Part 1 outlined our first attempts with dairy; cheese shreds, a little yogurt.. we went slow and did alright. We did experience a couple days were we determined we gave her too much too soon and would go back to dairy free for 2-3 days before going back to cheese and yogurt.  Part 2 outlines our steps to a successful reintroduction.


Brief history; I had been breastfeeding - actually exclusively pumping for the past 8 months. Right after she turned 11 months a bout of food poisoning left me dehydrated for too long my milk supply dropped significantly. I went from pumping 20-24oz on average to 7oz at most in a 24 hour period. So we had to supplement with Nutramigen (hypoallergenic formula). I quit pumping and Aria was exclusively formula fed for about a month.

We were gave the green light to introduce milk alternatives after her 12 month appointment, with Almond milk at the top of the list due to its nutritional advantages over other 'milks'. Excited to get away from the expensive formula, I added a small amount of almond milk to the water for her first bottle. Nope.

I even tried to add just a drop or two. Nope.

The Ped's office okay'd coconut milk - I consumed twice my weight in coconut milk ice cream while pregnant so I figured she may prefer that..  The coconut milk was great! Aria loved it. Due to the lack of calcium we increased her intake of other calcium-rich foods, with the intent that coconut milk would be short term.

Over the month of May, in a very slow transitional process, we gradually introduced milk. The initial attempt was 1oz milk with 4oz coconut milk, which went well, only promoting more innocent farts as she was playing with her toys.

Each week we gradually adjusted the ratios of each milk. The first week I was a little giddy and went too fast increasing the cow's milk. Tummy-aches, crying.. we backed off for a few days to let her system readjust.

In the long run this is what our ratios looked like: