Anon asks Excuse the novel, but Id like to give as much background as possible to hopefully get the most helpful advice. I have an 11 month old DS who 10 days ago went on what I thought was a nursing strike, but I am now believing may be full blown weaning. I know its very unusual for a baby of this age to self wean, but I have tried EVERYTHING thats recommended to get him back at the breast (have sourced info from Kellymom, LLL, an IBCLC) and hes really not keen at all. I have been expressing around the clock to keep my supply up in case he does miraculously start nursing again (I offer the breast frequently throughout the day) but he wont drink the milk I express so Im feeling like its a waste of time. It seems it might be my milk hes gone off and not necessarily nursing. I have explored reasons for why he may have gone off my milk - pregnancy, hormonal changes due to ovulation/menstruation, dietary changes, medications etc, and the only thing that could possibly have changed things is me increasing my dose of thyroxine (to treat Hashimotos disease) which started about a week before the nursing strike. I cant decrease the dose as I was dangerously under-medicated prior to the increase so Im now coming to terms with the fact that this may be it for DS and my nursing relationship. I definitely wasnt ready for it to be over, and I didnt think he was, either, but he seems totally fine. Hes not upset about it, doesnt seem unsettled or anything. My big question is, what milk should I give him as it seems he really still needs the milk feeds, especially before sleeps? When he refused my milk - both from the breast and expressed, I gave some stage 3 formula which he chugged down without a second thought. I would have put him straight onto whole milk, but hes not yet 12months so I wasnt sure. What have others found to be a suitable milk for nearly 1 year olds? Id prefer not to carry on with formula as its so expensive and Im not convinced that he needs it as he has a really good varied diet and a huge appetite for food. My 2yo DD drinks Organic Almond milk with a little honey as she has an allergy to dairy, goat, and soy. DS doesnt have allergies to dairy so Im happy to give him cows milk but definitely not soy. I dont have easy access to Raw milk so thats not really a viable option, but we can get non-homogenised whole cows milk (still pasteurised) would that be an ok option for long term? We also have access to goats milk but its UHT so Im not sure that many of the benefits would remain - and worry wed be paying the extra expense for nothing. Thanks for any advice you have 😊
Posted on: Mon, 05 Jan 2015 19:19:07 +0000