what should dd drink at childcare past 12mo?

[patronus]

dd is 11 months, we plan to nurse far beyond 12mo but i would REALLY like to wean off the pump starting at 12mo. i WOH full time.

dd had been eating some cheese and yogurt until i decided to take her off dairy when she had an ear infection. i've noticed that she's much less congested in general being off dairy so i don't want to start her on cow's milk while at child care. my plan was to use our giant freezer stash but after thawing from it for the first time the other day, it appears that she doesn't like the thawed milk (probably a lipase issue). we nurse 4ish times a day when she's in childcare.

what would be a nutritionally acceptable substitute?

[sosurreal09]

have you tried goat's milk?

[patronus]

i haven't, but this is probably top of my list of contenders.

[SilverFish]

you could probably offer a variety of drinks since i don't know that any one thing will be a perfect replacement. we don't do any dairy, so i am thinking i would offer a variety of plant milks (almond, soy, coconut, rice and hemp), plus maybe some toddler formula, depending on the length of the days. if she won't drink the breastmilk straight, would she take it blended with another kind of milk, or even as a smoothie (banana, fruit, etc)?

how many bottles does she take at daycare? how much food does she eat? those things would factor into how i chose to replace breastmilk as well.

[patronus]

she's currently taking 8-12oz during 9 hours of childcare (either 2 or 3 four oz bottles). at school, she has a snack of cherrios type foods, a 3oz serving of fruit and a 3 oz serving of lean protein/grain/veggie that i mix up. at home she usually has a bit of whatever we're having for dinner.

blending the milk is a good idea. i'm going to see if she'll take the thawed milk mixed with my fresh milk as a first option but i like the smoothie idea a lot too.

[akind1]

Assuming that your DCP will be cool with whatever you send her (some DCP are more restrictive than others) DS at 13 months gets only water and OJ - it is the only fruit juice we keep in the house - to drink and otherwise just does solids while I am at work. He nurses before and after though. I went from pumping 2x at work to pumping 1x at work at 11 months, and stopped altogether at 12 months.

Not a help with your current freezer stash, but unless my milk is being used within 24 hours, I freeze it, as I also seem to have some lipase issues.  the sooner it is frozen I think the fresher it will taste thawed.

[leilamom]

If you do send the thawed breast milk after she turns 12 months, I would be careful about telling your child care provider exactly what is in the cup.  Most providers get really weird about feeding children breast milk after 12 months, citing storage issues and other silly reasons.  I would just say it's special milk (of whatever kind you would like to call it) because she can't have dairy, or it's smoothie made with special ingredients for her or something like that.  I don't know if she is switching classrooms at 12 months, but from my professional experience toddler teachers sometimes seem to be less accepting of breast milk than infant teachers.  I would hate for them to tell you she can't have what you sent for her and follow your wishes because of personal opinion or uninformed policy.

[sosurreal09]

Originally Posted by leilamom 

If you do send the thawed breast milk after she turns 12 months, I would be careful about telling your child care provider exactly what is in the cup.  Most providers get really weird about feeding children breast milk after 12 months, citing storage issues and other silly reasons.  I would just say it's special milk (of whatever kind you would like to call it) because she can't have dairy, or it's smoothie made with special ingredients for her or something like that.  I don't know if she is switching classrooms at 12 months, but from my professional experience toddler teachers sometimes seem to be less accepting of breast milk than infant teachers.  I would hate for them to tell you she can't have what you sent for her and follow your wishes because of personal opinion or uninformed policy.

WOW I never knew that. That is total BS.

[patronus]

i've chatted with dd's caregivers and they are totally cool with whatever i want to do. they already give me kudos for making all of dd's food and have always been very supportive of bfing. she'll transition to a toddler room around 16 months although the toddler room will feed her anything i send, my freezer stash will probably be gone by then. our center has parents provide the food for their children, and being able to control what dd eats is one of the reasons we chose this place. it would kill me to have her eat the type of diet i've seen other centers offer. i know we're lucky to have them, they are the best!