8 months old boy on 3 meals now, how many "milk meals"?

[Simi]

Hello, just wondered if someone could tell me how often I should feed my baby milk (I am still breastfeeding but have just started to give him formula milk). He gets some veggies for lunch, fruits in the afternoon and cereals in the evening. Not sure how often I should give him finger food and how many milk feeds he needs besides the morning and evening feed?

[Twiglett]

Don't know the answer but DD is 8 months (come join the May thread under post-natal clubs) .. has breakfast, lunch, dinner and is BF

we normally have bf around 3pm, then at 6pm then at 3am .. probably not a routine to copy now I think of it

as long as baby is drinking water and on 3 meals a day I think 3 feeds a day is ample .. you could put it down to morning and night feeds if you wanted

[Newbarnsleygirl]

The guidelines for milk intake are about a pint. So if your baby has a 260ml-300ml in a morning and night there would be no need to give another feed really. You can also include milk in your cooking or give yoghurts. Speak to your hv. She should help.

[Gem13]

I was told by my (good) HV around this time not to give less than 5 feeds and that was what I was doing anyway.

7, 9, 12, 3, 7. DS was a good eater but was on 3 meals a day and nothing else.

DD is more of a snacker and at 10 months is on 4 feeds - 7, 9, 3 and 7. She has the odd rice cake when she wakes and occasional comfort feed too.

Is your baby having breakfast? Mine are always ravenous and have mashed banana and weetabix.

[Bozza]

DD ( also 8 months!) is on 3 meals a day but they sound bigger meals eg yesterday - breakfast ready brek and prunes and a baby yoghurt, lunch plaice and leek in cheese sauce with chopped up noodles, stewed fruit, yoghurt, tea chilli and rice, mashed fruit. She doesn't normally have so many yoghurts but they're nearly expiring.

Meals at 7.45 am, 12.30 pm, 6 pm. She also has 6 oz of formula at about 10 am, 7 oz at about 3 pm, breastfeed at 7.15 pm and sometime between 5 and 7 am. But she is a greedy guts. Am considering starting to give her a snack as well as the milk in the afternoon as it seems too long for her between lunch and tea (family meal so don't really want to move it).

Not sure why you are giving your 3 meals all later in the day and not giving breakfast. Is he not interested at that time or demanding milk or something?

[Twiglett]

No way Gem .. really .. I've always heard the pint version myself .. that sounds like a tremendous amount at 8 months

[Gem13]

I thought your body only produced so much milk anyhow, i.e. more frequent feeds it becomes more 'watery', less frequent - more 'fat' milk. So it shouldn't matter really whether you give 4 or 5, 5 or 6.

I've never really understood how the body worked it out for mixed (breast and bottle) feeding.

[Prufrock]

That does seem a lot Gem

My 8 mopnth old (and he's a BIG, hungry 8 month old) is having
8am BF
9am Breakfast - usually porridge with 2 cubes apple or 1/2 banana, and sometimes a quarter slice of toast as well
12ish Lunch - About 6 ice cubes of something I've made previously, often a lamb or chicken stew type thing. He'll also munch a couple of breadsticks, and drink water
3.00ish snack - Fingerfood. Buttermilk Pancakes or rice cakes or fruit or toast, water
6.30ish dinnerwith us. Whatever we are having, or if it's not suitable I get something out of the freezer - often macaroni or cauliflower cheese. He'll usually have another breadstick whilst waiting for me to get everything ready, and will often finish with a yoghurt.
7.30 BF

Hope that helps. I do think by this stage he needs protein - if you are not veggie then try introducing meat (chicken is best to start with) and some cheese.
And do come over to May Babies (I think we are on thread 8 now)

[handlemecarefully]

Twiglett

My now formula feed nearly 9 month old (formerly breast fed until 5 mths) takes 42 fl oz in 24 hours - thought that would shock you given your reaction to a pint!

Actually he has way to much milk and I am trying to cut it down to encourage him to eat more solids.

A pint is the correct advice. Don't know what that translates into as breastfeeds.

[Bozza]

Tend to think DD is having more than a pint - 13 oz formula (so 2/3 pint) plus two breast feeds (about 10 mins). Was expecting to be cutting out morning bottle by now but she still drinks it all and then eats her lunch.

[HappyMumof2]

Message withdrawn

[handlemecarefully]

Your HV is...ahem...wrong. 1 pint - that's it!

[Bozza]

So HMO2 would you say that my DD was having too much milk? She's having 3 decent meals as well as two bfs and 13 oz formula and is about average size

[handlemecarefully]

Not good at links but put 'weaning' into your search engine....Don't worry Bozza it is 1 pint (600 mls) per day.

Have just pulled this up on the babyworld website and on motherbliss.co.uk

[Bozza]

Wasn't worried until I read this and then managed to persuade myself to worry . Am actually surprised that she is still needing the mid morning bottle though.

[Prufrock]

Bozza - we have only cut back to 2 bf a day because I have thrush and so feeds are realy painful - this way each nipple gets 24 hours to heal. If this hadn't happened ds would still be having a bf at 2.30ish instead of an afternoon snack.

[spots]

In Scotland the health education board give you this book called 'Ready Steady Baby'. It has examples of typical eating for a 6 month old and a 12 month old. Bafflingly, the 6 month old has 5 milk feeds during the day... the 12 month old has 7! I always took this to mean that it wasn't a problem if there were more than 2 milk feeds a day.

[Bozza]

7 ???????

Where would you find the time with a 12mo?

[Yurtgirl]

Message withdrawn

[handlemecarefully]

IT'S A PINT!!! (tries not to shout)

[handlemecarefully]

And 3 meals a day covering all the food groups with some wee snacks as required

[hunkermunker]

Spots - SEVEN milk feeds for a one-year-old?! I don't think DS has had seven milk feeds since the hazy days of establishing my supply! And he's a breastmilk gannet!

[handlemecarefully]

Reckon 4-5 breast milk feeds a day sounds about right (that could be around 600mls)

[handlemecarefully]

I guess you'll know how many if you ever express?

[PicadillyCircus]

My 13.5 month old has only recently dropped his third bottle - I think as long as they seem to be happy and healthy and are eating a reasonable amount of food that they will be all right.

He is probably still having about a pint of milk a day I think as now seems to have more milk in his morning and nightime bottles.

Suppose they should be not in bottle now. Another thing to worry about

[hunkermunker]

But then expressing isn't necessarily a guide to how much you're producing. Oh it's all so complicated! I give 9-month-old DS food at mealtimes (8-9ish, 12-1ish, 5-6ish), milk when he seems to want it (but definitely first thing, mid-afternoon and bedtime, sometimes mid-morning) and a snack or two throughout the day - lil moo cheese stick, breadstick, bit of banana, etc. He loves water too - strange child

I decided I'd be very laidback about it, then because I wasn't worrying, it all fell into a routine of sorts.