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Original poster

Cutting 6mth baby milk feeds- is this ok?

26 replies

Proudmummy2014 · 25/11/2014 15:50

Hi,

I went to get my DD weighed today who is on 75th percentile so gaining weight well. However, the HV told me to cut my DD's milk feeds from 4 a day to 2 a day. Is this ok?! DD doesn't tend to eat a lot of solids so I'm sure he will go hungry if I cut her milk out. Really confused!!

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batmanandrobin · 25/11/2014 16:02

hi! i had a similar issue couple of weeks ago. my dd was on 5 and were down to 4 (can't even believe i once got 5 in) and they've told me to get down to 2-3 also.

has your dc moved onto follow on milk? that should help the feeds fill dc up a bit more. and you should find they take to solid more as they'll be hungry. i was worried about my dd but actually she's taken it in her stride.

do you offer finger food? i put food on dd's high chair (a rusk, raw carrot or apple etc) and let her play and try it whilst feeding her something homemade like soup and then offering another flavour like custard or yoghurt (just couple of scoop fulls) for pudding. i found dd got bored of same flavour hens why introduced a pudding. she loves it and find she's eating much more solid now!

good luck!!

Original poster
Proudmummy2014 · 25/11/2014 16:24

Thanks for replying- I'm just giving her the stage 1 aptamil milk still. How did you manage to cut down the feed- and which time did you drop? Mine are currently 7, 11, 3 and 6.30. What's your food feed times like? Ive been making fresh food and freezing it and also give yoghurt/fruit for afters. She just doesn't seem to want to eat very much but this may well be because she's full from milk. Today I tried to drop the 3pm and she was crying for it

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cantmakecarrotcake · 25/11/2014 16:33

Can you cut the 3pm volume down and give a snack to make up the cals?

Although tbh, at 6mo baby is only just experiencing foods so take your baby's lead and let the feeds drop naturally. HV come across very pro-solids straight away from 6mo and lots of baby's are slower to wean than others.

I think the MN phrase is 'food is for fun until you're 1'.

Original poster
Proudmummy2014 · 25/11/2014 16:35

Haha I like that phrase! I've been weaning her since 5 mths but she's only picked up the volume marginally, and some days will not even open her mouth. That's a good idea I can cut down the 3pm and give her a snack to make up the rest

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PaddyBearinTown · 25/11/2014 16:38

What reason did the HV give for cutting down feeds? If your DD is gaining healthily, I wouldn't change anything tbh. My two just dropped milk feeds naturally as they grew, but they still had 3-4 feeds a day until around a year I think.

Original poster
Proudmummy2014 · 25/11/2014 16:44

She said that as she's now on solids she doesn't need more than 500ml of milk a day. Even though I told her she doesn't eat much at all she still was adamant that I only give two bottles of milk a day and make up the rest with cheese (not sure how as she only is eating puréed food. Tried to give finger food and she took a chunk and couldn't chew it enough to swallow) and yoghurt

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noblegiraffe · 25/11/2014 16:44

Crikey, 6 months old is very young to be cutting milk, they are only supposed to be starting to taste food at this age. If you cut milk, you may find that baby wakes more in the night as they are hungry.

Baby should be getting at least 500ml of formula per day or you will need to start supplementing with vitamins.

Original poster
Proudmummy2014 · 25/11/2014 16:45

She was born on 25th percentile and is now on 75th so she's gaining weight fine although it's all down to milk rather than food

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hollie84 · 25/11/2014 16:59

500-600ml is the minimum, not the maximum! If your baby gets less than 500ml then she needs vitamin supplements as well as she won't be getting enough nutrition from milk.

DS2 is almost 9 months and has 4 bottles a day, 2x 6oz and 2x 5oz.

Original poster
Proudmummy2014 · 25/11/2014 17:34

Perhaps I should continue with 4 feeds in that case ?! Maybe I can cut down amount a little so she wants to eat more as currently she's been weaning for over a month and still only comfortably eats an icecube portion.

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GotToBeInItToWinIt · 25/11/2014 17:40

DD is 12 months and still on 2 milk feeds a day! She has one first thing in the morning, one after her afternoon nap and one at bedtime. I've got no intention of cutting that down anytime soon as I don't think she would drink enough water to replace the lost fluids. I think 2 feeds is too little for a 6 month old and have never heard anyone be advised to cut down to 500ml until their babies are a year old.

My tactic is to not tell the HV anything, so they can't tell me I'm doing it wrong!

hollie84 · 25/11/2014 17:40

I wouldn't drop any. She'll naturally begin eating more and drinking less. At 6 months DS still had 4x7oz bottles, then he started taking less himself. I'll probably think about cutting down to 3 at around 10 months if he hasn't dropped one himself.

GotToBeInItToWinIt · 25/11/2014 17:40

I meant 3 obviously, not 2 Smile

Original poster
Proudmummy2014 · 25/11/2014 18:33

Thanks so much ladies I feel much better now. This particular HV is really rubbish . Everytime I see her I'm given awful advice. I told her when my DD WAS 5 mths I was going to start weaning and she told me at that point to cut the milk to two bottles even though I had stressed she was only having little tasters

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batmanandrobin · 25/11/2014 21:21

sorry i didn't reply- my dd has croup so been a mad evening.. but she's asleep now!!!!! relax! breath! haha

anyway my bootles are 7 (been told not to drop morning feed) and then breakfast at around 8 with me. she'll then want a bottle around 11:30 which i make lunch (if you try offer food first you may find you have more luck. sometimes my dd is aggy for food at 11 so we have a very early lunch in my house!) and then she'll have another bottle between 3-4 (literally depends on how big lunch was to how long she'll wait- ATM she's poorly so wants milk more!) and again i try to offer food first and top up with milk. and then about 6:30/7 she will have her bedtime bottle.

i don't think the number of bottles count, it's the amount you're offering. generally speaking i go by ounces and so if dd has 6oz for breaky and then 2 3-4oz for lunch and dinner, i know how to work out her bedtime bottle. as long as baby isn't big i wouldn't panic about it.

i have a 2.7yo and it just comes when they're ready. dd will start taking less and wanting more solid when she's ready. if only i hadn't given up bf this time wouldn't be in this trouble (only had to because of health reasons Hmm)

hope you work it out xx

Original poster
Proudmummy2014 · 27/11/2014 09:14

Mine are the same- she has milk at 7, 11, 3 and 6.30. She normally has 7oz at all four feeds!! Yesterday I gave her lunch first rather than the milk and she are marginally more than usual. At dinner t 5pm however she wasn't really interested. I'm wondering whether she's just not a fan of plain veg. I've got the Anabel Karmel recipe books and the 2nd stage weanin recipes look more interesting. Is it ok for me to make these and purée them for DD?!

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5madthings · 27/11/2014 09:19

Do she has 28oz a day? That's fine! Honestly the hv is mad at her age most of her nutrition should still be coming from milk! Mine didn't go down to two feeds s day until around their first birthday.

Laquila · 27/11/2014 09:21

OP that is INSANE of your HV to try and get you to cut down a 5-mth old's milk to two bottles!!

My boy was breasted so slightly different but at 6 months we started BLW, and for the next couple of months he was having just as much milk from me as he ever had been. It wasn't until 8 months that he started dropping the occasional feed and then around 12 months he would feed when he woke up, sometimes once or twice during the day and then before bed. Now, at 15 months, he still feeds morning and night and occasionally once during the day. And he eats LOADS of solid food.

How the hell can that HV reconcile her rubbish with the (very important) advice that a baby under the age of 1 should be getting their main nutrition from milk?!

It is very very normal for 6-mth-old babies to not each much in the way of solids, and sooner or later, your DD will get more interested and more confident with it, and will drop milk feeds naturally, in her own time.

batmanandrobin · 27/11/2014 09:22

yeah i just blend down anything for my 6 month old! lasagne, roast dinners, pasta etc. she loves it! you can start making them a bit thicker over the next month too :)

ilovepowerhoop · 27/11/2014 09:23

noi wouldn't cut any feeds at 6 months. my ds went to 4 feeds at 8 months and was down to 2 by 11 months. I agree that 20oz is a minimum not a maximum for this age group

Original poster
Proudmummy2014 · 27/11/2014 09:28

I really do feel to complain about her- god knows how many other women have listened to Her advice and deprived their babies of milk!!! I'm really fuming. Ah right so I can literally make any type of food such as pasta etc and then just blend it?

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Laquila · 27/11/2014 09:37

You don't even above to blend it - you just need to be cautious about salt and sugar, and ideally use full fat milk instead of skimmed in any white sauces or similar. So things like lasagne are fine as long as the salt and sugar content are kept low. Also avoid honey and nuts before 1 (I think?! Can anyone confirm?)

We found that good first foods were things like melon slices, berries such as strawberries, broccoli florets, omelette strips, roast sweet potato wedges etc. We focused on fruit and veg first, which seems to have paid off as he's now obsessed with both!

Original poster
Proudmummy2014 · 27/11/2014 10:05

Then would you just let your baby experiment by picking up and eating by himself? I've tried giving slices of fruit so she can pick up herself but she doesn't take hardly anything down and just seems to chew on it a little but that's it. Does your DS bite it off and then chew and swallow?

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Laquila · 27/11/2014 11:16

That's absolutely fine, ProudMummy, and very normal. At this stage you honestly don't need to worry about how much solid food they're consuming, as long as they're getting the right amount of milk. Which is why I'm baffled by your HV's advice! A lot of parents do panic once it gets to 6 months and tell themselves that they need to stuff their babies with baby rice or porridge to fill them up, but there really is no need (this often doesn't even help difficult sleepers). Whether you're doing puréed and spoonfeeding (with or without finger foods) or Baby Led Weaning, milk should definitely be the main source of nutrition until around 1 yr old.

For the first couple of months my son just enjoyed messing around with solids - some things he gummed extremely enthusiastically, and some things he seemed to be actively trying to bite off (even with no teeth) and some things he basically just slobbered over until they disintegrated, and then swallowed a few bits ;)

Very ripe pears were good for this from about 8 months - we used to cut a bit off, and cut out the core, so he had a nice edge to get his gums/teeth into, and then just leave him to it - his concentration and determination was amazing!!

So I'd say that whilst he was swallowing tiny bits from around 6mths, he wasn't really actively deliberately consuming much until around 8mths.

batmanandrobin · 27/11/2014 16:20

Laquila i think you're right about nuts and honey. i think they say it about cheese and meat (ive heard from one person about meat?!) incase of allergy.

i treated my dd2 to cornbeef hash the other day which i know has too much salt in but it was a minimal amount and she kept diving for my plate.

you know your dc. hvs seem to be full of drastic opinions ATM. one week my 6 month old is obese and the next she's on the 25th centar. there's no pleasing them!