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Infant feeding

Do I really have to go from bottle to cup and try and cut down milk feeds??

6 replies

pispirispis · 04/07/2009 00:39

My 14mo dd is currently drinking three 7oz bottles a day, so around 650ml, and I am or think I maybe should be concerned about this, and I would really appreciate your sage advice.

Am I right in saying the recommended amount for her age is 350ml per day? Is it a really bad thing for her to drink more than that? She was drinking around 4/5oz per bottle until recently, so a total of around 400ml a day, but we live in the south of Spain and it's getting up to 45 degrees during the day and 30 at night at the moment (and you lot say you're hot! ) so I can understand why she might be thirsty rather than hungry for food!

Plus she has 4 molars coming through all at the same time at the moment so is in quite a lot of pain poor thing. She's eating a lot less than usual but still has 3 very small meals a day. Last night she woke up in pain at 1am and had a 7oz bottle before going back to bed, so that's more milk..

So is it bad for them to drink more than the recommended amount of milk? Surely all babies are different and if you're bf you don't know how much milk your lo's getting anyway. She's slim so I do worry about her not getting enough calories though. Do I need to drop a bottle rather than waiting for her to do it naturally, and try to get her to eat more?

And do I really need to wean her off the bottle and on to a cup?? (Don't want to)

Many thanks for your words of wisdom!

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Jennylee · 04/07/2009 00:53

i don't think it is bad for babies to drink more than the recommended amount, it is just a guide, every baby is different and should be fed on demand. the moving onto a spout cup thing is only to protect their teeth, so if you are taking care of your baby's teeth it does not eally matter just yet, is just that they can use a cup at this age and they suck less, so their teeth are less likely to be in contact with milk or juice for longer periods, not really an issue if you look after the teeth and don't give oversweetened juices. You have plenty of time.

if baby is in pain with teething, she obviously really likes the comfort of her bottles of milk, so I would not change anything just now untill she is feeling better, there is no hurry.

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foxytocin · 04/07/2009 04:42

your baby will cut down on milk and eat more solids when she is good and ready to. she isn't the first and won't be the last who prefers milk to food past 1.

as for the bottles, I agree with Jennylee . You can try offering water in a cup during the day so teaching her to use one while avoiding sweet drinks completely. it may still be a while before she drinks appreciable amts but patience.

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AcademicMum · 04/07/2009 11:25

DS1 had 3 x 7oz of milk every day until he was much older than this. He loved his milk, he had a good balanced diet in addition to the milk and ate well. I never saw it as a problem to give him so much milk and he wasn't getting fat on it. (He's now 4 and a tall and skinny beanpole). If milk is what she wants, I'd let her have it, provided that she's getting a good mix of other food too.

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Jennylee · 04/07/2009 12:10

hI FOXY! saw u on fb, brave getting all your hair cut off

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pispirispis · 05/07/2009 10:32

Thanks for your replies and the reassurance! I've always just followed my dd's lead completely when it comes to food and milk, but now that all her little friends of the same age are drinking a lot less milk than her, I started to wonder if maybe I was doing the wrong thing.

She's been drinking water out of a cup since she was 6 months old and loves drinking out of "real" cups and glasses, so that's no prob.

She also eats a great variety of food, and we did BLW which has been a resounding success so far as she eats everything, but in small portions iyswim. E.g. yesterday for tea she had about 1 tblsp of lentils, about 2 tblsp of rice and 4 broccoli trees. I know babies tummies are small but I see her little friends eating much more and drinking very little milk and I just had a bit of a wobble.

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pispirispis · 05/07/2009 10:35

Oh and I never give her juice and she drinks her bottles quickly, and I brush her teeth, so I think I'll just carry on with the bottles for now. Is it more of an old fashioned thing to get your lo off the bottles as soon as they hit one?

Of course if she was coming home from school and getting her own bottle out of the fridge like someone my mum knew, then there'd be a problem!