I've been breastfeeding my son and he's now just over 11 months and my supply is waning. At day care, he takes about 3 bottles and at work I only pump 2. I know there are ways to increase my supply, but I am planning on weaning at 12 months (except for nursing before bed) and don't want to make the committment to go back to pumping several times a day. So I guess what I want some advice on is this: do you think there is anything wrong with introducing milk as a breast milk supplement a few weeks early? I know babies aren't supposed to have cow's milk until 12 months and even then we'll need to watch for reactions.
My friend started cow's milk with her daughter at 12 months but it gave her the runs so she used soy milk for a few months before trying cow milk (successfully this time) again. So is that an option? try soy milk or goat milk or something? is the 12 month date so strict that i couldn't push it up a few weeks?
Thank you SO MUCH for your thoughts! Based on some of your responses, I will definitely keep looking at milk alternatives (almond and goat) for nutrition boosts. My son has had goat milk before and did just fine with it. Also, his doctor was okay with introducing it. His day care provider gave him some cow milk in his cereal this week and so far, so good. I guess that's where one bottle of breastmilk was going anyway. He has had cheese and yogurt with no problems and our family has no history of food allergies or lactose intolerance at all. Thanks too for the info on soy milk, which I was completely unaware of.
Organic soy milk is better for humans in general as cow milk is not as easily digestible (it is made for cows)
Food for thought -- my daycare kept telling me that my son needed more milk, and I fretted and fretted over it. I was sending what I was making, which had always been fine (plus he was eating some solids at that age there, too). Finally, one caretaker tried distributing the milk differently -- more milk in the a.m., less in the p.m.-- and that fixed the problem without needing extra supplementation. It might be worth a try:)
Also, people say that formula fed babies tend to drink more bottles (or more in a bottle), and I think that daycare professionals tend to expect breastfed babies to drink more than they do. Good luck with whatever you decide!
I had a similiar situation and instead of doing cow's milk I gave her the 9-24 months lipil formula. I thought this was a good idea until I tasted it... it was horrible. So we ended up giving her cows milk and my doctor was fine with this. My mom said she did that with all of us too... but that was 27 years ago : )
soy milk is more than adequate, however, i would recommend for a boy especially at his age to try almond milk. remember that plenty of vegans dont drink any cows milk at all and they are more healthy than most milk drinkers. so just remember to get good fats from food for your son, and dont worry about missing out on the fats from milk. and even if you do start with cows milk, theres nothing wrong with making it chocolate milk if that will get him to drink it, but theres also no reason really to use whole milk if you can get good healthy fats from foods.
just try it out. if you feel like looking up info on vegan diets, by all means, thats a good place to look. cows milk really isnt all its cracked up to be anyway. for the most part, make any extra drinks outside of meals be water anyway.
good luck!
I am EXACTLY where you are (but exclusively pumping, as my baby was never able to nurse) and am curious to see your responses. I will say that a couple of friends have told me that our pediatrician told them at about 10 months, "Oh, it won't hurt them." I thought it was a little weird, coming from her position, but my gut has always told me the same. I have a source for raw cow's milk, and that's what I am currently planning to do when I officially get sick of pumping. I am also thinking goat's milk might be a good option. We're doing lots of good, nutritious solid food. Whatever you do, please don't go the soy route. There is a lot of scary info out there about the effects it has on hormones. I know it might not be in the mainstream media yet, but you can imagine how hard the formula companies will fight to keep it out as long as possible.
Lactose isn't usually the problem, MILK PROTEINS are usually the problem. Breastmilk has way more lactose than cows milk. But the milk proteins in cows milk were meant ot be broken down by multiple stomachs like baby cows have, not by humans with only one stomach. So its pretty common for children to react to cows milk, runny diapers, vomiting, skin rashes, discomfort, etc.
Honestly, at this age, I would rather see the daycare cut out one of his bottles and give him 3 solids meals a day, along with snacks, and a bottle before each nap of breastmilk, then you nurse when you are together. Even at this age ify ou nurse only one time a day, your milk will adjust to meet his needs. So whiel you think your supply is waning, its not, its just becoming more concentrated to match your child nursing less, the milk becomes more 'packed', more nutrients and fats. Your milk right now from the breast will be thicker because of this.
So if the daycare cuts out that one bottle, and serves him a full meal of table foods instead (no reason for an 11mo old to be eating baby foods) he'll be getting better nutrition than if he were drinking cows milk. If he needs a drink, I would suggest goats milk instead of cows milk as it is almost parallel to human milk. Or almond milk. Skip soy altogether... too many hormones and its way too processed and by the time its made into milk its not even soy anymore. Same with rice milk, its full of sugar.
ANYWAY, if it were my kid, I would cut out that one bottle so he has only one before each nap, and make sure he's getting breakfast and lunch and dinner, table foods, and call it good. Continue ot nurse him whne you are together, and he will be getting everything his little body needs to grow nad thrive.
Congrats on making it to a year breastfeeding!
Hi A.,
If you go to www.wholesomebabyfood.com, they give a really great explanation about why we are told not to give our babies cow's milk until 1 year. Essentially, we are told not to do this not because of possible lactose intolerance (because, after all, our babies are allowed to eat cheese and yogurt before this), but because doctors want to be sure that you will be providing your child with the essential nutrients in breastmilk or formula, rather than switching to cheaper milk before they're ready. It's pretty interesting. We had my son's 1 year well baby checkup at about 11 months. I asked my doc then about switching, and she said that was absolutely fine. I did continue to breastfeed as well in the mornings and at night until he was about 13 months old, but he took right to the milk and had no problems. There will be no difference in introducing the milk now than in 2 or 3 more months, so don't worry about it. However, as everyone else said, you should always consult with your doctor on these matters just to be sure!
Best of luck - what a fun age,
A. K (too!)
There is no magical thing that happens on their first birthday that suddenly makes it OK to have cow's milk (just like there is no magical thing that makes it OK to give them Peanut butter on their second birthday!)! The docs have to pick a general time to for us to start giving certain things and now us anal moms hold out for that exact date! Cow's milk is hard for humans to process, which is why they have us wait. Formula is made from it though, so they are getting used to it. And breast milk has LOTS of lactose (that is why it is so sweet). So, if he will be fine in a few weeks, he will be fine now. Just like if he has problems with it now, he will likely have problems with it in a few weeks. Try a little. I think the problem (runs, etc) is that we switch from giving them like 30 oz of formula to that much milk all at once. My kids are milk protein sensitive (they are allergic to the protein in milk products) so I have to go dairy free (because I breastfeed and milk proteins are passed through our breastmilk) for about a year. When I go back to dairy after they wean, I have an upset stomach and the runs for a week or so. Once my system gets used to it again it is OK. So, wean him onto milk and he should be fine. Soy milk is not the magic thing that people think it is. The proteins are very similiar to milk so that if you can't process the proteins in milk, you probably won't be able to process it in soy. Plus heavy soy can be an allergen just like milk. Now I am used to pulling all dairy in my diet (in many breads, cereals, cookies, plus the obvious places like milk, yogurt, sour cream, etc). But having to go SOY free is WAY harder. It is in just about everything. You would be hard pressed to find a boxed mix of anything without it at the regular grocery store. So hitting the soy hard and having your kids develop an allergy to it would SUCK!
I had no problem doing this with my daughter. I actually started her on milk about a month early. I would just watch out for allergic reactions etc... just like any time you introduce a new food product. I think the 12 month mark is to encourage breastfeeding for a year... and for those kids whose stomachs may not be ready for it. I say go for it... you can always stop giving it... and try something else for awhile.
I ran out at 10 mos and my daughter wouldn't take anything else I tried everything. She would drink cows milk out of a cup with no top. She did get a little runny but not anything to get conserned with. My sisterinlaw uses Kefer you might want to look into that. also I know its more but go organic its worth it.
A. - at my daughter's 9-month check up, her Pediatrician told us to start introducing milk between 11 and 12 months - so I would say there's no reason you couldn't start a few weeks early. Hope all goes well!!
A.,
Check with your pediatritian. I first heard here on Mamasource about a doctor saying not to use soy formula and just recently heard a nutritionist on Kare 11 saying that they are no longer recommending to eat/drink soy products because they can contain a plant estrogen. I think a really slow introduction to milk may be better than trying to switch twice. Good luck!
C.
go for formula. If I remember corectly there is a formula for older babies?? (altho my baby is now 6 so I have forgotten). But if she is using sippy cup when eating her real food, perhaps you could start introducing her whole milk... as for the bottle tho, I'd stick to formula for now.
My plan was the same as yours -- to stop at 12 months. However, like you by 11 months my supply just wasn't enough. We switched to cow's milk at 11 months with no problems. We did do small amounts, increasing a little each day, for about a week to make sure his digestive system could handle it --- again NO problems at all.
Good Luck.
Check with your pediatrician, but when our daughter was young,she couldn't do cows milk until she was 18 months old, so we transitioned her with goats milk. It is supposed to be more like momma's milk than soy or anything else. Just a thought.
My daughter drinks only raw cows milk, and has never displayed any problems with it. It comes form a local organic dairy farm. It's actually easier for people to digest them pasturized milk, because it still has the enzymes in it that help with digestion, people who are lactose intolerant can frequently tolerate raw cows milk and those same enzymes also help with calcium absorbtion. Don't give your child conventional milk unless it's at leat rBGH or rBST free, this gets into the milk and is a synthetic hormone that is really bad for people.
I also deeply disagree with a previous poster about soy. Soy is bad, even people in Asian countries who we have been told eat a lot of soy don't. They actually consume very small amounts of raw soy. The soy they consume is mostly fermented which is much better for us them raw soy, which is what soy milk and soy formula is made out of. Here is a link to an article about the dangers of soy: http://www.mothering.com/articles/growing_child/food/soy_.... If your curious.
Hi A.! Like others have said there is no magic age! My daughter does goat's milk and does REALLY well on it. Soy milk is a waste products and is really harmful. It contains a high amount of pesticides and causes estrogen dominance. There is actually a natural part of soy that is cancer causing!
Anyway, if you do WIC you can get goat's milk through them. I purchase the Meyenburg brand at Wal-Mart. Cub foods carries goat's milk as well.
Good luck to you!
I had the same thing happen to me too when my daughter was 11 months. I just started adding whole milk with the breastmilk. At first it was 1/4 whole milk and 3/4 breastmilk. Then after a bit I went to 1/2 and 1/2, then to 3/4 and 1/4. At one year she was down to nursing only at night and in the morning, with whole milk during the day.
We started switching to cow's milk at about 11 months. We started by giving my daughter milk in her sippy at supper and slowly started giving her milk more often. We switched a little early mainly because we were trying to transition off the bottle and she refused to take formula in a sippy, only a bottle. She seemed to think that formula belonged in a bottle and sippys were for juice and I didn't want to give her too much juice. Our doctor agreed that if she seemed ready for it and there were no side effects, starting the transition a few weeks early was no problem.
Hi A.,
Congratulations on making it a year breastfeeding! That's a great accomplishment. I would definitely check with your pediatrician before trying anything, but I transitioned my daughter to whole cow's milk starting at 10 months - with her doctor's blessing of course. It was a very slow transition, replacing just an ounce of breastmilk with cow's milk each week. By the time she was 11 months old she was totally weaned and did just fine. If you think about it, your baby's body doesn't go through a change the day they turn one - a few days isn't going to make a huge difference. But again, you'll want to check with your son's doctor and do it very gradually so that he can get used to the taste and it's not hard on his belly. Good luck!
A.,
I introduced cow's milk a few weeks before the first birthday for all four of my children and never had a concern. If your son has had lots of allery or digestive issues, I would say "don't do it." Otherwise, he will be fine. You could also offer goat's milk - it's easier on the digestive system.
Good luck,
S.
Have you already introduced milk products such as cheese and yogurt? I would do those first and look for any allergic reactions. They are much easier to digest than regular milk and a good way to try it out. Then try milk. If he shows and intolerance you can try other options like soy or even Lactaid, which is regular milk without the lactose, which is usually the problem. Goat's milk is supposed to be much easier on the stomach than cow's but might not be as convenient for buying. I don't think there is anything wrong w/ introducing early if there are no signs of allergies! Good luck.
Give it a try.
Our daughter did fine early. And most of the daycare kids I watched were given milk between 10 and 11 months by their parents. I had 1 little girl who was strictly given NO dairy (butter, yogurt, milk, etc. NOTHING) except baby food and formula till 1. She transitioned harder. Didn't seem to like the taste of anything since it was a full year before she was introduced.
Our children were given yogurt from about 9 months on. (organic). Our son didn't seem to like the taste of milk very well, so he was about 1 1/2 before he started drinking a decent amount. He was strictly breastfed for 9 months. Started with baby food for about a week and then switched to mostly table food or just breastmilk for his meals. I continued to breastfeed till about 18 months.
Good luck.
My pediatrician had suggested to slowly introduce cow's milk over the time before my son turned one. The plan was to have him drinking whole milk as opposed to formula by the time he was 12 months. My son had little to no problem with this transition.
I just weaned my son last year (at 11 months) and we switched him to whole milk (gradually) and he did just fine. Our pediatrician said the one year mark is more of a guideline- something to aim for, not a hard and fast rule- it's different for every baby. Hope that helps, good luck!
Just wanted to say that soy milk is NOT a waste product as another person boldly stated. It is made by pressing or pureeing soy beans then straining the liquid out. How that is a waste product is beyond me. Cows and goats were not meant to suckle our children, but it has been convienient to do so for centuries. The World Health Organization reccomends nursing until your child is 2 (not that I did that!) Most soy milk that you get on the market is organically farmed. I have seen a lot of the hype surrounding soy milk and have read both sides of the story. I'm not saying it's your best option, but I don't want you to get the one-sided story either.
I think you should try many things out so that your son gets a well balanced diet and not worry about the exact date that you switch. Good luck! My son hated cow milk and goat's milk, so we have been using soy or almond for about 2 years. He does take cow's milk in his oatmeal or if it's chocolate or yogurt! We just vary his diet a lot. He's healthy, strong, and one of the brightest boys his age (3) from what I can tell from interacting with other families.
I don't think it is so strict that you cannot introduce whole milk at this point, especially considering he is almost a year and will still be getting part breast milk and part cows milk. It just depends on your child really. Some babies digestive systems can handle it and some are not ready yet. The main reason for waiting until 12 months is because babies get their nutrition from breast milk or formula and it is needed for proper development. So if you decide to start him early, you should be sure that he will be eating a balanced and nutritious diet of table foods. My son is 15 months and drinking whole milk but I still give him a sippy cup or two of formula each day because he is a picky eater and I worry that he will not get what he needs. He is not ready to chew kids vitamins yet...whenever that time comes I will stop the formula.
If you start milk, definitely go with whole cows milk. Children need that fat for brain development.
Also, another reason they say 12 months is that when you introduce a food too early, your baby can develop an allergy to it. This quote is from the Mayo site, and there is a link below : "Cow's milk is one of the most common allergy-causing foods in children, and it's the leading cause of allergic reactions in very young children."
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/milk-allergy/DS01008
The earlier, the more risky. But even if you wait until after 12 months, it could still happen. It could happen to any child. It is just another thing to think about--with ANY food, not just milk.
It sounds like starting milk makes sense for your family. So I would suggest clearing it with your sons Doctor first as well because they will be able to tell you all of the reasons for or against it
I am not a doctor, but I don't think that there is anything wrong with giving an 11 month old cows milk. *Provided that there is not lactose intolerance in your family.* Twelve months is the average age where the risk of developing lactose intolerance (from early introduction) drops drastically. That means that for some children, the age where cow's milk can be introduced is earlier, for some later.
I actually started to introduce cow's milk to my son a few weeks before his birthday also, because lactose intolerance does not run in our family. We have had no problems with it (although we *did* have to use Quik for the first week to get him to even drink it!).
