Switching baby over to regular milk from breast milk

[Proud Liberal Dem]

My wife has been nursing our daughter for a little over a year now and we are trying to switch her over to regular milk, so far without any apparent success. We have attempted to serve her whole milk and 2% milk by themselves and both of them mixed with the dwindling amounts of breast milk that my wife is producing. She refuses to take the whole or 2% milk by themselves. She will take either of them if they are mixed with breast milk but will shortly thereafter spit up according to my babysitter. My wife will not be able to nurse much longer and we need some advice about how to successfully switch her over to regular milk. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[Dora]

1. If she's spitting up, I think you should talk to your pediatrician.

It sounds like your weeun might be lactose intolerant. It's also strongly recommended that between ages 1-2, babies be given only whole milk, not 2%. They can also drink water now. Fruit juices are not recommended, but okay in small and diluted amounts.

My son and I breastfed exclusively for six months, then we supplemented with formula when I returned to work. I pumped at the office, but my supply slowly dropped, and his appetite increased. I did take fenugreek to keep my production strong while pumping, and I'm sure that helped.

After he turned one I stopped pumping, we introduced the cup and whole milk, and breastfed only in the morning and at night. He was a little resistant to cow's milk, but finally accepted it. He continued nursing morning/night for most of the next year, and then we moved to nights only, with a final weaning shortly after he turned two.

Good luck!

[Proud Liberal Dem]

2. Thanks for the advice.

She has taken in some whole milk without spitting up but she just refuses to take in much of it. She gets a funny look on her face and simply pushes the cup away from her (or knocks it to the ground!) As I mentioned, she will accept it with some breast milk mixed in but then spits up, so I think that it is probably a combination of the breast milk with the other milk that is probably upsetting her stomach. We just had a well-baby check this past week and brought this up but they suggested to keep pushing the whole milk and not mixing it in with the breast milk.

[Tumbulu]

3. Why do you want to give her milk?

Why not try other sources of nutrition? I breastfed my daughter and supplemented with rice cereal made from my friend's goat's milk. I never liked milk- so I was not surprised or concerned when she would not drink it.

I started making a drink for my daughter that at age 6 she still consumes 3x per day- and I do as well. It is 2/3 Strauss European Style Organic whole milk yogurt mixed with 1/3 organic pear juice. The European style allows one to mix the juice in without a blender. Yogurt is far more nutritious than milk and is easier to digest. Plus the plain yogurt has the living probiotics which is very good. At first I added hot water to this mix so that it was not cold. She loved it right away and now she drinks it as a cold drink. I served it to her in a sippy cup.

Worldwide most people eat/drink yogurt and very few drink milk.

[Sabriel]

4. I agree with Tumbulu

Give her water to drink and yogurt to eat or drink to provide the nutrition.

At that age, she's ready for solids, pretty much. Nursing for us for the last year (out of 2 1/2) was for comfort and closeness, not nutrition.

[abelenkpe]

6. I love Strauss European Style yogurt!

But my little ones won't touch it. I'm gonna try mixing it with pear juice as you suggest.
I cannot get my son or daughter to drink milk either. So I'm willing to try anything. Thanks for the tip. This parenting group rocks!

[LynzM]

5. Try goat's milk instead of cow's milk

It's more similar to breast milk, and less likely to cause upset stomach. We did this with our daughter during her transition. Good luck. :hug: