Starting 10 Mo. Old on Milk?

You could always try goat's milk... more like human milk. You can find it at Whole Food's. I would also continue to introduce the sippy cup.

Good Luck!

Ask your pediatrician. Almost all will say to wait until 1 year. Cow's milk is very different from breastmilk and may cause some intestinal upset. If you want to stop breastfeeding, I'd switch to formula.

Could he be teething? Have an ear infection? Is the milk warm enough? Maybe try a different bottle/sippy cup?

I would wait. Can you switch him to formula for a couple of months? Try everything before starting him on milk so soon. Heat up the breastmilk, or chill it. See which he prefers. Also try a variation of bottles/nipples and cups.

I would check with the American Academy of Pediatrics and/or your pediatrition. Breast is best for the first year (which it looks like you already knew that!), but if you feel like you need to suppliment, I would try a formula first. It would come closer to having the correct balance of nutrition your baby needs than cow's milk. Also, when you do go to cow's milk, use whole milk. Babies need the fat in it for brain development. 2% would not have enough needed.

I am not suggesting that you switch to cow's milk, because I know that all the science stuff says DONT. HOWEVER, i switched my daughter at 10 1/2 or 11 months (now 3 1/2). She had sensitivity to formula and i had already dried up when we realized she had a problem, so i had to use Alimentum formula which is very exspensive. I just couldn't afford it anymore and i switched to 2%. she is now 100% healthy and has no problems. in response to the whole milk issue, i didn't use it and her brain has developed just fine. she has no behaior problems and no learning problems. she is actually way ahead of the curve developementaly speaking. like i said though, i can not endorse switching before your ped. tells you its ok.

HI H., My advice to you is going to come from my two trusted sources:
My Mother-in-law plus I belonged to a breast feeding support group for two years; therefore I always recommend for people to receive their info from the LaLeche League.
Here are some thoughts, but again, please contact a LaLeche Leader for the best support: your breast milk may be changing flavor with his age and/or your production; the way you are eating could be changing the taste; his eating habits and/or taste-buds are forming and he is adjusting taste. I would continue to pump, breast milk is the best, always, always through and even past age one. If your breast milk is changing bio-chemically, you may have to boil it--this is a whole other topic, and you will need a LaLeche Leader to help you with that info--it is over my head, even though I experienced it for a while. My son would not, could not take my breast milk if it was stored---blah, blah--ask LL>plus, my son would not use a bottle, he went straight to a sippy cup, anyway--Organic, earth-best formula, is an option to mix with your breast milk, if he is not taking in enough of your milk; I would not use any other formula's--they are just big chemisty experiments(my husbands thoughts); rice-milk with iron, and soy-milk are also alternatives, even goats milk, all can be mixed with your breast-milk. Cows milk is just too rough on their digestive systems, prior to age one. Even at age one, I recommend a transitional stage. Here is what we did: At age one, because of possible allergies and for caution, we transitioned my son slowly via breast-milk and rice milk for about 3 months, then rice-milk and organic only-hormone free/pesticide free milk mixed for about another 3 months. So at about 18 months he was drinking his choice rice milk or cows milk. He still request rice milk sometimes. He was still nursing as well from 12 months to 18 months, he nursed about 2 times a day, then from 18 months to age two just once at nap time, then one week before his birthday he just stopped nursing and has been on cow's milk since. The necessity for Whole Vitamin D milk: The Fat is necessary in the development of the myelin sheath in the brain. [The insulating envelope of myelin that surrounds the core of a nerve fiber or axon and facilitates the transmission of nerve impulses. In the peripheral nervous system, the sheath is formed from the cell membrane of the Schwann cell and, in the central nervous system, from oligodendrocytes. Also called medullary sheath.]
It is necessary through atleast age 2, then afterwards, you can drop, to 2% afterwards(we transitioned from whole to 2% between 2 1/2 and age 3), we are now starting to transition from 2% to 1%--he will be 4 in June, may stay on 2% until age 5 not sure just yet, my husband is still trying to make the transition as well--heehee. We still only drink organic milk, because for our family, we don't believe that our son needs added hormones, pesticides, or antibiotics to his diet. Then as a side note that is really out there, we--humans are the only mammals that keep drinking milk after the age of two, and it is not even our own milk. So, don't think you have to stick with just cow's milk, if your child likes, the other choices, then you do what your family believes. A friend of mine, still gives her daughter "earth best" because she does not think she gets enough nutrients from cow's milk. She nursed for a year, then transitioned from nursing to "earth's best" formula, now she is transitioning between "earth's best" and "organic-milk." I know this was much information, but I hope it has been helpful. Please do contact the LaLeche League for more professional advice on what might be going on with your little love boy and/or your breast-milk.
Take Care, M. N.

how close are they to 11mo? Talk to you ped doctor, but you have to do what is best for your baby, and alot of times the normal schedule doesnt fit your baby. I started my son on whole milk right at 11 mo.... but we were still nursing too.. I have also heard that some have mixed the breast milk and the reg milk to get them used to it and you still know they are getting what they need from you. Overall, talk to you ped doctor and then go with your gut. See what works for you and your sweet baby.

Never, never, never give your child cow's milk or any other dairy product. I'm attaching a report on dairy products. It's long so I don't know how much will be printed in this response space.
But, first, the problems your having may be due to the fact that your son wants your breast rather than a bottle. Most babies to prefer breastmilk directly from the breast as the sucking gives several other benefits. Give it a try!
Osteoporosis: Why dairy products won't help you maintain healthy bones.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This presentation focuses on debunking a myth sold to the American public by a multibillion-dollar industry - - - an industry that has repeated its marketing message so often and for so long that most people now believe that dairy products are essential to bone health, despite extensive evidence to the contrary. The dairy industry has an army of dieticians, public relations consultants, and lobbyists on its payroll but does not have the scientific evidence on its side.

The dairy pushers pay dieticians, medical doctors, and researchers to endorse dairy products, spending more than $150 millions annually, just at the national level, to retain a market for their products. The dairy industry provides free teaching materials to schools and pays sports stars, celebrities, and politicians to push an agenda based on profit, not public health.

Dr. Walter Willet, veteran nutrition researcher at the Harvard School of Public Health, says that calcium consumption via dairy-product intake "has become like a religious crusade," overshadowing true preventive measure such as physical exercise. To hear the dairy industry tell it, if you consume three glasses of milk daily, your bones will be stronger and you will be able to rest assured that osteoporosis is not in your future. Not so.

After examining all the available nutritional studies and evidence, Dr. John McDougal concludes: "The primary cause of osteoporosis is the high-protein diet most Americans consume today. As one leading researcher in this area said, 'Eating a high-protein diet is like pouring acid rain on your bones'" Remarkably enough, both clinical and population studies show that milk-drinkers tend to have more bone breaks than people who consume milk infrequently or not at all. For the dairy industry to lure unsuspecting women and children into complacency by telling them to be sure to drink more milk so that their bones will be strong may make good business sense, but it does the consumer a grave disservice.

Much of the world's population does not consume cow's milk, and yet most of the world does not experience the high rates of osteoporosis found in the West. In some Asian countries, for example, where consumption of dairy foods is low, fracture rates are far lower than they are in the United States and in Scandinavian countries, where consumption of dairy products is high.

It should be kept in mind, that dairy products contain no complex carbohydrates or fiber but are packed with saturated fats and cholesterol and have been linked to heart disease, cancer, Crohn's disease, and a host of childhood illnesses from asthma to diabetes.

For details on how consumption of dairy products causes animal suffering, pollutes and depletes our land, water, and air, and increases one's risk for many other health problems visit: DumpDairy.com

Don't take our word for it --- examine the scientific studies for yourself. In one study, funded by the National Dairy Council, a group of postmenopausal women were given three 8-ounce glasses of skim milk every day for two years, and their bones were compared to those of a control group of women not given milk. The dairy group consumed more than 1,400 mg of milk calcium per day and lost bone at twice the rate of the control group. According to the researchers, "This may have been due to the average 30 percent increase in protein intake during milk supplementation. ...The adverse effect of increases in protein intake on calcium balance has been reported from several laboratories, including our own." (They then cite ten other studies.) Says McDougall, "Needless to say, this finding did not reach the six o'clock news." This is one study that the dairy industry won't be repeating any time soon.

"Milk, it now seems clear, is not the solution to poor bone density. To the contrary, it's part of the problem." Dr. Charles Attwood, pediatrician

After looking at 34 published studies in 16 countries, researchers at Yale University found that the countries with the highest rate of osteoporosis --- including the United States, Sweden and Finland --- were those in which people consumed the most meat, milk and other animal foods. This study also showed that African-Americans, who consume, on average, more than 900 mg of milk calcium per day, are nine times more likely to experience hip fractures than are South African blacks, whose daily milk calcium intake is only about 196 mg.

Says McDougall, "On a nation-by-nation basis, people who consume the most milk products have the weakest bones and the highest rates of osteoporosis. ...Only in those places where calcium and protein are eaten in relatively high quantities does a deficiency of bone calcium exist at such epidemic rates, due to an excess of animal protein."

Harvard University's landmark Nurse Health Study, which followed more than 77,000 women over a 12-year period, found that women who consumed the most calcium from dairy foods broke more bones than those who rarely drank milk. Summarizing this study, the Lunar Osteoporosis Update (November, 1997) explained: "This increased risk of hip fracture was associated with dairy calcium. ...If this were any agent other than milk, which has been so aggresively marketed by dairy interests, it undoubtedly would be considered a major risk factor."

A National Institutes of Health study at the University of California, published in the American Journal of Nutrition (2001), found that "women who ate most of their protein from animal sources had three times the rate of bone loss and 3.7 times the rate of hip fractures as women who ate most of their protein from vegetable sources." Even though the researchers adjusted "for everything we could think of that might otherwise explain the relationship...it didn't change the results." The study's conclusion: "Increases in vegetable protein and decreases in animal protein intake may decrease bone loss and the risk of hip fracture."

Another study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2000) looked at all aspects of diet and bone health and found that a high consumption of fruits and vegetables positively affected bone health and that dairy consumption did not. Such findings do not surprise nutritional researchers. The calcium absorption rate from milk is approximately 32 percent, while figures for broccoli, Brussels sprouts, mustard greens, turnip greens, kale and some other green leafy vegetables range from 40 percent to 61 percent.

After reviewing studies on the link between protein intake and urinary calcium loss, dietary researcher Dr. Robert P. Heaney found that as consumption of protein increases so does the amount of calcium lost in the urine (Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 1993): "This effect has been documented in several different study designs for more than 70 years," he writes, adding, "The net effect is doubled without changing intake of other nutrients, urinary calcium content increases by about 50 percent."

Researchers from the University of Sydney and Westmoreland Hospital discovered that consumption of dairy foods, especially early in life, is associated with increased risk of hip fractures in old age (American Journal of Epidemiology, 1994).

In Pediatrics (2000), Pennsylvania State University researchers showed that dairy calcium intake, which ranged from 500 to 1,500 mg per day, had no lasting effect on the bone health of girls in their teens. "We had hypothesized that increased calcium intake would result in better adolescent bone gain. Needless to say, we were surprised to find our hypothesis refuted," one researcher explained.

Finally, a review of all research conducted since 1985 published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2000), concluded: "If dairy food intakes bone health, one might expect this to have been apparent from the 57 outcomes, which included randomized, controlled trials and longitudinal cohort studies involving 645,000 person-years." The researchers go on to lament, "There have been few carefully designed studies of the effects of dairy food intakes on bone health" and then to conclude that "the body of scientific evidence appears inadequate to support a recommendation for daily intake of dairy foods to promote bone health in the general U.S. population."

What we do know is that osteoporosis rates decline markedly as body weight, exercise, and caloric intake rise. Corroborating the researchers' concerns about poorly controlled studies, only three studies have factored caloric intake into the analysis. None of these studies found a correlation between dairy intake and bone mass or health.

Is the dairy industry ignoring these factors by design in its clinical studies, perhaps because dairy-product consumers tend to be heavier and have a higher caloric intake than those consuming fewer (or no) dairy products? Despite the fact that so many dairy researchers ignore this information, most studies still show no correlation between cow's milk consumption and a lower risk for osteoporosis, and some actually indicate that milk is associated with an increased risk. Perhaps if these factors were taken into account, the studies indicating no link would instead show, in fact, that dairy-product intake is linked to an increased risk of osteoporosis, as does the Harvard School of Public Health study. That would bring clinical analysis in line with the population analysis, which clearly states that increased dairy-product intake is linked to increased risk for osteoporosis.

Conclusion

Drinking milk builds dairy producers' profits, but it is not likely to build your bones and may even harm them. Dairy foods are linked to all sorts of other problems, too, including obesity, heart disease, and cancer, and are likely to be contaminated with antibiotics, hormones, and other chemicals, including dioxin, one of the most toxic substances in the world. On April 12, 2001, The Washington Post reported that "the latest EPA study concludes that people who consume even small amounts of dioxin in fatty foods and dairy products face a cancer risk of one in 100." These consumers may develop other problems, too, including learning disabilities and susceptibility to infections.

Of course calcium is an essential mineral. According to Dr. Neal Barnard, president of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, "Milk, in particular, is poor insurance against bone breaks...the healthiest calcium sources are green leafy vegetables and legumes. (and carrots) You don't need to eat huge servings of vegetable or beans to get enough calcium, but do include both in your regular menu planning." To learn more or for a free vegetarian starter kit - which includes information on nondairy sources of calcium - visit DumpDairy.com

So what can you do to maintain strong bones?

1. Get plenty of exercise. Studies have shown that exercise is the key to building strong bones...maybe more important than any other factor.
2. Get enough vitamin D. About 20 minutes a day of sunshine...or take a supplement...or both.
3. Eliminate animal protein. For a variety of reasons, animal protein causes severe bone deterioration.
4. Limit table salt intake. Excess sodium can leach calcium out of bones.
5. Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables. They contain vitamin C which is essential for building collagen, the underlying bone matrix.
6. Do not smoke. Studies have shown that women who smoke one pack of cigarettes a day have 5 to 10 percent less bone density at menopause than do nonsmokers.

My son was a breastfed baby as well up until he was 16mths old, we started him about 10, 11mths on 2% mixing it with a little water, but it was given to him in a sippy cup, he never drank out of a bottle. The reason they say you should wait is the whole alergic reaction, my think is if they are gonna have one they will have it at 10mths or 1yr. I was never allergic to cows milk nor was my husband. I used my better judgement and just gave it to him. When he turned 1 we switched him to whole milk.

I waited till 12 months with my first, of course, because that's what "they say" :) With my second, I was comfortable giving her whole milk at age 10 months. You could gradually introduce whole milk (whole milk should be first, not 2%, i'm pretty sure) by mixing it with pumped milk if you're worried about allergies/tummy stuff. I went straight to giving an 8-oz bottle of whole milk to my daughter and she did great with it. Remember, the 12-month-old rule is just a *guideline*, not a RULE. :) My ped. said it was fine, too.

Among food allergies...cow's milk is near the top. Also, milk does not contain all the nutrients necessary for a child that age. I would wait. Have you tried the Step 2 formulas? There are milk based and soy based formulas.

Once he starts on milk, it should be whole milk until age 2. They need the fat for brain development.

My kids weaned themselves around three months and it was not a problem. Only yes it was early to start with regular milk so I moved to a soy base milk and they were very happy and they moved to regular milk later without difficulty. They also "told" me when it was time for the first cereals and that was earlier than the doctor said but it did not harm them nor make them big people as they are now grown and normal sizes with normal appetites. Give the soy bases a try and see how things work. Be sure to ask your ped. doctor to recommend what is a good one to try.

One thing to consider is to maybe do some reasearch on the link between early exposure to reg. milk and childhood asthma (did I spell that right - sorry it's late). I know there are lots of studies that say there is a link. So, if you have asthma in your family or any type of health issue like that, that your son might be pre-disposed to you might want to wait. He might just be teething or something that is throwing off his normal behavor. I would switch to form. before going straight to milk.