Weening - Cincinnati, OH

Hi T.,

My pediatrician suggested chocolate milk when we were weening from formula to milk-they didnt care about the choclate, but it was very important for them to get the milk! Good Luck!

C.

LOL your likes we have a 17 yr old, 15 yr old, 6 year old and a 2 year old.

I had the same problem with my kids, once they were done with nursing or bottles, they all refused milk. If it is the calcium you are worried about she can get it from the food she eats, foods that are high in calcium. Hoe this helps. L.

Here are some other choices in the dairy family

Nonfat Yogurt 1 cup, 490 mg calcium

Swiss cheese 1 oz., 270 mg calcium

Mozzarella, part skim 1 oz., 210 mg calcium

American Cheese 1 oz., 140 mg calcium

Cottage Cheese 1 cup, 160 mg calcium

Parmesan cheese,grated 2 T, 140 mg calcium

Pudding, prepared 1/2 cup, 150 mg

Frozen yogurt 1 cup, 200 mg

Ice Cream, light 1/2 cup, 200 mg

Other foods:

Black Beans 1 cup, 120 mg calcium

Navy Beans 1 cup, 130 mg calcium

Fortified Cereal 1 cup, 300 mg calcium

Soybeans, cooked 1 cup, 180 mg calcium

Spinach, cooked 1/2 cup, 130 mg calcium

Bok Choy 1/2 cup, 80 mg calcium

Kale, cooked 1/2 cup, 90 mg calcium

Corn Tortilla 1, 6 inch, 50 mg calcium

Greens, mustard 1/2 cup, 100 mg calcium

Fortified Orange Juice 1 cup, 300 mg calcium

Canned Salmon w/bones 3 oz, 180 mg

Fortified Cereal 1 cup, 300 mg

Waffle, fortified 1, 150 mg

Soy milk, fortified 1 cup, 400 mg

Greens, mustard 1/2 cup, 100 mg

Tofu 1 cup, 40 mg

Almonds 2 oz., 150 mg

The only advice I can give is keep trying with the milk--STOP breastfeeding if and when YOU are ready, you are the parent and letting her have her way now will set a bad pattern for the future.

You've already received some good advice from some moms here. I nursed my kids until they were two years old. I did have to talk my son into shorter and shorter feedings, and stayed busy or had hubby deal with him when it was around the usual time for nursing.

What's the big deal about drinking cow's milk? I think there is too much pressure on us for people to drink cow's milk. Once in a while I serve it to my kids and I sometimes put a little chocolate syrup in it. That's how my daughter started liking cow's milk.

Your child doesn't have to drink a ton of cow's milk. Have water, juice, rice milk, cow's milk. Mix it up. Eat brocoli for calcium.

I had the same problem with my daughter. She nursed for 14 months and NEVER EVER would take a bottle or a sippy cup. It was a nightmare! She finally started getting interested in my cup, so I started letting her take sips from my "big people" cup (cold water, milk, juice). I always offered it cold, so she would be used to big cups=cold beverage (which she eventually started to love). After a few weeks of that, she started drinking during the day from a "big cup" (which of course I had to hold...so that was a nightmare for a couple weeks), but she got all of her hydration from a big cup...cold Vitamin D, water, or watered down V-8 Fruit Medley Juice. I kept offering her a sippy cup when she was in her high chair, which she only played with, but she was atleast getting used to the concept. I tried every sippy cup there ever was. I finally started taking the spill proof valves out because it appeared that she couldn't figure out how to suck on anything except my nipple. Eventually, after a month of trying everything, she suddenly figured it out and started holding and drinking from her own sippy cup (without a valve). Needless to say, she can't wander around the house with a cup because they are not spill proof, but she IS drinking from her own cup and no longer interested in nursing! So she went from nursing, to big cup, to sippy cup...totally backwards...but who cares! As far as weening, I just stopped one nursing at a time until we were down to night time, because now that she was being nourished from a cup, nursing was now only comfort and not necessity. Once she mastered her sippy cup, I replaced the bedtime nursing with a small sippy cup of milk or water and a nice 10 minute bonding with her in the rocking chair in her dark bedroom. She gave up the nighttime nursing with NO ARGUMENT WHATSOEVER. My husband and I jokingly swore that she would nurse till she was 6 years old at the rate she was going. She had always refused anything but my breast. But with persistence and offering her my big cup and gradually offering her a sippy cup with no valve (so she didn't have to suck on it), she now is breast free, drinking milk, and loving it! Be patient and keep trying...and trying....and trying....and trying....persistence is the key. It took us about a month to transition, now everyone is happier. Best of luck to you!

T., you say that you: "still nurse my little one once in the evening and once or twice during the day and I have been tring so hard to get her to take milk and stop nursing her." Well, do you enjoy nursing her for those 2-3 times a day? If so, then honestly there's no need to stop. I was getting some pressure from friends and family to wean my daughter between 12-18 months, to get her to drink cow's milk, and you know what? She just didn't want it. She ate lots of regular table food, wasn't picky at all, AND she still liked to nurse. Luckily, I met another mom who reassured my that a mother's milk is far more appropriate for a baby at least for the first 2 years of life than cow's milk EVER will be (it's meant for a baby cow, not a baby human, after all!).

Also, some toddlers just don't like cow's milk -- many for a really good reason like lactose intolerance, or allergy. And some just plain don't like the taste of cow breastmilk. Have you tried offering her other drinks, like water? Are you worried about her calcium intake? There are many OTHER ways besides cow's milk that kids can get calcium. Plus, I think the only reason that cow's milk is so popular right now is that so many moms feed formula which gets expensive after 12 months and cow's milk is cheaper than formula. Plus, so FEW moms actually breastfeed their babies past the first week or month or so (less than 11% of babies get breastmilk by 6 months old - isn't that shocking?) that most don't even have breastmilk to offer at 12 or 15 months because the nursing never really got started in the first place.

So anyway... wean if you want to (http://www.llli.org//NB/NBweaning.html) And you don't have to wean off of YOUR breastmilk TO a cow's breastmilk. Just give water if she's thirsty! And if you and your baby are still enjoying the 2 nursing sessions per day, then continue nursing - it's super healthy for both of you:
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/bfextended/ebf-benefits.html
http://breastfeeding.blog.motherwear.com/2007/04/how_much...

Last but certainly not least, a huge CONGRATULATIONS on breastfeeding her this long - it'd be sooo nice if all mothers nursed their babies for even half as long as you. :)

It may not be the cow-milk itself that your daughter is refusing, but more that she doesn't want to replace the time spent nursing with you. I've read that much after a year or so, children are more resistant to weening.
You might try pumping some milk and giving it to her in a cup/sippy and seeing if she'll drink it. If she doesn't, then you know it's that she wants to be with you.
If she does drink it, maybe you can slowing mix with reg. milk or toddler formula and see if you can ween her that way?
Just some ideas. I was a lucky one that started weening my son at 1 yr exactly, and he was weened within a week. My daughter's less than 2 months from a year; we'll see if I have another blessed weening experience or not!
Best wishes!

We had the same problem with our third child. The only thing that worked was giving him cold milk. He loved it and we had no problems getting him to drink milk from that point on! Good luck!

you could try pumping your milk and putting it into a sippy cup, not a bottle since she's 15 months old...it may take a few tries to get use to, but once she's use to the cup then mix the cup with 1/2 your milk and 1/2 1% milk...gradually increase the 1% over a few days. If she doesn't like the sippy cup you can just teach her to use a regular child size cup. Good luck and God bless you : )

It sounds like you are ready to wean your child from nursing. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that, so don't let anyone give you guilt or grief over it. That being said, have you tried cold turkey or sending in dad with the bottle or cup? If you're done with the breast, don't offer the breast.

Dear T., I'm not an expert, but I'm 54 years old and my mother had the same problem with me. She said she had to put a little molassis (sp) in my milk. She did the same thing with my little brother in 1961. Apparently molassis was an old fashioned remedy to a common problem. You might ask your family doctor if that is ok. Nowdays doctors worry about kids getting hooked on everything, but I can tell you that both me and my younger brother love plain old milk .. and have for as long as I can remember. Good luck. Hope I helped, ____@____.com

We had the same problem w/ our son...we actually added "pink" (nestle' quik) to his milk and that seemed to help.Then we slowly stopped adding as much until it was plain milk. We also had (and still use) a special milk cup.
I know how hard the transition can be (took us 3 months!).
Good Luck!