Transitioning Baby from Breastmilk to Whole Milk

How about a sippy cup? My son took a cup like it was the greatest thing in the world...plus my good friend's girls NEVER took a bottle and took a cup just fine.

Sara I agree with Becky. Your milk supply isn't gone, it just becomes less since your son is eating more solid foods. I am a huge advocate of breastfeeding for many reasons and encourage you to stick with it for at least 1-3 feedings a day for all the benifits it has. Most culures around the world breastfeed for 2 1/2 years. Also don't worry about the cow's milk too much. A child will get plenty of calcium from a well balanced diet. Did you know that broccoli has more calcium per serving than milk? Most important is that he is getting plenty of water to keep him hydrated. I wouldn't recommend Soy milk either because soy is a very common food allergy and is becoming more popular since almost every processed food has some type of soy product in it.

With my second I introduced a small amount by itself around 10 months in a sippy cup and did it here and there without consistency. At 12 months she was pretty much on whole milk with 2-3 nursings a day and weaned from bottle too.

Hi S.,
When we switched from breast milk, we also went to soy milk. I tried whole milk, but he did not like it. He still drinks only soy, but I sneak real milk into his oatmeal and he loves yogurt.

Can you try putting whole milk in a sippy cup? 12 months is a really good age to drop the bottles because they are more willing to try the new thing and easily forget what is out of sight. Well, maybe not. I just know that 20 month olds are much more stubborn!

Just give him a cup. I breastfed all of my children none ever took a bottle. As they quit nursing I offered a cup. No problem.

My son wouldn't take a bottle, so at 13 months I stopped nursing and had my husband give him whole milk in a sippy cup, I was pleasantly supprised how easily he adjusted to it. Try having someone else give him the whole milk, it might be that he smells you and it reminds him of breast milk, it didn't take long and soon I could give my son whole milk, just once he took to the taste of it. I also would warm the milk so it was body temp?? Good luck

My son also didn't like the transition but got used to it after a few weeks. For him, the key was to put the milk in a sippy cup and only water in a bottle. We started with breast milk in the sippy (I pumped) and that's what got the most resistance (he kept spitting it out), but I kept giving it to him. After he turned a year and I was out of breast milk and switched to whole milk and had no problem. Now he loves it and carries his sippy all over the house.

My son did the exact same thing. I recommend trying a cup and persistence. Either a sippy cup with a valve or an "old-fashioned" one with the cover with a small spout, but no valve or anything. The milk comes out a little faster in the latter kind which some kids prefer. Some babies can even learn to take sips out of a regular cup (no cover at all) at one year of age. My youngest son went straight from nursing to a sippy cup at 14 months with no bottles at all. It took months before I got him to drink milk (and I ended up flavoring it), but I would just stick with it. You can try other fluids like water to keep him hydrated in the meantime. He can have other foods with calcium like yogurt. Good luck.

Hi S. --

Congratulations on breastfeeding for a year, that is awesome! :)

With both of my daughters we went from breastmilk to soymilk. My youngest is still on soy milk and nursing but with my older daughter we went breastmilk to soy milk and breastmilk to soy milk and then eventually we went to whole milk. I just thought that going straight to whole milk was too harsh on their little systems.

Good luck!
J.
Mama to Ally (3.75) and Sophie (almost 18 months)

Don't bother with a bottle, and also your supply is just fine. At a year old, your milk is extrmely concentrated, and your breasts will not feel full, and the milk is very thick and concentrated. How often is your son nursing? If he's only nursing 2-3 times a day, that is why you think your milk is gone. It is NOT, and I would urge you to continue even one nursing through the cold and flu season, because it will deliver antibodies through your milk to him, helping him to stay healthy and ward off any illness!

But again, don't bother with a bottle, get him a straw cup and let him have it at meals, but dont' fuss about it. He'll make a bigger deal out of NOT drinking it if you do. Just give him the cup and his meal and go about your meal. Curiosity will get the better of him and he'll drink it. :)

Both my boys nursed past a year, and we did whole milk at meals, and by the time they weaned (15 months and 23 months) thye were drinking whole milk with meals just fine, and nursing 2-3 times a day.

Also, even if he nurses once a day, his body and your milk work together, that milk is so concentrated it gives him all he needs in that 10 minute shot.