Weaning to whole milk -- need help from other BF moms who did it.

[julieb]

I'm posting here because I think my issues/questions directly relate to the fact that DS is BF.

I'm starting to wean to whole milk.  No allergies and doesn't seem to mind the taste.  I'm starting with the bedtime feeding because this is the one he's least interested in.  I want to wean him onto a sippy.  He took a bit last night and I even tried to warm it up.  I ended up nursing him after.  Same thing tonight, so I gave it in a bottle to see if it made a difference (he LOVES bottles) and he drank it all down!   

I'm wondering if the sippies flow too fast?  Obviously, BFing is slow flow, and the bottle nipples I use are also slow flow (only #2's). 

Should I keep offering the sippy each night, and then pour the rest in a bottle or nurse if he doesn't take enough?  Will this make him want to "hold out" though? 

How have other BF babies transitioned?  Did it take a long or short time?

Did/do you still hold your baby while they have their sippy?  I miss that cuddle time with nursing and hope to still incorporate a "down time" for both of us when he has his sippy.  But maybe it's unrealistic for him to drink it all in one sitting?

TIA!

[daisymelan]

I don't have the answer, hopefully an exteded nursing mom can help you out.  My only thought is that you could get a sippy that doesn't free flow and that he actually has to suck hard on to get the millk out.  Hopefully someone checks this post out and can help you better!   

[GraceKellysmom]

Hey Julie! I missed the first birthday announcement, so a belated Happy Birthday to Asher!

With my kids, they kinda weaned some of those feeds on their own. Max weaned the before bed feed, and I just didn't give him anything to replace it. He eats dinner around 5:30, goes to bed around 7:30 after a bath and brief cuddle in the rocking chair, no milk. Dh did this for about a week so Max knew that we wouldn't be breastfeeding then, and I took it back over. (Love that cuddle time!) The day time feeds were refused so I just give him a small snack(toast/milk, fruit/milk) midmorning(9:30ish) and when he wakes from the afternoon nap (for us around 4pm). Some days he eats bigger meals so no snacks are needed. I offer him whole milk or water/juice in a sippy if he gets thirsty. He surprised me by looking under my shirt one day about a month after he weaned completely, but he had forgotten what they were there for.

It's hard to wrap your brain around the idea of changing the schedule from nursings to just solids. One day you just start doing it differently and they adapt pretty well. HTH feel free to ask questions

[julieb]

Thanks for the replies!  I talked to my mom this afternoon as well.  One of my concerns has been if he doesn't drink enough milk at night, then he may wake early in the morning starving.  Stacy, how does that work with Max?  I've noticed if Asher doesn't have a hearty dinner (like with protein and oatmeal), he seems to wake earlier.  My mom said she would just continue offering the sippy of milk, and if my sisters didn't drink enough, she'd follow it up with a snack.  She'd also fill in the gaps nutrition-wise with yogurt and cheese.  And as he gets used to it, he may start drinking a whole serving.  Does this seem to make sense?  I think it might be a good compromise without the bottle.  And I guess I'll just continue to hold him for a bit (as long as he tolerates me!  ).

BTW, Stacy, did you notice that Grace & Asher share the same birthday?  And I share the same birthday with Max!  Small world! 

[branwen]

Hey Julie

Eirwen and I have been on this mission for awhile now...with some success.  I'm currently in between 2-3 feeds per day.  It seems like every other day I can skip the afternoon one and just have morning and night.

With the whole milk I just kept offering when she made the nursing signs.  She would drink about 1-2 oz then.  The best time I get her to drink it is when we are out in about, in a cart, stroller, etc.  She seems to drink it all down then

We use the nuby straw cups after searching and going through so many.  She has to suck pretty hard to get the milk out.  I know I have tried! 

I guess my policy on the whole thing has been to go to snacks with whole milk as just a part of the snack so if she drinks it cool, if not that's cool too.  I give her whole wheat crackers and Cheerios in a little bowl with her milk.  The daytime breastfeeds are now "snack time."  So that is how we work it now.

I hope to be done completely by the end of March.  I seem to be dropping a feed every 2.5 weeks...so a little on the long side I guess. It is pretty hard and honestly way confusing too but she is adjusting slowly...and so am I! Finally!

[GraceKellysmom]

It is a small world! 

Quantity-wise, it did take him a while to drink a lot. Maybe 6-8 oz on a good day to start. Now he will drink 16 oz milk and more juice if I let him.  Yes, if he will eat yogurt and milk, that is good. I try to get Max to eat a "heavy" dinner of protein, that's when he gets his yogurt. Yes, he will wake up early if he doesn't get enough solids.

I think my reasoning for no bottle/sippy before bed is that I know SIL has a 4yr old she still gives a cup of milk to and rocks him to sleep every night. Sorry but I don't want to do that every night.  Max loves his routine, he lives by it, so I needed to get him into something we were both comfortable with early.

We loved the Nuby cups too, but then Max started teething the eye teeth and has bitten through all six of his Nuby cups. I had to switch him to straw cups. Everything else leaks.

Branwen! Look at you go girl!! 15 months and still nursing strong?? !!!! 

[julieb]

Well, we had a weird day food-wise.  He's usually a really big eater, but maybe he's turning into a toddler snacker today!    He ate a light dinner so I really hoped he'd drink some milk.  Mainly played so I broke out the yogurt.  He wasn't too thrilled with that either.  Just wanted to play.  He seemed to make a sour face at all his favorite foods today, so we'll see how he does in the morning. *sigh*  This is gonna be a long road.    I think cutting the morning and mid-day feeds will be easier on me because I won't be so concerned about early wake ups (I hope!).

He drinks water well out of all his sippies.  We mainly use the tommee tippee and playtex sippies.  They're pretty tough to suck out of, but still higher flow than the breast, I'd imagine.  Are the nuby straw cups slower you think? 

[julieb]

Branwen, I forgot to ask... Are you just offering milk every chance you get to get that serving in?  I could do that, and he might drink it throughout the day, but then I'd wonder about when to get water in??  When do you give water?  Asher currently has water with meals and drinks about 4-5 oz. per meal.

[branwen]

The Nuby straw seems very slow to me.  I wouldn't like to use it if I wanted to drink out of a straw...it's nothing like the straw cups you literally just stick straws into.  They have to suck really hard to pull the milk/juice up since nothing comes out with tipping at all!

I give Eirwen milk at 11 and at 4.  If she doesn't drink it by her lunch 12:30 she gets dilluted juice.  Same with dinner.  If by 5:30 she doesn't finish it off she gets her dilluted juice with her meal.  I have noticed that with Eirwen I just periodically keep asking her "Do you want your milk honey?  Where is your milk?" And sometimes she'll find it or I'll bring it to her.  I get a few sips out of her this way...but the crazy thing is lately, now that I am just letting her keep it during play time I will find that she chooses to drink it on her own.  Eirwen HATES to be pushed into things so this method is working well for us. 

It is a long road...I thought I would be able to drop a feed every two weeks but that was not realistic for us.  I think 3 is more like it.  The midday one is taking us forever to drop...but she hasn't had it for two days now.  But I know she still wants/needs the BM because her morning and night feeds are very long...sometimes 20 min!   I thought I'd never see those feeds again!!!

[julieb]

Thanks, Branwen.  Think I'll go get one of those cups to try.  I'll also try giving him the milk earlier to see if he drinks it at his leisure.  I have noticed him taking drinks when I ask about his milk as well.  I also may just move dinner back.  Last night he wasn't very interested in milk and I set him in the high chair to give him some really good yogurt.  He only ate about half so I think he's just not that hungry.

[Erin (redstarfalling)]

I also went straight from BM to cow's milk.  I used the Nuby soft spout, because Megan wouldn't take a bottle.  Once she started chewing through that, I switched to the Avent sippy cups.  I gave EBM for the first while, but now we're at whole milk all day.  She rarely takes a bunch at one sitting, so I just put it back in the fridge and offer again later.  I don't tend to give much water, although I probably will when the weather finally warms up.  But I make sure she gets yogurt at least twice a day and I put milk in her cereal too.  Plus she has cheese at least once a day for snacks or meals. I never did part BF and part sippy - I wanted to make sure she'd switch and not hold out for the breast, IYKWIM.  And I definitely try to cuddle for her sippy if she's willing (I take all the cuddling I can get! )

[Hihowdy]

Hmmm this is all so interesting to me.  We have begun to wean and I had no idea it would be so hard!!!  My dd has never had a problem with an occasional bottle until about 9 months and then she rejected it completely.  So I have been breastfeeding every feeding since then.  Occassionaly I could skip a feeding and she would be fine.  Her schedule is
8:00 wake and BF
9:30 breakfast of cereal with whole milk, 1/2 bananna, and 1/2 yo baby yogurt
11:00 nap
12:30 wake and lunch veggies, fruit and cheese
2:00 breastfeed
3:30 nap
5:00 dinner -1/2 jar of stage 3 dinner with fruit and some type of real food.  Whatever we are eatting
7:30 breastfeed and bed

So, I guess I always thought you just replace the breastfeeds with milk in a cup.  But when I tried that today it wasn't a fun experience for my Claire.  She wouldn't touch that sippy of milk, so I tried it in a bottle (ha, yeah right) She drinks water and diluted juice from a sippy for every meal and doesn't have a problem with it at all!  Do you think she just doesn't need that "milk" feeding.  We battled it for a while and then it was nap time so I put her down and she went to sleep no problem??  It just doesn't feel right not giving her something at that feeding.  I guess I could try and put her in the highchair right when she wakes for a snack of milk and crackers.  Then just push back dinner a bit.  But what this post taught me was "weaning" is weaning to solid foods, not to milk?  Am I understanding it correctly?  How much milk do toddlers actually need? Thanks for all the help ladies! 

[julieb]

Hi Claire,

Your schedule is almost identical to ours.  Yes, you are supposed to wean the BF/formula to whole milk.  But their liquid requirements do reduce at the same time because milk just doesn't provide as balanced a diet as BM/formula.  This is then made up in solids to make a complete balanced diet.  This coincides with a slow down in their growth rate as well.  You might also notice a drop in appetite (as mine went from eating like a horse, to eating like a bird around 10.5 months).  They just don't need as much.  Most peds will say your LO needs 16-24 oz of milk a day after 1 year.  When you serve milk is up to you, but whole milk is filling, so if you serve it at a meal, they may not be hungry for solids.  They also need a couple snacks during the day, about every 2 hours or so, whereas BFing is currently your "snack."

But of course, as you discovered, when making that switch to milk, they don't like it and need to develop a taste for it.  Just keep offering, and round out the missed milk in their other meals.  Whole milk yogurt and cheese are comparable substitutions in calcium, protein, and fat.

We dropped the bedtime feed since this was his least interested.  I bought a new sippy cup especially for milk so he would understand that it's not water.  I also specifically name it and make the sign (as opposed to the water sign).  He really understands that it's different now.  I've given him a dairy serving earlier and since I'm still BFing 2x, he should be fine if he doesn't drink it.  I just keep offering it though.  I also pushed dinner back, so I wouldn't have to give him a snack if he didn't drink it as well.  He's never starving for dinner anyways, so I just give a cracker to tide him over.  Maybe you could move lunch back, in case she doesn't drink the milk later.  At the suggestion of some other ladies, I started offering only milk at dinner as well.  He's had water all day up until dinnertime, so I know he's not gonna be dehydrated, but if he's parched, it kinda forces him to get used to the milk.  He drinks a minimal amount at dinner the last few nights, but then started to drink more afterward.  Last night he took 4 oz before bed!  I also give him one last sip of water before bed, in case he's still thirsty between dinner and not drinking enough milk, KWIM?  Once he's drinking the milk well, I'll probably go back to giving water at dinnertime.

HTH!

[dkjokisch]

Hey ladies!  We started with only offering milk at lunch and did that for 1.5-2wks until she started drinking an appreciable amount.  Then I dropped the midday bf, and one by one, started introducing milk at other meals.  Now she gets milk for all of her meals, and periodically throughout the day, we stop by the fridge for a drink (I have a weird hangup about leaving milk out).  We usually do it before and after her naps and whenever else I think of it.  I still offer a sippy of water at least once a day (I usually take it with us if we're going out for a while) to make sure she's staying hydrated.

We've been at this for a month, and even now, she probably only drinks about 8oz of milk a day.  It's a slow process.  We're down to one bf, first thing in the morning, and I think we're going to hang onto that one for at least another week or two.

[Minimonkey]

We're down to 2 bf's a day.  Early morning (530-600am) and before bed.  I'm wondering if anyone has any advice on how to get rid of these?  These are his favorite and he drinks a lot during these times.  Any advice would be appreciated!

Shari