Almost a Year and Does Not Want Whole Milk - Back to Breastfeeding - HELP

I wouldn't be too paranoid about this. It always takes a while to acquire a taste for new things. Especially when you're new thing is completely taking place of your old thing. Just keep giving the whole milk to her. If you give in and go back to giving her breastmilk, you're only making it harder on the two of you because you're teaching her that if she doesn't want it, she can throw a little fit and get exactly what she wants. Believe me, she will drink whole milk. When my kids were about the same age, I only gave them milk, no juice ever, and maybe water once a day. Well, when they became thirsty, they would drink it, and soon enough, they really liked it.

I agree with a few previous posts. When we started to ween our son, it was at meals first. Towards the end he was only nursing at nap time. We switched to water at bed time and only my husband gave it to him. I couldn't be anywhere around or you guessed it-bring on the dairy bar, mom. lol. Anyways, it was my son that gave it up in the end and broke my heart. He was a little over a year old, went with his grandpa one day and was not home for his afternoon nap/nursing. That was the end of it. :( I know it was for the best, but they are only small once. I however don't agree with putting any flavoring in the milk to get them to like it. This isn't good for their teeth. Good luck. If in the end she just doesn't like milk, it's okay, you can always supplement with a vitamin.

You have to do it gradually. Give her some breastmilk mixed with whole milk...and gradually decrease the amount of breast milk. Although it sounds like to me that really she just likes to BF. There is no reason you have to wean right now unless that is just really what you want to do....BM will benefit your baby until whatever age she wants to nurse to. But if you are for sure you want to wean, I would just start skipping one feeding first. Offer her the cup more (with some of each kind of milk). When you feel satisfied that she is taking a decent amount of milk that way, start skipping another feeding. Doing it very gradually is the best way for both Mom and baby. It is a huge change for her as this is the way she has been eating her entire life! The more gradual, the easier it will be on both of you.

Just wondering why she had to have the milk before bed. That was one of the first I weaned away, so bed was not assoc. with drinking anything. I gave whole milk in sippy cups with each meal and that was pretty much it. I also gave yo baby yogurt and other dairy products throughout the day. FYI, my daughter never took a bottle either. This daughter also took some time to get used to milk. We just always offered it with meals, we also tried to flavor it, but that did not work either. We do not do juice, so milk or water was it.

I weaned my son at 14 months, but at 12 months began introducing organic cow's milk. He too refused a bottle, so we did a sippee cup...took lots of time just playing with it with water in it before I ever put milk in it. Then I gave it to him at meal times with whatever he had on top of his breast milk. Once he was taking some cow's milk, I started to wean him down to 4 times a day; then gradually took one feeding away until he didn't want it anymore. He never seemed to miss it. Since breastmilk is so much sweeter than cow's milk, to get him initially interested, I put a little (less than 1 tablespoon) of vanilla or strawberry nestle quick in his milk. Someone at my breastfeeding support group recommended this, and it really helped him accept the cow's milk. Anyway, I wish you luck in making the transition. No one can tell you when you should or shouldn't transition...you just need to listen to your daughter's needs and your own to decide the right time.

I would try mixing 3/4 BM and 1/4 whole milk for awhile, and slowly decrease your % of BM and add whole milk until it is all whole milk.
Hopefully that makes sence :)

J.:

cows milk is not a necessity in the human diet. what is important is fluids. waters/ soups/

nursing to sleep is often the most difficult for "babies" to let go of. this is how they unwind.

P., RLC, IBCLC
Parenting Coach and Board Certified Lactation Consultant
www.lactationsupportgroup.com

keep breastfeeding her is the best advice I can think of--we are the only culture in the world that would think of weaning a baby until at least 2 years old. Many if not most people cannot digest cow's milk and she may be rejecting it because of that. Goat's milk would be a more digestible alternative if you absolutlely cannot keep nursing. i was so happy I was still nursing when my youngest came down with a terrible flu when she was 18 months old and could not keep anything down except my milk--I am sure she would have had to be hospitalized if I was not nursing--just one example of the importance of natural feeding!

My son is now 23 months and still does not drink milk. He never took a bottle either. When I weaned him I gradually took away breastfeedings until it was just bed time and nap time. We had established a regular bed time routine - bath, stories, and breastfeeding. I slowly decreased the amount of time he breastfed and then when we were ready to give it up entirely we did the rest of the routine and daddy would rock him for a few minutes before putting him to bed. As long as she is getting enough to eat and drink at dinner, she should not need anything at bedtime. He now gets his calcium from other sources. He will not drink anything resembling milk. Good luck.

She is not interested in the milk at night she wants the comfort of the breast feeding. I was breast fed and hate milk so do both my sons. I think she just wants the comfort. Try reading to her snuggling her close like when you breast feed. It she wants her night breast feeding give it to her. It is one hundred times better for her than cows milk.

The advice that everyone else gave was great but I noticed you said that you had never bottle fed your baby. That could also be part of the issue, your baby is not used to drinking from a bottle. Aside from everyone else's advice, I think you should also try finding a nipple for the bottle that most closely simulates your breast. There are lots out there. I occasionally bottle-fed my baby breast milk at first & she would only drink a few ounces as well. For months now I only breastfeed but recently at night I give her a few ounces of breastmilk in a bottle so she can get used to the bottle so that I can wean her at 1yrs old. She's 9mths now. The bottle w/nipple I am using now is the Born Free bottle & nipples. She seems to like the nipple & feeds well from the bottle. You can try that one if you want but there are many out there. I used to use the Dr. Brown brand but she wouldn't want to drink much from them.

Your daughter is trying to tell you something. Either she doesn't like cow's milk, is not ready for weaning, the list goes on. There is no magical thing about weaning a child at 12 months. I've seen a lot of moms wean at that time only to find their child more needy, constipated (from the milk), and sometimes lactose intolerant as well. If you have to stop breastfeeding for yourself then perhaps you could try giving her formula instead of cow's milk. It's ok to give babies/toddlers formula until 18 months as long as it does not interfere with their eating habits. Just because you CAN give them cow's milk at one year does not mean that you should. Hope this doesn't sound too harsh, just very passionate about breastfeeding and letting a child wean when they are ready.

I agree with J. --

Anything other than breastmilk at night is not-so good, and can initiate tooth decay. Nix-nay on the regular milk for nighttime.

I think a lot of what could faciliate this transition for you and dd isn't so much what she's imbibing physically...But the cuddling and nurturing that she gets as well. At this age, THAT'S what nighttime nursings are about.

What's Dad doing at night? Why not let him take over in the nighttime? Dd will be expecting to nurse from you in the evening, but if Dad's there...Sure, might be the intial shock of "Hey, why are YOU here right now?", but not the stress of "Why aren't you giving me the boob, lady?" :P

Another good thing - It can give Dad a chance to be a part of the nighttime routine in a new way.

Happy Weaning!

My oldest daughter never drank milk and her docs were not at all concerned, as long as she was getting her Calcium, Vitamin D and fat from other sources. She did eat yogurt 1x/day and a lot of cheese in her diet, which sufficed. When I weaned my oldest, I did the before bedtime feeding last and by that point my supply was so low she became frustrated one night and never wanted to nurse again (we went from 2x/day to 1x/day to once every other day - we'd distract her at night and she was very good about going to bed at bedtime, so skipping the feeding was easy).

I agree with a previous poster that you should try to substitute cuddle/snuggle time for the breastfeeding. Read books, sing songs, unwind together and have that close time without the nursing and see if that soothes her. I wouldn't worry about the milk, though.

As another poster said, try pumping and mixing breast milk with whole milk. Reduce the amount of breast milk in the mixture as time passes. I did the same when I switched my son from breast milk to formula and then to whole milk.

Good luck.
Aarti

It took me a long time to wean my daughter off of nighttime nursing. I wouldn't push it right now. Keep offering her something at bedtime (although, I'm not sure you want to get her in the habit of drinking milk before bed, as it sits in the mouth and can cause cavities, etc).

She may not like the milk...it may make her gassy, etc. (cow's milk is the most common allergenic food out there). Have you tried milk alternatives? Hemp Milk is high in the Omegas, fats, and calcium.

But, again...maybe giving her a sippy with water would be better.

One more thing...if you are trying to wean her completely right now...it's probably why you are experiencing some regressing. If you nurse her down for her naps, bedtime and when she gets up in the morning and are weaning her from all of it at the same time...she may be more resistant to doing so. It's better to just make one change at a time. Too many changes at once can actually make the child uncomfortable. So, if you just fully wean them from one feeding...and then start the next feeding, I'm sure you'll find that it goes much more smoothly and less-stress for you and the child.