Cow's Milk for Breastfeeding Toddler?

[Refuging]

Hello. My daughter is almost 13 months old, still breastfeeding, but I was wondering if you all give your post 12-month-olds cow's milk in addition to your breast milk. I'm not producing a ton of milk any more, and my daughter only wants to nurse a few times a day, and not for very long. However, she does have a long feed at night before sleep, and a long one in the morning before she fully wakes up (she had been nursing every 30 minutes all night long, but I'm working on not nursing her between 9pm-5am to save the small shreds of my sanity that are left). I asked the pediatrician about this and she was surprised that I'd still be making enough breastmilk to not supplement with cow's milk. My daughter suffers from constipation anyway, so I'd really rather not introduce the cow's milk, but I want to make sure she's getting enough fats and nutrients. Also, she's gone down from being in the 96th percentile for weight to the 38th.

Any thoughts or experience? If you do give cow's milk in addition to nursing, how much do you give?

[jeanine123]

If she's nursing 3-4 times a day then she doesn't need cow's milk for the nutrients.

http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/so...s.html#cowmilk

[mamadelbosque]

I think DS1 was ~15 or 16 months old when i started giving him cows milk - which coincided w/ when I was able to get raw milk. DS2 is nearly 12 months and I'm pretty sure he's had a sip or two already. Its not neccasary, to be sure, but, IMO its not a bad thing either.

[MangoMommy]

I give my 13 mo old about 2 sippy cups of whole milk during the day. She gets probably a total of 6-8 oz I'd say? I also nurse on demand (which is about 4 times during the day) though I feel like my supply is way down, or almost gone, as she barely sucks/swallows.

I read thru that Kellymom link, thank you for sharing! Great info!

[MaryMarg]

We started offering DS milk alternatives (enriched almond or rice milk) at 14 months during meals. At 17 months, he currently nurses ~three times a day and drinks 2-3 small sippy cups of almond milk with meals. I also don't think DS is getting much breastmilk and my freezer stash (offered in the past with meals) is way gone. His weight has always been ~20th percentile. DD also started cow's milk at 13 months but weaned herself from the breast shortly after. My primary motivation was to provide enough liquid intake and for the vitamins and fat the milk offered. Rice milk and almond milk don't offer much fat (thank goodness for avocado!), although we are sticking with these vs. cow's milk due to DS's eczema.

[lilyka]

I never gave it to mine. I decided if they were ready to wean from breastmilk they were ready to wean from milk period. I made sure they got plenty of water and lots of good food but I couldn't think of any magic nutrient in cows milk that would be essential to them. Especially since they were getting some breastmilk.

[jldumm]

My 16 mo old drinks milk with meals and stuff the same as when we would offer water. He nurses on demand... oh probably about 8-10 times a day including a really long nurse first thing in the am and at night (30 min to 1 hr)

[SubliminalDarkness]

We started giving DS2 cow's milk at 12 months. He was a constant nurser, and I was desperate for anything that might help space out his nursing.

[redvlagrl]

DD started drinking small amounts of cow's milk at about 9 mths. She's still nursing at 22 mths. I caved to pressure from my Dr to do so. She's actually not being offered it at the moment because I believe it's not necessary, but I also wanted to make sure she developed the ability to digest it (apparently abstinance can be a cause of intolerance).

[Pookietooth]

You could also try goat's milk, but neither is necessary. If she also eats cheese or yogurt then there's the dairy anyway.

[Refuging]

Thanks!

Thanks for all your feedback. She eats cottage cheese and yogurt usually once a day, so I've decided not to worry about giving her milk. We do nurse on demand, but she's so distracted that she rarely demands it during the day. However, we still get in a couple really long sessions at night and in the morning, and a couple small ones throughout the day. Thanks everyone for your feedback!