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

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

Infant feeding

How to reduce DDs formula intake?

84 replies

IamScarfaceClaw · 19/12/2016 16:37

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!

OP posts:

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KnitFastDieWarm · 20/12/2016 10:10

OP i'm still feeding my 13 month old to sleep and he has multiple bottles a day as does every other formula fed baby/toddler under 18 months or so that i know. if he was bf i'd still be feeding him, so i'm happy for him to have comfort from his milk as long as he wants it - he's a baby! my gut feeling as his mother is that this is what's right for us, so if i were you i wouldn't worry too much and just focus on gently introducing food before milk at breakfast, etc and making sure teeth get a decent brush twice a day there's lots of ways to wean - just offering a different perspective

Artandco · 20/12/2016 10:10

But if she has had milk downstairs half hour before she would be full from dinner and milk anyway. And you can just repeat ' you had milk downstairs', bedtime now, give teddy instead

ElphabaTheGreen · 20/12/2016 10:20

You can't compare BFing a baby to sleep to bottle feeding a baby to sleep. The former does not affect teeth because of the mechanics of breastfeeding and the constituents of human milk; the latter most definitely does.

MazDazzle · 20/12/2016 10:21

I'm with Knit!

ElphabaTheGreen · 20/12/2016 10:22

And frequent breastfeeds do not equate to frequent bottle feeds - not at all. Breastfeeding is mum-time, possibly even more so than feeding. They can't walk around with a boob and gorge on milk the way they can with a bottle.

KnitFastDieWarm · 20/12/2016 10:27

elphaba that's your view, fair enough - i've got to disagree with the idea that bottle feeding isn't a bonding experience or 'mum time' thoufg. personally, for me and my baby, feeding is a hugely bonding experience and only takes place while cuddled up with me or his dad. each to their own and all that

ElphabaTheGreen · 20/12/2016 10:38

Sorry - I didn't mean to say that bottle feeding wasn't/couldn't be mum-time. I said (in a slightly clunky fashion) that breastfeeding is more about mum-time than it is about getting fed. I realised afterwards that it didn't read correctly.

MrsGB2015 · 20/12/2016 11:02

Most babies I know of that age are still on 2 bottles a day (some still have an early afternoon bottle so 3 a day) Bottles are fine as long as teeth are cleaned after the last bottle. I tried milk in a sippy cup with my son when he was around 1. He hated it. I waiting until 18 months and tried again and after a few days he was fine. I would get rid of the bottles in the day and try milk in a sippy cup in the morning but I wouldn't go cold turkey with the bottle at night. The night time bottle is a nice wind down to end the day and is fine as long as you clean the teeth afterwards.

GoofyTheHero · 20/12/2016 11:54

OP i'm still feeding my 13 month old to sleep and he has multiple bottles a day smile as does every other formula fed baby/toddler under 18 months or so that i know

In a group I'm in of 40 babies of 17-18 months, only 2 are still giving formula. 5 maybe BF on demand, the rest on cups of cows milk.

GoofyTheHero · 20/12/2016 11:54

Not that I'm saying bottles of formula is wrong at all, just that my experience is very different to yours!

GoofyTheHero · 20/12/2016 11:55

*and have been on cups of cows milk since 12 months, I meant to say

Artandco · 20/12/2016 12:15

I breastfed still at 1 year, but only twice a day and didn't feed to sleep ever even as newborn

IamScarfaceClaw · 20/12/2016 12:35

Thank you all for your responses. We will work on reducing her milk and then work on stopping feed-to-sleep in a week or two- I would rather have a full baby kicking off because she can't have her bedtime bottle than one that is not quite full enough as her routine has been changed!

OP posts:

GoofyTheHero · 20/12/2016 13:02

Good luck!

studentvera · 20/12/2016 13:33

My 13 month old sounds just like your op. I wouldn't worry at all. My lg has 4 bottles of 7 ounce a day of formula and 3 meals. She's happy I'm happy!

ElphabaTheGreen · 20/12/2016 13:36

But why formula student? Surely cow's milk is cheaper? Formula isn't needed from 12mo onwards.

IamScarfaceClaw · 20/12/2016 14:21

How do you keep cows milk cool if you are out and about? (That seems to be a common reason to stick with formula?)
My initial thought was only water when not at home?

OP posts:

Mrscog · 20/12/2016 14:28

At this time of year cows milk is fine out and about for a few hours, especially if you have something insulated to pop it in. In the summer I just used to bung a small ice pack in too.

But from 12 months I generally offered food snacks rather than milk out and about.

dementedpixie · 20/12/2016 14:30

At that age my two never had daytime milk so didn't need to keep it cool when out and about. Water was sufficient when out and then they had milk with breakfast and before bed.

Artandco · 20/12/2016 15:00

IAm - I wouldn't take milk out for toddlers. Just water. They won't be getting enough water if too much milk. Milk just morning and evening at home.

Millymollymanatee · 20/12/2016 15:13

Your child should begin moving off the bottle and on to a free-flow feeder cup at six months. Try to get them off bottles completely by the age of one, because the teats and spouts encourage children to suck for long periods of time, meaning the drinks that cause tooth decay stay in contact with your child's teeth for a long time.

Taken from the NHS Website:

MrsJayy · 20/12/2016 15:18

Have you tried weaning onto cows milk yet ? I would introduce a sippy cup of water/milk at lunchtime see how she goes

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MrsJayy · 20/12/2016 15:20

You don't need to take milk out and about once she is off formula water or milk from a cafe would do

ElphabaTheGreen · 20/12/2016 15:42

Formula is even more dicey to take out and about, surely?

But yes, no need whatsoever to take milk out. Water in a child-friendly pop-top type bottle and that's all.

MrsJayy · 20/12/2016 16:12

In my baby days you had made up bottles I had an insulated carrier thingy now its just dry formula seperate and water in the bottle (i think)

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