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Infant feeding

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

when should dd stop having regular milk bottles?

6 replies

Kingy12 · 11/11/2007 20:01

Evening all,

My dd is turning 2 tomorrow so i have been wondering when to cut out the bottle and milk altogether.
She currently has 6oz milk as soon as she wakes up and about 8oz at bedtime. However she hardly eats anything... when she does it's normally carbs, so I have started giving her vitamins as well.
Any sugestions please? .. should i cut out her milk altogether?

Thanks Clair.

OP posts:
Anonymama · 11/11/2007 20:09

I would definitely offer a bedtime and early morning beaker or cup of milk - but would not give it in a bottle (bad for teeth).

After the age of 2, if your DD is a healthy weight, offer semi-skimmed milk rather than full fat.

If you find she isn't getting enough protein & fruit & veg, you could try offering these first and cutting out snacks, so she is really hungry for meals.

FWIW, my DS, about the same age has a beaker of milk before breakfast (sometimes with half a biccie - a cup of tea in bed is a bit of a family tradition in the mornings), porridge, fruit & toast for breakfast, a light snack (e.g. a few raisins, a biscuit, half slice of toast) & water mid-morning, a cooked lunch (e.g. roast chicken dinner, pear), a beaker of milk or very dilute tea on waking up after the afternoon nap, a lighter tea in the evening (e.g. scrambled egg on toast & yoghurt) and a bedtime milk. I thought that it was a bit heavy on the dairy, but according to the HV, a bit of fat & loads of calcium is important at this age.

HTH.

Seona1973 · 11/11/2007 20:09

from 1 year 12-20oz is considered ok so your lo is not taking a huge amount. I would probably try to cut the bottles but that doesnt mean you have to stop giving milk. My 13 month old has milk in a lidded beaker in the morning and at bedtime. Even just offering milk in a beaker may make your lo take a bit less and then she may take a bit more in the way of food.

hotbot · 11/11/2007 20:24

Just thought, but will she have yoghurt, rice pudding, custard etc she may well get enough milk via this stuff instead of drinking it?

Kingy12 · 11/11/2007 23:03

hi ladies ... thanks for your help!

she will occasionally have a yoghurt, but normally i get a screwed up face with a yuck to go with it!!
She basically lives on rice, bread, pasta and potatoes at the moment... all of which have to be plain with no hidden ingrediants as she won't eat them otherwise!

currently i give her a balanced meal on a plate, but she just picks out the bits she wants and leaves the rest!
do you think i should try the tough love approach and not give her the carbs in the hope that she'll eat some meat/veg?
btw, she rarely gets any snacks between meals either!

OP posts:
suiledonn · 11/11/2007 23:20

My dd is 18 months and sounds very similar to yours. She has an 8oz bottle at bedtime and that is really the only milk she will drink. I offer her a cup of milk in the morning and sometimes she drinks 1 or 2 oz. She has milk on cereal and I add sour cream/creme fraiche/mascerpone to soups and sauces for her to increase dairy intake as she doesn't eat cheese and often refuses yoghurts. She doesn't really bother with snacks either although has started to improve a bit lately and might have some raisins or a pear or a plain biscuit. She is like your dd in that she seems to love carbs but doesn't eat much meat. She loves homemade soup so I make a vegetable soup with chicken and blend it up and she loves it. I also include beans, peas and lentils when I make soup. Couls you try this?
I am lucky because even though she is not that interested in fruit she loves vegetables and will eat everything except brussels sprouts.

Anonymama · 12/11/2007 13:55

I'm not an expert, but would imagine that living on rice, bread, pasta & spuds (with some milk) might leave her open to a risk of vitamin deficiency. Plus there is not much protein there to help with growing muscles etc. And of course, there is a concern that your daughter's palate will be too limited (although toddlers are notoriously neophobic about food, so she may grow out of this stage).

Does she like cheese? I often kid my DS into eating things he is less keen on by covering them with cheese sauce. As Suiledonn says, you could make a chicken stock (from a chicken carcass, rather than a cube) and use that as the basis of a bland soup, e.g. butternut squash, adding in a bit of cream to make it more palatable for her. As a real stock it will contain some protein.

From what I've read, it's important not to make meals into a stand-off, but I can't see how you would not feel frustrated and concerned if you offer your child a healthy diet and end up binning most of it. At 2, my DS has just started responding fairly well to an "eat 3 more spoons of your lunch if you want your pudding" type negotiation. If your little one's language/reasoning is up to that, perhaps you try it, or offer protein/veg only for a couple of days).

Like I say, am no expert, perhaps someone else will be able to offer advice, so BUMP!!

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