Switching to Cows Milk Early

That is totally fine! I would suggest mixing the milk w/ BM at first to get her used to the taste. 3/4 BM: 1/4 milk. Then after a few days 1/2 and 1/2 and so on.

You should be fine. The only thing to watch for is constipation - some little ones can't handle cow's milk in large quantities, and it can cause major constipation. Both of my kids were that way, and we switched to soy (for my older daughter), and rice milk (for my younger one). After that, they were both fine.

Oh yes, get off that Reglan! I was on it for about 3 days and I was going crazy, seriously. Did you ever try fenugreek? It worked pretty well for me. You are so close to a year that I totally think it's fine to start weaning her, but if you wanted to try the other herbal thing it might help you.

Anyway, I do think it's fine to go ahead and switch to cow's milk. Since she doesn't really drink formula now I would not try and mix it. You could try and mix it with some of your breast milk but you may not want to use it for that since you have problems with supply anyway. If she's eating enough table food then she really is getting nutrients from that and at a year that is supposed to be the bulk of her calories and nutrients anyway, so I think she'll be fine.

I always did whole milk with my kids from 1-2 and then switched to skim at 2. I think they need that extra fat. It does make them drink more milk, because honestly, it's so darn tasty, but I think it's fine.

Good luck.

I switched my son at 10 months. His ped was fine with it. He still nursed at night and had maybe one bottle of breastmilk a day at daycare (I had a frozen supply).

Go for it. Start mixing cow's milk with your breast milk. 1/4 cow's for a week, 1/2 the next week if she does well, 3/4 the following...you get the idea.

There's no "rule" out there that it HAS to be 12 months. We Americans are so weird about that stuff. My oldest was born in Germany...we started rice cereal in the bottle at 5 weeks, and baby foods at 2-3 months. Both of my boys are excellent eaters with NO food allergies.

Just for fun, check out the documentary "BABIES" on Netflix. It's an excellent look at how different cultures raise their babies...and the results are a little startling! :-)

ETA: I agree with Tori on the whole milk. Please don't give baby low-fat milk. Babies' brains are growing...and brains are made of FAT! :-)

Yes.
Does she drink out of a sippy cup?
My oldest never had a bottle. I nursed him until 10 months, gave him formula in a sippy cup for a month and then he just went to milk at about 11mo. Then there is no bottle breaking issue'.

I say yes, it would be okay to give cow's milk now, as long as she is still getting some breast milk. 11 months is when I started cutting down on bottles with all of mine, I think they all were at about 4 bottles a day at that time and we cut out 1 bottle a week, with them having their last bottle the day before their first birthday. We never put anything but formula/breast milk in the bottle and we never put those things in a cup...so I would say you are basically doing that, no? beginning to wean her?

I think it's not a big deal - you will still be nursing some, just not exclusively. Try the milk in a sippy cup, but be prepared that she might not like it right away. She is used to her food warm. So you may need to warm the milk in the cup at first. Also, she won't understand that she needs to suck on the sippy cup, so take the valve out so that when you tip it up to her mouth, some drips out and she gets the idea that there is something good in there.

Good luck! And congrats on nursing for this long, you've given her a great start.

I tried switching our daughter to cows milk at 10 months.. and it went through her so fast. Diarrhea all over her high chair, the floor..

So try a little. and see how she does. IF she can handle it, go for it.

At a year... our daughter did fine with whole milk..

My first daughter switched to cow's milk at 10 months. My youngest has recently switched over to cow's milk. She is 10 1/2 months.

Honestly, I think our current medical system is like an over protective parent.

If she likes it and does well with it, then don't worry about her age.

I switched all four of my kids over at around 10 months. By that time they were eating regular meals, okay cut up and all, and it was just a beverage.

Go for it my son was 11 mths and is perfectly healthy w/no food allergies.

As long as she's still getting other foods and breast milk, I don't see why introducing cow's milk would be a problem. Cow's milk cannot substitute for breast milk nutrition-wise, though. Breast milk is complete food. Cow's milk for your child is the same thing it is for us - a good source of protein and calcium, but not nutritionally complete.

Do watch for digestive issues, though - my daughter couldn't handle lactose until she was about two.

Yes absolutely, give her vitamin D though

I also exclusively BF and ran into supply issues around 11 month as well. My daughter refused formula,so we tried switching early to cow's mil
k. She refused that also, so pediatrician suggested adding instant breakfast (carnation has one but there are other brands also) to her milk and that did the trick! Now she is 18 months and will take the cows milk straight. Hope that helps! I definitely think it doesn't make alot of sense to force the formula for just a month. Go od luck!

I started whole milk at 11 months during the day. I still breastfed first thing in the morning, and at bedtime, but the rest of the day was milk. My kids never had formula.

if she is eating enough solid foods.. baby food table foods.. seh can switcht to milk. Cows milk is not a complete food. so if cows milke will be her major source of nutrtion she will be lacking in vitamins and minerals... so as long as she eats other things she should be fine..

have you tried fenugreek to increase milk.. works great...

When you try to give your daughter formula do you mix 1/4 formula with BM, then up to 1/2 and 1/2 and so on until she's used to the taste of the formula? At 11 months your daughter is also nearly ready to make foods her primary source of nutrients/calories. I had supply issues as well because I was working full time and pumping (are you just nursing or does she get bottles of pumped milk too?) My son was drinking more from the bottle than from me, so we switched him to a sippy cup because he drank it slower than the bottle.

In answer to your question, you are probably fine to switch to cow's milk, but I would check with your pediatrician just to make sure there are no allergy issues to consider. I started giving my son one cup of milk a day at 11.5 months, then 2 per day at 12 months until he weaned.

We started cows milk around 11 months, but now we don't use it at all, we prefer Almond milk.

I wanted to do the same with our last son. When I mentioned it to the pediatrician he just about scared the *&)$# out of me. He said there are many studies that have shown moving to cows milk early causes developmental delays and disease. I thought he was over reacting...I mean what's one month right, well I googled it and he was right.

About your milk...I had the same problem...just never felt my babies were getting enough to eat. I've supplemented with formula but I think if I would have been consistent in taking an herb I would have been fine. If you go to your local health food store you'll find it. I can't remember what the herb is but it's called "Mothers Milk".

Good luck.