Starting whole milk

Futuremrssoll

Eli is 11 months and a week. ?I am going to start to wean him soon from breast feeding. Do yu think its okay to start some whole milk now even though he is not quite a year? ?He does well with the yobaby yogurt and whole milk cottage cheese. ?also how did you wean?

GBL77

I started weaning Cameron around 11 months as well..we were already down to two feedings a day, morning and night, so I started by having my DH give him a bottle (some may disagree) at night so he would get used to me not nursing him before bed, that worked out REALLY well, he did this for about 2 weeks and then the bottle ended and then the morning one was a little harder so it took longer than I thought, but I started off by feeding him his breakfast before I would nurse him, and one day he sort of just popped off of my lap and that was it, I was TOTALLY not prepared for that, but it was good because I did not have that sadness thinking this is the last feeding.  I was also 8 weeks pregnant so didn't really bother me all that much

As for giving him milk before he is one, my own personal opinion is not to only because my pedi says it can cause early allergies and I was allergic to dairy as a child, so I waited and just gave him sippy cups of formula or  EBM for  a few weeks before his b-day. He too was eating yo-baby, but figured I'd better wait.

Good Luck!  

Cortney81

I had stopped nursing at around 7 1/2 months and around 11 months we started mixing formula with whole milk ( yes some say no no to that but that is how we weaned her) and by her 1st birthday she was on all milk.  She still gets a bottle at night, but is starting to show signs of not needing that.  I am letting her lead that and when she no longer wants the night bottle of whole milk.  I would say it is fine to start introducing whole milk, even if it is just at a meal...

Futuremrssoll

I do have some frozen breast milk that I can use up. ?I hate pumping now because I really only get like 4 ounces out anyway because hes not really feeding long at all anymore. ?He usually wakes up around 7 and i feed him then lay him back down. ?Then he normally feeds again around 9-9:30 and then after he breastfeeds i do the yogurt with oatmeal and a fruit with cottage cheese. ?Do you think I could drop that 9 o'clock breast feeding? ?I'm so attached, I dont know how I'll do it! ?I'm ready to, but i'm sad because that means, I'm not longer giving him his nutrition.

GBL77

Is he only feeding twice a day? That is a GREAT way to start weaning! I would absolutely start with dropping the 9AM feeding when you are ready.  The first morning feeding was the hardest for me...That was like our special bonding time. I do miss it, but you did great for doing it this long, you should be really proud of yourself.

Futuremrssoll

He actually still feeds around 5-6 times breastfeeding. ?gets solids like 2-3 times a day. ?

GBL77

I would start cutting out the middle of the day feedings.  You really at this point only need to give him 3 servings of dairy a day. Yo-baby being 1/2 of one. So my advice to you is to start off with only doing a morning, afternoon and evening feeding.  That is what I did, and it worked out for Cameron really really well.  If you do this over the next few weeks, weaning completely will be a breeze. Good Luck.