Weaning & Milk

[superbabysmummy]

DD is 6 months old, am weaning and trying to reduce milk, find the whole thing very confusing though, how do you know when to reduce milk and by how much, I am loosely following the Gina Ford weaning plan, currently we are doing:

7 - offer 7oz & cereal/fruit (she takes about an oz of this & hardly any breakfast)
11 - offer 7oz & lunch, puréed something & fruit of some sort (she takes between 2&3 oz)
2 - offer 7oz, takes about 5oz
5 - offer 7oz, takes about 1oz & dinner, puréed something and fruit
7 - offer 8oz, takes about 4/5

I am about ready to cut out the 5 pm bottle and move the 2 to 2.30, how do I get her to take more first thing in the morning?

[ExBrightonBell]

Is there a particular reason you want to reduce milk at the moment? Afaik milk is still the most important source of nutrients for a while yet.

Also, you could try giving milk about an hour before giving food. That way your baby will not be too hungry or too full to give the food a try.

[superbabysmummy]

I don't want to reduce her milk necessarily, I want her to take her 7am bottle ...

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

The current advice is to offer milk roughly an hor before solids, so you might need to separate the morning bottle and breakfast.

Have you read the Mn info on weaning? There is a good bit on weaning and milk

[superbabysmummy]

The advice I have been given us not to separate them & to always give bottle before solids... So much contradictory information out there! Will read the mn weaning info, thank you.

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

The Mn info is very good

[superbabysmummy]

Have read the mn info on weaning, very helpful as you said. Still worried about milk intake. I am offering 5 bottles a day of 7 ounces and I am luck if she takes 3 ounces in a go but at least 3 bottles maybe an ounce, pre weaning she was on 5 7 ounce bottles a day so in 3 weeks she's dropped from approx 30 ounces to max 10 now; this cannot be good, surely?

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

Is she only having 10oz in 24 hours super?

[ilovepowerhoop]

my timings at that age were

7am - milk
8am - breakfast
11am - milk
12pm - lunch
2.30ish - milk
5pm - dinner
7pm - milk

How much food is she having as 10oz isnt really adequate for a 6 month old?

[ilovepowerhoop]

p.s. mine didnt have the stomach capacity to take both milk and food in one sitting so I ended up splitting them up to preserve the milk intake

[superbabysmummy]

Yep, she's hardly taking any milk at all. I have just given her a bedtime bottle and she's taken maybe 2 ounces of it and now sleeping soundly. I know it's no where near enough so trying to establish what I am doing wrong. I am worried.

I will try splitting bottles from feeds tomorrow, I always offer her milk first though to ensure she fills up on milk and not solids, she has completely gone off milk.

I am giving as much water as I can get her to take to as concern about hydration, wet nappies are getting fewer and farther apart...

[superbabysmummy]

& food wise

Breakfast: 2/3 tsp fruit
Lunch: 2/3 tsp veggies
Dinner: 3 tsp veggies and 1 tsp fruit

*teaspoons not tablespoons

[superbabysmummy]

Also, she has been weaning for about 4 weeks now so haven't gone from nothing to 3 meals a day, we have built this up over the last 4 weeks

[5madthings]

Milk an hour or so before food and she needs minimum.if 20oz a day. That can include cheese/yog and you can mix milk in her food if worried re amount of mulk.

It may be that she knows the foid is coming straight after the milk so she hokds out for the food?

Some babies prefer food, my dd did which after four milk mad boys was a shock. She ended up having five bottles of four ounces as small more often meant she took more, she would never take more than 5oz of milk at a time.

[superbabysmummy]

I know she needs the 20oz and I offer her it, I offer 5 bottles of 7oz a day... I just can't seem to get her to want it. Going to keep a food diary over next 4 days for her & split the feeds up so he has a bottle then food an hour later..

[ilovepicnmix]

When my baby started solids he lost interest in milk. I spent weeks stressing about it but came to the conclusion that I was doing my best to get enough in him and I couldn't do more than that. He is 9 months now and I've discovered that he will take it if he's sleepy so I time his milk pre naps and a larger bottle before bed. He is more into it now than a few months ago. What im saying is try not to fret too much as next week may be different (and you'll have a new worry!)

[5madthings]

Yes it varies my dd went through phases of having more/less milk.

Also is she teething or unwell at all?

Also in warmer weather my dd was funny with milk. Sometimes offering it at a diff temp helped slightly warmer or cooler. My dd preferred it slightly warmer than the recomended body temp.

Also what teat size does she have? Maybe she needs a faster flow teat?

[superbabysmummy]

Thanks ilovepicnmix, sounds right to me! ;-)

5madthings, she has been unwell... She had a run of cold/ear infection/tummy bug that went on for a while. She's better now though I hope. Teething is a definite possibility!

[superbabysmummy]

Plus, we changed her tests, she's on a 4 now. Fast flow

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

Agree with the others, if you are not bfing at all 20floz of first stage formula is the minimum recommended amount per day until she is 12 months.

Who was it that said not to separate the food and milk? Just wondering as it goes against current advice which is to give the milk roughly an hour before the solids.

At 6 months our routine was pretty much like ilove's. Think you've had some good suggestions on here already including separating milk and food, offering smaller bottles and more often and feeding when sleepy. Can I suggest that you try ibuprofen tomorrow and a teething gel like dentinox before you offer the bottle? If it is teething she might also like a cool, clean flannel and some chunks of cool cucumber to chew on. She might also like a frozen banana too.

You might also want to drop one of her meals for a few days and see if that helps her to take her milk.

[superbabysmummy]

A.l good advice, thank you.

Jilted, it was my HV and also have been following Gina Ford weaning guidelines and she recommended this too...

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

Don't know about your HV but I think its important to remember with GF that her information is often not based on evidence and that she is, I believe untrained and childless. Don't know about you, but when I'm after advice on my DC I like it to be information, not opinion, and from someone who has at least experienced parenthood. But perhaps that's just me

According to the NHS website they shouldn't be on 3 meals until they are at least 8 months.

[superbabysmummy]

I know GF is controversial and I don't subscribe to all her methods but I have found information on weaning really vague and GF's book helped me work out where to begin & how, other than her book I have found nothing else definitive anywhere about how to start, with how much and when. There is a lot of 'see what happens and see where it goes and let your baby be your guide however this leaves me feeling very unprepared and very uncomfortable. I am not good with the play it by ear thing. For a first time Mum I needed a template to follow to get me started and this was the only book/article I could find that actually did this with any clarity.

Ultimately my aim is only to do the right thing by my daughter. With the greatest possible respect my Mum is a nurse, specialising in baby care, later in life she went to manage a nursery and has recently retired, she is a specialist in her field and no one could be more qualified, that said this does not mean I would necessarily use the same methods of childcare that she would.

There is so much contradictory information out there it is hard to know what to believe and what to do for the best. Incidentally, the first I heard that current recommendations for feeding are an hour apart was actually this thread.

Thank you for all your input, great advice that I will take away and definitely consider. Much appreciated everyone