what to do when BF ends due to pregnancy....

[Faither]

I have a lovely DD who will be 2 in December who is a champion nursling. I am due with #2 in late Feb/early March. My milk is almost completely dried up and we have about a month's worth of milk in the freezer.

What would you give your child in place of BM at this point?

BM either by nursing or in a bottle is still part of our bedtime routine. It helps DD relax and wind down from her day. We do have some lactose intolerance in our family but neither DH or myself, so I'm not sure if cow's milk is the answer. I suppose I could just give water but I don't think that would be as satisfying.

thoughts?

TIA!

(should I be posting this somewhere else?)

[sosurreal09]

Can you dry nurse for comfort still?

I would give her So Delicious coconut milk if she can't tolerate cow's milk or raw goat's milk. The goat's milk is what's best for her but a lot of people with dairy allergies can't have goat's milk either.

HTH and Congrats!

[lifeguard]

At that age I would do water or milk. She is likely getting enough calories from other foods at this point (& they can be increased) so replacing the comfort of the habit of the bottle should be ok. You may find she easily weans due to this & it's not an issue afterall. I was sure that ds would bf all the way through but he slowly stopped asking & weaned - it was very easy & smooth for both of us.

[Marissamom]

we didn't do any milk replacement, DD just dry-nursed for comfort and had water and solids. 

[akind1]

DS doesn't like milk, generally. He likes vanilla milk (Horizon Organic makes one I think)  - but he only gets that when we are at Starbucks :) when he weaned (also due to pregnancy around 15 months) he gets his dairy from yogurt and cheese . . . and the occaisional bit of ice cream.

He does like some of the flavored coconut water, but those can be cost-prohibitive if you are on a budget.

I don't know that milk replacement is a necessity, so long as your LO is getting plenty of nutrients and calories from other foods/drinks. 

[hildare]

i'm in the same boat and there is absolutely no way i am going to dry nurse.  we cuddle for comfort and i don't give a milk substitute really.  she will ask for cow's milk, which she's just now gotten to be able to drink very rarely.  she likes buttermilk on occasion, too, but doesn't much care for almond or coconut milk.  i noticed her food intake increased dramatically when the weaning began for us about a month and a half ago, though.  just feed that baby a whole lot, and a good variety of things as best you can. 

[Adaline'sMama]

I have a 16 month old, and am due with #2 in late Jan/ early Feb. She still nurses for comfort, but thats about it. She has been drinking two sippy cups of cows milk a day.

[coldandsleepy]

My son'll be two next month and still wants to nurse all the time, despite the fact that my milk went poof due to pregnancy about a month ago.  I find dry nursing incredibly uncomfortable, so I am thankful that he hasn't been interested in nursing to sleep in a long long time.  (As much as this kid loves nursing, bedtime was never one of his favorite times.)  We're compromising-- we have one nursing session a day now, usually in the afternoon.  I hate the sensation of it, but I love still having that cuddle time with him, and he doesn't seem to mind that nothing's coming out.  If you can stand dry nursing (and I have no idea if most people find it as repugnant as I do or not!) maybe you could agree to just nurse your child that one time before bed.

If I were in your shoes and wasn't able to dry nurse the child to sleep, I would probably move to a bottle of water for the comfort and just try to make sure that my child was getting enough extra calories during the day (whether through a  non-breast milk or solids) to not be actually hungry at bedtime.

[JudiAU]

I'd switch to cow's milk if she can handle it some other nutritious milk like unsweetened coconut milk. You can dilute by half with bm. Some kids will transition and some won't. If she doesn't, don't worry over much and just try and get some extra fat in her diet. DS never liked other milks and still doesn't drink them. DD does so drinks about 6 oz. of cow's milk a day.

[Adaline'sMama]

Im really confused about this SO Delicious Coconut milk that Sosurreal mentioned. Ive seen this all over the boards, and as far as I can tell it looks fine, but why do they have to call it "coconut milk beverage?" Why cant they just call it coconut milk? And why is it so cheap compared to canned coconut milk?

We do cow milk and have no problems, but I have seen this in stores and wondered about it. One thing about it is that it has very little in the way of calories.

[MrsBone]

I couldn't stand dry nursing either. I wish I could have because DS realy used it for comfort alot, but after mine dried up, and my nipples were sore and the sensation just felt kinda "ick" or something, I couldn't take it anymore!

Originally Posted by coldandsleepy 

My son'll be two next month and still wants to nurse all the time, despite the fact that my milk went poof due to pregnancy about a month ago.  I find dry nursing incredibly uncomfortable, so I am thankful that he hasn't been interested in nursing to sleep in a long long time.  (As much as this kid loves nursing, bedtime was never one of his favorite times.)  We're compromising-- we have one nursing session a day now, usually in the afternoon.  I hate the sensation of it, but I love still having that cuddle time with him, and he doesn't seem to mind that nothing's coming out.  If you can stand dry nursing (and I have no idea if most people find it as repugnant as I do or not!) maybe you could agree to just nurse your child that one time before bed.

If I were in your shoes and wasn't able to dry nurse the child to sleep, I would probably move to a bottle of water for the comfort and just try to make sure that my child was getting enough extra calories during the day (whether through a  non-breast milk or solids) to not be actually hungry at bedtime.

[MrsBone]

because it has more water and other things added to it so it's not just pure coconut milk. Coconut milk in the can obviously has water it in because that's how you make coconut milk, but it has alot less. You get the nice cream layer on top, and the creamy coconut milk at the bottom. If you buy SO Delicious it's all uniform in consistency and a lot more watery, hence the lower price.

 

Originally Posted by Adaline'sMama 

Im really confused about this SO Delicious Coconut milk that Sosurreal mentioned. Ive seen this all over the boards, and as far as I can tell it looks fine, but why do they have to call it "coconut milk beverage?" Why cant they just call it coconut milk? And why is it so cheap compared to canned coconut milk?

We do cow milk and have no problems, but I have seen this in stores and wondered about it. One thing about it is that it has very little in the way of calories.

[foreverinbluejeans]

After one a child doesn't have to have milk. Of course it's best to have human milk 2 years or longer but if there isn't any there isn't any. When my children weaned I used soy or almond milk for cereal. They are now adults and have never had a glass of milk. My 2 year old grandson just weaned because his mother is pregnant. He doesn't drink cow's milk but uses a little on cereal and eats cheese. He has other food allergies but is good with milk and no signs of lactose intollerance yet (that usually starts after 3). My kids and grandson all drank a lot of water. My grandson drinks juice too. He is underweight, loves juice, and it gives him calories. The AAP recommends only 4 oz of juice a day.

[sosurreal09]

Originally Posted by Adaline'sMama 

Im really confused about this SO Delicious Coconut milk that Sosurreal mentioned. Ive seen this all over the boards, and as far as I can tell it looks fine, but why do they have to call it "coconut milk beverage?" Why cant they just call it coconut milk? And why is it so cheap compared to canned coconut milk?

We do cow milk and have no problems, but I have seen this in stores and wondered about it. One thing about it is that it has very little in the way of calories.

They have to call it a beverage b/c of the dairy industry as far as I know. It doesn't taste like coconut and it is not pure coconut. We drink it all the time. It doesn't have a lot of calories but it has a  lot of fat, good fat.

Ingredients (from my label): Organic coconut milk, organic dried cane syrup (we drink the original one not unsweetened), calcium phosphate, magnesuim phosphate, carrageen, guar gum, vitamin A palimate, Vitamin D-2, selenium, zinc oxide, folic acid, vitamin b-12

calories 80

fat 5g

sat fat 5g (from the coconut so it's GOOD sat fat/brain power)

cholesterol 0

sodium 15mg

potassium 90mg

carb 7g

fiber 0

sugar 6

protein 1

vit A 10%

calcium 10%

vit D 30%

vit B12 50%

zinc 4%

vit C 0%

Iron 4%

folate 6%

magnesium 10%

selenium 8%

My DD is allergic to dairy so we use this for cooking, drinking, etc

Of course a good can of coconut tasting coconut milk is good once in a while too and so good for you! It's just really rich!

[sosurreal09]

They also make coconut yogurt (tastes like pudding though) and coconut ice cream and keifer. They call it all something else though b/c the I am assuming the dairy industry... IDK it's like cultured coconut product instead of yogurt and something else instead of keifer. They are really yummy though and far more nutritious IMO than rice milk or soy!

[Comtessa]

Originally Posted by Adaline'sMama 

Im really confused about this SO Delicious Coconut milk that Sosurreal mentioned. Ive seen this all over the boards, and as far as I can tell it looks fine, but why do they have to call it "coconut milk beverage?" Why cant they just call it coconut milk? And why is it so cheap compared to canned coconut milk?

We do cow milk and have no problems, but I have seen this in stores and wondered about it. One thing about it is that it has very little in the way of calories.

I think that the "SO Delicious" brand coconut milk is pretty watered down from its original state and (usually) sweetened -- therefore, not "coconut milk," but "coconut milk beverage."  Canned coconut milk is very high in fat and therefore, calories. 

I nursed my toddler through my whole pregnancy, and didn't find it terribly uncomfortable past the first couple of painful weeks.  My milk dried up around 15 weeks, which caused her to start nursing incessantly, especially at bedtime.  I found it helpful to add about 4 oz. of cow's milk in a bottle at that time, which reduced the amount of time she wanted to nurse before going to sleep. 

We didn't worry too much about "replacing" the BM -- we just made sure she was getting plenty of calories and fat, etc., in her regular diet.  Besides the bedtime bottle, she wasn't drinking milk during the day.  After the baby was born and my milk came back in, she lost interest in the bottle, and now she only has cow's milk as a beverage once a week or so.  We never noticed any allergies or other problems with the milk, though it's certainly something to watch for.  In our case, it was more of a temporary stopgap until my milk came back in. 

[Faither]

Thanks everyone! I really appreciated all the varied opinions.

I was planning on nursing till at least 2 (if she wanted to) anyway, so "dry nursing" doesn't really faze me. It's way better than pumping anyway! I think I'm already past the uncomfortable stage anyway or at least the most uncomfortable (maybe?). I wouldn't mind tandem nursing either, but we'll see what happens with that.

A friend gave coconut milk to her son after she dried up when he was 11 months. DD already likes the taste, so we'll give that a shot. As well as goat and a little cow milk. We're planning on trying everything out before the freezer stash is gone and see what happens. My husband puts her to bed at least two nights (usually a few more) a week when I'm at work so we're really looking for something else he can give her to help to relax her before bed.

Thanks again!

[JenniferMurray]

In my case, once nursing was complete, there was no more nighttime milk or bottle. None of the three needed it anyway, there were usually tired enough at bed time to just roll off to sleep. Very lucky that way, I was generally finished nursing with all three around a year and a bit. I too noticed the increase in solid food uptake once there were done on the breast.

[peaceful_mama]

mine all did goat's milk and no problems here.

[Faither]

Originally Posted by peaceful_mama 

mine all did goat's milk and no problems here.

So the big question my hubby and I have is, why goat's milk?