Breastfeeding My 12 Month Old and Beyond

My name is Germana Mejia I live in the city of Hialeah Fl.
I breastfed my son Jerick until the age of two in a half , I am now 36 , I also have an older son that y breastfeed for 6 month only , and just let me tell you , Jerick is so loving to me and so special he shows his feeling and emotion in a very particular way , I feel so good about him , and do not get me wrong I feel wonderful about my first son Chris , but I do believe that Jerick and I are more attach , on the other hand he never liked cow milk until now and there for he is very slim , I think you could give him his cow milk and let him get use to , and continue breastfeeding until you feel is time to let go ,

Hi proud mommy!
I breastfeed my 1st son until he was 13 mos old and am currently still breastfeeding my 15 mos old. As soon as they turned one, I introdcued cow's milk (however you could introduce toddler formula too) and gradually I put the milk in a sippy cup and offered it. I did that because I was really tired from the nursing.
The great thing is you can do whatever you want! :-)
Good luck,
S.

If you are breastfeeding your daughter does not need cow's milk. I nursed my children for almost 2 years and they have barely ever drank cows milk. We have alot of dairy allergies in my family. Calcium can be obtained from many sources other than dairy. Also, focus on giving her good fats like avacado.
Hope that helps.
C.

J.:

I breastfed my daughter until she was 19 months old...and I was 5 months pregnant with my son. I nursed her whenever she wanted it. When I found out I was pregnant I weaned her...one feeding every one to two weeks. She didn't start eating food until 10 months old...she didn't want it. When I was weaning her I also gave her a bottle of Organic milk, rice dream or Organic soy milk. No need to worry...do what you and she feels to do. Every baby and Mother relationship is different.
Good Luck!
I am now breastfeeding my 9 month old son and he bites!!:)

L.

Hey J.,
My kids are all teens and it has been YEARS since I was nursing. It makes me so sad to know that there really hasn't been any improvement in the information out there for women who choose to do the right and natural thing for their babies. It makes me sad that you use the word "should" in your question. You are the expert on your child and every child is different. If she's hungry give her more. If she's more active and wants to nurse/bottle less than that will happen naturally. Also, cow's milk is for calves and completely unnecessary to your daughter's development. She will get enough calcium from a healthy diet. Especially living in Florida as I do, my girls got more water when they wanted less breastmilk. They never got milk. They have never wanted milk to drink or missed it or needed it nutritionally. They get almond or rice milk for cereal or in recipes, etc. Water, water, water, not milk, not juice!
And congratulations to you for keeping up the nursing while working and living in a culture that does not empower your choice!!!
: )

hi you definately want to keep up the breastmilk as long as possible, and as long as you are both happy with the arrangement, because the health benefits are enormous for you and baby. let her tell you how much and when. you don't need to stress about her diet too much if she is eating solids and breastmilk. you've had a successful experience so far, it will continue as you both grow and change as long as you stay in tuned to eachother. my son is 2 and still nursing. it works for us. it's very easy and enjoyable for us both. a friend of mine stopped nursing at 1 and switched to cow's milk, her daughter was very ill. so don't do anything drastic, just follow her lead and enjoy a happy and healthy toddler. email me if you have specific questions about long term nursing, i know it can seem intimidating when baby becomes toddler and you want to do everything right. congrats
A.
www.mysinlesschocolate.com
____@____.com

Congratulations on making it to 1 year!!!! That's awesome! =) Breastfeeding only changes if you are not happy with your current arrangement. You really don't need to change anything at all if it's working for you. Since she's a year, you can offer solids first and then nurse. That's really the only change you need. You also don't have to introduce cow's milk when you're nursing as much as you are. There's no reason for it as breastmilk IS whole milk plus all those extra great benefits, like antibodies. That being said, I did introduce cow's milk at a year because I was going back to work and didn't want to pump. And I wanted her to have something while I was gone. I worked very part time and nursed when we were together. I nursed my daughter until she was about 25 months. An additional resource on extended nursing if you're looking for more info is www.kellymom.com. They have lots of evidence based breastfeeding information.

I breastfed all 3 of my children. My second daughter nursed the longest (until she was 3 years and 5 months). I was also two months pregnant with my 3rd child when I officially weaned my daughter.

Breastfeeding doesn't have to change much past a year old unless you want it to stop which you've stated you do not. With that said, yes, you can begin introducing cows milk. I would recommend getting your daughter off the bottle as it is much harder to ditch the bottle as she gets older. Introduce the milk, (cows or pumped) in a sippy cup so she gets accustomed to it. Once she is able to drink from it, get rid of the bottles.

While it is true that her intake of solids will increase, her intake for fluids will also follow but as she gets older, she will be getting a variety of fluids, not just breatmilk. You should never decrease a child's fluid intake just because the child is eating more. What I always have done is feed my children and give them their drink after they eat (so they don't fill themselves on fluids and not solids) and I give them a cup to drink of whatever they want throughout the day. You can continue to nurse whenever you want. Since you are working and you won't be nursing on your baby's demand, you may consider nursing in the morning and night only and on days when you are off, nurse her when she wants. With my 2nd daughter, since I've been a stay at home mom from the very beginning, it was always easy for me to nurse my children whenever they wanted to nurse. Also, since breastmilk is best, I always nursed my babies BEFORE feeding them their solids and then I nursed them when they were done eating. It always worked well for me but you must find what works for you.

Hi, J.. Well, if what you're doing now is working, I really don't think you need to change it. If she's getting enough to drink, and as much nourishment overall as she needs, then you probably don't need to change anything at all. In this country, after age 1, a lot of babies breastfeed mostly for comfort, but in other countries, they get a significant part of their nourishment up until age 3 from breastfeeding.

Cow's milk is OK, but it is not as good as breast milk. Sometimes it can cause stomach upset because of gas, even if baby's not allergic to it. If you do decide to transition her to some cow's milk at this stage, please start her out slowly. Just as you would with any new food, give her just a little bit to see if she does OK on it.

If you're concerned about the eventual transition into daycare or preschool, and the fact that she will eventually encounter cow's milk there, then I can see why you might want to deal with it now. However, if breast milk is working fine for her and for you, if you and baby are happy, and there is no urgency to do anything else, then I say why change?

Peace,
Syl

Since you already have received a lot of good advice to keep bf as long as you both enjoy it, I won't go on about that. But you asked how things change after a year...
As our babies start to explore apart from us more and more, nursing becomes an important way to reconnect, especially in the evening. Some babies want to nurse more, not less, as they grow a little older, at least for a period of time. We're going thru that again right now at 14 mos with dd#2.
A great thing about bf a toddler- as their taste for different foods change and develop, it is easy to set aside concerns about their eating and let them choose how much, when, and which healthy options they prefer, b/c we know their main source of nutrition is still breastmilk.

As far as moving to cow milk- we didn't. We increased water consumption as she self-weaned during the day. This has turned out to be a great choice, as she still prefers water to any other drink at 3 1/2. We didn't introduce juice until she was about 2 or older, unless it was a drop meant to flavor a full glass of water. This helped too with keeping healthy options for hydration.

Good luck! and congrats on making it through your first year of parenthood!

Congrats.

You have gotten a lot of good advice. The only thing I wanted to say is try to get her off the bottle and on to a sippy cup.

My son is almost 17 months and I am 25w pregnant and we still nurse. Not as much during the day but @ night he likes to nurse 2 to 3 times. He never took to a bottle so the introduction of a sippy cup was hard. But he only drinks my milk or water. He has had juice once or twice but ____@____.com when we go out.

Congrats again on still nursing and not wanting to stop.

Hi J.,
Breastfeed as long as you would like. I would recommend doing away with the bottle. If she is able to hold a bottle, she can hold a cup (not a sippy cup, those are for transition from bottle to cup only, not long term use). You will get some spills, but her speech (oral-motor) development will be better as a result.
Good luck,
S.
www.createwealth.myarbonne.com

Hi J.,
I'm with Christina and Suzy on this one. It's great that you're still nursing. I nursed my daughter till she was 4. She would have kept going and I guess so would I yet I wanted out. I still miss it and I still remember how wonderful the bond was and how close it's made us. It is wonderful for the children and this is the only country that doesn't help women nurse or nurse longer. The WHO recommends up to at 6 to be healthy and appropriate, etc.
It's true that cow's milk is intended for calves, they lactate for their offspring just as we do. It's funny that we are raised in a culture lead to believe (of course through billions of dollars in advertising) that the milk from a cow or goat or whatever is healthy and intended for another species. It is hilarious actually. I should give some props to the industry for letting us believe this for so many years. It's true it creates allergies and obesity and all sorts of illness. If we feed our children a healthy, balanced, plant based diet we are able to get and thrive on all the proper nutrients. www.notmilk.com is a great site to see.

On another note, we then teach our children compassion and love for the world. If we show our children that we do not use animals for our 'advancement' and cause suffering to sentient beings it brings light and awareness all around. We teach children to love animals, not eat them or cause suffering (keeping them in modern industry for use of milk causes much trauma and pain) and leading to an untimely death.

Keep up the good work, sounds like you are a great mama who wants the best for her child. If you need support for long term nursing, it's out there. If you can't find it, let me know, I'd be happy to help.

In Peace,
R.

Hi,

I breastfed my son till he was 13 1/2 months. he did not like cows milk. On his birthday I went to breastfeeding 2 times per day morning and night and then just solids and cows milk in a sippy cup throughout the day. He is now 16 motnhs and takes 2 bottles (6 oz each)and refuses cows milk in a cup. He is a great eater and the doc said he is doing great. I was told by the doc that at age 1 most of his calories need to be from solid food and not milk. we do 3 meals and 2 snacks each day. Hope this helps :)

A.

That is the approach I took with both of my older children. They both became more interested in other sources (especially since I found a cup with their favorite video characters on it)long before 2. I think your plan should work just fine.