When Can I Introduce Soy Milk or Cows Milk?

I talked to my dr about this when my daughter was 8 months old - she was eating a variety of foods by then and seemed to be loosing interest in formula. He told me to mix 6 oz of formula with 2 oz milk for a week. She tolerated that fine so we went to 4oz/4oz for a wk - then 2oz/6oz for a wk - then straight milk. She was on cow milk 100% by 9 months and has been just fine! Good luck!

when she is one year old...after she turns a year you can start either mixing it half and half for the first week...a week should be all it takes for he to get used to the change in milk.

Doctors say that their little stomachs need to wait until they are a year old before introducing cows milk. I would assume the same for soy, but not certain. I would ask your doctor.

Hi K.! Definitely, definitely wait until she is one to switch to cow's milk...or soy milk. I have a 4 year old who is allergic to dairy, and it is VERY difficult to adjust our eating habits to meet his needs. We have no food allergies in our immediate family, so I never expected this to be a risk. I started noticing from things like Hawaiian Delight (it actually has milk in it, a surprise to me) and biter buscuits (which have milk too, surprisingly). These things would make him vomit, and I started to look for a common factor...turned out to be milk. I now wait until 16 months to start cows milk with our kids...due to their increased likelihood of having a food allergy, too. I'm not sure if feeding cow's milk too early can actually CAUSE an allergy, but I DEFINITELy wouldn't risk it, and the pediatrician would tell you the same. Good luck!

In general it is said to not give your child regular milk until 1 yr. I believe it is for possible allergy reasons. I've heard that it can cause an allergy to milk (cow's anyway) if you start it before 1 yr, because their tummies can't digest it very well. I personally would think that 6 months is too young for regular milk. I understand you aren't a fan of formula, but if you don't want to (or she doesn't want to) nurse anymore, then you could try formula. I think Carnation Good Start is supposed to be a good one. You could always ask her doc which would be the best one for her and closest to breastmilk.
The best thing to do would be to ask her doctor and see what he recommends you do for her until she's ready for regular milk.

I always nursed before I gave my daughter solids at meal times. When she was done eating my milk then I would go to the cereal and baby food or else she wouldnt be interested.

Cows milk requires a mature stomach to digest, if you are done nursing go to formula, if you dont want to pay for formula, keep on pumping.

Mama what she is going through right now is a nursing strike. They are very common around the time solids are intro'd, 8-9 months, and then again around a year. DON'T GIVE UP! If you have ample supply and no problems pumping at work, then there is no reason to buy formula. Just keep trying, she willm ove past the nursing strike. Babies dont' wean themselves at this age, they strike, and then come back. Having teeth can suck, but if she's biting then she's not interested, or not hungry. Also at this age you need to get her nursing BEFORE solids. Solids at this age are just to supplement, learn to eat, but breastmilk is what she NEEDS, so get her nursing before the solids.

And remember to just keep at it. She will come back to the breast, just keep going, keep offering, and nurse before solids.

I would talk to your homeopath to see what would be best in your situation. Soy has a lot of hormones that have lead to problems with little boys and girls, one is early puberty. Cows milk also has hormones in it unless you by organic. I just read that milk is one of 12 foods that it is really important to buy organic.

Your child needs breastmilk or formula until at least 1 year. Having said that, with my Dr. okay, I started subsituting breakfast with cows milk at about 11 months or shortly after to start the transition process. Have you tried giving your child breastmilk in a cup? My son was bottle free and drinking breastmilk from a cup since about 10 months or so. Try that, but you can't swicth to milk for another 3-4 months. It will go fast, trust me!! Congrats on your daughter and on nursing her.

Your always told not to give your child cow's milk until the age of 1. I do however have a infant I watch in my daycare who started it at 6 months but I dont recommend it. I guess he stopped taking formula but I would of tried other formulas first before going to cow's milk, there are way more vitamins ect. in formula then cow's milk. I didnt give my son milk until about 11.5 months old just to try some everyday for an easy transition, but it went vey well without doing that. If I were you I would try formula or talk with your Dr. Good Luck!

I introduced cow's milk at around 10 months, but my kids only took sip here or there and continued with the nursing till after their first birthday. I started that early since we had no allergies in our family. I'm pretty sure that the American Association of Pediatrics reccommends that babies either need breastmilk or formula until they are at least 12 month old. I would wait to make milk the main intake until she is 1 year old. Congrats on all the nursing and pumping. I never liked pumping either so I totally understand why you're not enjoying it much.
One last thought. You could try her on some formula before you finish with the pumping to make sure you find one that works well with her. I know some of my mom friends have had to try a few different ones. My thought is that if for some reason she has trouble on the formula you can go back to the pumping if you have to. Probably unlikely, but just a thought I had.
Good luck!
B.

You're not supposed to switch to cow's milk until around 12 months. It has to do with the amount of Iron the baby has in her blood.

My daughter was sick of nursing at 11 months, so I pushed up her 12 mo Dr. Apt and had her iron checked. If it was ok, she could switch to whole milk. It is a simple finger prick that's over before they even know it happened. One drop of blood is all they need. So, we ended up making the switch at 11 months.

Wait until they she is at least one years old to introduce milk. She need the extra calories and all of the vitamins that are in the breast milk or formula. Now days they also put the DHA and ARA in the formula and that is really important for brain development. A young stonach is not yet ready to digest what is in the milk. Giving your baby just milk at this age is really irrisponsible and totally unfair to your little girl. I also breast fed for the entire first year, but towords the last four months I couldn't get anything when I pumped and my freezer supply was gone so I had to use formula every once and awhile if I needed to go somewhere with out him. I really didn't like the formula idea, but its what they need right now. I hope that you can continue nursing. Talk to your pediatrcian or call a lactation cunsaltant and ask for a some advice through them. Good Luck

K.,
My children were all allergic to formula. With my oldest daughter, we tried seven different formulas with her and nothing worked. She would throw up like 'Old Faithful' shortly after she ate. At age 2 months I put her on 2% milk and she did fine. You just have to remember to put a little Karo syrup in with the milk. This keeps them from getting constipated. I told my Dr. that I had done this and he said that's fine but just don't tell me you did it. Look at how many babies were raised on cows milk up until they came out with formula. It sounds like your daughter is doing well with her cereal and will probably begin eating regular foods, like fruits and vegetables soon. Sorry that she's lost interest in nursing, I know that is a special bond between mom and baby. I tried to nurse but didn't have enough milk. Good luck with your situation.
W.

I wouldn't introduce either one of those types of milk, if it were me. Here's why: cow's milk contains way too much protein for human babies and what I've heard (I'd have to do more research myself) is that the amount of protein blocks any calcium from being absorbed. Also, unless the milk is totally organic or Rgbh (hormone) free, your baby will be getting a huge portion of those growth hormones that are given to the cows. As far as soy milk goes, there's a huge controversy as to whether or not soy (America's favorite "health" food) is actually healthy for you. There are those that say (Dr. Mercola for example) that the only soy products you should ever eat are those that have been fermented, like miso, tempeh and such.

So I apologize that I didn't answer your "When?" question, but I wanted to give you a heads up on the "What?" part of it. If it were me, I would do raw goats milk instead of cow's milk. Goats milk is supposed to be more easily digested by humans and any milk in its raw form is better for you than the pasteurized stuff. (Some disagree.) Also, if it were me, I would substitute rice milk instead of soy milk. If you like to read the daily RDA labels, rice milk has 30% calcium per serving where cow's milk only has 20%. So, hopefully that information doesn't confuse the issue too much. I just wanted to share what I've heard and read. Have fun with your little one!

K.,
A year is the norm to wait, I believe due to the baby's digestive system and risk of allergies. My first child did the same thing when he went to daycare and got a bottle, he did not want to work or wait for my milk to let down when I got home from work and became very frustrated with nursing. I wound up giving him formula after working at it for a couple months. I do know others who have been successful. I also did not like to pump and didn't take the time I needed to do it at work, but others have and are glad they did. My next three children I nursed exclusively until a year plus, but I wasn't working and didn't pump. I'm not sure if this has to do exclusively with nursing, but my oldest has asthma and allergies, my other three do not. Do what is best for you and gives you peace of mind. Ask your Pediatrician, lactation consultant or La Leche for more info. Hope it all goes well for you!

Hi there K.,

First I wanted to say kudos to you for being so diligent about breastfeeding...that is awesome. Now to answer your question, prior to baby #3 for me, I was told that at/about 12 mos is when the transition should take place. Then when #3 came along (seven years difference with #2 and #3), they said not to introduce cows milk until 13mos. So I'm not sure that it made any difference, but this was medical advice and WIC office advice. If you are able to, and can tolerate it, I would continue pumping for as long as you can. Nothing is better than momma's milk.

Bless your heart with nursing while baby has 5 teeth too. Teeth are the reason my first two were weaned at 6mo (well I started when they were 6mo). My girls were both biters. My 3rd (boy) I nursed until 8mo with teeth.

In the end though, there is NOTHING WRONG with choosing to give your child formula until the changeover to milk takes place. So if you decide to discontinue nursing, that is perfectly fine. Try not to stress about that. I made the decision to quit nursing at 6weeks with my 4th, and couldn't be happier about it. I was disappointed at first because I loved that bonding time, but Gabe is much happier on formula (he was sensitive to ANYTHING I ate). He has been doing great with formula, as did all of my kids after I stopped nursing. Just remember that formula is called "formula" because it is "formulated" to mimic breastmilk. Hope this helps dear!

B.

I was told to give my children breast milk or formula for the whole first year. My daughter didn't get the hang of nursing, so after a few weeks of pumping I had to go to formula. I nursed my son for six months, when we both got sick I dried up and had no choice but to put him on formula for a few months. They are both doing fine.

I used to feed my children a lunch and a dinner, cereal one time and vegetables the other and then the rest bottles. Six months is still little and it is my understanding that most of their nutrition comes from the breast milk or formula for a little while longer.

You should wait until she's about a year because a child's digestive system is not mature enough until then to digest the proteins in soy milk or cow's milk. And, until then, they need the nutrients found in formula. There are so many out there to choose from, hopefully you can find one that will be agreeable to you and your daughter.

K.,

Never give milk before 1 year old. My pediatition said it can cause bleeding in the intestional tract because their little system can not handle it. I'm sure this info is current, because my son just turned 1 and we just switched him.

always wait until 12 mos, but if she is eating that much food, she is not hungary for breastmilk. Out daughter was born in Sept 2007 & now weighs about 17.5lbs. She sleeps through most nights & wakes up at about 7am & is ready for a long nursing session on each breast. For lunch she eats a 2.5oz fruit & cereal mixed with juice & a little water (about 2 to 3 oz when mixed). Then at supper she eats not quite 2oz of a veggie & 2.5 oz of a fruit. She wants & needs a 'top off' after each meal - she loves her drinks of breast milk after each meal. We have not bought any of the 'Gerber 2nd foods' veggies because she doesn't eat that much. Sometimes she'll eat a 2nd foods mixed fruit for lunch if I mix a little cereal in it, but then that is all she eats for lunch then we sit & she'll nurse a little. I tried to give her more the past few days, but she just spits it out, so that's all she wants right now - less than 10 oz of solid food/day. Try nursing her first then feed her (but don't wait until she is really hungary). Remember the baby food is just to help her practice eating, breastmilk should be her major food source & where she gets her vitimins.

Good luck.

Don't switch to cow's milk until she is 12 months old. This is what my pediatrician recommended to me. She needs the nutrients in the formula (or breastmilk) and cow's milk can be hard on their tummies, not to mention can cause allergies if you give it to them too soon. I would wait until she is a year to transition her.

You can wean to cow's milk around 11mos. so that by 12mos. she is fully weaned.

Formula is perfectly safe and healthy probaly better than cow's milk.

Here are some sites related to cows milk you might want to read. As for soy, rice, etc.... I recommend all GOOD things in moderation, you need to be sure not to give too much of any one kind of formula/milk product in order to avoid allergies:
http://milk.elehost.com/html/why_does_calcuim_leave_the_b...
http://www.drlam.com/A3R_brief_in_doc_format/print/2003-N...
http://home.bluegrass.net/~jclark/calcium_foods.htm