Nursing beyond 12m - when/if give WCM?

[@llli*carolinakiwi]

Working moms that extended BF'd beyond 12 months - when did you introduce WCM (if at all)?

DS will be 1 year old in a week and he currently gets two bottles of about 5-6 oz each at home with DH (who is a stay at home dad) while I'm at work. I nurse DS after 5:00 when I get home and then try to nurse him before bed, but he's usually not interested then since within an hour +, he ate dinner.

DS LOVES his solid foods. He loves eating greek yogurt too. And I ensure that each day he gets a protein, a green vegetable (if possible) or a plain sweet potato, and a fruit. So, I feel like he gets calcium and vitamin D.

I'm just curious when I'm going to stop pumping for him to have milk during the day and when we will transition him to WCM during the day. I will still nurse in the evenings and during the weekends.

[@llli*joe.s.mom]

You don't have to give cow's milk at all - if you are nursing four times a day, your child does not need any additional milk. And for kids who don't like to drink milk, eating dairy products and drinking water while you're gone is fine too (so, yogurt, etc.).

But if your child does like milk (as mine does), you can introduce it any time now. Joe didn't really start to enjoy drinking cow's milk until he was about 16 months old. Until then, it was breastmilk or nothing. Other kids take to it right away, and still others never enjoy it. So it's very personal for your child, but basically, anytime!

[@llli*jenna562]

I saw your other thread too. In total my DS1 drank my pumped milk in a bottle then sippy until I was completely pump weaned at about 14 months IIRC. He still nurses when we are together (he turns 4 next weekend ) so no need to worry about weaning. He started slowly with cows milk but now loves it along with almond and coconut milk. I agree with JoMo though that if you nurse 4 times and he gets a calcium rich diet otherwise that CM is unnecessary.

[@llli*carolinakiwi]

I saw your other thread too. In total my DS1 drank my pumped milk in a bottle then sippy until I was completely pump weaned at about 14 months IIRC. He still nurses when we are together (he turns 4 next weekend ) so no need to worry about weaning. He started slowly with cows milk but now loves it along with almond and coconut milk. I agree with JoMo though that if you nurse 4 times and he gets a calcium rich diet otherwise that CM is unnecessary.

Thanks ladies for responding.
Since I work full-time I will not be able to nurse DS 4 times a day. Since I don't see him before he wakes up, I will only be able to nurse him M-F around 5:00 and then around 7:15 or so, during bed time.
So, I might continue to pump until he's about 14 months (as long as my boss doesn't mind b/c technically the law says "12 months").

And I agree that he doesn't need cow's milk at all if he's getting most nutrients from me. He loves greek yogurt, and I'm sure he'll like cheese cubes when we start giving him those once he has more teeth. He LOVES his solid food!

I will be looking into almond milk and other milk alternatives besides just cow's milk.

Thanks!

[@llli*jenna562]

what about dream feeding? where he nurses but is still sleeping before you go to work? if that happens plus if he wakes up once a night you are set. the other thing is you could pump on the way to work so he has one bm feeding per day. also although he sleeps in now...it will change and he may become an early waker