extended BF'ing and intro to cow's milk

mrs.viv07

do i even try at all?
he is very content with nursing and doesn't seem to want to give it up nor am i going to push him or try to wean, he'll go till he stops wanting it.
so do i need to introduce cow's milk? if so how do i do it? he's had sips here and there out of a glass but refused it in a sippy cup. but i haven't tried in a bottle, not sure i want to either since 2 days a week he has breastmilk in bottles at grams.
any suggestions?
don't know if it matters or not but he had blood work done and the pedi said he is NOT anemic but is boderlline so up his eggs meat ect.

Lotte134

We introduced it at a year, but mainly because I work FT and wanted to stop pumping so we gave it to DS in place of BM.  For many months, if I was home, he would nurse instead of drink cow's milk.  Now I've cut his nursing way back so he drinks lots more cow's milk, but that was a slow transition.  In your situation it doesn't sound like it's necessary so it's really up to you. 

SteelCityBride

I asked our pedi about this at E's 9 month visit.  She said that if we are still nursing beyond a year there is no need for us to introduce cow's milk.  I didn't ask tons of questions at the time because it was only his 9 month visit & I didn't really have to worry about it until a year, but I'm sure there are some guidelines as to how much he needs to be nursing in order to make it OK.  I'm just guessing there, but I'd double check with your pedi.

rosiemomma

if you don't want to and enjoy breast-feeding still, no reason to switch your milk is still better for him than cows milk. 

https://www.drmomma.org/2008/01/10-reasons-to-nurse-your-toddler.html

In the second year (12-23 months), 448 mL of breast milk provides:29% of energy requirements43% of protein requirements36% of calcium requirements75% of vitamin A requirements76% of folate requirements94% of vitamin B₁₂ requirements60% of vitamin C requirements-- Dewey 2001

We know that the majority of brain growth is done in the first three years of life, and that fat is one of the things that the brain needs to grow. Human milk fat is the thing the baby's body is designed to use best, so it's the optimum food for brain growth in the formative years. Considering there are toddler formulas shows that even the formula market knows that toddlers still need that extra composition of milk fats and other vitamins and minerals past the first birthday (and toddler formulas are designed to go from 12 months to 36 -- until that third birthday).

https://thestir.cafemom.com/toddler/116520/5_toddler_breastfeeding_myths_that?utm_medium=sm&utm_source=facebook&utm_content=natural_fanpage 

C-Charm

Yeah.  I'll have to find you some links.  I tihnk there's no reason to introduce cow's milk if your LO nurses at least 4 times a day.

You can always offer foods with calcium--green leafy veggies (?), whole milk cheese, whole milk yogurt.  You may have to continue with Vitamin D supplements.

Our 16-month old hasn't had cow's milk yet.

flowerchild77

I dont give my LO cows milk and I dont plan too. She can have almondmilk but I dont push it. I just dont see it as important. Shes not a baby cow...

ncbelle

We never did as he was still nursing heavily at that point.  In fact, I'd suggest against it if you want to continue nursing as you are now as it really is redundant!

Even now kiddo mostly just has milk with cereal.  He eats lots of other dairy though so it's not something I worry about.

Angela814

Lotte134:

We introduced it at a year, but mainly because I work FT and wanted to stop pumping so we gave it to DS in place of BM.  For many months, if I was home, he would nurse instead of drink cow's milk.  Now I've cut his nursing way back so he drinks lots more cow's milk, but that was a slow transition.  In your situation it doesn't sound like it's necessary so it's really up to you. 

This was us too. At home I started asking DD what kind of milk she wanted as she got older. She never really drank a lot of cows milk and still doesn't.