What did you do at 1 year?

[Summerdays2014]

Hi all,

My son will be a year in January and currently has 3 7oz bottles and 3 meals (no snacks or deserts really) I've had lots of different advice from different health visitors and other mums and have read the official guidance on what to do when baby reaches a year. All the advice is different.

So what did you do? Get rid off all bottles? Keep just the night time one? Use cups with a free flow spout for all milk? Replace formula with cows milk? Gradually or all at once? Or use follow on milk? My son will be staring nursery in January as I return to work 3 days so I was planning on dropping his day time bottle?

I would love to hear what others did/will be doing. I feel sad as we are currently in a lovely routine (taken ages to get here) and now it's all going to change again.

Thanks in advance.

Well it doesn't have to change just because he's 1! If it's working at the moment you could stay the same, especially if you're worried about the change of you going back to work as it is. I bf my two so don't really understand bottles but... By 1 we were/are down to 2 milk feeds (morning and night) plus whatever nighttime feeds were needed (assume you don't do these !). My ds2 will be 1 next week and I'm planning to introduce milk in a sippy cup, probably with breakfast to start with but not anticipating he'll drink much as the taste is quite different. I might give him some milk with his afternoon snack as well. My boys were both on three meals and two snacks by this age. I suspect nursery will introduce snacks for your ds too?

I think it's certainly worth changing bottle to cup if you can, as it's better for their teeth. No call for follow-on milk - as I understand it's a marketing strategy rather than anything important for your child - so I'd stick to what you use now and slowly replaced with cows' milk.

Remember as well that once they're on less than 20oz formula in a day it's recommended that they have a multivitamin (healthy start of you qualify or similar from pharmacist) until they're 5yo.

Thank you thatsnotmytoddler.