Switching to milk while apart

[jewels]

Hi! I haven't really participated here since my first was a baby (he's now 3.5) and I hope you don't mind me jumping in with a question!

My boy will be 1 in 2 weeks. We introduced milk in a sippy about 2-3 weeks ago just to get him to try it. Occasionally he'll have some but mostly he's not impressed (he's been drinking water from a sippy for about 2 months now with no problems)

My frozen bm supply is gone - after today I will have 2 oz left. I have stopped responding to the pump (yes I've tried changing everything ... it's been a gradual reduction over the past few weeks) and last Thursday I only pumped 2.5 ounces when away from him for 9.5 hours.

Long story short, I want to stop giving him pumped milk (or actually just give him what little bit I'm getting) while we're apart which is 3 days per week, and give him whole milk instead. Anyone have any tips on how to get him to actually drink it? Or should I just not worry about it bc he eats his meals and snacks? We'll still be breastfeeding when together although I plan to start trying to wean shortly after his birthday.

Thanks for any advice!!

[lily]

Some people find mixing breastmilk and cows milk, then gradually reducing the amount of breastmilk works.

Or just up the amount of yogurt & cheese in his meals and snacks for the calcium & fat & protein and don't worry about the cows milk.

[jewels]

Jul 24, 2017 7:42:16 GMT -6 lily said:

Some people find mixing breastmilk and cows milk, then gradually reducing the amount of breastmilk works.

Or just up the amount of yogurt & cheese in his meals and snacks for the calcium & fat & protein and don't worry about the cows milk.

I did this for a bit with my first, but I'm pumping so little now that I'm afraid to waste it if he doesn't drink it! As of right now I'm just upping the other food like you suggested. Hopefully he takes to milk at least for a while. My older son drank it like crazy then stopped suddenly around 2.75 years old. Now he drinks maybe a cup a week.

[tinydancer]

I wouldn't worry too much. I don't think you need to replace BM with WCM ounce for ounce or anything like that, and if he'll eat cheese or yogurt that's great too. Also, he might be more interested in drinking WCM if you're not there - not sure if you've already tried that.

[vvvvvfee]

i wouldn't worry about it- he can have water while you're apart. a toddler don't really NEED cow's milk if they are eating a relatively balanced diet, and especially if they're still nursing. DS1 always loved WCM, and DS2 can take it or leave it. for DS2, when i stopped pumping i gradually mixed WCM into BM until he it was 100% WCM. but even then he didn't always finish it.

[loony]

Don't worry about it. Neither of my kids would even drink pumped milk when apart and at 1.5/3.5 barely even drink milk at all, it's mainly just a vehicle for cereal.

They both are great eaters and get plenty of calcium from cheese and yogurt.

Give what you have and enjoy the break up with your pump!

[Dramaphile]

We mixed BM and Milk for a bit before she would take cow's milk by itself. I also found that she wouldn't drink from the same cup as she drank water from, so we got her a new cup just for milk. She is still very hit or miss with milk and some days will drink a bunch and other days just wants water. She gets plenty of dairy from cheese and yogurt and still nurses in the evening, so I don't worry too much if she doesn't drink much milk while I am gone.

[Deleted]

When I stopped pumping enough for dd ardaycare they gave her 2% and she drank it no problem. I would just try and see how it goes.

[seamonster]

You could also try WCM in a bottle. DS mostly played with sippy cups at that age, but would drink WCM from a bottle.

[jewels]

Thanks for all the input. After playing around with it, and trying different things, it seems he will take milk if it is warm. So that is working. I am pumping 2-3 ounces per day so I am going to keep sending that for maybe another week and then I will stop pumping and only feed when together.

Each new step always seems difficult when you're facing it down, but once you're past it, it always seems like it was not as big a deal!

[sunfrogger]

Jul 24, 2017 7:42:16 GMT -6 lily said:

Or just up the amount of yogurt & cheese in his meals and snacks for the calcium & fat & protein and don't worry about the cows milk.

This was my peds guidance. As long as she ate a ton of yogurt and cheese, she wasn't super concerned. Also milkshakes