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Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Infant feeding

How much drink does your one-year-old drink? And have you switched to cow's milk?

15 replies

Nickname1980 · 12/02/2015 11:30

My baby just turned one and he is a huge milk drinker (formula 2). I worked out this morning that he's having about 37 ounces a day on a big milk day! I'm a bit worried that's too much.

How much do your little ones drink?

He doesn't really eat his breakfast and picks at lunch, but eats his dinner with gusto.

I'm concerned the milk is filling him up for breakfast and lunch. He drinks it before nap times/ bedtime and then through the night and is genuinely hungry for it...

OP posts:

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NickyEds · 12/02/2015 15:38

Ds is nearly 14 months but has had the same amount since 11 months- 6oz when he wakes up and 6oz before bed (both cows milk since 11.5 months). I used to give him milk in a sippy cup during the day but he didn't really drink it and seems to prefer water.
37oz does sound like a lot. Have you tried cutting the bottle size in the morning down to see if he has more breakfast? We give ds his milk when he wakes up, usually around 5.30 then he doesn't have breakfast until 8am so he has time to build up an appetite. Have you offered water at night?

milkjetmum · 12/02/2015 15:44

Dd2 is 1 at the weekend. I offer 3x8oz bottles a day (mid morning, mid afternoon, before bed) so 24oz. somedays she finishes them other days she has about 6oz a time.

I will switch to cow's milk next week (dd2 permitting!) And also plan to swap bottles to Tommee tippee beakers over coming weeks which will reduce milk to around 18oz a day.

Nickname1980 · 13/02/2015 10:14

I do need to start offering him water at night NickyEds - I just know he'll wail and I am soo exhausted that I give in to the milk. I think it's kind of a vicious cycle - he's hungry at night because he feeds at night etc.

Swapping to beakers sounds good.

Milk is kind of a nap signal though. He doesn't fall asleep drinking, but he drinks before he falls asleep - it's part of the routine. How did you guys break that habit?!

OP posts:

TheYellowCat · 13/02/2015 10:25

My DS is 13 months old and drinks hardly any milk at all. I offer milk 3 times a day but he will drink 1-2 ounces at most, and often completely refuses.

He's on cows milk. I breastfed until 10 months but he self weaned, so he wasn't interested in breast milk either

He absolutely LOVES his food though, and has done since I weaned him.

HoggleHoggle · 13/02/2015 10:35

Ds 14 months has a bottle when he wakes up - 150ml - and then one before bed which is a big one - 260ml. I think that's just under 12oz overall? He's on cow's milk.

He stopped having daytime bottles at around 10 months and I offered snacks mid morning and mid afternoon instead.

I've been following the Annabel Carmel advice for weaning and it seems to have worked for us. She said that 1 yr plus they should have around 400ml milk overall in a day. I'm not obsessive with her advice but ds is my first and I've found her guidelines very helpful to tweak around our own routine.

I would cut out the daytime bottles for sure although I know that's a pain when you're using them as a nap prompt. We have a dummy for daytime naps here so that's always served as our prompt, it's the only time he's allowed it. Is that an option?

I think cow's milk is less filling than formula so maybe switch to that too?

mrsmugoo · 13/02/2015 10:48

DS is 11 months and he is offered 3 x 7oz sippy cups of formula (mid morning, mid afternoon and bedtime) he sometimes drinks less from the first two but always polishes the whole lot at bedtime. Has skipped the mid afternoon one a few times without even noticing, if we've been out or had later lunch.

I've tried him on cows milk and he just spits it out, so now I'm mixing it slowly with formula.

He always has milk an hour or so after food so that it doesn't impact on his appetite for proper meals.

NickyEds · 13/02/2015 10:54

You could try cutting the daytime bottles down by an oz every couple of days until they're gone??

GotToBeInItToWinIt · 13/02/2015 11:22

DD is 15 months and still has the same now as she did at 12 months which is 7oz in the morning, 7oz after her afternoon nap and 7oz at bedtime (occasionally 4oz in the night too). Far too much! If I put it in a sippy cup she drinks absolutely none. We're working on it!

GotToBeInItToWinIt · 13/02/2015 11:23

Ps we weaned to cows milk at 12 months exactly. Much cheaper.

Nickname1980 · 13/02/2015 22:48

I would be all for a dummy, HoggleHoggle, but he rejected them at 5 months and still won't have them!

Thank you for your advice all! Hmm it sounds like he's having way too much milk. Perhaps I'll cut his nap prompt bottles down to 4oz which will mean I can eventually wind that down to nothing...

Any tips on stopping the middle-of-the-night feeds?! Cold turkey?!?

Plus, out of curiosity, anyone doing follow-on-milk or goat's milk?

OP posts:

milkjetmum · 14/02/2015 08:56

I did go cold turkey with dd2 night feeds. She would cluster feed from 7pm onwards, which was ok when she'd be asleep by 11/12 but when she kept asking for feeds until 3.30 (and I had to be up for work at 6) I said enough is enough!

Did the dreaded controlled crying at 11 months, which of course is not fun but I was desperate. Funnily enough it worked really well and on the second night when she was asleep in less than 2 mins I felt a bit cheesed off! If I'd known she just wanted to be in her bed I'd have done it earlier!

I know controlled crying is not for everyone, and I didn't do it until I reached breaking point, but it does work...

NickyEds · 14/02/2015 09:53

We went cold turkey with night feeding then did cc too. We switched to cows milk at 11.5 months and just stopped offering milk in the night. He took it with reasonably good grace but we replaced it with cuddling/rocking for 45 minutes at a time. A week later we ditched the rocking and did a version of cc (not the "proper" way) where I left him to cry for 2 minutes then 4 minutes then stayed in the room but would not pick him up from his cot- just kept on laying him back down (I slept in the nursery so he wasn't alone but he wasn't being held). The first night he cried for more or less 2 hours, second night 20 minutes, third night he slept through. It was really hard but I was throwing up all day with morning sickness and it really needed to be done.
When we did this he'd had a couple of months of self settling for naps so I knew he could do it during the day.
Maybe chose either nights or naps to go cold turkey with the milk???

BMO · 15/02/2015 11:34

DS2 is almost 12 months and has a 6oz/180ml bottle of cow's milk in the morning and at bedtime, and sometimes another 4oz in a cup during the day.

NHS recommends 350ml of full fat cow's milk a day between 12-24 months.

Scotinoz · 15/02/2015 11:50

DD is 14 months, and has 150ml of full fat in the morning and 200/250ml at night. Has done so since about 11 months. She has plain yoghurt, Philly etc virtually everyday too.

I went cold turkey with the night feeds around 8 months.

Scotinoz · 15/02/2015 11:51

Oh, and she drinks from a straw cup - wouldn't entertain a bottle after about 8 weeks

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