Weaning Issues

You can try Goats Milk. It tastes the same as regular Milk and it is easier to digest. I put my daughter on that for a couple of months when I transitioned her from Breast Milk to whole. You can buy it Trader Joe's and Whole Foods. Good luck!

Hi L.,
My son did the same thing- just before his first b-day. He is allergic to Dairy so he drinks Hemp milk( research on Soy showed a high level of something that is very similar to estrogen). The help milk I get is high in fat for brain development- & he loves it. I get it at whole foods. Good Luck.

Have you considered raw milk? Most of the people who have dairy issues do fine with raw milk - it's the pastuerization that destroys the good enzymes needed for proper digestion. We drink it every day and love it! You can check out www.realmilk.com for more info...

You are mixing cow's and breast milk and that's how I got my kids to move to regular milk. Her body may just be adjusting to the new milk and may get better with time. Or if you suspect a milk allergy, by all means, get her tested. I'm not a fan of soy, unless there's an allergy. I've done rice milk a lot with my kids when they were sick (helps to eliminate dairy if they have a cold or fever) and they like it, but you can quickly get into constipation land with that. Maybe that's why you add the oil? Seems silly to me, so as long as you give her enough water or juice to drink throughout the day, along with the milk, she should be OK. At a year, they don't need as much formula or milk as a baby.

L.,

Do you have your daughter's 1 year doctor's appt soon? Maybe ask the doctor for a suggestion on which milk to try. If she thinks formula is the way to go for a little while see if your insurance company will cover it. I know for some special formula's the insurance companies have covered the cost of the formula. No harm in trying.

Good luck and hope your little one's tummy is feeling better,
L. M

I would check with your pediatrician, but for now, I would just skip the milk (all varieties) altogether and just give her water. If she's eating a variety of other foods, and getting dairy in other ways (cheese, yogurt, etc) then she's fine. I personally think that "milk" (all varieties) is given too much emphasis. Water is always healthy, and so's a varied diet.

there's always an adjustment period when you start cow's milk so her body may just be adjusting to that with the looser stools.. what about those formulas for older kids for now? Goat's milk?

I think that rice milk would be fine, I don't think you'd need to add extra to it. But she could be getting her vitamin d and calcium elsewhere as well. I am still nursing my 14 month old daughter but also give her yogurt. Not sure if that helps.

Try goats milk instead. I get it fresh from a farm in Mt Vernon, NH and it takes exactly like cows milk. The powdered stuff you can get @ Shaws or cans at Wal-mart has that "goat-cheeze" taste, but my son drank it anyways. Your daughter might need the fresh stuff. It's way easier on the stomach and you can freeze it too. If you're close to Mt Vernon, her name is Mary Fox and her # is ###-###-####. She only needs a days notice for you to pick some up.

I love the hemp milk suggestion. My boys went from breastmilk supplemented with hypoallergenic formula to enriched rice milk. And you're right, the rice milk needs some sort of whole fat added to it. Flax seed is a good choice sense it seems to counter the constipation factor of the rice. I never measured it, just put a small amount in when I could.
Try to define what you're looking for. Vitamins A & D, calcium, whole fats, some protein. If she's getting the nutrients she needs, without stomach upset, then you don't need to worry.

not sure if anyone has suggested this, but i used enfamil next step. it's formula but for 9-24month olds. it's cheaper too i believe.

My son was intolerant of cow and soy milk, so I had him on raw goat milk. I found a family who raises goats for milk and they were nice enough to share with me. If you can't find raw, you can get powdered or regular pasteurized at health food stores. He was on goat milk until he was a little over 2 years old, and now he drinks raw cow milk no problem. He still has a hard time digesting regular pasteurized cow milk & cheese, though. I thought about giving him rice milk but has a lot of sugar and goat milk is supposedly similar to human milk.

Are you mixing the cow's milk and breast milk? That might be upsetting her stomach more than just cow's milk by itself...

Try goats milk, which is the most similar to breast milk. You can buy it at Stop & Shop and at Trader Joe's. I tried this with my son first and then slowly transitioned to whole milk and it was very easy on his picky stomach.

Why is formula a silly option? My son needed to be weaned at one also and I was worried about nutition too, I looked into formulas and found one that was for 9-24 month children and it did not upset his stomach, and he did really well with it. But cow's milk really isn't a good option at that age because they cannot digest it. It was made for a baby cow not a human baby. Don't rule out the formula, talk to your pediatrician and inform yourself. Your baby's health is the most important. Oh yeah.. and Goats milk may be an even better option.. It wasn't available for my son, but defintely worth looking into for your child. I agree, soy isn't a good option.

I'm not sure about the rice milk, but I wanted you to know it could be normal in the transition to cow's milk. My daughter's stools were looser and then she settled down once the transition was over. So, not to panic too much! My daughter weaned at 12 months, too. Weird how they are so independent already, isn't it?! Good luck and make sure to talk to your doctor first in case he/she has suggestions! D.

My son drank rice milk but we didn't mix it with anything and he liked it and was fine with it...but make sure it's the Enriched Rice Milk versus the regular one. The Enriched one has all the calcium, vitamin D, and all the other nutrients reasonably comprable to milk where the unenriched rice milk does not. And Rice Dreams also has the enriched rice milk in little boxe like juice boxes (something to consider down the road)...my little man liked athat in his lunch boxes. Good Luck!!!

M. M.

if you're adding cow's milk to her diet, i would suggest buying 'organic' whole milk. it's definitely worth the extra money to insure she's not getting added growth hormones, antibiotics, etc that does appear in regular milk.

It depends on the quality and amount of other food you are feeding her she may not need milk and cows milk is often not an option for many kids due to sensitivity(check with your pedi). And yes, I agree with you about soy (it's so full of hormones we definitely don't want to give it to baby girls). Many use goats milk (think of the size of baby cows and think of the size of baby goats... our babies are much more the same size as baby goats and their milk is a better match for our babies too). Or fortified cereal too. If she is a good eater, she may not need it at all. Does she tolerate yogurt? (Whole milk, full fat yogurt is the most gentle type of dairy on sensitive tummies). Yogurt is a good test for dairy sensitivity b/c if she's sensitive to yogurt, she won't tolerate any milk products. And if she tolerates it, she may be able to use it instead of milk.
Is she nursing at all? b/c I would bet she's getting a lot more than you think if she is. Also is she teething, they often bite when they are teething b/c it really hurts. Even if you can nurse when she's asleep or extremely calm, you can maintain your supply. contact your local La Leche League leader, these are all strategies I learned from mine. They are very helpful.
They also suggest nurse first before food, ie first thing in the am before going downstairs at all. Try to eliminate grazing on food, water, sippy cups. It substantially reduces their appetites. If she is a kid who wants to walk around with a drink or food in her hand, you have a grazer.
good luck.

I don;t see a problem with just giving her regular milk from now on then. She is old enough. You seem to be one of the lucky ones out there that won't have to struggle to wean her!

Try goat's milk! Has more fat than Rice.