9 month old drastically reducing milk feeds

[QueenJane]

Our 9 month old DS was breastfed until 7 months, and has been on formula successfully for 2 months. He was having between 18 and 25oz a day approx., and also eating solids well.

In the last fortnight he has cut out a 7oz bottle as a dream feed at 10.30pm, and is now refusing milk first thing in the morning. I offered a 7oz bottle this morning, and he only took about 2oz and refused any more.

He’s at nursery 3 days a week, and has his breakfast there. The staff are great, but unconcerned that he’s not having much milk. They’ve suggested making sure he’s having dairy from cheese, yoghurt, cows milk in sauces etc., but I thought he was meant to be having 20oz formula a day til 1 year?

So basically, he’s now having possibly a 7oz feed in mid afternoon, and an 8oz bedtime feed, and that’s it. Should I cut back on his solid food? Grateful for any advice.

[CheapSausagesAndSpam]

No don't cut back on his solids...this is normal. Just slosh a bit of milk into your cooking....cheese sauces etc.

[MaverickSnoopy]

My second Wass just like this, in fact she was having around 15oz a day and not much food from around 10 months. I was so anxious and posted on here a lot. Everyone told me it was normal and to give dairy rich foods. They were right and she was fine. He'll be fine honestly.

[endofthelinefinally]

My ds2 was like this. He just loved his food. The other 2 were good eaters but continued breast feeding until 14 and 16 months respectively.
They are all different.

[user1493413286]

My health visitor said between 17 and 21oz of formula so if you look at it like that your DS is only having 2oz less than recommended.

[InDubiousBattle]

No, weaning is the process of swapping milk for solid food, some babies take ages, some do it quicker. My dd was the same, she was bf with one ff a day (bedtime)and from 7 months was reducing the frequency and duration of feed until by 11 months she had abandoned bf altogether and had one ff at night (she dropped that by 14 months). I was worried so checked with the hv who just said to up her other dairy, so loads of yogurt, butter, creamy cheesy sauces etc.

[wintertravel1980]

I wouldn't cut back on solids food if your DS is having a balanced diet and enjoying solids.

The actual "official" recommendation for average milk intake is 600mls for babies from 6 to 9 months and 400mls for babies between 10 and 12 months. Again, this is average and some babies will be having more and others will be having less (page 4):

firststepsnutrition.org/pdfs/How_much_milk%20_is_needed_by_infants_and_young_children_Feb16.pdf

If your baby starts having less than 500mls of formula a day, NHS recommends that he is given vitamin supplements.

www.nhs.uk/conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/vitamins-for-children/?

The "food before one is just for fun" phrase may be catchy but it has little to do with actual recommendations from health care professionals (as per the link above).

[ems137]

My first DS went off bottles almost completely by around 9 months old. I just tried to make sure he had as much dairy in his food intake as possible.

Eg cereal for breakfast
Cheese and yogurt for snacks

The total daily oz of formula includes what is included in food too. So if you can add extra oz to his cereal maybe?

[QueenJane]

Thank you so much for replies. Yes, I’ve got the ‘food before one is just for fun’ etched on the back of my brain! I’ve learned to relax a lot since his birth, I think I just need to let him decide what he wants