19 month old won't drink cow's milk - see no end in sight

[bronxmom]

I'm still nursing my almost 19 month old and until last week was pumping for his 3 days/week at daycare and other times I'm not home. I'm really sick of pumping and would like to stop. Moreover, I'd really like to be able to start to nightwean (need to be able to spend 2-3 nights away by October preferably). And I'd just like nursing to not be his only source of milk. He still nurses pretty frequently with me. He eats decently with solids and more when I"m not around, but I'm guessing he still gets anywhere from 15 to 25 oz/day of breastmilk.

Here's my problem. He will NOT drink cow's milk. I've tried and tried and maybe he'll take a sip but that's it. Last week, I had forgotten to pump while on vacation so tried sending him to daycare with real milk. Tried 3 days running. He wouldn't take it. My dcp is really cool and didn't worry too much - just gave him a bunch of water. But he did cry for it once at nap time. Usually he only has about 2-3 oz at daycare but he still seems to need a bottle.

So my concerns are what to do about daycare. I seem to be caving and going back to pumping. If I just persist, will he eventually take milk? I'm actually not really worried about him getting through the day at daycare as it's only 8 hours. But if I need to be away for a much longer period of time or at night, I am worried about others being able to take care of him.

I'm happy to keep nursing for a year or more longer, but I want to be able to see an end in sight and I do not want to be indispensable. I'm at a point when I'm ready for a little more freedom and flexibility. What do I do?

[claras_mom]

Have you tried goat's milk?

Does he eat other kinds of dairy--yogurt, cheese, etc.?

Dd2 (16 months) doesn't drink a whole lot of cow's milk, though she does eat yogurt and cheese. We actually limit her dairy because she seems to have a sensitivity to it; doesn't digest it well. It's getting better, but I'm still cautious. So mostly she drinks water if I'm not around, because I cut out the pumping awhile ago - when she turned a year, more or less. She still nurses a lot at night and before/after daycare. Weekends she "catches up" as well.

In your position, I'd probably pump to build up a little stash for when you need to be away, but not worry about it for daycare.

[AE+Mama]

Does he drink the pumped breastmilk warm? You might have the daycare provider try offering warm milk in a bottle. My older dd was allergic to milk, but when we switched her to rice milk, we had to do it gradually by mixing a small amount in the pumped breastmilk and gradually increasing it until she was getting straight rice milk.

My second dd didn't drink much milk at first, but she was only in daycare for 4 hours and not for nap so it wasn't a big deal. We just made sure she got calcium from yogurt and cheese. Now, at 2 years old, she loves milk, but it took a while.

At 19 months old, I would be ready to be done pumping, too!

Good luck to you!

[lmk1]

My ds would not drink cow's (or any other mammal) milk until he was almost 2.5. I tried everything...at some point he just decided he wanted it, and now wants milk at almost every meal. We weaned completely around 2y2m, but he was already getting cheese, yogurt, and other dairy products. Are you concerned that he's not getting enough liquids to drink or not enough dairy?

[D_McG]

I don't think it's a big deal. Neither of mine drink milk and I weaned them at 22 and 20 mos.

[honeybunmom]

My kids are 4.75 and 16 mos. Neither drink milk on a regular basis. The baby still nurses, but, during the day, he drinks water. I stop pumping at 12 mos. Our pediatrician just says to offer a multivitamin and she's even fine with the gummy ones. We cut them into infinitely small pieces for the 16 mos old, though.