WIC and cows milk - Page 2

[~Megan~]

I don't think I could drink 3 gallons of cow's milk a month!

[ColeysMama]

Cole won't drink any milk but mine. We've tried whole, skim, goat's, and every time, he takes a sip, makes a face, and throws the cup on the floor. We're getting on WIC (again) this week. I'll probably go ahead and get the milk - I can put it in oatmeal, mac & cheese, and other stuff he'll eat. And I can use it in my coffee - technically it's still "his" because he'll get the nutrients from it later in my milk.

[Evergreen]

Originally Posted by tanyam926

BTW I don't know what that lady was talking about because we are able to take milk off completely and increase the amount of cheese on the checks. I can't imagine that would be different where you are. When you go back, talk to the supervisor and it should be corrected.

I work for WIC too and in my state all combos of food instruments have cow milk, but you do not have to get everything listed.

[ColeysMama]

Originally Posted by Evergreen

Originally Posted by tanyam926
BTW I don't know what that lady was talking about because we are able to take milk off completely and increase the amount of cheese on the checks. I can't imagine that would be different where you are. When you go back, talk to the supervisor and it should be corrected.

I work for WIC too and in my state all combos of food instruments have cow milk, but you do not have to get everything listed.

It's similar here. Last summer when we were on it, I told them I only use milk in cereal, coffee, and cooking, but don't drink it straight up - so they still gave me milk, but they decreased the amount and increased the amount of cheese.

[Rikki Jean]

My WIC office is very BF supportive. They were very excited that I was still EBF at 8 mos (I know, a whole 8 mos, whoopdeedoo), and one of the nutritionists always says nice things to me about BF and babywearing when I'm in there. Some months I don't even use my checks, but they have never said anything about it. They have breastfeeding posters all over the place too.

On the other hand, I have never seen another mom there breastfeeding. The bottles runneth over...

[hunnybumm]

Well, I went back in on Monday and no one even mentioned it, they probably forgot. There are only two ladies in that particular office (they just started training a third). The office we go to is on a military base, so it is very small, but is still suppose to carry on all the WIC rules. I don't want to go to the WIC office off base because I have heard really bad things about it. I really do need to call and speak to a supervisor though.

The way our coupons are set up are really nice. We have milk/eggs/cheese/juice on one coupon; cereal/juice/milk on another, milk/eggs/cereal on another, etc. So the 9 gallons of milk is split up a bit but still way too much milk. They also mentioned something about only allowing whole milk on the babies coupons (I need to read them and see), if that is the case then I won't get ANY of that milk, I can't stand whole milk, I only use fat free.

Also, they have told me in the past that if we won't drink all the milk from the coupons then just don't get it at the check out. They have never mentioned giving more cheese instead of so much milk. I am not sure if they are just lazy (could VERY much be the case) or don't want to. Again, I need to talk to a supervisor about that. They do have it marked that DS#1 is in daycare to reduce the amount of milk he gets, which I asked them to change since he doesn't go to day care (he was getting the same amount of milk anyways).

Lastly, they only work from 8am - 4pm Mon - Wed and they take a 2 hour lunch, is that normal? They always complain that they are tired and work really hard... but come on! *ok... that was probably a bit snarky... but it takes 2 months to get an appointment, they are very rude about walk-ins, and refuse to let you walk-in if it is for a certification even though most times when I have been there it was pretty barren.

Oh.... and I have yet to run into another BFing mother. They do have BFing posters up, including the "Bfing for 1 year = 10% less chance of breast cancer....etc" poster. Any woman I happen to talk to is using formula. I have been going to the same office for over 3 years and have talked to/ overheard through the thin doors at least 10 different woman who "couldn't BFing". It's so sad.

I just hate that suddenly, when DS turns 1, I am suppose to stop BFing, or at least be cutting back. They made ignorant comments like "You should be offering food before breast" and "WOW... he is breastfeeding way too much" etc.

I will post an update when I talk to a supervisior and see what they say. I am in NC, Wayne county, but I know every office varies so much that that doesn't really even mean anything.

P.S. The WIC in CA rocks, I really really liked it there much much better!

[Ruthla]

In NY, I got 5 checks a month. 4 of those included the milk and juice (and of those 2 also included eggs) plus one for cereal and peanut butter. Normally they give milk in gallons but I requested half gallons so it wouldn't spoil before we used it up, and apparently they can either give it in quarts or gallons. So I got quarts- easier for the kids to handle and less gets left on the counter at a time. I didn't get cheese because I only use kosher cheese and there are no stores in my area that carry kosher cheese AND accept WIC.

DS turned 5 nearly 2m ago and we still have about 8 cans of frozen apple juice, plus a couple cans of pineapple juice in the pantry. I got WIC for one child, all 3 used the milk and juice, and I STILL had tons left over! I always had to buy more eggs and cereal each month though.

When I was nursing DS and he was drinking something like 1-2oz of cow's milk a week, the nutritionist just said (mostly to herself) he's not really drinking the milk but I'll just put him down as a milk drinker so you can get the full benefits. No pressure to wean, just "I have to check off this box with the paperwork." If they insist on YOU making the milk-drinking statement, then just say he drinks so much milk per day and don't specify that it's human milk, not cow's.