So my little one will be turning one (gasp!) on Saturday, and I'm hoping to wean her shortly after that. I know that breastmilk is excellent for her and all, but I've been struggling to keep weight on and she doesn't take a bottle (I got lazy when she was about 6 months old and didn't pump for a couple of weeks, and when I tried to give her one she'd forgotten how to take it), so I can only leave home in certain "windows." My husband and I are looking forward to going out on dates that don't have to start after her bedtime feeding. =)
So here's my question: for those of you who have done this before, how long did it take (days, weeks, months), and did you have to get our kiddies settled on cow's milk first? I know you're technically supposed to wait until they're 1 to even try cow's milk, but I cheated and tried it last week from her sippy and she was very uninterested! She did have a little though, and didn't seem to have problems with it (she doesn't have any other allergies, so I figured it would be fine). Any suggestions for introducing cow's milk or for weaning in general?
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Congratulations on your daughter turning 1 on Saturday!!! I know this is a hard time for you with mixed feelings of happiness and sadness...my little one just turned 1 in July. Take it from me...this is a whole new phase and can be very fun and exciting!!!
As far as introducing cows milk, I too cheated and started to introduce it slowly at 11 months. After talking with our doctor and daycare, we were told to introduce small amounts with formula in the bottle and the sippy cup. We would give Jada 6 oz bottles throughout the day as usual, however 2 ounces of the bottle would be milk, this lasted for one week. Then the next week, 3 ounces of milk, and the next week 4 ounces of milk and so on and so on until it was all milk...the week of her birthday. Also, the sippy cup was a total nightmare at first! She would use it at mealtimes during the day while eating solids at the table with us, but at night she refused and would only take the bottle. I think this is becuase we have her on a nightly routine of dinner, bath, story, bottle...sleep:) She did not like the change in her routine and we continued to give her the bottle at nigh only, 2 weeks after her birthday. Now at 14 months old, she is exclusively whole milk and sippy cup and is a very happy girl:)
Good Luck....I know you will do just fine:)
Anita
i have heard of a way to introduce whole milk to them is to give them the Yo Baby yogurt that's whole milk before they turn one. i didn't do that but heard others that did and it made sense to me.
With introducing milk with Rhett we went "cold turkey" and it worked fine. one day was formula in the sippy and the next day on his birthday was whole milk and we never looked back.
oh, with the weaning it took a couple weeks. i took away the mid afternoon feeding first and replaced it with formula in the sippy cup. then i slowly, after a few days, took away another feeding. the last feeding to take away was the one before bed. that one was the hardest. he cried and cried for several nights.
i weaned at 11.5 months so just before a year. i was pregnant so i was really struggling with having any milk for him so that decided it for me.
Ooohh good question, Lisa:) I'm very interested in the responses too....even though we have another 3 months. Congrats on making it to 1 year w/ breastfeeding:) And happy birthday to Kathryn! She is such a sweetie!!!!
Happy early birthday to your little one! I breastfed Chloe until 13 months, and she more or less weaned herself. She signed "Milk all done," and that was that. I had started the weaning process by dropping the nursings to just morning and night and sometimes before the nap. I went the route of introducing whole milk to her in the form of yogurt and small cheese cubes around 1 year old. She refused whole milk in any other form, and she would only occasionally drink it from a straw cup since she never learned to drink from a bottle or sippy cup. Our pediatrician said that drinking whole milk is not necessary so long as Chloe was getting calcium through her food and enough liquid intake. We quit fighting to have Chloe drink milk as a means to weaning. I just dropped the nursing sessions one at a time over several weeks and made sure she had enough water to stay hydrated. Otherwise, Chloe would get water in her straw cup at meal time. She still weaned herself at 13 months old.
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