Time to Wean :)

I weaned all three of mine just after their first birthday. They did great, they were ready. They were eating enough other things, and busy. It was harder for me than them. I would advise not to push the bottle, try the milk in the sippy cup. Its easier to break away from the bottle and pacifiers before 18 months. If he gets attached to a bottle now, you'll need to take that away soon also.

If I remember right, my doctor said 2 8oz bottles of milk per day was fine. I usually gave one in the morning and one at night.

I am not too sure you should give him cow's milk. There has been a lot of research as of late that shows that humans (especially babies) do not digest cow's milk. Also, the homogenization and pasteurization kills all of the enzymes. I would recommend looking into raw goats milk (there are farms near Austin that provide this). This milk is closest to breast milk and works to build the immune system as well.
Or other alternatives would be almond or rice milk, but I would not do soy. Especially not for a boy! Soy has been linked to producing synthetic estrogen within the body.
My friend gives her 1 yr old rice milk with a little organic formula mixed in.
Please do the research. Hope this helps.

Hey J.,
You sound really happy and that you got the weaning process down. How cool! Just a little note to you incase somebody did not mention this. I think you already know that your milk will dry up gradually as you skip feedings. Be sure you don't stimulate area, such as when you take a shower. For example, if you skip the midday nursing, don't cause any stimulation to that area. Otherwise, you will start to produce milk again causing some engorgment, which can be uncomfortable. Again, I am not sure if someone already shared this with you. More importantly, YOU are blessed above and beyond and God is good! Take care.

Hi J.,
When I asked my Pedi in May how much. He said he should get no more than 2 or 3 8 oz cups a day. Ask your pedi at his well check what he thinks if your unsure. Good luck weaning.

Hi J.,
Per my children's Pediatrician we should never give more than 18 oz of milk a day because it may cause anemia. You see when you give a child that much milk it suppresses their appetite. You want them to be eating more solids. Milk is very good for them as we all know just make sure you ask your child's Pediatrician.

Good luck,
Elisa

J., Congratulations on breastfeeding your baby the entire first year. Good for you! I'm not much of an advocate for cow's milk but if you do go in that direction PLEASE consider sticking with ORGANIC milk. When I weaned my second child the most difficult part was finding a way to replace the "comfort zone" we had created with nursing. What I eventually found helped a great deal was time to cuddle and baby/child massage. To this day (and he is now 30) massage helps him relax quickly.

Replace the nursing sessions with a complete meal, not just milk. Breastmilk is a complete meal, where milk is not. I think the rule on dairy is no more than 24oz in a 24 hour period (milk, cheese, yogurt combined).

Congratulations on making it to one year of breastfeeding!

My daughter's pediatrician told me to give her no more than 16 ounces of cow's milk after weaning her. He said that we didn't want to fill her stomach with just milk, that she needed the nutrients and proteins of other foods. What I did is gave her milk in her sippy cup with each meal and tried to give her one before bed, that was about 4 onz each time. She wouldn't always drink the whole 4 onz but that was ok. Now she eats three meals a day and two snacks in between and I give her milk in the sippy cup all those times.
Hope that helps!

Our pediatrician said 16-24 oz of milk a day and no more than 8 oz. of juice per day for the 2nd year of life.

I weaned my son at 11 months, I was about 6-8 wks pregnant so I really did not want to nurse him anymore. I don't know if I am giving you advice, but this was my experience. My pediatrician said milk, unlike formula or breastmilk, is not his primary food source that he needs lots of nutrients from food, but of course calcium was important but that could come from cheese, yogurt, etc. Since he was used to the sweetness of breastmilk (oh I was nursing him 3 times a day)I made him a 6-8oz bottle, give him just a little at first though, and would put a lil' cereal and splenda and he would drink it all. He did not eat much at all though with all this milk so I am now giving him 4oz bottles three times a day(one bottle before his two naps and at bedtime), I don't use splenda anymore, he uses a sippy cup well so I am trying to start milk in sippy cups too. My doc said splenda is safe but not other sweeteners but your son might not even need that. I would look up how much milk he needs I can't remember the exact amount that I found, but milk is pretty fattening and gets the body used to animal proteins, basically kids don't need to chug it all day but need lots of water, fruits, and veggies, this is from what my doc said and I read. I was surprised that at one he really doesn't need that much for his little body. Good luck!

First I would ask why are you in a rush to wean him? There is nothing magic about turning one years old. I nursed both my kids much longer than that, and just let weaning happen naturally, as they eat more food and drink more milk. It will drop to to two feedings usually morning and night, and then just to morning. Both of them got sick at one point and they did not want to nurse and by then my milk supply was way down from the gradual process. Unless you are wanting to get pregnant right away this is a more natural, humane approach. Just a thought, kind of contrary to normal American culture. K.

No more than 24oz of milk (or milk substitute) a day or the child would be at risk for developing anemia.

Here's some info on weening to bottles: http://www.aboutkidshealth.ca/HealthAZ/Weaning-from-Breas...=

I don't it's neccessary to replace every breast feeding with whole milk but just start giving him milk with his meals. I think you'll know if you are giving him too much milk. When my son was that age I think he drank milk 3 to 4 times a day. If you are concerned about it you can always ask your doctor and he/she can tell you about how many ounces of milk you should give your son. If I remember right he wasn't too strict on my son having a good amount of whole milk. When he went in for his 2 yr or 3 yr check up his doctor told me to switch x%.
If your son wants to breast feed stear him towards the sippy cup. If he has trouble with that you give him sippy cups with the milk in it. With him turning 1 you can use the excuse that he is a big boy now and big boys drink milk from a cup. Good Luck.

Hi J.,
Good for you for nursing for a full year! It's sometimes not easy to do these days but your son will be the better for it.
Please do not give your son formula. It is one of the worst things you can put in his body, as is cows milk!!. Cows milk is formulated to grow a cow not a human, even baby cows are as big a most humans in adulthood and it causes digestive problems (especially) when he is used to breast feeding.
The best thing you can give your son is goats milk. It is the closest thing you can give him to breast milk it is very high in vitamins as is formulated to grow a goat which is very close to the size of a human at birth and in adulthood.
You could get on line and find someone in your area who sells goats milk or owns goats.They are usually glad to find people that know the value of their product. Try to get whole milk because pasturizing destroys all the vitamins. You can buy large amounts at a time and freeze it.
If unpasturized is not available you can buy it pasturized in most grocery stores.
Just for the record, after a child gets to an age to be weened only a small amount of milk is needed from then on. Humans and animals are not ment to drink milk throughout their lives, animals stop when the milk dries up and humans should too. If your son likes water in his sippie cup then always give him just water because juices and any other drinks can destroy his teeth.
Another great source of vitamins are avacados, They are very easy to digest have lots of natural oils and kids love them. My son used to say yum yum yum yum while he was eating them.
Good luck
W.

Your baby will tell you how much milk, he will just stop when full. However, 2% milk is best, babies like adults do not need that fat. Also, you do not have to give him milk, use juices also. Humans are the only animal (not saying we are animals) that continue to drink milk after infancy. but milk is still better than soft drinks. I have a friend that nursed for 3 years, not what I would do, but many do do that.
Sounds like you are really great mom and doing every correct.

When my little girl turned a year I also started to wean her. She was nursing about as many times as your son is. What I did was give her, her cereal in the morning which I added whole milk to and ended the meal with her cup of milk. Then I would offer milk again during snack and lunch time. Lastly should would be offered some milk in the evening. Notice I offered it to her...she didn't always drink it in the beginning. She drinks about 16-20oz a day now. I would still nurse her in the evening before she went to bed. That was the last nursing session to let go. It took us about 2 months to let the last nursing session go because of teething and I am not sure that I was totally ready to give it up yet:) But giving her the milk during the day seemed definately the easiest because she wasn't interested in nursing. I would definately take it slow so you don't get engorged. I was able to drop the nursing during the day and nurse at night with no problem. I hope this was helpful.

There's a formula for figuring how much milk he needs based on his weight....ask your nurse for the formula or for the exact minimum he should have. You want him to have the minimum at least and more if he wants but don't want him filling up on milk only either, though milk IS one of the most important foods for a toddler.
L.

Congratulations J. on nursing your baby boy for a year!
I think what Kathy L said would work fine.
Be aware of possible allergies. If your son shows reactions, or has before thru your milk, to cow's milk there are several alternatives.
My daughter is sensitive to some cow dairy, milk being one of them. She drinks soy, rice and almond milks as a result.
Just wanted to throw that out there.
hth
K., mama to
Catherine, 4.5y
Samuel, 18m

I don't have any tips for weaning. My son just woke up one morning and refused to latch on, so that's how I stopped breastfeeding.

Now about how many servings of milk, my pediatrician says that just like adults, toddlers need 3 servings of dairy a day. That can include milk, cheese, yogart, etc. Until he is 2 years old these dairy products do need to be full fat whole milk products. After 2, you can consider reduced fat dairy products. Hope this helps! GOOD LUCK weaning!!!