whole milk better than no milk at 9 months? mears?

[Heathcliffscathy]

ds has just turned 9 months. first thing he has a full breast feed, both sides about 5 mins per side. then breakfast of baby cereal and whole goats milk (he is on a no cows milk diet as it seems to have made his eczema much better and a wheeze that i was concerned about disappeared as soon as we took him off cows milk).

lunchtime (midday): big solids lunch with water (i.e. bowl of mush like beef casserole plus loads of finger food, today was cheese, peas/carrots, toast with soya spread and plums) plus some yoghurt (goats milk whole yoghurt).

after afternoon nap breastfeed: sometimes he wants to know, more often he doesn't, this is a much shorter feed than in the morning and some days he doesn't want any at all, but will have water.

5pm: tea, same as lunch but smaller and more finger food based.

6.30 i try to give him some milk (formula) from a beaker: he has been showing less and less interest in this, to the point where for at least a month he's only had 3 oz at the most and sometimes he doesn't even have that.

the day before yesterday i tried giving him whole goats milk instead of the formula, and although he was still fairly disinterested, he had more than if it was formula. yesterday i gave him whole milk and again, he had a bit more than he has beenhaving recently.

so sorry to ramble, but my question is, should i be worried about how little milk he's having? and can i give him whole milk instead of formula given that he's having more of it? i've tried breastfeeding him for this last feed, but he is completely not interested in that.

i'm trying to give him milk puddings and such, but to be honest, he doesn't seem to like milk that much...

i know that wholemilk isn't supposed to be given until 12 months, that's cause of iron isn't it? he has a fairly iron rich diet (liver, sweet potato, meat etc)...

should i be worried. he was on the 45th centile for weight at his 8 months check and hv told me to give him high calorie foods. he is very very active, crawling, pulling himself up and cruising pretty much constantly when he is awake.

mears, i seem to remember some threads where you've said that your kids when straight to wholemilk by passing formula and follow on, but can't remember whether that was younger than a year or not.

sorry for long email, any advice gratefully received!

Don't know if this helps but about a month ago my DS (who is now nearly nine months) started refusing the last breast feed of the day. We were worried he wasn't having enough milk but solved the problem by swapping the milk and solids round at tea time. He now has bf at about 5pm then his solids at about 6pm and seems quite happy with that.

ds2 is 8 months and he has bf morning and evening, but prob doesn't get much quantity then. I've been concerned about milk intake and I tend to add formula to his food rather than whole milk and also offer him formula from a cup am and pm - but he will only take a couple of ounces (I would count 3oz as a 'big' feed for him!). Would your ds take formula in his breakfast or mixed with his food (mash, cheese sauce etc etc)? If so then in your position I would probably give him whole milk to drink and then put formula wherever he would take it. I'm sure your ds will be fine if he's eating a good diet. Personally I would give whole milk to drink rather than no milk, but I'm sure you'll find other viewpoints!

Just to add- ds2's total milk intake looks something like this:
bf am
4oz formula with breakfast
average of about 4oz formula in drinks am and pm
occasional yoghurt for pud (he's not v keen)
about 2-3oz formula with cereal for pudding after tea (seems to go down better than yoghurt!)
often has cheese or milk sauce for lunch or tea
bf at bedtime

So its a bit marginal whether he's getting his full 20oz - would need to be getting 4oz at each bf which I really don't think he does....

thanks elliot...looks like mine isn't the only non milky baby

Sophable - 3 of my children did not like milk at all as a drink so I did not persist with it. Personally I would continue to offer to breastfeeds, even if he doesn't always take them. Does he have a drink going to bed? The youngest of mine to stop breastfeeding was 10 months old and he was just being fed at night going to bed. I never gave whole milk as a drink because when I tried that with my first child he got terrible colic which was new. I personally think milk is overated. My kids got plenty of dairy produce such as yogurt, milk in breakfast - (it is amazing how much is needed in weetabix or readibrek), cheese etc. I don't think they need to go onto whole cows milk as a regular drink at all.

Elliot - you would be surprised what babies get at a breastfeed. It will be well in excess of 4 oz at a feed. Even though some women do not get much expressing, that does not equate with what a baby actually gets.

Can I do a quick hijack and ask whether the opposite of sophable's baby would be considered a problem -- ie. a nearly 8-month old taking one small solid meal a day and five bfeeds?

Absolutely not a problem. Some babies do not like to take solids much until 9 months.

thanks so much mears...and everyone...v reassured. will continue to offer breastfeeds as long as possible, i'll try til one year