A Q for those who weaned baby off breast milk at 12 months

What did you give your baby instead?

February will mark 12 months since DS has been having breast milk.. I'll have been expressing for 16 months and I think I'll be stopping then (I want to stop now!!)

In a perfect world, DS wont need to be supplemented and will continue breast feeding but I honestly don't think that will happen. I think he may still have his NG tube and I also think once I stop expressing my milk will dry up and he'll wean :(

So if he's still having EBM down the tube in Feb, what should I replace it with? Cow's milk? Formula?

I would speak to a nurse/dietican in regards to what to put down the NGT, I only ever put EBM and water down DDs once she no longer needed the nutrients in my EBM I only put water down the tube and ensured she had cheese and yogurt for calcium. I personally wouldn't bother putting cows milk down unless you have concerns about his calcium intake, my DD still won't drink cows milk now.

ETA: If you are concerned about his lack of nutrients if he does stop at the breast I would see a dietician for advise, if he does require a formula supplement you should get it for free through the HEN program that supply his NGT and equipment, however a dietician from the hospital will need to order/prescribe it on your behalf (to get for free in the program that is).

It's the calories he needs DD.. As I said I am really hoping he wont need supplementing and can maintain his weight with just breast feeding and food, but if he's still needing supplementation I'm not sure what to give him. I haven't had much to do with dieticians because they pushed formula all the time. I was so sick of it.. Plus they didn't tell me anything that wasn't common sense anyway.. When I tell them about what I have done with weaning the tube myself they just say that's what they would advise anyway..

ETA: He was having his EBM fortified with precription formula that I got subsidised, paid about $5 a tin.. I still have heaps left, I weaned him off it when he started solids so now he just has plain EBM down the tube..

I guess DD was pretty much weaned by 12 months, I think she had one feed in her 13th month and that was it. We ended up going with cows milk. Before that, I was supplementing with either cows milk or donated EBM. We did buy goats milk formula but I wasn't comfortable using it. We also tried her on goats milk, but it upset her tummy, which can happen sometimes.

PZ - How many bottles of cows milk is she having a day?

I was lucky to have a good dietician I needed it as DD had failure to thrive for a while and did not gain a single gram for over 6 months, I did see a couple of dodgy one though in regards to getting her off the tube and I know what you mean by the common sense advice :rolleyes:

I did put formula down the tube after I stopped expressing for a while although that was when she was having nil by mouth. Once she started eating and required extra calories but not nutrients I got a tin of polyjoule from the chemist, you don't need a prescription you just ask for it over the medicine counter, it is tasteless and you can add it to their weetbix, drink, yoghurt, anything really and it adds in those extra calories.

Aaah, the old poly joule!!! I have some! maybe I can start spiking his meals! He is eating solids really well, but as soon as I try to wean that tube he struggles to gain weight. He had FTT too which is why he has the tube..

Ahh yes, stop gaining weight when I try to wean the tube, it took us 6 months from when she started to eat solids to removing the tube but she did have an aversion to drinking - anything, so we had to ensure she was getting enough fluids. If it helps, when it did happen it came out of nowhere one day she pulled out the tube (which yes had happened a million times before) and we just never had to put it back in, we did have to push ourselves past our comfort zone, but it worked. It was odd really there was a documentary on TV the day after her tube came out about the place in Austria that specializes in getting children off of NGTs and it just gave us the confidence to push a little more than we usually would.

I give her 3 full bottles a day...so that's what, three times 260ml? She sometimes doesn't drink all of a bottle and occasionally won't drink half of a bottle depending on how she's eaten. They're each before a sleep, morning, afternoon and nap. I'm thinking of cutting a bottle, probably her morning one first.

Hi BAL, with my 3 kiddies I tried cows milk, but found they tended to need the extra boost from toddler formula (with the solids as well)
I was told minimum of 600ml milk each day after 12 months old (until either 2 or 3 years old, I don't remember which)
The formula I use is the Aptamil Gold Toddler. Seems to work fine (DS2 is still drinking it each nap time and has just turned 2)

Since all my bubs were comfort feeders a bottle at bedtime helped them sleep.

DD1 weaned just shy of 12 months (13 days for memory). We were already supplementing with formula (Step 1 gold varieties only) and switched to cows milk just after her first birthday. We did it cold turkey and she was bothered in the slightest. She was having three 200ml bottles a day then.

Good luck with it all BAL, you've done and continue to do an amazing job.

I weaned from the breast at 14 months with DS1 (i was pregnant and really sick) and he then had only food and water as he wouldn't drink cows milk and had always refused formula at daycare. He was only bf twice a day though (morning and evening) and it was more about comfort than hunger/thirst.

My DD2 weaned off the boob at 12 months straight onto zymil milk as plain cows milk upset her tum. DD1 had her large bowel removed, was FTT and needed heaps of calories. At 12 mths old she weaned off the ngt, we put duocal in all her food + alfare prescription formula until about 13 mths when we swapped her to s26 toddler formula as she really needed the cals + nutrients.....was a balancing act for a bit to figure out how much milk filled her up too much so she would actually eat! She never really 'drank' from a bottle properly though.....