During my pregnancy I read that babies need mothers milk for at least 1 year. I had it in my mind that I would breastfeed my son for at least that amount of time. My son will be 11 months old this Sunday and I know that we are no where near weaning in another month. I have really come to enjoy the bonding experience that breastfeeding provides us as well as the convenience. I will admit that working and breastfeeding is tough because I must pump each day that I am in the office, but it has been totally worth it!
The more I consider the weaning process, the more I think that we will probably just let him self-wean. I do not structure his feedings or naps on a daily basis and I will probably continue with my laid back attitude with weaning. I imagine that I will nurse as long as he is interested and one day, when he is ready, we will be done! As I understand a child will unlikely self wean earlier than 18-24 months of age.
In my research about weaning my son, I came across Green Our Kids, a blog by a mother, similar to me who writes about how having children has brought on her passion for health and the environment. Lena, the author of Green Our Kids posted a blog about how children should not drink cow’s milk. In her article she states that humans do not need milk beyond age 3, and the only milk needed is mother’s milk. We are the only mammal that drinks the milk of another mammal. Children’s bodies were not meant to metabolize a cow’s milk, and therefore are not receiving the same nutrition the baby cow receives.
Lena offers the suggestion of hemp milk or almond milk in place of cow’s milk for children. I asked her about soy milk, and here is her response: Soy is actually very harmful, here is a great article that talks about the dangers of soy- http://www.quantumbalancing.com/news/soy%20dangers.htm. This article states that soy is not something that we should be consuming in large quantities and it can actually be harmful to our health. Soy is also heavily processed in order for it to be in the many different forms it is sold in (tofu, soy milk, veggie burgers, etc). The process for putting soy into many foods is a very unnatural process and actually takes a large amount of energy, expending our precious resources to produce.
If you shouldn’t feed your children soy milk and you shouldn’t feed them cow’s milk, what are the other options? As I mentioned Lena suggests almond milk or hemp milk, but where/how do I get those I asked her. Lena explained that she made her own RAW almond milk for her first son daily, which is very easy to make.
Here is the process Lena sent me for making almond milk:
“All you need is some Raw almonds (the only current sourse of raw almonds is livingnutz.com , as of last year all store sold raw almonds have been pastuerized – but they dont have to label that on packaging – very misguiding!), a nut bag, or cheese cloth, and a blender. You soak the raw almonds in water overnight and then peel them in the morning (optional but preferrable – if u just squeeze on them, they will pop out of the skins). Use 1 cup almonds to 4 cups of filtered water. Blend and strain through a nut bag, or cheese cloth, and you got yourself some raw almond milk. You may sweetners such as agave, or brown rice syrup, honey (after 1) or dates. You may also add bananas and other fruit to make it more delicious. My son used to love “Milk Shakes” – raw almond milk with frozen bananas, a drop of vanilla falvor and dates.”
Here is the process Lena sent me for making hemp milk:
“Raw hemp milk is even easier to make, 1 cup seeds to 4 cup water, blend and strain , or leave as is for a thicker consistency.”
You can also buy hemp and almond milk from Pacific Natural Foods.
As another great healthy option, Lena sent me this recipe she uses for green juice for her children:
3 ripe Bananans
1/2cup Blueberries
1/2cup frozen mango
4 dates
chia seeds
1 tsp spirulina
water
Finally, Lena suggested using Coconut milk and coconut butter for baby’s daily diet once he is weaned from breast milk.
I can honestly say that I was really surprised to read about the effects cow’s milk can have on humans and what the great alternatives are. I thought, like many, I’m sure do, that soy was the best vegetarian replacement for cow’s milk. This blog has brought me discover the wonderful research of other mom bloggers, such as Lena that I might have otherwise not come across.
“You learn something new everyday!”
What are your experiences with weaning? What do you use to ensure that your children are getting the proper nutrition once they were weaned?
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
hey Rachel,
when Will was about 1 year old i started to think about weaning. he had been breast fed exclusively up to this point.
like you said, i really enjoyed the bond that nursing provided so i wasn’t very strict with my weaning process. i really just let it happen naturally. at 1 year old we had incorporated a wide variety of healthy foods into Will’s diet so i was not too worried about nutrition, not to mention he has hardly using my milk as his main source of nutrients.
around 1 year old we started adding 1-2 cups of cows milk from a sippy cut into Will’s diet and this really aided in the natural weaning process. by 16 months i was only nursing at night and this was primarily for comfort reasons for Will and then within another month he was fully weaned with little to no effort on my (or Will’s) part.
I’m a strong believer in nursing, so i feel like as long as it works for both mom and baby then go for it.
also, we never went towards soy milk either. i did some research on it when Will was weaning and was suprised to learn that it offers little to no nutritional value. I was suprised because it’s so highly regarded, but without processing and adding tons of vitamins it really has nothing to offer.
i’m a fan of coconut milk, oil etc. it’s great for everything from cooking, to tummy aches to skin care!
That’s great. I’d rather just let it happen, then choose to all of the sudden stop one day
. I really love cocnut milk too, jut never thought about its many great uses!