Hellobee Boards

We went to hemp milk at age 1. It's the closest in nutrition to whole cow's milk (as far as I could tell). We were breastfeeding prior to that and I was ready to be done pumping, so we had to switch to something.

We switched to coconut and hemp (we would have done almond too but she was also off nuts at that point). Although it turned out the my LO doesn't really like any milk if it's not in a bottle so after she outgrew the MSPI (around 14 months), we ditched the bottles and the milk and just started giving her lots of cheese and yogurt.

@Mae: I find it in my regular grocery store. It's often in the coffee aisle with the non-dairy creamers. I've also found it in the "Natural/Organic" section at other stores. We buy the Tempt brand. Xander drinks it just fine! He obviously doesn't know the difference since he's never had WCM. The transition was a bit rough (as in he didn't drink much for a couple weeks), but I've heard that's normal for any switch. I've tried it and don't think it tastes bad at all, but I also LOVE cow's milk, so it doesn't taste as good to me.

We tried different milks: soy, hemp, coconut but she wouldn't drink them for long so we kept going with Nutramigen. She loved it! Weirdo!

My LO needed formula supplementation. I chose dairy formula (soy made me uncomfortable), but we quickly discovered a milk intolerance (bloody/black/hard stools). We switched to soy, so at 12 months, I was really ready to move away from formula.

Our MD recommended that we do food for nutrition and water for hydration. There is no need for milk when your babe is eating a wide variety of good, fatty foods.

We do offer plant based milks every now and then, but usually just reserve them for cooking purposes.

My favorite fatty foods are: anything coconut, avocados, nuts, cashew cream, and olives.

@Mae: I did it until she was 2 because she wasn't the best eater. I told my doctor and she preferred a milk alternative to formula, but seemed ok with it when I told her that DD wouldn't drink any of the other milks. By 2, she was eating a lot better and could also tolerate dairy so I stopped the formula. She still doesn't like WCM at 2.5, but she will eat yogurt and cheese. So I would try to transition to a milk alternative first, but I think (hope) formula is ok as a back up. If your LO eats very well, she's probably getting all the nutrition she needs anyway.

And yes, it's amazing that they will drink (and love) something so smelly!

@Mae: DD drinks flax milk they won't let her drink almond milk at daycare because it is a tree nut.

We do Tempt original hemp, because she still can't drink cow's milk without reacting.