Breastfeeding

WCM while still breastfeeding

Hey everyone!

So my little guy is turning one in a week (so bittersweet!) I exclusively breastfed from birth to 6 months, introduced solids a little after 6 months but have continued to breastfeed full-time. I am planning to start the weaning process when he turns 1. 

He already drinks WAY less breastmilk than he used to because he is a big eater of solids. Lately when I pump at work, I don't get nearly as much as I used to. Since I work full-time and no longer desire to pump at work, I want to get him completely off of breastmilk and onto WCM and solids during the day. However, I plan to continue to nurse him first thing in the morning and right before bed for as long as possible as long as both of us are happy with the arrangement.

That leads to my question. I keep hearing 16-24 oz of WCM a day. Should I be giving less than that if I am still nursing him two times a day? Approximately how much milk should he be drinking?

I am also open to any other tips or advice about the transition! He has NEVER had cow's milk but he does like yogurt and is a good eater in general.
Amanda

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Nov siggy challenge: animals eating Thanksgiving food


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Rhys - born 04.17.2013
Harry - born 04.18.2016

Re: WCM while still breastfeeding

  • Our situation is a little different in that he only had breastmilk for 18m and then I introduced cow's milk with no intention of weaning. Kellymom has an article that says nursing 3-4 times a day is enough for a toddler. He nurses three times a day when with me. At school they offer cow's milk but he doesn't really drink it- a couple ounces a day at most. I don't worry about it since he eats cheese, cottage cheese, and a wide variety of other foods to get vitamins from. 

    Nursing 3 times a day + eating well = no need to stress about cow's milk consumption (in my opinion). If I were nursing twice a day, I'd probably offer cow's milk a few times a day but not worry about it too much if he ate a lot of good foods. 

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  • I had a similar situation with DD1.  Difference was that I wanted to introduce WCM because I became pregnant with DD2.  I slowly began introducing WCM in DD1's bottle with the breastmilk.  I wouldn't make the bottles any bigger.  I would just replace half oz of bm with wcm.  Every couple of days I would replace another half oz.  She didn't seem to notice it.  Eventually she was having bottles of wcm when I was at work and we would nurse morning and at bedtime.  She only wanted to nurse twice a day for a week.  Then, she stopped nursing on her own.
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  • With DS, I went back to work when he was a year old, so I knew I had to have him down to nursing only before bedtime by then. I started offering a small cup of WCM at one meal every day when he was about 9m old, which he took without any problems. I then added another offering at a second meal. By the time he was 1, he had WCM at breakfast, lunch and dinner. 

    16-24oz of WCM is a lot. You don't want them filling up on milk. I wouldn't stress on how much milk DS was actually drinking because he was getting calcium from other sources too. I think I would put about 4oz in his cup at a time. Sometimes he drank it all, others he didn't. 
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  • agree with PPs-- if you are still breastfeeding, WCM is optional if your LO has an otherwise balanced diet. milk shouldn't be their main source of nutrition, and it can fill them up and make them not want to eat other foods (it can even lead to anemia). i think the tendency is to over-rely on milk as a source of nutrition because many toddlers are picky eaters.

    i stopped pumping at work when DS was about 14 months, and once i used up the BM that i had frozen, i started sending him a cup of WCM with his lunch at daycare. now, at almost 20 months, he still nurses about 3 times a day on weekdays (more on weekends), and gets a cup (maybe 5 ounces) of WCM with his daycare lunch. occasionally he'll have a small glass of milk in addition to that. he also eats a lot of yogurt and is a good eater in general.


  • Thanks everyone; this is really helpful! I guess I have maybe been overthinking this (as per usual, ha). I like the idea that I can just offer it with meals but not really worry about how much he is actually drinking. He is a great nurser and also eats yogurt, cheese, etc... so that's one less thing to stress about! Now back to birthday party planning...  @-)
    Amanda

    ******************************

    Nov siggy challenge: animals eating Thanksgiving food


    BabyFruit Ticker
    Rhys - born 04.17.2013
    Harry - born 04.18.2016
  • Thanks everyone; this is really helpful! I guess I have maybe been overthinking this (as per usual, ha). I like the idea that I can just offer it with meals but not really worry about how much he is actually drinking. He is a great nurser and also eats yogurt, cheese, etc... so that's one less thing to stress about! Now back to birthday party planning...  @-)
    I did too when DS got to this point in his life, as well as everything else! Especially solids. You're not alone. :)
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