Introducing cows milk to your breastfed baby
It can be a big decision to introduce cow’s milk to your 1 year old!
Here’s what you need to know:
There are essential nutrients in cow’s milk:
fat
calcium
protein
vitamin D
It is very important to meet your baby’s nutritional needs and milk is definitely a CONVENIENT way to meet some of them, which is why it is such a popular recommendation! However, if you are deciding not to give your baby milk, there are other ways to meet these needs!
If you prefer to continue exclusively breastfeeding (not adding in milk), here are some foods that contain the same nutrients that milk can provide:
FAT: breastmilk contains MORE fat than cow’s milk, cheese, avocado, oils (coconut, avocado, olive, etc), coconut milk, full fat yogurt, butter
CALCIUM: kale, salmon, yogurt, mozzarella, tofu, sardines, fortified plant based milks, cannellini and great northern beans, almonds (as nut butter), spinach
PROTEIN: beef, chicken, turkey, fish, lentils, beans, tofu, eggs, nut butters
VITAMIN D: eggs (yolk), vitamin D supplement, some fish (salmon, light canned tuna), vitamin D fortified foods such as yogurt and cereals
If you DO want to introduce cow’s milk but also want to continue breastfeeding, you can do both!
You can offer breast as needed and also offer small amounts of cow’s milk in a cup or bottle (I exclusively pumped, so I liked to mix my breastmilk and cow’s milk into the same bottle)
Remember: fats are very important for your baby’s brain development, if you switch to cow’s milk be sure to offer FULL FAT (WHOLE) milk until baby is at least two years old! (Note: your own breastmilk is also considered “whole” milk! - it has even more fat than milk!)
If you decide to mix your pumped breastmilk with whole milk with the intention of switching over to whole milk, I recommend gradually increasing the amount of whole milk (start with 75% breastmilk and 25% whole milk, then 50% breastmilk and 50% whole milk, then 25% breastmilk and 75% whole milk and then 100% whole milk!)
If your baby is refusing whole milk, is it because they prefer their bottle warmed? If your baby prefers warm breastmilk in a bottle they may also prefer the whole milk to be warmed! (if you want to be able to give your baby cold milk you can try gradually decrease how much you warm their bottle until they are only receiving cold milk)
You will want to limit the amount of whole milk per day to 16-24 ounces! - too much cow’s milk can lead to iron-deficiency anemia (cow’s milk can interfere with iron absorption)
If you aren’t ready to introduce milk but the pediatrician is recommending it, here are questions you can ask - Why cow’s milk? Are there other ways I can meet my baby’s nutritional needs?
