What to eat after 1 year (and no breast milk)?

[germin8]

I am a low milk supply mama that is using donor's milk for the first year of my baby's life.

My questions are: What should my baby eat starting at one year? Will my DD need formula?

I heard some people allow their babies to drink water at this time. I just introduced solids, so my baby will be on solids. But what else can my DD eat... should I make juices? Green smoothies? Should I use a formula or make my own?

ETA:  Oops, I forgot to mention we are veganarian (vegan, but will eat vegetarian socially if we "have to") so I am not excited about cows milk. Thanks GoBecGo, it gives me something to think about. Is there a cow milk alternative?

[GoBecGo]

I lost my supply with DD1 at 7months.  At the time i was told she needed FF up until 12months and after that so long as she was eating solids well i could move her to cows milk.  I gave her water from when i began letting her try solids at 6months (have done with DD2 though thyroid is controlled and thus supply is ok this time around).  From 11 months i began gradually diluting her FF with cows milk and by 12months she was weaned onto cow.  I also stopped giving her bottles over about a week around 12 months, BUT she was a thumb sucker, so i knew she could meet her need to suck elsewhere.  She never had any issues, grew well, was not constipated etc.

At 12months she was having:

Cup of milk (before breakfast)

breakfast with water or diluted fruit juice (about 95% of the time it was water, but juice wasn't banned as such)

cup of milk (before morning nap)

lunch with water or diluted juice

cup of milk (before afternoon nap)

dinner with water or diluted juice

cup of milk (before teeth brushing - she frequently left most of this cup)

By 15months i'd replaced 2 of the cups of milk with a much smaller drink of water or milk and a snack.  DD has always been on the 75th-99.6th %ile for height and the 50th-75th%ile for weight, from birth, and this diet change made no difference to her growth i could see.

[Knitting Mama]

Honestly, I would keep doing donor milk. I, too, have a low supply, and Cecilia's been on donor milk basically since birth. I have no plans to stop her having milkies when she turns a year in a couple of months. The biggest reason why is because she's not huge on solids. She likes to eat but not so much that I feel that she could make do with just solids, and I really don't want to start giving her cow's milk that early either. In your case, if you couldn't get donor milk anymore, I would do formula. But that is just me, and based a lot on Cecilia's lack of eating tons of food!

[germin8]

We just introduced solids at ~7 months old so she's not used to eating a lot of solids either. I'm not excited about spending even more money on donated breast milk beyond a year. It costs a lot, even if free. And, it's harder to find donated milk... there is just so much need. Well, with that said... I think, formula it is. Any other opinions?

GoBecGo: no bottles about one year old?  Hmmm... I may just have to try that! My DD is a thumb sucker too.

[Adaline'sMama]

I would suggest green smoothies. I know you said you dont really like cows milk, but I make them from yogurt. We use a sippy cup that has a rubber mouth, so it still kind of feels like a bottle, but its not shaped like a nipple. I might supplement with formula once a day, but more like a milkshake than as a replacement for breastmilk.

The main reason I wanted to comment is that I wanted to tell you that my babe has been drinking water since she was about 5 months old, from a sippy. She has no problem drinking water and I think it is totally fine for her to have as much as she wants at 10 months old. When she was 5 months I never filled her sippy up with water more than 2 oz. She never even drank that much though. Now she usually drinks from an open cup, but sometimes she still takes a sippy.  I think you are more than okay to give your babe water at a year.

If I were you, I would switch to a sippy and introduce solids as soon as you feel comfortable (Im not sure how old your DC is) so that its not a big shock at 1 year for you to take the bottle, replace the breastmilk, and expect your babe to adapt.

[Knitting Mama]

Do you still nurse at all, or is it just bottles? I will say, I had some very awesome advice when I was still pregnant, and started using a supplemental nursing system (SNS) from the get-go. So when Cecilia is over a year, as long as she still wants to nurse, she'll still get donor milk in her SNS. She's never taken a bottle, actually, she always hated them and I never pushed them so that we could keep our close nursing relationship.

[germin8]

Yogurt in green smoothies sounds like a great idea. They do make soy yogurt and coconut milk yogurt.

My DD does drink water, but not very much and from a spoon. I may just UP the water intake.

Wow, Cecilia. I am so impressed you used an SNS all this time. I had no patience for it after about 4 or 5 months.

Thanks.

[Knitting Mama]

It's all Cecilia has ever known.

[mum5]

just wanted to chime in about the yoghurt. How about goats milk yoghurt? Yummmmm