Weaning Question

[WannaBeRaw]

Guys I really need some advise

I have a beautiful baby girl who just turned 1 year old. I am still breastfeeding but I need to start weaning her. She does take breast milk from a bottle at daycare and she will drink water or juice from a sippy cup. I don't want to give her cow's milk and I have read that soy milk may not be the best alternative for her. I have tried almond milk and she was not impressed. Can anybody give me suggestions for milk alternatives. I want to make sure she gets all the calcium, vitamin d and other nutrients she needs.

Thanks in advance for your help

[Revvell]

Not having children I'm wondering why not give her various blended veggie and fruit juices?

How did you make almond milk? I make it w/out any additives yet others here add dates, vanilla and/or agave to pleasant it up.

Revvell

[Helen Of Tennessee]

My grandson went from breast milk to just water. That is all he drinks. We try to get him out into the sun for vitamin D.

It's my understanding that you can get all the calcium you need from fruits and veggies. Now if you are going to eat animal foods, that will pull the calcium out of your bones as does sodium (salt).

My grandson is 2yrs. 4months and at his last doctor's visit he was extremely healthy. The doctor (naturopath) was very impressed in how healthy he was.

Here are a number of articles on calcium that might help with ideas of what foods are high in calcium:

Alissa Cohen
http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3708

CowÂ’s Milk is for Calves
by Michael Dye
http://www.all-creatures.org/cb/a-cowsmilk.html

Should you drink your milk? & Milk and Calcium
http://chrysalisyog.homestead.com/milk.html

Why dairy products wonÂ’t help you maintain healthy bones
http://www.milksucks.com/osteo.html

[WannaBeRaw]

Revvell-- Your answer just made me realized just how brainwashed I have been into thinking that my child just had to have some kind of milk like substance. Of course I can give her blended fruit and veggie juices. I was just so focused on milk that I didn't even think of it. And I usually use agave to sweeten my almond milk but I think I will experiment with my recipe, maybe I can find a recipe that she will like.

Helen Of Tennessee-- Thank you for posting the links. I have been getting some not so gentle pressure from my daughter's daycare and her pediatrician regarding my no cow's milk stance. The links really helped me to educate myself so that I can easily answer any detractors.

You Guys Rock!!

[Veganmama]

I was reading in Kate Woods book that 1 Tablespoon of sesame seeds has eight times the calcium of a glass of cows milk, there is also another quote in there somewhere about Carrot juice having more calcium glass for glass then cow's milk i'll have to find that.

[truthseeker]

Yes sesame seeds...but unhulled.

WannaBeRaw....don't forget that mammals wean their young when they have cut their 1st molars. In humans this is around the age of 6, hence the world wide average age of weaning children being between the ages of 4 and 6.

So thinking on your 1st response/instinct to give your baby a "milk like substance".....I would like to bring to your attention that it maybe your motherly instinct to fill baby's need for fats (along with the calcium) that you are looking to replace.

[lavendarJ]

Just a thought...I was just thinking why not continue to give her the breast milk if you are still producing. It might be a transition process depending on how attached she is; I was just thinking that if you are concerned about the milk issue then just try to transition her to taking her breast milk in a sippy cup at home. My cousin is still breast feeding and her little girl is now 16 months. She is working on making the switch and is trying out the sippy cup. Her little girl no longer desires the bottle and aside from breast feeding ocassionally, she wants everything from the cup.

[adrienne]

i have tried sesame milk & almond milk with mediocre reaction but i'm still trying!!!
i soak organic unhulled sesame seeds for 1 to 2 hours, then blend them with water and dates(many), then strain thru a cheesecloth
i make the almond milk the same way but soak the almonds for longer
do not give the sesame milk every day b/c sesames contain oxalic acid which can block the absorption of iron and calcium, suprisingly enough, so moderation is good
i like to rotate all the milks, i use even store bought rice a few times/week
good luck! i'm struggling with the same situation! my 17 month old WAS drinking 6oz of "green juice" every day until she got a stomach bug at the end of dec., now won't drink any...so very sad am I!!!
us raw moms must stay strong!!!

[Amberly]

I would not give an infant nut milks. I'm not sure how applicable that is to 100% raw babies, but I would not take a chance. It seems to me, no expert, that since you have breast fed for a while, hopefully as long as possible, (I would prefer to keep them on until they wean themselves), that juices would be appropriate and safe. Just be careful doing anything too radical or you may end up with a law suit and lose the child and have them live with a really SAD family. Know what I mean?
Good Luck.

[karenisraw]

My vegan raw doctor said to let the baby nurse until nature takes it's course, between 1-2 years. Just thought you may want that tidbit of info.

[WannaBeRaw]

Thank you guys

For your responses. I have been thinking and I realize that I set an arbitrary deadline for weaining my daughter based on Other people's expectations. I think that I will try to give her a wide variety of nut milks, seed milks (especially the sesame seed) juices and smoothies in her cup, but since I am still producing breastmilk, I will trust nature to take its course and let her wean in her own time.
I just ordered the book Raw Kids and I hope to learn more about making sure she gets all the nutrients she needs.

You know it is kinda sad. Thinking about Amberley's comments, I seriously doubt that most SAD mothers worry so much about what their children are eating and I have never heard about the state taking away a child because the child is obese and unhealthy due to SAD.

We have gotten so far away from eating food in its natural state that we have a hard time trusting nature to do what nature has always done- Feed and nourish us

truthseeker--- The molars are the flat teeth in the back of the mouth. Yes??

[Boysenberry]

Hi,

My son is 16 months old. He weaned himself from the breast when his aunt and I went raw in August. He literally popped off the breast, crawled over to his aunt and demanded her honeydew and cantaloupe, he never went back. He still wanted the bottle. The Doctor reccommended formula I was giving him to supplement my breast milk was giving him diarhea and a horrible rash, no matter how quickly I got the diaper off.

I tried nut milks and he didn't really like any. What I decided to do was to make sure he was eating a balanced raw diet, green smoothies and fruit, plain water in a cup, even some soaked grains.

He is growing like a weed and is very intelligent. He still wants a bottle for bedtime, I put in organic gently warmed herbal tea. Blueberry is his favorite, but he will drink chammomile and peppermint. I sweeten it with agave or raw honey.

I want you to know, he chose raw before I did. He declined Dad's sausage and pancakes and devoured my raw oats and green smoothies. Victoria Boutenko talks about the many many nutrients of greens that totally changed my view about being raw. Greens have iron, calcium, even protein that we weren't taught about in school. They are a wealth of health and mixed with enough fruit, sweet and tasty.

You can do it!! As far as CPS taking away my children, I don't talk up my food preferences in front of people that might get some funny notion about nutrition when they haven't done the research. Including my mother.

Sami feel free to PM me. samiwinners@hotmail.com

[Boysenberry]

By the way, my 16 month old didn't get teeth until he was one. He got a lot at one time when they did come in and there are four molars back there. Six years old for molars? Adult ones perhaps?

[truthseeker]

Yup.

Permanent Teeth Eruption Chart :


http://www.ada.org/public/topics/doc...ption_perm.pdf

[Veganmama]

I just wanted to add that i'm still breastfeedig my 3 year old, and when i moved back to my home town last year i wastn't to keen on feeding her in public anymore. Not that i personally have any problem with it it's just that i wasn't strong enough to take the stares and the comments. So i started expressing and now i give her brestmilk in a cup when she wants it. I also put it on my older daughters (4) cereal.