Baby still has formula milk at 12 months

[Sofielou]

DD turned 1 a couple weeks ago. I am struggling to let go of formula milk - she still has a 4/5oz bottle first thing in the morning, a smaller bottle in the morning or afternoon (we have replaced the 2nd day time bottle with cow's milk), and a large 8oz bottle before bed. So she's having 3 a day still.

She's picky with her meals, will eat bits but mostly throws it on the floor. This is the reason I'm still holding onto the formula because I'm worried she won't have a full tummy from the small amounts of solids she's eating.

Can I keep up with the formula until she's eating better? Or do I need to let it go? I'm so worried about her calorie intake and nutrition, it really consumes my mind. 😢

I should add that I've had zero support from a health visitor with this. I haven't heard from anyone since she was 4 months old.

Just switch to cows milk?
youll save a fortune!

@SW1amp

My childminder told me that, since cows milk is a drink not "food", it's not a like for like swap. So it won't fill her in the same way?

Reduce the milk and she will be hungry for solid food! Keep with the milk and she will stay with milk!

I would swap to cows milk too

Mine always dropped a bottle at a time, with the one at night the last one to go.

I'd focus on dropping the morning one first, and just get her straight onto her breakfast. Then drop the afternoon one and replace with a snack. I wouldn't worry about the evening one for a long time, just switch from bottle to cup

Your childminder is talking absolute nonsense!

the calories in formula and whole cows milk are pretty much identical

cows milk doesn’t have the added vitamins that formula has, but she will be getting that from whatever she eats

Have you considered that if DD wasn't full/getting so many easy calories from formula she might want to eat more solids? It's also a texture thing - babies need to get used to different food textures, chewing etc. so if you keep giving her formula that won't happen. Assuming she's not seriously underweight (in which case you should have support from your GP/HV), switch to cow's milk and hold your nerve. She won't starve.

My LO is 13 months and still has formula.
She has up to 6oz in the morning, then I've switched to cows milk in the afternoon, 7oz at bed and then 4oz overnight. She eats well in the main too.
Once she's used to her afternoon bottle I'll change her morning bottle but my main reason for not just swapping all quickly is I want to use the formula we have in the house! I think we have around 5 tubs left.
I've not noticed any difference in her hunger levels since swapping her afternoon bottles so think it probably does fill her up the same? I also give vitamins now, especially on days she doesn't have as much formula

And children don’t need ‘a full tummy’

An inability to regulate their appetite and to only know a feeling of being stuffed is why we have horrific childhood obesity

as pp said, reduce the bottles, let her eat more food until her appetite is satisfied and it will teach her to eat well

This ☝
Switch to cow's milk and start reducing. Check out baby lead weaning sites for help with solids if it's a problem

Your childminder is chatting dogshit

Do you think it will be OK to give her cows milk first thing on a morning then, instead of her formula bottle? On a week day I normally give her formula around 7am and then she has her breakfast with the childminder at about 8/8.30am. 7am feels a bit too early to give her actual breakfast. So if I do cows milk instead before we leave the house, this will be enough for her until she has breakfast at 8/8.30??

(Sorry if this sounds stupid. I honestly have so much worry that she is getting what she needs)

Just give her water and half a banana or a little yogurt first thing.

@Regenbogen22

Thank you, that's a good idea.

Reduce her formula and start introducing cows milk . Also get her a sippy cup to start practicing and then take away the bottles.

Yes cows milk should be fine to give first thing and then breakfast later

Do you have any weigh in clinics nearby that are operating as usual?
Take your DD to be weighed, and talk to one of the HV/nurses there.

She's still little. It's quite normal to eat bits and pieces and get most of her calories from milk .

If you were breastfeeding, I bet you wouldn't have had so many replies that you must stop now and swap for cow's milk or water.

Why do you want to swap? Cost, practicalities?

Is she active,happy,playing,babbling? Is her weight ok?

You've said in your posts it consumes your mind and you're really worried etc. This is not normal please see your GP about your anxiety urgently.

I did breastfeed for 7 months (alongside formula). She stopped feeding by herself after I weaned her, which broke my heart 😢

I want to stop partly for cost reasons, and partly because I feel like it's what I'm supposed to do now she's 1, if that makes sense? But I've had no support with it so I feel like everything is just guesswork, which I find really stressful!

Yes she's a content happy playful baby in general. Weight is fine from what I can work out according to the online stuff. She actually seems to be in the higher percentiles for her age so she's definitely not underweight.

stop the formula and continue with the normal milk. I have done this with all 3 of my kids. The formula is taking the space of the food so she won’t be hungry but with normal milk she will start gradually eating more and more. You just have to be patient and don’t get stressed. Give water with every meal.

Mine has the toddler formula milk at 17 months. He isn’t keen on cows milk. He only has it at night so I’m not stressing about it

When I was weaning my dd , I found giving her a banana smoothie (I make it with frozen banana and milk) helped a lot.

Does your 1yr old like banana?

As others have mentioned, it doesn’t really matter whether she’s on formula or cow’s milk.
You need to work out if you want to cut down some milk to encourage her to eat solids.

As she’s on the higher side weight wise you’ve got a bit of a buffer if she doesn’t eat brilliantly to begin with, so I’d start to gently cut down the milk.

I’d probably remove the daytime bottle and reduce the bedtime one to begin with.

This is probably going to sound insane but... I worry that she has no way of "telling" me if she felt hungry. So I just keep giving milk to make sure she doesn't have an empty tummy and no way of telling me. DP keeps saying she'll cry if shes hungry. Not sure why this is so anxiety provoking for me tbh. Do other mums worry about this stuff?

I was told off by the hospital dietician for keeping DC on formula after 1. Apparently it's the protein from cows milk they need, not the extra vitamins from formula.

We've settled on this stuff - whole milk with extra vitamins and iron for kids.