Weaning 6.5 mo dropping milk feeds to 300ml a day

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Sorry for asking a question that seems to have been asked lots of times, but advice seems to be so conflicting. I also had advice from the HV today that I'm just not sure about. DS2 is 6.5 mths old and has been weaning for 5 weeks. He's on 3 meals a day including protein at lunchtime. In the last week he has almost completely dropped his milk feeds. He's taking probably 100ml three times and day and just refuses to take any more. He's got a cough, which he's had for weeks but the doc says isn't on his chest. He's also a little bit constipated.

When I called the HV today she said that its very common for babies to refuse milk when weaning and that the 500-600ml a day that they need when 6-12 mths can come from yogurt and other dairy products. Is this true? She also said I could give him all-bran or bran flakes for breakfast to help with the constipation. Surely not??!

My only experience with weaning is from DS1 who was a milk monster and still had a full bedtime bottle at 2.5 yo until we 'lost' his bottle! DS2 has never been great on his milk. Always a fussy feeder on boob or bottle (bf til 2 mths). Any advice very much appreciated!

Constipation and dropping the milk sounds like he is having far too much food. I'd drop back to 1 meal a day.

500-600ml is the minimum formula they need to get enough vitamins, nutrients etc. If he has less than this you need to supplement with vitamin drops.

all bran/bran flakes are a bad idea as bran isnt recommended for babies as it can inhibit absorption of certain nutrients. Are you splitting milk and solids and giving milk first and solids an hour or so later? Does he take water?

Yeah I asked if I should drop the solids and she said no and not to worry about the milk. I am offering milk an hour before breakfast (which he drinks half of) then mid afternoon 2-3 hours after lunch (which he's totally rejecting) and at bedtime which is 2 hours after tea (which he drinks half of) and at 10-11pm which he sometimes takes half of and sometimes none at all. He also sometimes takes half a bottle at 11am before lunch. The all-bran advice just seemed totally wrong to me. Surely it's too harsh for a babies tummy. Then I read about too much fibre stopping vitamins being absorbed. She did recommend vitamin drops though. My gut is that she's fed me some shoddy advice...

Oh and I've started giving him sips of water the last couple of days and diluted prune juice to help with the constipation. Not loads though. Not enough to affect milk consumption IMO.

Milk should be there main source of nutrition until 12 months, I would prioritise milk over solids.

Sounds like too much solids to me. DS is now 9mo and was exactly the same. He's still only on 2 meals and a little snack. With three meals he was getting horribly constipated and wouldn't take enough milk. So I just replaced one meal with a bottle and a little fruit snack. My HV advised weetabix and bananas to help with constipation (????!!!!) so I just never asked for advice again.

God bananas are one of the worst things aren't they?! HV advice seems to be so hit and miss. What made you decide to drop to 2 meals a day? I mean, what advice did you follow? I feel like I want a second opinion but not sure who to ask other than HV and friends (other than MN of course )

I was introducing meals gradually, DS was fine on one solid meal, fine on two and then not so good on three. Milk is still main source of nutrients until they're one, isn't it? So I just thought I'd take a step back to 2 meals. He only has a little fruity snack and a bottle in the afternoon. He is a very good eater though so I'm not really concerned that it will somehow affect his eating habits in the future. I will probably try with the 3rd meal again in a couple of weeks and will just see how it goes.