Help!!! My Nursing 13 Month Old Will Not Take Any Other Milk!

My daughter was the same way. have you tried warming up the milk. I tried that and it seemed to work for her.

My son didn't take to whole milk when I first offered it to him and still doesn't drink all that much. He does eat very well and get's PLENTY of dairy elsewhere throughout the day, with cottage cheese, yogart and he loves cream of wheat or oatmeal made with whole milk. I also add milk to an egg so that he's getting it and with each day he seems to drink milk a little more each day. My husband noticed at first he just didn't seem to like that it was cold so we'd warm it up, that helped a little.

Hey C.,
I have a 13 month little boy who is weaned off of nursing during the day, but not at night. I was just able to get him to drink cow's milk about 2 weeks ago. He will not drink it cold except with his cereal. My sister's doctor told her not to stress too much if they don't take milk right away. Try giving him yogurt, cheese, and other dairy product. He'll evetually start to try milk. As far as getting pregnant again. My lactation consultant said that many babies self-wean when you become pregnant because your breast milk tastes different. Best of luck to you!!!

My daughter, who is now 13 months, had a hard time weaning to whole milk as well. Here is what I did...take it or leave it. Please keep in mind that I am a breastfeeding, organic-whole food, no sugar mommy, and I went out on a limb here. Since babies love sweet milk, it is sometimes difficult for the transistion to whole milk. On top of providing much dairy throughout the day, I also gave her whole milk mixed with a little chocolate syrup. She was taken by the sweet taste, and I was able to lessen it each day. (total 3 days) Now she bounces up and down when I pour her whole milk in the sippy cup. Every child is different, so just make sure you go with your mommy gut. Best of Luck!

Hi C., Have you tried mixing your milk with cows milk? I would start with the majority your milk and over time take an ounce or even a half an ounce of your milk away, replacing it with more cow's milk. Hope this helps. I did this with my daughter and it worked. God Bless! N. Lurry

When my daughter was about that same age, the only way I could get her to drink cow's milk was from a regular cup. She wouldn't take it from a bottle or a sippy cup, but she loved using a "normal" cup. Of course, I only gave her a little at a time, to cut down potential messes. Odd, but it worked for us.
Good luck

C.,

I have a 22 mo old girl who is just now starting to occasionally ask for milk (that means about twice per week). She was completely weaned at 17 mo. I really didn't worry about her non-interest in milk because she ate whole milk yogurt or cottage cheese or regular cheese every day. I think if your son is getting other milk products regularly it is not too big of a deal if he does not want cow's milk. My son, who is now 3, also did not really have an interest in milk when he was still nursing and only after he was about 2.5 start asking for it regularly.

i have no personal experience on this issue, as i'm now pregnant with my first child, but i have read (like another mother recommended) that you should try mixing your breastmilk with cow milk, gradually lessoning the amount of breast milk used until no breast milk is needed. good luck!

Did you know you can nurse during pregnancy? The fetus is not harmed at all. You have to make sure you drink lots of fluids to keep hydrated. Contact your local La Leche League leader for more questions. A lot of doctors will tell you you have to stop nursing, but this is simply not true.

Of course, this doesn't help if you are not ovulating yet.

You may want to try Yo-Baby liquid yogurt. It comes in peach and banana. We put about a 1/4 of the Yo-Baby with the milk and our daughter drank it up. After a while, we just put less and less in the milk and now she drinks just milk. Good luck.

I wouldn't worry so much that he doesn't like the taste of milk as long as he receives the calcium and vitamin D that milk is infused with. Yogurt, cheese sticks, cottage cheese, philadelphia cream cheese spreads, etc. Those are other sources of milk he may like.

Also, try chocolate milk or strawberry milk. They have low sugar sources that offer the same vitamins. SunSoy soy milk I believe tastes better than Eden or Silk. They have chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, etc. You can use it for cooking as well.

I personally do not like milk unless it is really really cold. Perhaps try turning up the dial on the fridge.

-S.

pump (which I was never good at) or give water.

My kids whom I nursed until 14 and 17 months both were uninterested in milks of any kind, not refused but one sip was about it. I am not a conspiracy person but the dairy industry has done a number on us with our need to consume milk/dairy.

Check the numbers, the human body can only absorb a finite amount of Calcium which can be achieved through cheese,yogurt and even veggies if you don't do milk (how do you think lactose intolerant people survive without rickets!) So don't stress, there are other liquid options. If you are trying to fill a belly with milk so they are full before sleep etc., just increase food offerings before bed and stick to water.

It summer who wants to find old warm sippy cups with spoiled milk around the house!

I have heard that goat's milk is most like human milk. Maybe he would like it better.

Is there a reason you're so set on your baby drinking cow's milk? I'm one of those crazies who thinks cow's milk was designed for calves. :)

Why not just give your baby blended up fruit/veggie drinks at meals and water between meals? As long as he is getting calories from nutritious food, he doesn't have a need for some sort of milk in his diet. In other words, you can stop breastfeeding without introducing another kind of milk. Just my two cents!

Yay for still breastfeeding! :)
Here are a few suggestions the lactation consultants in my support group give to other mamas who have trouble introducing milk:
~flavor it with chocolate or strawberries (you can really use any fresh fruit puree instead of syrup)
~try organic, it is sweeter
~try goat milk first and go back to cow's milk

Does he eat cheese and yogurt? If he eats a lot of these, he really doesn't have to drink milk. We are the only species that weans to another animal's milk (which, when you think about it, is kinda weird even though I LOVE milk). Lots of kids don't drink much milk and get enough calcium and vitamin D in other ways. Just look up foods that are rich in these vitamins like broccoli, leafy veggies. You can always give him vitamin gummies if you have to :)
Good Luck!

Ideally, kids should receive breastmilk until they are at least 2 years old. It's made precisely for human children to grow properly.
Doctors recommend full fat milk for proper brain development. Why stop giving a todder people milk, and start giving them cow's milk? yk?

From everything I've read, it's fine in most cases to continue to breastfeed during pregnancy. If you decide you don't want to, you can always wean at that point. But the longer you breastfeed, the better for your toddler's health. He knows what's good for him, and he's showing you ;)

Oh, and nursing isn't all or nothing. Like a pp said, you can keep nursing just a couple times a day, for that added insurance. I'm nursing once a day now, and it works out really well for me and my ds. I agree that humans don't have a nutritional need for cow's milk.

your child does not require cows milk as a part of his diet.

if he is drinking plenty of water, and eating a good variety of foods then he will be fine just drinking water! Cows eat grass, and they have plenty of calcuim to build very strong bones! Broccoli is an excellent source of calcium! my kids love it with alittle veggie dip, or lightly steemed with mac and cheese (and he would get some dairy with the mac and cheese.

we are the only "animal" that drinks another animal's milk, and into ADULTHOOD no less!

I wouldn't worry too much about it. Milk and dairy are high allergins, and your baby is probably avioding for good reason. The milk we drink today has been highly processed. Soy milk and soy products are also usually highly processed. I would try to keep high calcium veggies in the diet like brocolli and spinach. Keep nursing 2-3 times, that can be "insurance" that your baby gets the necessities. It's also great for when they are upset or hurt. You can nurse through pregnancy with no problems, I have done it twice and am very happy I did, especially when the new sibling was born. 13 months is still very little. They need that mommy time, and the health benefits of the milk you provide.

Hi - Just wanted to suggest tandem nursing. I tandem nursed my first 2 for 1 whole year together and currently nursing my 21 month old and 4 month old. There are times especially when you are towards the end where you are edgy and your milk output is lower that it is uncomfortable but there are some great benefits to it. You burn more calories and it helps to get them both to sleep about the same time. Feel free to email me personally to chat more about it - ____@____.com. I am currently reading a book about tandem nursing - The Adventures of Tandem nursing that you may benefit from. Best wishes!!

Hi C., you have gotten lots of responses, but I thought I would add another :-) I did the "baby led weaning" for all 3 of my kids. My second seemed to be more interested/attached to breastfeeding. She nursed all through my 3rd pregnancy and actually weaned about 4 months after the birth of my 3rd. If your child is a little older they may "taste" the difference as the milk becomes "colostrum" after several months...but it wasn't an issue at all for us. I found it wasn't a big deal to nurse when pregnant. When my dd was 6 she was diagnosed with allergies - which explained a lot of issues. One being the transition to cows milk - which she didn't like. I always poured the milk into a cup and let it sit for a while since breast milk isn't "cold" like cows milk. Also, the doctors we saw for her allergies were always impressed with how long we nursed. They said her allergies would have been MUCH worse if we hadn't. I hope this helps!

have you looked into goat milk? it's more similar to mommy's milk in both taste and the way the body digests it.

I had the same issue with my daughter (who is now 3) when I was weaning her from the breast at 12 months. She refused to drink milk even if I put chocolate or strawberry syrup in it. Her doctor suggested I give her orange juice with added calcium and substitute with other calcium rich foods like yogurt, etc. She still is not a big milk drinker, but it's not as bad now as it was then. Hope any of this helps!!

Have you tried mixing ebm and regular milk together? I started with a 3-1 mixture (3 ounces EBM, 1 ounce whole milk) and slowly over a period of a few weeks increased the whole milk and decreased the EBM. I did that with my oldest.

Hello,

My friend's pediatrician, who also has a PhD in nutrition, recommends putting some strawberry powdered flavoring in the milk to ease the taste transition. Since breastmilk is much sweeter than cow's milk, she says the strawberry flavor is the closest thing she has found to the breastmilk flavor for babies. Once they drink the flavored cow's milk, begin weaning the strawberry flavor until they are eventually drinking regular milk with no problem.
K.

I wasn't able to nurse my son because of medication I am on and both my husband and I have milk allergies so he was put on soy formula. When it came time to switch him to whole milk it was the opposite of fun. When I talked to my pediatrician about it she told me to go ahead and try mixing strawberry Nesquick. So I bought the 25% less sugar and I only mix a teaspoon in 8-9oz and he took to it and wouldn't drink his formula anymore! Slowly I just added less and less strawberry and he didn't even notice. Nesquick also has some added calcium. If you are thinking about having another baby you might try this, as soon as I knew he was fine with milk I became preggo again ;) *I will warn you though, if it is spilled on carpet clean it up right away or else it is there for eternity!! Good luck!

I nursed my daughter to 16 months and weaned her when I was a few months pregnant (Baby due in May). We had to gradually decrease her nursing, but it went fine. I just couldn't manage the exhaustion of pregnancy combined with the calorie output of nursing, so I would really caution you about getting in that situation. You might have tried this, but have you warmed up the cow's milk? That's the only way my tot would take it at first. Once he gets used to the taste, he'll drink it. I worry now that my daughter drinks too much. I like the other ideas about adding nesquick or whatever, too. I mixed in a small amount of white grape juice when I first started trying to get her to drink cow's milk because I read that breastmilk is much sweeter. That might have helped. I'd try that and warm it up a little. Good luck. Keep trying, he'll get used to it.

We tried strawberry Nesquik with our daughter and she liked it. We only put a very small amount in. A few other moms suggested it to me. Our daughter had trouble with whole milk at first, we started with soy and then gradually introduced whole milk.

My kids didn't transistion well either! What I did was mix cow's milk in with pumped breastmilk, adding more cow's milk each time until it was all cow's milk. I also warmed it up since they were used to warm breastmilk.

I hope that helps!

I started my daughter with water in a sippy cup and then skim milk to whole to get her used to it. Anyway, I've heard both--that you should/should not nurse while pregnant--I'd listen to your own dr's advice on that one...as well as if your kid "needs" milk or not, I kind of think it's got nutrients that water doesn't have, so I might as well give her milk since she likes it! Good luck =-)

C.,
Have you tried mixing the breast milk with cow's milk like 80/20 at first then 50/50 and so on until he has the taste of cow's milk instead of you? This may help. Try pumping too instead of nursing him (slowly break him)and make your mixture for his bottles.
Hope this helps!
R.

when i was nursing and had to change to cows milk..our childrens doctor suggested to mix half brest milk and cows milk for two reasons: 1. help them not get constipated 2. help them get use to the change in flavor of milk. so if you have any breast milk frozen or can still pump i would try that..just do 1/2 & 1/2. good luck!

I am also a nursing mommy. My son is almost 16 months and still nursing. I would pay attention to your son, he may still need you right now, and it wouldn't be a good time to wean him. I also want to get pregnant again, and I sometimes get very impatient waiting for my son to wean to Cow milk.

What I would suggest is to try pumping and mix the cow milk with your milk - start at a mixture of 10% cow to 90% your milk, and then gradually add more cow milk and less breast milk. Eventually he will get used to the taste. I wouldn't mix sugary mixes in to the milk because he will get used to it and expect that in his milk all the time. It would be better for him to get used to milk straight. Also, some of the lower sugar mixes contain artificial sweeteners that can be bad for your sons health. JMO.

Good luck.