How to Wean a 1 Year Old From the Breast to Goat's Milk

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that an infant be fed breast milk for at least one year and for as long as both the infant and mother want to continue thereafter. If, however, the breastfeeding relationship no longer satisfies both the mother and the baby, the baby can be weaned at 12 months. Once weaned, cow's milk or goat's milk can satisfy the child's need for dairy nutrients. Since goat's milk more closely resembles human milk in its protein composition than cow's milk, a mother may choose to wean a 1-year-old child to goat's milk instead of cow's milk.

Instructions

1

Introduce table foods to your baby one at a time to help replace the nutrients she receives from breast milk. Although both breast milk and infant formula are nutritionally complete, goat's milk is not and only supplies one food group for your toddler. Introduce single ingredient foods that are unlikely to cause allergic reactions such as mashed banana or cooked sweet potato, and allow your baby to eat each one for up to two weeks before adding an additional ingredient.

2

Eliminate non-nutritive feeds first. Sometimes babies nurse for comfort or out of habit. When your baby is cranky and wants to nurse out of comfort, try hugging him or offering a comfort object instead of the breast.

3

Offer your baby a small amount of goat's milk in a toddler cup or mix it into some rice cereal. A child eating table foods and able to drink from a cup or straw does not need to wean to a bottle. Feeding a child a bottle after the age of 1 year only leads to going through a second weaning later.

4

Supplement your child's diet with vitamin D drops. Although cow's milk and baby formula are fortified with vitamin D, goat's milk typically doesn't contain the vital nutrient.

5

Reduce your breast feedings one per day at a time, no more often than every several days. Replace each feeding at the breast with a cup of goat's milk. Eliminate either the first morning feeding or the last evening feeding each day last. Once your baby is down to one feeding per day, move her to one feeding every other day, then every two days, until she no longer needs the breast.