7mths - cut down all feeds or ditch one completely?

[lisbapalea]

DD2 is 7mths and seems to be pretty keen on food after about 6wks of solids (doing a combination of BLW and spoon feeding) but I now need some advice on how much formula she's having.

She is now not as keen on her milk - pre-weaning she was taking 8oz x 4times per day, so a total of 32oz / 960ml per day. We're now down to about 6oz for each feed, so a total of 24oz / 720ml per day. I don't know of the phase of going off her milk might be teething or a result of solid food.

Rather than cut back each feed further, which makes me worry that she'll eventually start taking nothing at her bedtime feed (and then wake up hungry in the middle of the night), should I just ditch one feed entirely?

Currently her drinking / eating day looks something like this:

7.30 / 8.00ish - 6oz bottle (not always finished)
8.30ish - half a weetabix with some fruit squished into it, with cows milk, and poss a finger of toast
11.30 / 12.00ish - 6oz bottle (not always finished)
12.30ish - lunch, e.g. half an avocado and some of my rice salad (based on today)
3.30 / 4.00ish - 6oz bottle (not always finished)
5.30ish - dinner of e.g. some of what we might have such as a few bits of fusili bolognese, or some fruit puree, or a yogurt or a combo of any of those
7.00ish - 6oz bottle (usually finished)


Any ideas?

[STOPwiththehahaheheloling]

Why are you wanting to cut her milk intake at all?

At 7 months milk should still be her main source of calories and any solids just an added extra.

[STOPwiththehahaheheloling]

And why are you giving her cows milk instead of formula on weetabix?

[lisbapalea]

Hello! It's really just because she's not always finishing her bottles, having been a very hungry drinker for so long. I just feel unsure whether I should just continue with cutting each one back (which she does herself by just not finishing them), or if I should just ditch one completely, and then hope she will finish the ones she does have, or even increase them back to the 8oz she used to have.

I am very conscious that I shouldn't be denying her the calories and nutrition that the milk is giving her, so I just wondered if there's a better way for me to be getting her to be interested in the milk really.

Sorry if that makes no sense!

[lisbapalea]

I thought cows milk on cereal is fine past 6mths, as long as it's full fat, and as long as she's getting more than the minimum amount of formula for her age? As far as I know the 700ml of formula a day means she should be OK to have the cows milk on her cereal?

[STOPwiththehahaheheloling]

Why do you need her to finish a bottle? Off her the usual amount and let her take as much as she wants. If there is some left in it when shes done then so what? As long as she is deciding when she's had enough that's what matters.

This idea of cutting a feed so that she finishes the next bottle is very odd.

[lisbapalea]

I think I may have explained myself badly - I am not desperate for her to finish her bottles, but I have noticed that the fact she's not finishing her bottles (when she had previously, pre-weaning, been polishing them off) means she appears to be less keen on milk, which was concerning me given that milk should be her main source of nutrition.

I think I will just follow her lead and not worry.

[STOPwiththehahaheheloling]

Well in that case surely you would be wanting to cut down on her solid foods to give her the appetite for milk back.

[Stubbed]

Actually in your position I'd drop a milk feed. I think you'll find that re-arranging feeds and meal timings, once you've dropped a feed, will make everything easier to manage. Eg. Drop a morning feed but give early lunch. Then your baby will be ready for their next milk feed early afternoon.

I think if you are offering milk and they are not drinking it it's clear that they are filling up on food more.

[yellowsnownoteatwillyou]

What you are doing sounds fine to me, they soon tell you when they want to drop a bottle, my ds just refused point blank at 10 months to have milk in the day and only had it at morning and night from then on.
I've found they go thru stages of wanting more or less milk, depending on solid intake or teething.
Cows milk is fine after 6 months.

[yellowsnownoteatwillyou]

As in on cereal or in sauces

[lisbapalea]

Thanks all, feel a bit more reassured now. I had wondered if the mid-morning feed might be the one to ditch, and then lunch will just be a bit earlier, and she may be hungrier for her afternoon milk. That way we will hopefully end up with three more successful milk feeds rather than four ever-shrinking ones.

Good to know about the cows milk - thought that was the case.

[yellowsnownoteatwillyou]

Sounds like a good plan, just trial and error.
I worried about the milk intake drop as it happened quite quickly, but what are you going to do pin them down and force feed them. Eh...No, they are people who can have opinions I feel. You can always up food with milk in it to make you feel better thou.

[ilovepowerhoop]

I would just offer a smaller amount in the bottles that she is taking less from e.g. for the first 3 bottles offer 5 oz and then offer 6 or 7oz in the evening one

cows milk is fine in foods and cereals from 6 months

[lisbapalea]

Thanks again.

I think I may keep on as I am for another couple of weeks, maybe until she's 8mths, to see if this is just a teething related phase of reducing her bottle feeds (seem to remember dd1 doing something similar but that was 4yrs ago and I can remember jack all from then!), and then if she really is continuing to cut each one back, I will try cutting the mid-morning one completely.

[WineSpider]

Righly or wrongly my 9 month old DD only has two 6-7oz bottles a day now. She eats solid food really well, is on the chubby side of the weight chart and I really think if I stopped offering her any milk she wouldn't be bothered in the slightest.

OP - the mid morning milk was the first one she dropped at around 7.5 months I think. She has one at breakfast and one at about 3pm. She has ready brek made with formula before bed rather than a bottle. I think the reduced appetite for milk you are seeing is quite normal as your baby develops an interest in solids.

[lisbapalea]

Thanks winespider - sounds like dd's current (lack of) appetite for milk is normal!

I guess if they go on a mad hunger spurt around 5-6mths (which is when we increased to 8oz bottles), it's only normal that they'll reduce at some point - what goes up must come down etc...!

[fledermaus]

Sounds like she is doing fine, but you could drop to 3 6-7oz bottles. You don't want her formula intake to drop below about 18oz before 12 months though, or she won't be getting enough vitamins etc and you'll have to supplement with vitamin drops.

Cow's milk in cereal or cooking is fine, it just isn't suitable as a feed/main drink before a year.

[lisbapalea]

Looks like dd has decided for herself what we're doing as she today has fallen into a lovely deep sleep in her buggy at her usual midmorning feed time, so I am going to sack it off today and give her lunch when she wakes, but no milk.

I will then increase her afternoon and bedtime feeds from 6oz to 8oz and see how she gets on. In total, when added to her morning 6oz bottle, that will still be 20oz in a day.