first birthday,so what now re weaning?

[mrsleomcgary]

Dd turns one next week and eats really well though she is still primarily having bottles,4 x 8oz a day with a little of whatever we're eating at meal times about an hour later. I've found weaning really difficult as despite talking the health visitor and reading books i've never been confident I was doing it 'right',eventually someone here said 'food before one is just for fun' and i've kind of taken that and ran with it,which is why she's still primarily bottle fed.

Anyway,i know we need to start dropping feeds,introducing cows milk etc but i'm a bit clueless on how to do it. Should I just give her some cows milk instead of formula or mix it for a while? Start dropping the size of bottles gradually or just stop giving one or two outright?

As I said she's really good with food and will try anything we put infront of her,even had steak pie and roast potatoes on new years day lol, so the actually food part doesn't worry me but any tips for dropping bottles greatly appreciated.

[BertieBotts]

Could you replace the daytime feeds with milk from a cup, cow's milk perhaps? Keep a bottle at bedtime and in the morning (or even change the morning bottle to a cup of milk with breakfast) and follow her lead with the daytime drinks. You will probably find as she gets more active she's less bothered. But the bedtime one is nice to keep going last of all. If you are concerned about teeth you could change to a sippy cup, but as long as she isn't walking around with a bottle, and the last feed is before tooth brushing, you should be OK.

[yellowsnownoteatwillyou]

Ds refused bottles during the day at 10 months so I'm no help there I'm afraid. I just changed to cows milk at nearly the end of a tub of formula still in a bottle thou at a year just to see what would happen and he never seemed to notice, so I just switched to cows milk for a week or so then tried milk in a straw cup in the mornings and a bottle at night.
Then straw cup of milk at night, teeth brushed then bed.
He still has milk in a straw cup in the mornings and at night and is now 17 months.
He has access to water in a straw cup through out the day.

[mrsleomcgary]

Defo need to buy some cups. We have one and she'll feed herself from it no problem but we keep making her formula in bottles though habbit more than anything else!

[yellowsnownoteatwillyou]

What does she drink water out of?
I've found ds gets on best with nuby straw cups, they are good as If you have a few,all of the tops fit on all the cup bits. And they are really easy to clean.
For some reason ds can work out how to tip cups up enough to drink out of them, so straw cups work best.
He can however drink bath water out of open cups in the bath thou

[mrsleomcgary]

She doesnt drink water on it's own at all really,other than when it was really hot during the summer when she got it from a bottle. She's on formula and I was told that she doesnt need any extra water as she gets what she needs from that.

[EmbarrassedPossessed]

The thing about not needing water is true for formula fed babies prior to weaning, but after you start weaning (assuming 6 months ish plus) you should begin to offer water with meals. I would start to give her a free flow sippy cup of water with each meal, and let her get used to having however much of that she wants.

You should be aiming to transition away from bottles, as others have suggested. Maybe swap the morning one for cows milk, and then after a couple of weeks offer a cup of milk and a snack instead of a bottle. Do the same a couple of weeks later with the next bottle until you're just doing an evening bottle. You can then swap that to a sippy cup at some point.

[katandkits]

Instead of feeding on milk and topping up on a bit of solids you want to try to reverse it. Instead of giving a bottle first thing you could try breakfast with water, she will eat more because she will be hungry. Then she will have a smaller volume of milk in a cup a bit later. If she is drinking 8oz of milk before each meal, she is probably still full up and wont be able to eat much. Alternatively give a smaller amount in a cup on waking and breakfast a bit later. Only use a bottle at bedtime. Offer water in a cup at meals and she will get used to it, and be less thirsty for milk. Also i think changing away from formula will mean she drinks less. You are aiming for about 300ml per day, and a maximum of 500ml. Put 500 ml of milk into a container so you can divide it up during the day perhaps?

[mrsleomcgary]

Thanks for the tips,will definatly start offering water. Just to check though,does it need to be boiled and cooled still or is straight from the tap ok?

[FelixFelix]

My dd turned 1 just before Christmas. She was still drinking a lot of formula and not loads of food. I swapped to cows milk and started giving her snacks of yoghurts/cheese/crackers etc when she would usually have her bottle of milk. Her appetite has gone up massively since we stopped giving her formula! She will now eat two crumpets for breakfast, and just ate a whole two egg omelette with feta cheese for lunch Before she would eat a tiny bit of one crumpet and probably half of a one egg omelette. You will probably find the same, that she will eat loads more once you've dropped the bottle feeds. I was worried like you, as I thought she wouldn't be eating enough without milk but I was really surprised

Don't stress about it, just do it gradually. Dd now has one bottle of milk before bed and drinks water from a sippy cup through the day alongside her food.

[FelixFelix]

Forgot to say as pp said, you need to reverse it so you offer food over milk (when before you would give milk then food). Dd gets her breakfast as soon as she wakes up in the morning, rather than a bottle of milk then some breakfast later on. Maybe try giving breakfast ASAP in the morning replacing her bottle of milk then go from there.

[LittleBearPad]

Tap water is fine

I'd drop one bottle at a time and replace with food and water or milk in the cup.

Make the nighttime bottle the last one to go as its a nice part of bedtime.

Don't stress over it.

[yellowsnownoteatwillyou]

Just out the tap is fine.
Before weaning you are right you shouldn't give them any water, but after 6 months old water is fine.
You can try breakfast in the morning, I found that my ds likes milk to drink then breakfast about an hour after he gets up, but that was trial an error.
And try a snack with a drink when she would normally have a bottle, during the day, she will probably drop the 2 during the day first.