Breast Feeding Mom, When Should I Start Cows Milk?

Keep breast feeding, no need to stop. Research a bit before you do. Self-weaning is VERY beneficial as well as extended bf. However, if you are stopping for some reason, they don't need cow milk, just water. As long as they get enough fat and calcium from other foods like: beans, dark green veg, cheese, eggs...

Hi E.,
We started at one year old. We had been doing formula. You can start introducing the milk now as a supplement to the breast milk. If she's ok with other dairy, she will most likely be ok with cow's milk.

Good luck.

If you're already giving her rice milk and almond milk, you don't have to switch to cow's milk. Those both have the same basic components that cow's milk does, and my son's Pedi said that if we supplemented with a vitamen he'd be okay. So, talk to your Pedi and make sure your questions get answered. Also, they say to wait until after one year for cow's milk.

Good Luck!

The current reccomendation is to wait until the baby is at least 1 year of age before introducing cows milk. It's only a couple more weeks. I reccomend waiting. and making the change very gradually AFTER your baby's 1st b-day.

You are better off with rice or almond milk than cow's milk. Cow's milk is not meant for human consumption and can cause stomach upset, mucus build-up and other allergy type symptoms. We are the only country that drinks cows milk. I would just give her a multi-vitamin once you stop nursing. Dark green leafy vegetables and other sources of food provide the needed calcium. There are no benefits of drinking cow's milk.

From what I've read, you start Whole cow's milk at age 1, not before. Their digestive tract is not mature enough to handle it before then. Also, do not offer any eggs to you child before his/her 1st birthday. They can become allergic to the egg whites if they are introduced to it too soon. I made that exact mistake by giving my child scrambled eggs when he was 9 months old figuring he was eating finger food. He had an immediate allergic reaction and we had a $1200 ambulance ride to the emergency room where they had to give him steroids and we had to take some home to give him too. It was a terrible experience and now he is still allergic to eggs. I have to carry an epi pen around with us and Benadryl everywhere we go. In things we read it always says not to offer strawberries, honey, or peanuts before the 1st year but rarely do I see eggs on that list....just keep it in mind. The doc is hoping he will "outgrow" the allergy by the time he is 3 and we will give him an allergy test then for it.

My son loved breast milk, but I was surprised to find out how much he loved cows milk too. Once we had his 1 year check up and got the ok from the dr I started by replacing one of his normal breast feedings with a bottle or sippy full of milk. He was used to taking juice and water this way so it was just a new flavor to him. At first I thought he was allergic to it, but some of my friends expereienced the same thing as me- he had some really loose diapers that first week. After that he was fine though and we slowly replaced all five of his breast feedings he was still doing with milk over the next two months until he was weaned. I gave most of the milk to him in a bottle since I thought it was the closest to the nipple, but should have just let him drink it out of a sippy which he would have been fine with. Instead, I spent 6 months getting him to stop drinking from a bottle. Breaking him of the bottle was more traumatic for him than the breast! Now my almost 2 year old loves drinking milk and always asks for more. Good luck!

I have never given my kids cow's milk, never yogurt, and rarely cheese. My kids also have never had any ear infections. We also don't do a lot of sugar. We do give our kids liquid calcium - Bluebonnett or Lifetime adult calcium - blueberry flavored. We give 1/2-1 teaspoon a few nights each week. Rice milk is the best alternative. Soy is a phytoestrogen, so it stimulates estrogen receptors. I definitely wouldn't do that.

The truth about dairy is somewhere between
www.gotmilk.com
and
www.notmilk.com

I started giving my kids cows milk at 8 months and they were fine. I just introduced it mixed with either my milk or formula(my kids were on both), a little at a time. Then just gradually increase the cows milk and decrease your milk. Unless your daughter is lactose intolerant she should be fine. It may take up to a month to make the switch, depending on how quickly you increase the amount of cow milk she is getting.

I started my daughter slowly into transition to milk at 10 mos... And what you said " 4oz your milk and 1oz cows milk".. start off like that and slowly increase, when you feel she is ready for that increase in cow's milk... a week or two before my daughter hit 1yrs, She was already on milk. You might wanna try ice cream, as well as yogurt... If she takes those like a champ then she'll be perfectly fine..

I had another mother ( she had two kids) tell me at 10 mos it was okie to start giving her lil bit at time of milk. So i started with 1oz of milk and 7 oz of formula.. and increased it every two weeks when i felt she was taking the milk just fine.

I started giving my son cow's milk with lunch when he was 10 months old which my ped. said was fine to do. I still breastfeed him at the time 3-4 times a day. Once he turned 1 I gave him milk with each meal and only breastfeed at nap and bed time. I never mixed cows milk with mine I just started giving him a little cows milk at a time. We just now at 21 months stoped breastfeeding at bedtime. Hope that helps. Good Luck!

Tina

I would ask your Pediatrician to be sure. Our doctor said baby's yogurt was fine at 9 months, but no eggs or cow's milk until 1 year. At one year, my son was able to eat just about anything, with a few exceptions. I also breastfed until 11 months, but had some difficulty with supply...so we supplemented with formula. When I was no longer able to breastfeed, he went to formula for all feedings.

As far as transition, I began with one bottle a day that was cow's milk...I think it was his lunchtime bottle. I think it took him about a week until he was drinking the cow's milk as well as the formula. After that I started substituting bottles every 3-4 days until he was exclusively on cow's milk. I only give him organic whole milk too. (Don't skimp on the fat, they need it at this age.) I think the whole process took about a month or so. In all honesty, it wasn't very hard for us to make the transition...but I know there are some kids that don't handle the change as well. You just kind of have to go with the flow and respond to how your baby girl reacts. Best wishes!

My pediatrician told me 12 months so that's what we're doing...if you don't think you can make it that long, I would talk with your pediatrican first before you make a decision.

-M

When your baby turns one you can give her cows milk. May I suggest organic milk to avoid the harmones.

Very few people are actually lactose intolerant (incapable of producing lactase) although any of us can BECOME lactose intolerant...all we have to do is to take it out of our diet, and our bodies stop producing lactase. Takes a week or two of being miserable to build it back up. Ugh. (Sorry, personal experience there...I couldn't look a glass of milk in the face for nearly 2 years after nursing. But boy, do I love chocolate milk & hot chocolate.)

In any event, lactose intolerance doesn't run in my family, so we started mixing up my son's formula with milk (when i lost mine) when he was 9 months. Mixing it in gradually 1:4 for the first week, 1:3 for the second week, 1:2 3rd week until going straight was what our ped recommended.

And count your blessings! :) Nurse for as long as you're able. It's such a fantastic experience combined with perfect nutrition and immune support.

Good luck

i would suggest you give her a little bit and wait to see how her tummy reacts to it. its not about hurting her but how her stomach will take cows milk since she hasn't had it before. if you dont notice a difference then keep giving her smalls doses until youre completely sure, but if her tummy reacts then just give her a little more time.

Consider skipping cow's milk and try alternatives instead. We had a lot of success going with unsweetened Silk soy milk. We didn't get all the ear problems that cow milk drinking kids get. You may not like the flavor yourself, but your baby doesn't come with your taste biases. Would you drink breastmilk? I'm saying this as a huge former cow's milk drinker myself. I eventually weaned myself with Silk chocolate soy milk and eventually the Silk regular soy milk.

By the way, have you ever looked at the amount of sugar in cow's milk these days? You'll be shocked.

Hi E.,
My daughter's name is Elena :-). I started her off at 11 1/2 months with whatever amount of my milk I could pump (my supply started decreasing around then too) mixed with cow's milk. From what I've read, their digestive systems mature enough to handle cow's milk by 9 months. My sister-in-law stopped breastfeeding at 8 months and switched to formula; she was the one who told me she put her son on cow's milk at 11 1/2 months when she used up her last can of formula and didn't want to buy another one. Both of our kids are fine, and by the way, my daughter has never had an ear infection (knock on wood). At this age, she'll be fine.

It took a few tries for my daughter to take to the cow's milk/breast milk mixture. At first she would only take it warm, but then she started taking it cold, particularly when we switched to straight cow's milk after she turned a year old.

Congratulations on breastfeeding this long!