buying formula you can swap to full fat cows milk instead at 12 months.

Are you actively trying to wean her from breastfeeding? You don't have to go by the calendar when it comes to weaning - no hard and fast rule abut switching at age 1.

If your DD is learning to drink from a cup, you could try giving her cows' milk in that. Not skim or reduced fat milk though. They need the full fat milk until age twoish.

Lurk away lady, I often lurk on other threads

Thanks, I do love a good lurk!

So, next month I can just hoof the insanely expensive formula tin out and just give him cows milk in the afternoon.

No gradual switch or anything?

(this, I realise, is NOT lurking. This is quite clearly plain old posting. I do apologise)

I will be returning to work when she's a year and a month old and as I work shifts I don't think I will be comfortable carrying on BF and expressing whilst on shift...also I am getting really uncomfortable doing it as she's so flipping heavy! As I'm on my phone there will probably be extra posts to answer other parts I've forgotten to reply to! Sorry!

lol underwater post away!!! these here mners are a good source of info!!

In terms of switching from formula to cows milk UnderwaterBasketWeaving we tried the straight switch with DD when she was 1 and the look of disgust she gave me was impressive! So we just added cow's milk to the formula then gradually increased the ratio of cows to formula till she didn't notice!

I found that the longer DD was on the solids the less her capacity for milk actually was so maybe it's just a time thing. We just dropped a morning feed in favour of breakfast and gave her an evening bottle up until she was 18 months old then changed to a beaker around 6 pm. Don't think there's any hard and fast rule, it's what works for you.

Lurking is literally the most informed way of getting parenting advice I've found! Love a good MN lurk.

If you wanted to, it may well work fine to just BF when you are around. I went back to work, on shifts too - expressed a bit the first couple of weeks then boof - magical self adjusting boobs just coped. Fed when at home for another year, he had water/food/bit of cows milk the rest of the time.

It doesn't always mean expressing loads at work to keep your supply up, by around a year your supply will be very established. I really hated expressing so I only did it for my own comfort, no pressure to produce a supply of milk when I wasn't there. Was much easier than I expected.

She has full fat milk on her porridge...not actively trying to wean as such but have pushed her midday BF back and she's managed without the last two days but who knows if she will keep it up as the week goes on!

Very interesting dick --tries not to snigger at that

We switched from formula to cows milk when DD was 12 months and she never seemed to even notice :)
If you are BF then you only need to switch to cow's milk if you want to, there are no hard and fast rules as to when as long as it's over 12 months.
DD was drinking 3 x 7oz bottles a day until about 13 months and then switched to a bottle(cup) of milk first thing in the morning and last thing at night which she still has now at 19 months.

I went back to work 3 days when ds was 11 months. I just bf morning and night and he had water or cow's milk at nursery. No expressing required.

On the days I didn't work he'd have cow's milk with meals but often had a daytime bf too - I also had magical self adjusting boobs We carried on for a few more months like that.

As long as any milk you give is full fat then you can give whatever is most convenient to you (obv depending on dc's preferences too).

Definitely no need to give up bf if you would like to carry on! The benefits for you and them continue for as long as you continue feeding - WHO recommends feeding to 2yrs and beyond. Plus, the ability to use the 'golden boob' in times of illness is invaluable.

I introduced small tastes of cows' milk from around 11 months and then at a year just began leaving cows' milk rather than expressed milk when I went out. He is now 2.5 and happily has either a cup of 'fridge milk' about twice a day, plus morning and evening (sometimes more ) bf.

Thanks ellybet & dick,

I'll start switching to putting his formula in a cup now, and see how he reacts to the cows milk (if he even needs it) in a month or so.

Yawner, it's rapidly becoming apparent that I'm going to be one of those weirdos who BFs beyond a year. He is not going to give that up in a hurry! (plus I love the extra few snuggly minutes I can get in bed in the morning)

Oh, and having gone back to work full time at 5 months, I pumped till 7, then his demand outstripped my pumping ability, so we started the formula. I spent a week or two pumping occasionally for comfort only (but not at work). I would imagine by 13 months you wouldn't need to pump for comfort, but you'd still be able to BF when you're off.

By the time I stopped bfing mine we were down to a regular morning and nighttime feed and that had kept going for at least a year. No need to finish up bfing just because you won't be expressing or feeding during the day. Boobs really are magical self adjusting entities DickSwivellersTidyWife.

You might even find that she would accept the milk from a cup more readily than from a bottle (kill two birds with the one stone), and that she will be more positive about it when you're not there reminding her of bfing.

For switching from formula to milk, doing it gradually as Ellybett did is the way to go.