14 mth old possibly self-weaning - where to from here?

Hi everyone, Just in case this nursing strike does signal the end of our 14
month long nursing relationship, what should I do next? DD will take cow's
milk with cereal, loves cheese and yoghurt (although the latter does nasty
things to her poos, so I don't give her it often) and likes custard and
other milky puddings. But she won't take EBM any way, or drink cow's milk
as a drink. Should I try and push cow's milk as a drink in a week or so if
the nursing strike continues? Or will she be getting enough goodies through
the other dairy products she eats. I have never looked in to this, as I
assumed the end would be gradual, not sudden. (I shoudl add that I am having
great difficulty pumping now, so I will try cow's milk rather than EBM as
the milkof choice - she's had 14 months of good stuff).

Any advice greatly appreciated,
Cathy

"Cathy" wrote in message
...
Hi everyone, Just in case this nursing strike does signal the end of our
14
month long nursing relationship, what should I do next? DD will take
cow's
milk with cereal, loves cheese and yoghurt (although the latter does nasty
things to her poos, so I don't give her it often) and likes custard and
other milky puddings. But she won't take EBM any way, or drink cow's milk
as a drink. Should I try and push cow's milk as a drink in a week or so
if
the nursing strike continues? Or will she be getting enough goodies
through
the other dairy products she eats. I have never looked in to this, as I
assumed the end would be gradual, not sudden. (I shoudl add that I am
having
great difficulty pumping now, so I will try cow's milk rather than EBM as
the milkof choice - she's had 14 months of good stuff).

Any advice greatly appreciated,
Cathy


It's funny: I don't really think of breast milk as a dairy. I tend to think
of it as a protein drink, complete with all the vitamins and minerals and
fats that babies need. So while cow's milk and other dairy products are a
handy way of providing calcium and protein and fats and whatnot, I don't
feel like it's necessary for my kids to drink milk in order to stay healthy.

Just try to feed her a well-balanced diet. If she's eating other dairy
products, I wouldn't worry too much about the drinking milk thing. You want
to make sure she is taking in some good healthy fats, plenty of protein, and
good fruits and veggies. I'd probably go ahead and give her a vitamin
supplement, just to fill in any gaps she might have. But again, I wouldn't
stress about the dairy issues. You might want to increase her yogurt intake
(which is actually supposed to be really good for the stomach and
bowels--not sure why it messes up her poops)--and make sure it's whole milk
yogurt.

/off to discuss the strike in the correct thread . . .

--
Jodi
SAHM to Oliver (3 years, 1 month) & Arwen (11 months)

Cathy wrote:

Should I try and
push cow's milk as a drink in a week or so if the nursing strike
continues?

Starting at 12 months I offered both my kids a cup of milk with each meal.
I really wanted Hunter to drink it so I gave him chocolate milk. They did
not want it at first but both started drinking it regularly in 2-3 months.
Luke really took off on it, Hunter was more conservative. I still buy him
chocolate milk every other week or so because I don't feel he gets enough
calcium from his diet.

--
Nikki
Mama to Hunter (4) and Luke (2)

Cathy wrote:
My (equivalent of) WBV said that she could have a slight lactose
intolerance with that reaction to yoghurt.

Heh? Doesn't bm have way more lactose than yogurt? Allyson has the Asian
tendency towards lactose intolerance, and she handles yogurt much better
than most forms of milk.

Phoebe
--
yahoo address is unread; substitute mailbolt

Nikki wrote:
Cathy wrote:

Should I try and
push cow's milk as a drink in a week or so if the nursing strike
continues?

Starting at 12 months I offered both my kids a cup of milk with each
meal. I really wanted Hunter to drink it so I gave him chocolate
milk. They did not want it at first but both started drinking it
regularly in 2-3 months. Luke really took off on it, Hunter was more
conservative. I still buy him chocolate milk every other week or so
because I don't feel he gets enough calcium from his diet.

Thanks Nikki - I'll try that. Till now she has only had BM or water -
didn't like juice, and didn't like milk. But I'll keep offering, and try
chocolate milk (if I can keep it away from DH!).

Cathy

hobbes wrote:
"Cathy" wrote in message
...
Hi everyone, Just in case this nursing strike does signal the end of
our 14 month long nursing relationship, what should I do next? DD
will take cow's milk with cereal, loves cheese and yoghurt (although
the latter does nasty things to her poos, so I don't give her it
often) and likes custard and other milky puddings. But she won't
take EBM any way, or drink cow's milk as a drink. Should I try and
push cow's milk as a drink in a week or so if the nursing strike
continues? Or will she be getting enough goodies through the other
dairy products she eats. I have never looked in to this, as I
assumed the end would be gradual, not sudden. (I shoudl add that I
am having great difficulty pumping now, so I will try cow's milk
rather than EBM as the milkof choice - she's had 14 months of good
stuff).

Any advice greatly appreciated,
Cathy


It's funny: I don't really think of breast milk as a dairy. I tend to
think of it as a protein drink, complete with all the vitamins and
minerals and fats that babies need. So while cow's milk and other
dairy products are a handy way of providing calcium and protein and
fats and whatnot, I don't feel like it's necessary for my kids to
drink milk in order to stay healthy.

I definitely don't think of BM as dairy, its just that dairy seems to be the
next best thing to provide calcium and protein.

Just try to feed her a well-balanced diet. If she's eating other dairy
products, I wouldn't worry too much about the drinking milk thing.
You want to make sure she is taking in some good healthy fats, plenty
of protein, and good fruits and veggies. I'd probably go ahead and
give her a vitamin supplement, just to fill in any gaps she might
have. But again, I wouldn't stress about the dairy issues. You might
want to increase her yogurt intake (which is actually supposed to be
really good for the stomach and bowels--not sure why it messes up her
poops)--and make sure it's whole milk yogurt.

My (equivalent of) WBV said that she could have a slight lactose intolerance
with that reaction to yoghurt. I'll try a different brand though and see.
Currently she is not eating a lot, but I'm hoping that is the illness.
Prior to this, she had good days and bad days, and is a reasonably picky
eater. Not interested in feeding herself, and some days are a battle. But
if she is hungry 'cos she isn't get as mucjh milk, then that might make her
take more solids. I woudl have said her nutrition a week ago was 60-70%
solids, the rest milk. At least I know she is old enough to do without it
now.

Thanks,
Cathy

Phoebe & Allyson wrote:
Cathy wrote:
My (equivalent of) WBV said that she could have a slight lactose
intolerance with that reaction to yoghurt.

Heh? Doesn't bm have way more lactose than yogurt? Allyson has the
Asian tendency towards lactose intolerance, and she handles yogurt
much better than most forms of milk.

Phoebe
I don't know! I'm kind of in a state of shock from this nursing strike, so
didn't think to look it up. Thanks for that Phoebe - if that is the case
with Allyson, then I suspect it could have been the type of yoghurt I was
giving DD. Next shop I'll get something different, as DD loves it - must get
it from her mother.

Cathy

Cathy wrote:

Nikki wrote:
Cathy wrote:

Should I try and
push cow's milk as a drink in a week or so if the nursing strike
continues?

Starting at 12 months I offered both my kids a cup of milk with each
meal. I really wanted Hunter to drink it so I gave him chocolate
milk. They did not want it at first but both started drinking it
regularly in 2-3 months. Luke really took off on it, Hunter was more
conservative. I still buy him chocolate milk every other week or so
because I don't feel he gets enough calcium from his diet.

Thanks Nikki - I'll try that. Till now she has only had BM or water -
didn't like juice, and didn't like milk. But I'll keep offering, and try
chocolate milk (if I can keep it away from DH!).

You could water down the milk (ewww), to start and see if that
gets her interested. Like Nikki's boys, it took a couple of months
for DD to start drinking milk. To this day, she prefers water.

Mary

Just in case this nursing strike does signal the end of our 14
month long nursing relationship, what should I do next? DD will take cow's
milk with cereal, loves cheese and yoghurt (although the latter does nasty
things to her poos, so I don't give her it often) and likes custard and
other milky puddings. But she won't take EBM any way, or drink cow's milk
as a drink. Should I try and push cow's milk as a drink in a week or so if
the nursing strike continues? Or will she be getting enough goodies through
the other dairy products she eats.

I'd think she'd be fine having milk on cereal and eating cheese. You most
definitely don't want or need to "replace" breastmilk with an equivalent amount
of cows' milk.

Cows' milk is a convenient source of protein, calcium and fat. If she doesn't
drink milk, you just need to be sure she's getting protein, calcium and fat
some other way. Calcium is usually the most difficult one, but cheese should
work.

You may also find that she will eventually accept milk. My DS didn't drink it
at all until 15 months -- which was a couple months after he ceased to get ebm
during the day, though he was still nursing evening, night and morning. But
now he has it on cereal at breakfast, drinks a fairly large cup of it with his
lunch nearly every day, and often drinks some at dinner too.

The other thing you don't mention is, in what sort of container are you
offering her milk to drink? Perhaps her reluctance to drink the milk has more
to do with reluctance, or developmental inability, to use whatever type of cup
or bottle you've chosen than it does with what's *in* the cup.

Holly
Mom to Camden, 3yo
EDD #2 6/8/04

Mary W. wrote:
Cathy wrote:

Nikki wrote:
Cathy wrote:

Should I try and
push cow's milk as a drink in a week or so if the nursing strike
continues?

Starting at 12 months I offered both my kids a cup of milk with each
meal. I really wanted Hunter to drink it so I gave him chocolate
milk. They did not want it at first but both started drinking it
regularly in 2-3 months. Luke really took off on it, Hunter was more
conservative. I still buy him chocolate milk every other week or so
because I don't feel he gets enough calcium from his diet.

Thanks Nikki - I'll try that. Till now she has only had BM or water
- didn't like juice, and didn't like milk. But I'll keep offering,
and try chocolate milk (if I can keep it away from DH!).

You could water down the milk (ewww), to start and see if that
gets her interested. Like Nikki's boys, it took a couple of months
for DD to start drinking milk. To this day, she prefers water.

Mary

Good thought, thank you.

Cathy