Best way to prepare and administer milk at 6m+ (ff)

[Ama28]

My DS is about to be 6 months, so weaning and all the extra stuff to follow.

I understand babies need 600ml milk from 6m+.

I understand that tippee cups should be used from this time.

Whats the best way to make the milk up. Im thinking get a jug and just top the cups up throughout the day and leave enough for a bedtime feed. If its in the jug i guess that whenever i make food, i can just pour it on easily.

What did you guys do from 6m+?

Any easier ways - any tips?

Ama28, I'm confused . Aren't you already making up formula for your DS?

Are you currently FF? Just continue to give milk on demand for a while yet, with food/solids an added extra.

As they get used to it, they start to take a bit less milk and more food. No need to change how you make the milk. You don't want to top up beakers of milk, it will go off.

Try starting with water in a beaker while they get used to making the fluid come out.

if you are ff already then just continue as you are - as the solids increase the milk intake will decrease. You can introduce a cup along with meals but to begin with I only used it for water. It is advised to be off bottles for milk by 1 year so no great hurry to phase them out just yet. I have never used a jusg for making up feeds either.

I have been told tippee cups from 6m+ but that bottle feeding isnt so bad, just make sure theiryre off bottles by 1 year old.

He is ff now on 5 x 6oz a day at hv requests due to him being a big boy - 20lb at 20 weeks. He is NOT fed on demand. He has water from a bottle whenever he wants between feeds.

Once we reach 6m, i will be giving him the 600ml of milk a day - it works out to something like the equiv of 3 bottles.

But since i was not planning on usung bottles, i wondered what the best way to make the milk up would be - i.e use a jug?

Has anyone just kept the bottles and if you did use a different container to feed from - tippee cup not bottle, did you just pour it in?

when I started introducing milk in a cup rather than a bottle (from about 9 months) I made the milk up in the bottle and then poured it into a cup. He didnt take much to begin with so I only introduced the cup for one feed at a time e.g. had 4 feeds from a bottle and 1 from a cup. I only did other feeds in the cup once he started taking more than an ounce or two from the cup. He was fully onto cups for milk from about 10 1/2 months. You dont need to suddenly drop the milk amount from 6 months as your lo can gradually cut back on milk as he takes more solids - the requirement is a minimum of 20oz (approx 600mls) not a maximum so dont drop milk too quickly if he is not taking enough solids to make up the lost calories (you dont want him to start waking in the night with hunger). For his weight and the fact he is not on solids the rule of thumb (2.5oz per lb of weight) would calculate that he could be on up to 50oz of milk per day - are you limiting him to 30oz when he actually wants more than that?

Thanks Seona, your post is really useful re how you made the transition. I totally understand its a weighing game with milk v solids, and that it will take time to adjust to cups. My idea with using a jug would be at least i knew if i made 600ml and it was being drank, then he would deffinately be getting the least he needed, and if i needed more milk i could just make the extra.

He is limited as a result of the HV advising it. He has just shot up in terms of growth. They told me that as he was quote 'so big' it might hinder development. That it would stop him moving and growing as he 'should' do.

He is rolling, his teeth are growing (3 now). He is happy and healthy and sleeps the night (has done for 3m now). Picks toys up, chews them. Uses his bouncer and loves it, almost sitting up for a few minutes on his own . IMO theres nothing wrong with him. He really is just a big boy. Im taking him to get weighed one more time to see if his weight is as they wish it to be. But by the time im due to go again, he will be on the edge of being weaned, so christ only knows what grand ideas they will have for me then!

my ds was about 21lbs at 23 weeks when I started weaning him but I was never told to limit his milk or that there was an issue with it. He crawled by 7/8 months and was walking by 10 1/2 months so it never hindered him in any way. They do tend to look chubby at this age (ds looks like a wee round ball in photos!) but it does even out when they start crawling/walking/generally getting more mobile. The hv will no doubt find another issue once you start solids and at that point will probably say he isnt getting enough milk and to cut back on food!!