Drinking less and less milk

[gardenpixie32]

My DT's are almost 7 months old. I started weaning them on purees at 24 weeks as per pediatrician's advice. All going well and they are up to three meals a day and have been for about 3 weeks now. However, they are both starting to drink less and less milk (formula) since eating three meals a day. I know most for their nutrients etc comes from milk and that milk is more important than solids at this stage. I cut down the amount of dinner they were eating hoping they would take more milk before bed, but this didn't work.

This is a usual day for us...
7:45 - Offered 6oz milk, they drink about 4oz, followed by breakfast of either Ready Brek or porridge oats and a small Plum yoghurt that they share.
11am - Used to be offered 6oz milk but they gradually dropped this so nothing in the late morning
11:30am - Lunch (vegetables with protein puree with fruit puree & small Plum yoghurt to share)
2:30pm - Offered 6oz milk, they take around 2oz, sometimes nothing at all!
4pm - Dinner (fruit and yoghurt) I used to give them a vegetable puree was well, however, I have stopped offering this now in the hope they will drink more milk at 5:30pm.
5:30pm - Offered 6oz and they take around 5oz. Their bedtime is 6pm, I have tried extending it to 7pm, but they become overtired and hysterical!
10:30pm - Offered 6oz and they take around 4oz, sometime nothing at all!

So that is a total of around 12-15oz per day. They are around 17lbs (both 25th centile).

Should I be worrying that they are drinking so little milk? Shall I reduce their solids (but to be honest, they don't each much either).

Before weaning they would drink around 25oz-28oz per day.

Some advice would be great :)

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

The minimum a full term baby should be on at this age is 20floz. I don't know if its different for a preterm baby. Have you got someone to ask like bliss or a Paed dietician?

[Wheresmycaffeinedrip]

To be honest it l

[Wheresmycaffeinedrip]

Oops hit post . To be honest it looks like every meal/milk time is just so close together that there's no time to get hungry. Perhaps drop lunch for now and stick to bottle?

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

Agree that things are a little close together. At that age my dd had milk at 7 and breakfast at 8. Also agree that I'd drop lunch for a bit and see how it goes.

At the evening meal could you offer something a bit more calorific like avocado or banana? How are they with things like pasta with tomato and mascarpone sauce or finger foods like eggy bread, cheese on toast, breadsticks with humous, strips of meat, cheese wedges or bagel with nut butters?

[gardenpixie32]

Thanks for the replies.

Finger foods are offered at each meal. They are not great at feeding themselves but will give it a good go. They were 6 weeks prem so not able to sit in a high chair/bumbo without heads toppling forward. They also get frustrated very quickly. The ped advised that their hunger would be greater than their ability to feed themselves and I am finding this to be true. Also, they sleep LOADS still. They can't stay away for more than 1.5-2 hours so this is why I have to do meals so near to milk. They eat a lot of avocados, 3 times a week mixed with banana. I dropped the 10pm feed a couple of nights ago, I am finding that so far, they are drinking more in the day as a result. Will see how that goes for now.

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

Glad they are drinking more in the day, have you got someone who is experienced with preterm babies who you could discuss the milk quantities with?

[gardenpixie32]

I talked with their pediatrician about milk quantities 2 weeks ago, he said that 18oz would be sufficient for them. I dropped the 10pm feed 2 nights ago and they are now talking around 18oz per day. A full 8oz in the morning, 5oz in the afternoon and 5oz before bed. I also use formula in their cereal so they are now getting around 20oz in total. It must have been a fussy stage they were going through. I will keep on eye on it and ask their pediatrician again when I see him.

Thanks for your responses.

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

So glad things are back on track