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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Original poster

Milk vs solids

27 replies

Fifilottie · 24/09/2010 10:00

Hi...feel like I am forever on here...

Anyway my LO is now on three good meals a day. She loves her food and rarely refuses any of it. I am still keeping up with 4 bf a day and a bottle at lunch time. She
has started to refuse her mid morning feed and just winges if I try and put her on the breast. I always feed her after her meals so this might be the wrong tactic. I know this is probably because she is on solids now and needs less milk but feel a bit of pressure because they are still meant to have 600mls a day. ( am not entirely convinced that she gets this because she hardly spends anytime being bfed anymore...sometimes a few mintues...don't get it??)

Am interested in others' experiences of what happened to bfs and milk feeds once their baby's started on solids as really think that she might need the mid morning feed. Thank you thank you

OP posts:
Haliborange · 24/09/2010 10:01

How old is she?

My DD2 dropped her mid-morning feed at 8 or 9 months, but by then was really not taking much. I'd be inclined to be led by her - she'll eat and drink what she needs.

Original poster
Fifilottie · 24/09/2010 10:03

oops...didn't write how old she is did I? She is 6 and a half months and has been on solids for about 8 weeks.

OP posts:
MigGril · 24/09/2010 13:09

They do advice to offter milk first before solids. You have to remeber that solids before one is more about experancsing different texture/tastes. They should still be getting around 80% of there nutrial from milk untill 12months.

DD didn't even drop a milk feed untill 8 months but we where doing BLW and didn't start till 6 months

Original poster
Fifilottie · 24/09/2010 14:28

I offered her milk first when I first started weaning her onto solids but she showed little interest in solids and as advised by HV breast fed her afterwards. Hv was shocked that i had been giving her bf before food, as though that was really odd. Again confusing advice...

OP posts:
popcracker · 24/09/2010 14:47

You know I do not think it matters too much if you bf before or after solids.

My baby ate lots of solids from 6 months onward and it was more than just an experimental stage.

TruthSweet · 24/09/2010 15:56

Milk should be the major (75%) part of a 12 month olds diet so at 6 1/2 months you would expect only a very small proportion of calories/nutrients to come from solids not the vast majority like some people (I'm looking at you HVs Wink).

As per usual Kellymom.com has some great advice and info here.

Odysseus · 24/09/2010 16:07

By 6 and a half months my DS was in the same position as you. I got hung up on the 600ml thing - in the end I just added a lot of milk to his porridge in the morning, and gave him cheese and yogurt, and tried not to worry about how much he was actually getting. 600ml is an average - babies are not all the same though.

The whole milk should be 75% of their diet thing stressed me out too. All I can say is that if milk madef up 75% of my DS's diet now (nearly 10 months) he would definitely not be thriving like he is. Again all babies are different.

poppydog10 · 24/09/2010 16:38

can you hide it in her food? e.g on cereal etc

Original poster
Fifilottie · 24/09/2010 17:12

HI..am in a mission to hide it in her food. Put it in porridge and am now adding it to her purees with a bit of baby rice to thicken it up but I can only really get away with adding about 20 or 30 mls......

Something wierd happened again though she has just refused another breast feed and I haven't even given her her tea yet ???? Even tried giving her a bottle...refused that too. Hope she isn't poorly. She is in good spirits though??? I feel like I keep forcing my breast into her mouth and she is non too impressed

OP posts:
Odysseus · 24/09/2010 17:26

Teething?

Original poster
Fifilottie · 24/09/2010 17:48

mm, possibly but she isn't trying to eat her hands or dribbling or anything. not like teething experiences before. Hope this isn't one of these nursing strikes i have heard of...then again she is refusing a bottle to

OP posts:
TruthSweet · 24/09/2010 18:03

600mls of breastmilk will provide on average 450 kcals and 25g of fat (though as baby gets older the fat content goes up IFRC it goes up to around 17% past a year but I can't find it at the moment).

A 0-23 m/o needs on average 900kcals and 33-38g of fat a day so at 12 m/o they would need to get around 675 kcals and 24-28g of fat from breast milk.

I would have used formula milk as well but I can't find the calorie contents of any UK brands online.

Odysseus · 24/09/2010 19:07

Yes, but they could get the fat & kcals from food as well. And what avg weight is that based on?

MigGril · 24/09/2010 19:25

What you have to remeber is that most solids you give (unless you are craming in dairy) contain far less fat then milk. Babies and small children need a high fat intack because they are growing so fast. That's why they should still be having a lot of milk even at 12months.

What a lot of people don't realise that as well the worry about the gut not being mature enogh to handle solids. One of the reasions they have pushed back the recomended weaning age to 6 months is that babies weaned to early offten showed a dip in there growth, because you can end up relacing to much solids to early and them then not getting enough fat. So if they really don't seem interested in milk you really do need to feed a lot of high fat dairy instead.

Odysseus · 24/09/2010 19:29

Oh yes, I add butter, cheese, cream etc to everything. But he had an operation so I was told to do that anyway to promote healing.

I just think that 75% of nutrition has to come from milk is a fallacy, that ends up getting people's knickers in a twist.

jemjabella · 24/09/2010 19:47

Odysseus - very little decent healthy food is a comparison to the fat/cal content of milk.

At 6.5 months baby shouldn't even be on 3 meals a day yet. This is what prompts early weaning (and just filling food with dairy products instead will not replace nutrients lost through dropped breastfeeds!)

Odysseus · 24/09/2010 19:55

Well, I'm afraid we'll have to agree to disagree. My DS was on 3 meals a day by 6.5 months, and was commented by to be absolutely perfect by a consultant paediatrician at 7 months [proud emoticon]. I would like to know what specific nutrients are in breastmilk that cannot be found in food.

jemjabella · 24/09/2010 19:58

It's not that they can't be found in food, it's that they are not found in the same quantities. You can disagree with me all you like, I have science on my side.

Are you the same lady whose thread I replied to re: early weaning and cow's milk before 12 months?

TruthSweet · 24/09/2010 20:11

Odysseus - what would be a typical day for a 6m/o on solid foods in your view? How many feeds/how much solids?

Odysseus · 24/09/2010 20:15

I can give you a typical day for my DS at 6mo, but he is not your typical 6mo. He was having 5 bfs, and 3 meals

  • porridge made up with milk (expressed, or cows, whatever I had)
  • vegetables mashed with butter and cheese, followed by a yogurt
  • chicken or fish, mashed with milk, and veg, followed by mashed banana & milk.

Yes I am bm/cows milk lady. I have started giving follow on milk instead of cows milk now though, and have stopped expressing. Have decided to follow him on the bf-ing and if he wants to drop it, then so be it.

jemjabella · 24/09/2010 20:45

Oh good, I couldn't find your thread and wanted an update Blush I am glad you've switched to a formula over cow's milk as at least that contains the nutrients he needs in his 1st year. :)

Odysseus · 24/09/2010 21:03

Well he seems to like it. I must admit, the switch had nothing to do with me worrying about him not getting enough nutrients - it was the sodium thing my HV said that freaked me out - even thought it is likely to be rubbish! Grin

Original poster
Fifilottie · 25/09/2010 07:09

HI

OH dear...jemjabella, you have worried me a bit. I do realy want DD to take the milk. Maybe I should try giving her a smaller portion at meal times. She likes her three meals a day though and I think expects them. I always make sure Iput pt some fat in each meal...either meat or milk(formula), avocado etc....

The HV is very happy with her food intake etc...She has put on 11 oz in one week which is great as previous to introducing solids her weight had plateaued...she had even lost a few ounzes. She is currently only 14lbs, which is small but she was five weeks early.

Maybe I will bf before food..that might sort it out.

OP posts:
jemjabella · 25/09/2010 09:42

I didn't post to worry you. :) The problem is, putting weight on doesn't guarantee that the food is meeting all the nutritional requirements. I definitely would advise BFing around 30 minutes before offering solids (and this should continue until the end of the first year).

pommedeterre · 25/09/2010 17:39

Fifilottie I also have a food loving milk hating monster. Am uncertain of how things will go on - I already have to be very persistent to get the recommended 20 oz in her (she takes 23-24oz a day at the moment with three solid meals). I feel downheartened reading this. Feel like I will now spend the first year of my dd's life fighting with her/waiting till she 'gives in' over bloody sodding stupid milk. She was the same over bm from breast or bottle as she is from formula. Just doesn't like milk I guess.