How to reduce DDs formula intake?

[IamScarfaceClaw]

Just looking for some ideas/reassurance I think,
DD will be one in a few weeks, she was drinking around 30oz of formula a day until the health visitors 9m visit, when we were advised to make up larger bottles (7oz) in a bid to get her drinking less bottles and therefore less milk. However- she just happily drinks the milk and is now on 5 7oz bottles a day plus 3 meals and snacks!
I'm not sure if it is too much? She seems quite attached to her bottles and I know we need to get her off them once she is one!
For example, today she has had:
7am- 7 oz formula
8.30am- 1.5 boiled eggs and 2 fingers of toast
11.30am- 7oz formula
12.30- porridge
2pm- 7oz formula
4pm- 7oz formula plus snacks totalling- half a banana, a sausage, half a crumpet, a handful of apricots.
She drinks water and chamomile tea throughout the day- and she hasn't yet had dinner or her bedtime bottle.

I'm struggling to figure out how I can reduce the milk as she seems to have plenty of food!

What food does she eat? Your list doesn't seem to include lunch and tea.

If that all the food she's having then it's no wonder she's hungry

Is that not enough? For dinner she had (hadn't eaten when I created thread) a small jacket potato with tuna cheese and baked beans, porridge was lunch and the boiled eggs breakfast- she rejected the rest of her toast and the yoghurts etc into offered! What would it suggest?

*you suggest-

And the problem seems to be she is filling up in the milk, so it's a vicious cycle. She's not underweight (on the top centile and in size 18-24 clothes)

Ok, so it's a reasonable amount of food. Is there a reason why she's having porridge for lunch?

I think I'd just remove the 2pm bottle and replace with a small protein based snack. Then do the same with the 4pm bottle and eventually the 11.30am bottle too.

That was what she had today shopping day and no food in. but usually she would have some sort of nibbley selection (cheese, chopped peppers, ham etc) she isn't overly keen on bread and I didn't see anything wrong with porridge? As people have porridge for breakfast and eggs for lunch?

Can I have an example of 'a small protein based snack' -because if I offer cheese she will eat it (and still drink her milk) also fruit (I'm aware fruit isn't protein)

She should be eating three meals a day. Throw the bottles away and give her drinks from a cup. She won't drink anywhere near as much milk. A one year old will forget about bottles quicker than you think. Is there a bottle bank at your health centre? Or swop them for a new toy?

She'll only drink what you give her, the answer is in your hands.

That's very helpful molly
Ideally I'd be happy to have her on twi bottles a day- not cold turkey! She's not even one!
She happily uses a variety of sippy cups and beakers for other drinks.

Nut butter on oatcakes maybe, Greek yoghurt with fruit, meat (I'm vegetarian so can't really help with the specifics!), cheese as you've mentioned. Then don't give the milk. Give larger portions of main meals and snacks to compensate if she seems hungry.

I personally wouldn't just give an egg and two soldiers for lunch, on its own, but appreciate that you're just giving a snapshot rather than a typical day.

Also- she's suffering separation anxiety at the moment and is walking, I don't want her to lose one of her comforts entirely.

Thanks speak, we offer large portions and some days she will eat a large amount, but almost seems to leave room for the milk she's expecting afterwards!

Our HV felt DS was having too many bottles at one stage (can't remember how old he was - maybe 10 months?) she advised that each day should include 5 'meals'...

• breakfast
• mid-morning snack
• lunch
• mid-afternoon snack
• evening meal

... and she recommended that solid food should be offered before a bottle at each one.

So instead of giving DS a bottle as soon as he woke, I would take him downstairs and serve breakfast first. Then he'd get a bottle when he'd had enough food. He quickly reduced the number of oz he wanted (and soon dropped a couple of bottles completely) as he was filling up on food first.

I would start by giving breakfast first thing then a bottle after breakfast.

That sounds like a good idea! I just hope she doesn't reject the breakfast!

I would make all the daytime bottles smaller in an attempt to phase them out. At 1 year they only need 300mls per day so she is having an awful lot more than that. I would keep the morning and bedtime ones the larger amount but drastically cut the others down in ounces or start cutting them out one by one and offer a snack and water in their place

Ideally I'd be happy to have her on two bottles a day- not cold turkey! She's not even one!
She happily uses a variety of sippy cups and beakers for other drinks.

There's your answer then. If she's quite happy to use her cups and beakers, offer her milk from them. She'll drink less milk and eat more food. At the age she is she needs to be eating proper food. A child who fills up on milk can have deficiencies, especially iron. She really doesn't need a bottle anymore, she's growing up. Sorry if I sound a bit harsh but it's the truth.

I would just reduce sizes and amounts and increase food

7am -5oz milk
8.30 Breakfast
Mid morning - snack if needed and water
Lunch - actual meal not snacks. Chunky soup, omelette and salad, left over dinner
Afternoon - snack and small glass regular milk
Dinner - regular dinner
Evening -5oz milk

Thank you Mandy, you do sound a little harsh to be honest, I don't think a child that will happily eat steak/broccoli/basically all other veg is at a huge iron deficiency risk, also I thought formula had added iron?

Some days it feels like I'm offering her solid food non stop all day, and she still wants the milk! I will use your suggestion of offering milk in sippy cups/beakers (lucky me cleaning out the valves) but if does seem your trying to be a bit dramatic.

Thanks Art, I will offer a larger lunch.

Art I am actually going to save your post and refer back to it! Thanks

Your welcome.

I also suggest looking at non sippy cups. Most especially if non spill are actually really hard to drink from. Look at a small open baby cup ie doidy cup. It's open with handles but tilted mouthy so you can see how much liquid is near mouth. At meal times just add a small amount of water in these and either help her or she should be able to do herself once practiced a few times. It's far easier to take a mouthful of water than sip a mouthful through beaker

We have some munchkin 360 cups and she gets on well with them (they also may be less tricky to clean.)

She still has a bottle to fall asleep with (a whole other issue that will be dealt with in time) so that's why I'm so reluctant to go ' cold turkey' on the bottles.

On another tangent- any ideas for filling breakfasts? She is a spoon refuser (for me at least) and has gone off weetabix (she used to eat it like a cereal bar, having just dunked it in milk)

Pancakes? Small American style ones, I use a recipe in the river cottage baby and toddler cook book. You can put mashed banana in the mix, add blueberries or similar.