Feeding 11 Month Old

At 11 months old why do you need to go to formula at all? There are a variety of milks available if you don't want to give her regular milk. You can put her on 2 or 1% milk. There is also rice, almond, soy,hemp, goat or coconut milk. I would avoid formula at this point. Experiment to see what he/she likes. You may end up avoiding allergies this way.

At 11 months, she should be starting other foods... baby food, mashed potatoes, little soft food (depending on how many teeth she has) and other little finger foods. At 12 months it is safe to start her on cows milk... so if you can try to get her through another month or atleast then you shouldn't need to switch her to formula and then to cows milk so close together. Which will put a little less of a shock on her system.

This is just my opinion but at 11 months it is probably time to transition to a sippy cup and if they have enough teeth to small bites of table foods. Most kids this age can handle that. At 12 months they can go to regular milk. So if I were you I would continue to give your child breast milk till she is 12 months old and then go to milk. If you are not getting enough breast milk you can ask the doctor about putting her on reg milk a little early or go to formula for a short time.

yes formula is fine and i give my 11 month old babygirl similac the blue and white powder one plus she s almost old enough to drink regular milk she can drink that when she
s 12 months old but she you should try giving her more food then milk now she hsould be eatin 3 meals n 3 snacks a day i hope everythin goes good

I'm sorry but Lynne is TOTTALY wrong. Children should get breastmilk for AT LEAST 12 months, and longer if you are willing. Cow milk is no substitute for breastmilk.

Lots of kids go through nursing strikes between 9 and 12 months for different reasons. Has she had a cold? Any changes in routine?

Keep offering the breast, especially at times when she's drowsy. You can also try going back to skin-to-skin contact. Lie in bed together or take a warm bath. If she weans, it ok, but she may just be testing the limits and her independence.

Don't worry about how much you can or can't pump. Your daughter will always get more when nursing than the pump can. When she's ready to nurse more often, your body will accommodate.

Have you tried going to a La Leche League meeting? They can be very helpful with hints on nursing an active toddler. www.llli.org

Good Luck! :)

It's been my experience that children often to begin to ween themselves close the the 1 year mark b/c they are not needing the milk like they did before. It's not going to hurt them (duh!) but it's no longer essential. I nursed my 2 both for 1 year each and weened w/o any issues; they even were giving up feedings before I was ready, on account of engorgement!
By that age, I was nursing them probably 3x a day (Morning, noon, night.)
If she's eating a healthy balance of other nutritional solids, she should be fine, in my opinion, with the 1 nursing a day, then just give it up when she's 12 months.

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Hi B.,

Before you make any decisions, I would talk to a lactation consultant. You can call the Elizabeth Blackwell Center ###-###-####. I call them for help ALL the time!

Good luck,
Julia

at 11 months, she'll be switching to regular fat milk in just a month. 2 times a day isn't all that bad!! Think of it more as a 'supplement' vs. a 'meal' now. :) If you want to continue nursing do so as long as you both want to!! 9-13 months they tend to be more interested in the things going on vs. actually nursing, then it switches back to wanting to nurse all the time. LOL Even with ONLY 2 nursing she is getting a WORLD of benefit from you!!

Some ideas (which are hard to do with other kids around) are to minimize the distractions. Play quiet music instead of the television. Make it a quiet time, where both of you relax. Make a 'nursing necklace' I haven't had to use one, but I've been tempted. This gives them soemthing to 'play with' while nursing...

I speak from expierence as I've been nursing since 4/01 without a break, hoping to wean #4 within the next 6 months (before she's 3!!)

Something that hasn't been mentioned, could you be pregnant? I know some babies won't nurse when mom is pregnant because the milk tastes different. Also sometimes pregnancy decreases your milk supply, and if she isn't getting much milk, she may not be interested. You said you can't pump much, so I wondered if that means your supply has really dropped.
Good luck on whatever you decide. I have always heard you should use whole milk when you do go to cow's milk because your baby needs the extra fat to help with brain development. You can ask your Ped to be sure. They should be able to answer that question with a quick phone call.
Congrats on breastfeeding for nearly a year!
R.

It is so great you've breastfed her - especially for this first year! I'm guessing she is eating table foods, so as long as she is eating well, a couple of times at the breast is ok at this point. Your young toddler is very curious about everything, and sitting still isn't as much fun as exploring! There is no need to introduce formula at this point, just let her nurse when she is interested. Some babies have these nursing strikes, and may temporarily lose interest, but pick back up later. My oldest weaned between 11-12 months, and we didn't intro formula for that short period to his first birthday - one year is a time frame, not an exact event to intro milk. My second had the same issue around 12 months, but continued to nurse 'til his 2nd birthday. So you never know - I wouldn't give up on it, just keep doing what you are doing!! Good luck!

Is she eating well the rest of the day besides nursing? If she has a full tummy she might just nurse for a short time for the comfort. Also keep in mind if she is going through a big stage, like learning to walk, she might just feel too busy to stop and nurse for a long time!

If you aren't ready to quit, just make it a part of your bedtime routine. Even if she doesn't get much milk, she is still getting some nutrients from you, and it's great for her immune system especially during the cold & flu season.

Hi B., right around your daughters age, most little ones r interested in alot of other things & tend to fall back a lil bit on the nursing thing. So u really have a choice to start the weaning process naturally, dont ask her/dont deny her or you can continue to offer and keep your supply going the best u can without stressing... and she will pick back up & probably nurse for awhile longer or even years to come... Some little ones also just hang on to the morning/bedtime nursings for awhile w/o any other feedings but maybe for boo boos or comfort at times. Hope all goes well for you in this time =)

If she's done nursing, she's done nursing. By age 10-11 months, all my kids still nursed, but only for like 5 maybe 10 minutes at a time. They were too busy running around and didn't want to stay still -- like all kids that age! By then they are so efficient, and getting so many nutrients from regular foods (you should be offering a healthy variety of foods with her eating 3 meals a day at the table wtih the rest of the family by now), that nursing that little was enough. They would just nurse for 5-8 minutes first thing after waking up, just before afternoon nap and at bedtime at that age.

If she really has no interest in nursing then just stop. No big deal. No need for formula, either. Many doctors say you can go ahead an introduce cow's milk around 11 months and that is when most people start to make the transition from breast milk or formula... slowly over a couple weeks.

hhmmm...I have a 10 and a half month old, so i don't know how much i can help you, but i can tell you that when he turns 11 months old i plan to start giving him cow's milk. my ped said that i can start transitioning him over by substituting 1 serving of breast milk a day with cow's milk. so maybe instead of starting your little ne on formula this late in the first year, you could try cow's milk. as far as your pumping sitution, i'm a teacher so i've been doing the pumping thin during the day for a while now...even though i don't always pump the same amount i keep doing it. your body has to get used to it and if you're worried about not having enough you could start pumping during an extra time.i run low every month right before i get my period so i started pumping every nite around 10:30-11pm before i go to bed, just so i can have extra to add to my supply. does that make sense? best of luck to you!! feel free to email me if you have any other questions. :) K.
oh, one other thig, try to nurse in a quiet place with no distractions. my son won't eat from me if there's other things going on around us because he is so curious.

I stopped breastfeeding shy of 12 months (maybe 2 weeks). I just put her on milk. At 12 mo my doc said 2% milk was ok. My personal opinion is get your child to drink as much breast milk as possible and suppliment with whole or 2% milk.
You have already given your child the very best start possible.

Keep nursing your child! It is just a stage. Let your baby eat food and nurse on demand. They all decide when they are ready to stop. Get some organic rice milk. That is the best option really if you are worried about anything. But keep nursing. Its good for baby and you!

*im still nursing my 18mo dd*

Hm. Both of mine have been very restless at that age, too, and I didn't want to have to switch to formula for just a short amount of time before whole milk (didn't want to introduce one new thing just to turn around and introduce another new thing ... and I didn't want to spend the money :) ).

I have a friend whose doctor told her at around 11 months that it was ok to start introducing whole milk. You could call the pedi and ask if it's ok to start doing that. That would stretch your pumped milk out farther. We started with 1 ounce whole milk and the rest breast milk for several days, then 2 ounces whole milk, etc. My DD just turned 1 a couple weeks ago and is also very restless nursing, and that's what we've been doing because my breast milk supply is dropping off sharply. I'm hoping to have enough left in the freezer to complete the transition!

Anyway, if the pedi gives you the go-ahead to start putting small amounts in a few weeks early, maybe you'll be able to pump enough to make the transition to whole milk. Good luck!