What should DD drink?

[Caterina]

My 14 mo old DD nurses several times a day and drinks water with meals (and if she asks while I'm drinking). I work out of the home 1 day a week and it takes me all week to pump enough to leave her 2-3 4oz bottles for the day. I seem to only be able to get about 2 - 3 oz at a pumping session, from both sides together. I used to be able to get 4-5 oz. so I wonder about my supply... anyway, pumping every day for these tiny amounts is frustrating. Also, we're both starting to be ready for me to be away a bit more since she loves being with her papa and he can now get her down easily for naps, but there's never enough milk in the fridge for her if I'm out and she wants some. I got a massage yesterday and he fed her the 2oz that were there, and she signed milk for 1/2 hour until I got home, even though she was happy eating a snack.
So, the question is, what could he give her when I'm out? She does eat cow's yogurt, but hasn't tried cow's milk... or goat's milk... what do you do?

[lucifugous]

A little juice isn't a terrible idea by this point. If you juice your own fruits and veggies it is actually nutritious- though if you did I know you would've thought of that already. If not, it's not so bad if you get 100% juice without sugar added and dilute it maybe 2 parts juice to 1 part water. It can be a way to experiment with new flavors- you can absolutely find juices that are tangy and tart instead of the average sweet stuff. Another option is rice milk. I'm not a cow's milk person so I would try whatever else I could before adding that to my toddler's diet (and she does also get cowsmilk yogurt) but that's just me!

[hotharmony]

I just started replacing the bottles of mama milk my son gets while I work with whole cow milk. Not having to pump has taken so much pressure off of me. And we haven't noticed any difference when we are together.

[just_lily]

We started cow's milk in a cup at about a year, but my DD was on formula (long painful nursing story, no judgment please). We also gave her water.

I am not a fan of juice, but that is your call. I prefer to provide milk for nutrition and water for thirst. Right now DD gets about 2 to 3 ounces of 100% apple juice once a week at a playgroup we go to, and that is more than enough for me (I wouldn't give it to her at all, but she kept filching the other kids' cups so I relented). I just don't want to get her started on the juice habit so early.

[SFam]

this isn't exactly answering your question, but i'd like to offer a suggestion about pumping. i was having the same problem and then found out that i need to pump both sides at the same time to get more milk. so, i was just wondering if you're pumping simultaneously? if not, maybe you can try that, if you have a double pump. if you don't have a double pump, perhaps you could get a second single pump or a double pump. i mean, if you'd rather solve the problem by producing more milk. if you are pumping simultaneously and not getting much, then you're not alone. sometimes pumps don't work well for people.

if you want to substitute, then organic whole milk, rice milk, almond milk, goat milk. none of them taste like mommy milk though! sometimes there's just no substitute.