Nursing past a year: do you also introduce other milk?

[Quate]

Just curious--for your older breastfeeding children, do you also give cow's milk (or soy, or whatever), or are all their milk-type needs still met through breastmilk? Mine is only 7 mos old, so obviously I'm not giving any other milk, just trying to envision how this works. If you do, did you start at a year, or was there some other criteria you used?

[Biscuits & Gravy]

DS1 had soy milk at around 15 months at daycare because I was ready to stop pumping. Now I SAH, and DS2 just turned 1. He had a few sips of coconut milk the other day because big brother had some which of course made him want it. Other than that he has not had any other kind of milk. I don't foresee introducing anything else anytime soon since he is still nursing so much. If he is thirsty during meals he drinks a little water, but other than that it is just mama milk.

[shanniesue2]

I WOHM and I decided to stop pumping at 12 months. First we put DS on raw goat milk and then transitioned to raw cow milk at about 20 months. I still nurse him when he asks (except between the hours of 8 PM and 4 AM--because I've got to have some sleep), he just gets his cow milk at daycare and for meals.

But DS was getting pretty consistent table food meals along with his BM, so it wasn't a huge transition. And it really took a lot of pressure off of me to be able to stop worrying about pumping. I think that, in our situation, giving him non-BM during the days really helped me to have the energy I needed to extend our BFing relationship.

[Materfamilias]

DD is 17 mo and it's still pretty much breast milk or water. She gets a teensy bit of cow milk in her oatmeal but that's it. She's still nursing throughout the day and night though.

[kiwiva]

I never introduced milk of any sort. I did introduce cheese when she was around 18 mos. I don't believe milk is required for nutrition. If she's getting your milk, she's getting what she needs.

[KristyDi]

A little after a year I tried cow's milk w/ dd. She wasn't that fond of it (drank very little) and when she did drink some her eczema when NUTS! So I quit offering it. She nurses pretty much on demand and has access to a sippy of water pretty much whenever.

DD also refused cheese and yogurt. Just recently (in the last 3 or 4 months) DD has started wanting and actually eating some cheese. She's also had several bites of oatmeal w/ milk and the eczema, which we have mostly gone, hasn't seemed affected. I'm considering possibly slowly re-introducing some cow's milk. We'll see.

DD is (almost) 22 months and I SAH.

[calebsmommy25]

DS is mainly bm and water. He has had soy milk and cows milk on occassion starting around 15 months, when there wasn't expressed milk and I wasn't around. He still nurses on demand day/night. He does eat yogurt and cheese, and loves both.

[belle.h]

Yes, beginning at 1 yr I introduced milk at meals. I went back to work fulltime and was nursing about 2-3 times a day. SHe liked it, so I thought why not. I'm still nursing at 14 weeks pg, and she is 22 months, but I am sooo ready to be done.

[MrsBone]

DS turned 1 a few weeks ago, and I began giving him raw cows milk for nap time with my the grandparents that take care of him while I work. I was so sick of pumping, and he seems to be handling cows milk okay. I strongly believe that raw cows milk is very healthy, so I have no problem supplementing with it.

[DangerMom]

My son is just about to turn a year old, and we breastfeed on demand and share regular food at meals. While he's eating, he will ask for some sips of water. I recently (like, maybe a month ago) started letting him have some sips of my glass of cow milk at dinner. He loves it. I wouldn't go out of my way to offer it to him, but I will share my glass with him at meals. I don't count it as a source of nutrition, though, just something else for him to try.

I'm not sure why I decided to let him try it when I did -- I guess just because he seemed interested and I wasn't concerned about allergies.

Many of the women I work with stopped breastfeeding at one year and gave their children whole milk after that. We're not ready to do that, but I have seen people do it. I don't see them as interchangeable, though. My milk is for nutrients; cow milk is just something extra.