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Moving on to Milk

Starting to wean our toddler. We're working with solids, but also wondering at this age what milk (other than breastmilk) is recommended? Will probably be awhile before we cut out nursing entirely, but would like some ideas about what to supplement.

I appreciate that continuing to nurse may be the ideal; however, my work schedule is changing and won't have as many opportunities during the day to nurse and would rather not have to go back to pumping at this time.

Answer:

Usually milk can be introduced when your baby is around 12 months old. If you want to slowly replace nursings with milk you can start substituting feeds with a cup of milk.

It's usually not too hard to do with toddlers. If you have pumped milk those feeds can be the first to be replaced with milk.

If you want to replace actual nursing sessions, start with feeds during the day. Before nap and before bedtime nursing sessions are often the last for children to give up, so start replacing the ones around these times.

If you'd like more detailed information on weaning, the book How Weaning Happens is really a great read. Mothering Your Nursing Toddler is also very good and discusses the weaning process and how to proceed.

Enjoy introducing your toddler to new tastes :)