Weaning baby - gone off milk!

[HerMagsjestysMaid]

My breast-fed 6.5 month old seems to have gone off milk entirely, can anyone help?!

Even before we began weaning, she'd begun to be very easily distracted when feeding - she has at least two big feeds (approx. 10mins) in the night but during the day she'll only stay on for a few minutes before coming off. She's very socialable and curious about the world so I've been trying to reduce distractions but even if it's just the two of us in a darkened room she'll come off and try and smile and blow rasperries at me.

We've been BLW for approx. 2wks and this seems to have made things worse - she's doing really well with solids but we've mainly just given fruit and veg and a bit of bread/ cheese/ yogurt so far. Since we've introduced solids she seems to have lost interest in milk altogether, barely feeding during the day.

She's been steadily losing weight (she was always 50 percintile and is now 40) and I'm worried she isn't getting the nourishment she needs.

Does anyone have any suggestions? I'd really appreciate some advice!

Waiting for people to reply eagerly as exactly the same thing is happening to me and ds1, also 6.5 months.

What is it with our babies! I posted a very similar question a few hours earlier and got some helpful advice. It's quite reassuring that several of us are experiencing the same sort of difficulty....perhaps it's just something that happens around 6 months?

I haven't had experience of DD going off milk as such but at that age they do go fussy and "into" everything and sometimes they just forget they're hungry. What has your HV advised if they've lost weight? Are they concerned?

My tips would be to offer milk during the day more often. I breastfeed and DD would sometimes forget because shes busy playing etc. but once i offered she'd take a good feed. My friends DS was the same and he was formula fed so we both just offered it more often.

Offer milk during the day in a quiet room, perhaps your bedroom, rather than your living area. With toys everywhere and tv on, people or other kids around etc it's all too distracting. I did this during a fussy stage and it worked.

BLW is great in that you can offer anything! So think good fatty and high protein foods such as eggs, chicken, beef, lamb, pork, full fat yoghurt, cheese, cream, potatoes, pasta, rice, full fat milk with porridge etc. Fruit and veg are great and are definitely needed in a diet but it's easy to forget that babies need fat so don't be afraid of using butter and olive oil to cook!

Hope this helps, hopefully others will have more input.

I'd definitely consider that it's just a phase at this age. Developmentally they are too busy and milk isn't as fun as trying to sit up/ crawl / play with a toy they couldn't previously pick up!

Agree with God if you are worried about her weight offer her bfs more often. Also, are you offering a bf an hour before her solids so that she is filling up on milk and not solids?

She may take more if you feed her into and out of a nap and if you have a bath with her.

Also agree that there is no need to offer just fruit and veg. She can have what you eat, as long as you eat a fairly healthy diet. Why not try her with something like spag bol?

As for the drop in centiles, I'd talk to a BFC, have you got the helpline numbers?

Thanks so much for your replies. Although I'm really sorry to hear other people are struggling, it is reassuring to know it's not just my baby. Slothprincess - I found your thread, some good ideas on there too.

Feeding just before a nap has seemed to have helped, thanks. Also - weirdly - I've found after experimenting with offering bfs at different times of day that my little one has been happy to take a bit of a milk straight after a taste of solids, I think maybe because play-time has already been interrupted!

Also, a tip from a friend which other people might find helpful, was to try using a bit of expressed milk in cooking e.g. on Oatabix or mashed potato, although it's not a lot it is a way of getting at least a bit more milk in!