Amount of milk/dairy with extended breastfeeding

[@llli*elizabethr]

I'm just wondering how much dairy you all give your little ones? We are doing BLS, she likes cheese a lot, and she still bf several times a day plus a lot overnight. I think she is teething/getting ready to walk soon since she is nursing ALL NIGHT LONG lately! Oh, by the way, she just turn a year on Jan. 6th.

I was just reading on babycenter that the APA recommends babies over a year drink 16oz but no more than 24oz a day of cow milk. This seems like a crazy amount of milk! She hasn't had any cows milk yet, and I don't really see a need as long as she is nursing (although I'm not opposed to it, we are a big milk drinking family).

The article said they recommend the milk for fat and calcium, so I'm just wondering what you all do. I know a lot of you don't do cows milk either. If so, do you make sure your lo's get lots of other dairy, or is breastmilk enough?

[@llli*djs.mom]

As long as you are still nursing 3-5 times in a 24hour period, no other milk is needed to replace your milk.

[@llli*elizabethr]

That is what I was thinking about the milk, good to get confirmation.

Do you give any other dairy, yogurt, cheese etc, after 1 year to help with the fat and calcium? Or do you just ensure that they have a balanced diet in general and not worry specifically about dairy?

[@llli*djs.mom]

I was sort of anti dairy when DJ was a baby. It seems like there were healthier ways to get calcium (like how cows get it. Through greens) I never did really get into feeding him yogurt until after the 3 year point...because I could never rectify how much sugar was in it. 17 grams in one small thing of yo baby. YUCK. I did feed him string cheese. But in general I limited his intake of dairy to one serving a day. I let him start to consume cow milk when he was ready. Which was after his 2st B-day but even then no more than 8 oz a day. He's 7 now and I still work to limit it. It's not one serving a day... he usually ask for 1 glass of milk a day and gets some cheese with dinner or on a sandwich, but here are some of the tricks I use. Things are different now in terms of allowing sugar and what not. So some of these might not work for you until later. But we feed him soy creamy bars or So delicious coconut ice cream bars instead of real ice cream. We feed him chocolate coconut water instead of chocolate milk, and if you can get your kid to drink coconut milk I highly recommend it. You get twice the calcium with half the fat and all the calcium is very absorbable. As compared to the calcium we get from dairy...which there is a TON of it but it's not nearly as absorbable by humans.

[@llli*debbers]

I was sort of anti dairy when DJ was a baby. It seems like there were healthier ways to get calcium (like how cows get it. Through greens) I never did really get into feeding him yogurt until after the 3 year point...because I could never rectify how much sugar was in it. 17 grams in one small thing of yo baby. YUCK. I did feed him string cheese. But in general I limited his intake of dairy to one serving a day. I let him start to consume cow milk when he was ready. Which was after his 2st B-day but even then no more than 8 oz a day. He's 7 now and I still work to limit it. It's not one serving a day... he usually ask for 1 glass of milk a day and gets some cheese with dinner or on a sandwich, but here are some of the tricks I use. Things are different now in terms of allowing sugar and what not. So some of these might not work for you until later. But we feed him soy creamy bars or So delicious coconut ice cream bars instead of real ice cream. We feed him chocolate coconut water instead of chocolate milk, and if you can get your kid to drink coconut milk I highly recommend it. You get twice the calcium with half the fat and all the calcium is very absorbable. As compared to the calcium we get from dairy...which there is a TON of it but it's not nearly as absorbable by humans.

It's SO nice to see more moms shying away from dairy and sugar. I know so many adults who think low fat (i.e. high sugar) yogurt is a healthy snack. We haven't started solids, but she will one day eat how we eat. No dairy at all, no processed food including soy, lots of coconut.

[@llli*krasota]

We offered my son kefir and other cultured milk products, particularly strained yogurt, after he was a bit older--closer to 18+mo. Cheese was also offered. We offered these because they're part of *our* diets. I never introduced cups of milk as he breastfed 3-5x/day (generally quite a bit more than that) until nearly his fourth birthday (he slowed down that last month, but did nurse the week of his birthday). There was simply no need to give him milk.

He occasionally has cocoa as a treat these days.

DD is sensitive to cow's milk in my milk, so I'm off dairy and have no plans to introduce it to her for quite awhile yet.

[@llli*mammi]

agree with PPs, no need for cow's milk. In my opinion cow's milk is one of the most processed foods one can buy. I grew up in farm country and as a child had fresh cows milk straight from the cow. It does not at all look smell or taste anything like the stuff we buy today.

Mine is four now, almost weaned except for the occasional "night cap". We have never offered him cows milk, as I saw no need while he bf several times daily, but other dairy products. He loves yoghurt (we buy the plain kind with no sugar or fruit etc added at all), and even more he loves cream cheese (not a processed kind brand name one, but a farmer market product with no additives. He does not like matured cheese but eats a lot of greens.
Also I give him fish, which he loves, and peanuts (he loves shelling them, I dont give him the salted kind) or apples or banana with peanut butter.
he sometimes has asked for cow's milk as he has seen his buddies drink it at day care, but only ever takes a small sip. last time he told me very seriously that he does not want it anymore at all as it was needed by the baby cows (he is into wathcing animals nurse their young). I was quite taken aback because this was not my reasoning behind not giving it and I certainly never told him that.

[@llli*debbers]

agree with PPs, no need for cow's milk. In my opinion cow's milk is one of the most processed foods one can buy. I grew up in farm country and as a child had fresh cows milk straight from the cow. It does not at all look smell or taste anything like the stuff we buy today.

Mine is four now, almost weaned except for the occasional "night cap". We have never offered him cows milk, as I saw no need while he bf several times daily, but other dairy products. He loves yoghurt (we buy the plain kind with no sugar or fruit etc added at all), and even more he loves cream cheese (not a processed kind brand name one, but a farmer market product with no additives. He does not like matured cheese but eats a lot of greens.
Also I give him fish, which he loves, and peanuts (he loves shelling them, I dont give him the salted kind) or apples or banana with peanut butter.
he sometimes has asked for cow's milk as he has seen his buddies drink it at day care, but only ever takes a small sip. last time he told me very seriously that he does not want it anymore at all as it was needed by the baby cows (he is into wathcing animals nurse their young). I was quite taken aback because this was not my reasoning behind not giving it and I certainly never told him that.

i LOVE this! i really hope i can raise my daughter to choose to eat how i eat. fresh foods, real meat, no dairy. we are going to do BLS and i am thinking of cooked egg yolk as her first food. from what i have read if i have no egg allergy then the yolk is ok for her even at 6 mos. we buy cage free organic eggs. her meals will still be 99% breast milk, so this is truly just exploration for her. thoughts?

[@llli*djs.mom]

I thing you are supposed to wait a year on eggs. I would at least wait as long as eggs as you plan to on meat. Which I didn't introduce chicken and turkey until the 9-10 month window and no beef or pork until after the year point.
Any particular reason you want egg to be her 1st food? Vs fruit or veggies?

[@llli*mommal]

I thing you are supposed to wait a year on eggs.

My pediatrician totally scolded me for giving DD2 eggs prior to a year.