I am planning on exclusively BFing til my son is a year (or more, we're going on 7 months now). I'm wondering where if anywhere a cow's milk bottle even fits in to baby's diet after 12 months. Is it for comfort? Nutrition? Did you skip milk and just feed your baby like an adult after 1 year?
There are better sources of calcium and healthier fats if that's the case. I guess I'm just not sold on the idea of cow's milk for a baby but am I wrong? What's the point?
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@pachamama: its a good source of healthy fats and protein - no, you don't need to give CM you can find other things that provide fat/protein
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@pachamama: We've always treated cow's milk as just a beverage option. My daughter usually drinks a glass of whole milk at breakfast and sometimes before bed. Never in a bottle, just in a sippy cup or open cup.
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For us, we decided at about 13mos to introduce wcm because my supply dropped. I ebf (& solid food since 6mos) and didn't want to bother with any formula, but felt that wcm would be the next closest thing. She only drinks water, wcm or nurses before sleeps or for comfort at this point, & she can often tell us if she would prefer wcm or "mama milk" when she signs for milk.
Eta: we also only serve wcm in a sippy cup in her highchair. -
I do not serve cows milk. My child eats cheese, yogurt, cottage cheese and the pediatrician is fine with that.
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No, you don't need to, although it's an easy and convenient option, especially for very young toddlers who are still used to drinking most of their calories. We didn't use it for a long time due to my LO's MSPI, and even after she outgrew that, she didn't really like cow's milk or yogurt at first, so cheese was pretty much the only dairy she had until she was closer to 2. We have always offered alternate milks (hemp, almond) and for awhile after I stopped nursing as frequently, she would drink those with meals. At this point, she actually loves cow's milk, but she only really gets it with meals and we try not to let her fill up on it.
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My daughter hated cows milk, almond milk, coconut milk, etc. We just make sure she had plenty of yogurt and cheese and she's perfectly healthy!
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My kids won't drink cows milk. I tried so hard with my first but not at all with my second. I am not a doctor or any sort of nutritionist but I think it's not important at all. My doctor is very old school and doesn't care at all that my kids don't drink cows milk. They do eat dairy sometimes but honestly, I don't think that's necessary either...
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We never did cow's milk. We do yogurt and cheese, but he doesn't drink cow's milk. Our pediatrician seems fine with it.
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After breastmilk, we didn't switch to any other liquid calories. She pretty much "ate like an adult" as you say. Now she gets milk at school, but I don't give her milk/milk substitutes for a regular beverage at home- just in smoothies, cereal, etc. I think the cow milk thing is pretty weird, even though we still drink it sometimes! Our pediatrician was totally cool with "skipping" milk.
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My oldest didn't start drinking milk until she was two-ish and she was breastfed until over 3yo. She now drinks milk (plain or flavoured) at breakfast or tea but usually only 3-4 ounces at a time.
My little guy is almost 17 months and is still bf'ing so only has cows milk if it's part of a meal (like with cereal).
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No, it's definitely not necessary. There are many other sources of fat, calcium, protein etc. My son nursed until 20 months and never had a sip of cows milk until maybe 18 months. He's 3 now and drinks some with breakfast and dinner but totally his choice. My daughter is 13 months and still nursing. I've offered her cows milk a few times but she just spits it out.
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I do give cow's milk, but it never concerned me if she doesn't drink much because she regularly eats yogurt, cheese, etc. But at 20 months she still drinks probably 14-16 oz of cow's milk a day. She likes it!
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My daughter stopped nursing a little after she turned 2. She didn't drink cows milk during that time and she really didn't enjoy it for Prob close to 6 months after she stopped nursing. She ate a good diet but still dropped in weight percentile (not height though) after she stopped nursing. Since she was already tiny she was then in the 3rd percentile so we started encouraging whole milk drinks and it helped. She's just got a lanky build but I do think for whatever reason she benefitted from getting some of her calories through drinking.
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No, you don't necessarily need it. If you nurse 4-5x a day, you don't need to supplement. Cows milk is definitely an easy way to get fat, protein, and calcium though. You can get it from other sources, but that depends on how picky your child is. Mine wasn't picky at 1 but as they get to 1.5-2 they often get very picky. So I give cows milk. No bottle though- just in a cup. I would much rather her get what she needs and I'm not opposed to cows milk (we get it from a local farm). Mine actually wouldn't drink it for awhile (12-18 mo) but I was still BFing and she did eat yogurt and cheese so it wasn't a big deal. She likes it now though.
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I plan to nurse/pump for 18 months and then go straight to water. We are dealing with a dairy allergy and my ped said there's no need for cows milk
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Interesting! Sounds like milk is not such a staple as it was in my generation!
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Milk is totally not necessary, but is most kids' source of the fat that is VITAL for brain growth in the first 2-3 years. So we supplemented with coconut oil to make sure there was enough fat in DS'S diet since he didn't do WCM and weaned before 18 months, which I wasn't expecting.
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My boys don't drink cows milk. We make sure they get their good fats and vitamins in other ways. Their doctor isn't concerned about the lack of cows milk.
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When wetried to transition to cows milk my daughter was refusing it. The pediatrician said I could try 2% instead of whole to see if she liked that better, but if she still refused I was supposed to buy the toddler formula enfamil makes.
I asked if cheese and dairy products would be ok instead and he said its best for babies to get cows milk or formula until they are at least 18 months to 2 years old.
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It is mostly a convenient way of getting calories, fat, and calcium in. Since LO turned one, I've only been allowed my lunch break to pump, so, my supply has plummeted.
In the last two to three weeks LO has finally gotten enough teeth to be a relatively proficient and efficient chewer, so he's eating a lot more solids. Before then (12mos-15mos) cows milk was really helpful in replacing breast milk calories
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