Milk at 6m +

[Ama28]

So i was watching the tv and the ad for SMA follow on milk came on - enter the smiling mother, with her assumingly 6 month+ old son in her arms, she hands him a bottle and he drinks the milk.

From going to baby group, they seemed to encourage that from 6m+ you give milk in a trainer cup!

Whats the general thing to do then - cups in the day, bottles for bed, or just continue with bottles? Till what age?!!

Also, one other milky question, when babies are being weaned from 6m+ they are supposed to have like a certain amount of milk, i cant remember exactly what the HV was saying but its something like 1 or 2 pints, and this would be of formula, as i ff. Would it be an idea, to just make up like a jugs worth of the milk - and if i am using trainer cups, just fill it up throughout the day? Anyone done this? Any tips for ff milk from 6m+

Hi,

My Son is 11 months old and he has 3 or 4 bottles (8 Ounces) of SMA follow on milk in 24 hours although he doesnt drink the full 8 ounces. The tin suggests to start them on 6 ounces and obviously up it by 1 ounce when they start finishin all their bottles.

I started to use a trainer cup with water/juice durin the day but as he dont quite tilt his head back enough yet, I have stayed with usin bottles for milk.

I'am first time mum and I have never took advice from a HV. They treat your child as a statistic, you know your child best and you'll know when your child is ready for his/hers next step :)

Best wishes
xxx

My impression is that the bottle is an advertising ploy. So you associate favourable with that brand should you choose to FF your young baby.

Far as I recall it was a pint of milk from 1 year, that included all dairy and milk used in cereals, dinner etc.

I think my little one didnt take to a cup at 6 months but gradually by about 11 months he was using a spouted cut. Take what your HV says under advisement, weigh it up against other information sources and do what you think is best I say.

I think you can just continue with a bottle but offer a cup of water/juice with meals. It's usually bf mums who teach their babies cup feeding early because a lot of bf babies refuse bottles

Follow on milk is a gimmick. Have you noticed there isn't any ads for the first stage milk? It's because they aren't allowed to advertise formula so they advertise the follow on. Formula is a created to mimic breastmilk. If you are bf, you'll continue to bf while weaning, until you can give cows milk at 1yo. So as a ff mum, you can just continue with the stage 1 formula. You can google follow on milk and find out more if you want to be informed about this.

it is advised to introduce a cup from 6 months (I started by offering a cup of water with meals) and to stop using bottles by 1 year. (dd was using a cup for milk by 15 months and ds was 11 months old when he took all feeds from a cup). I used to make the formula up in the bottle and then transfer it to a cup so that I got the measurements correct. Up to 1 year a minimum of 20oz (approx 600mls) is recommended and from 1 year a minimum of 350mls (approx 12oz) is recommended. These amounts include milk in cereal and in foods and other dairy products

p.s. I did switch to follow on milk as it was a bit cheaper and you can get offers on it unlike first milk