Milk Issues

Hi L.,
I had the same problem with my daughter. The day after I introduced whole milk she was constipated. My sister suggested giving her 2% milk and dilute it with a little water. I think I did 60% milk and 40% water [she's 4 years old now]and it worked out just fine.

~M.

My son was mostly breastfed till 11months, and we had to make a trip aborad. When we came back- he was in the middle of 11months, I started while milk, in a sippy cup, with no hassles. It was a good break from breastfeeding all day(he previously wanted to breastfeed every half hour, for 5-10 minutes at a time).

Guidelines are good, though you have to realize that each baby is different.

Generally it is best to wait to introduce cow's milk until 12 months because of allergy issues. However, children that have been soley breastfed and had no other kinds of milk can generally be supplemented with cow's milk around this age as long as the majority of milk still comes from Mom. It is a bit controversial, so you can make the decision, but alot of the nursing experts say it is fine.

http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/milk/milk-supplements.html
http://www.kellymom.com/newman/10bf_and_other_foods.html#...

I worked from the time my son was 10 weeks and pumped for him until he was 14 months, and then still nursed at night and naptimes until 29 months. Toward the end of the pumping, I just gradually added a little more and a little more cows milk each day to the pumped milk in his bottles and the switch was very easy. About a month after he finished the switch, we stopped with the bottle and he started drinking milk out of a cup, although he did prefer it to be warm. We had some minor constipation along the way but nothing major. You can always give some juice or a suppository if constipation does happen.

Good luck! And congrats on nursing 11 months! That is a great achievement! If you feel comfortable with it and your child seems to still want it, I encourage you to continue. There is nothing magical about the 12 months age that suddenly makes your milk no longer as good for her. It is still the best nutrition for her and will always have your antibodies in it to help keep her from getting sick. Also, when they do get sick, often, nursing is the only thing they will eat so I was glad that I kept it up.

I would wait until she is at least 12 months. To me what's another month to hold out. Then after that I would pump and mix the two together and slowly wean the milk in. My daughter could not tolerate whole milk so we went on 2% and she did excellent on that. The ped said that was ok to do. I never had constipation problems! Good Luck!

I am in the exact situation you are...I have given my daughter whole milk, b/c my Dr. says from year 1-2, toddlers do need the fat for brain development. She gets it in a sippy cup at meals and has been fine. I nurse her still 2-3 times day and plan on stopping at 1 year. Between meals a sippy cup of water is always available.

Good luck! I know it is hard when you get so much conflicting advice. Talk with your Dr. about what is good for your daughter--I just called when I started the whole milk--and do what's best for your daughter.
K.

dear L. my advice is 2% milk is better more vitamins and less fat. cows milk whole is not too good for anyone these days. try a little yogurt and small pcs cheese. string is good. try water after each milk and she be only 24 oz. of milk per day. they need water. for constipation and urinary infections so give water and the baby will be fine. trish slove

I have 2 boys ages 1 & 2. I nursed the 2 year old until 12.5 months. As I weaned him from nursing, he had cow's milk in a sippy cup. All went very smooth. The 1 year old I nursed until 10 months and then he had formula in a bottle until cow's milk at 12 months. His transition to cow's milk also went perfectly fine. Going straight to the cow's milk went just fine for us. They liked it a lot and didn't upset their stomachs or anything at all.

I'm going through this right now so I will be monitoring other Moms' responses. First I wanted to say that you should wait until your daughter is 12 months, as this is the rule-of-thumb for cow's milk. If you want to transition now, I would suggest using formula until your baby is one.

I think I transitioned my baby to whole milk a little too quickly as his stool is a lot harder than before & it's been a little harder for him to pass, but he's not constipated. I give him a little bit of prunes (Gerber makes it in the 1s and 2s), or you can cut up little prunes (also marketed as 'dried plums' by Sunsweet)that she can eat in bite sized pieces. This helps quite a bit.

I would suggest to make a slower transition. Such as introducing formula (with your current breastmilk). Then, whe she's 1, start mixing formula with whole milk slowly. Keep an eye on the stools and use prunes (or dried plums) as necessary.

Hi L.,
Right now is not a good time to switch over, according to my children's pediatrician, the baby can't digest/process cow's milk until they are 12 months old or older. I breastfeed both my kids since day one. I think you should wait one more month but in the meantime, give your baby some juice. Hope this helps!

About me:
I have a 5 and a 3 year old boys.

Remembering back to switching my daughter over...I believe we started giving her a cup filled with mostly breast milk and adding a small amount of cow's milk. Gradually increasing the amount of cow's milk so that it wasn't a shock to her system. Good luck to you...

I have bf 2 boys and only my first was put on cow's milk. As the other moms recommended, please wait until AFTER your daughter turns 12 months b4 introducing cow's milk because that is when their digestive tracts are more able to tolerate it. Also, babies do not NEED cow's milk. You can continue to nurse without adding cow's milk into the mix. Yogurt is a better dairy source and you can get vitamin D/calcium from other sources. Are you planning on weaning soon? Great job nursing this long! Remember, they recommend babies are breastfed AT LEAST for the first year and many experts recommend at least the first 2 years. Good luck with whatever you decide to do.