Milk feeds and weaning am I doing it right!?

[SassyPants87]

Hi all

I started weaning my 6 month old about 3 weeks ago. Since weaning shes dropped milk feeds but I just want to make sure I'm giving her enough food.

Currently the day looks like this

7.30am breastfeed
8.30am breakfast (fruit purée or porridge)
10.00am 210ml formula
1pm lunch (mix of veggies)
4pm 210ml formula
7pm 210ml formula

I am struggling to get her to drink 210ml each time, shall I offer her a little less?

Any help or suggestions would be really appreciated!

There should be no reduction in milk intake really at this age as solids simply can’t compare for calorie density x

You either need to get her drinking more milk or eating more food - as PP said her milk should be at the same level as before. A fruit purée for breakfast and some veg for dinner isn't adding anything meaningful to her daily calorie intake.

@TwinMum35 @SlidesAndLadders thank you both. Sorry I should have been more detailed. She used to have one breastfeed and x 4 formula feeds of 150ml so I've reduced the number of feeds by 1 but it's actually a little more than what she used to have. This just allows me to space out the feeds more so I can add in solids. Trouble is she struggles to finish the milk. She will finish it but it will take her ages and we are stopping and starting constantly. I think I'll reduce some of her solids until I can start putting her on substantial meals as of next week. Or go back to just giving her tasters for solids for now and reverting back to smaller milks feeds more often

What @TwinMum35 said. Just make sure you're feeding (milk) to hunger cues, as breastmilk and formula are much more calorie/nutrient dense than any first foods. If she naturally drinks less milk, that's okay - but don't start offering less.

Just seen the update OP - the recommendation I took to heart when I was starting weaning with DS was to give a milk feed immediately before solid meals for the first month (from 6m) or so. At the beginning it really is just for exploring and tasting rather than for nutrition/filling them up. Just sit her in her highchair and preload the purees/porridge onto a spoon for her to have a play with/suck on (if you're not comfortable with baby led weaning quite yet), it'll take the pressure right off.

@pregnantncnc thank you for your response! I think you are right I'll revert back to just giving tasters for fun especially as the foods she's eating right now aren't nutrient dense. Also I'll revert to how I did my milk feeds before as she would take them more comfortably than she is now.
There's just so much mixed information about weaning out there!

I started weaning at 5 months due to reflux but at 6 months I was giving milk at 7, 11, 3 and 6:30 and food at 8 and 12. Then when she dropped her 3rd nap I added dinner at 4/4:30 around 7.5 months.

@Vicky1989x thanks for your response Vicky. Sounds quite similar to my routine. Do you know the volume of milk you were giving when you started weaning? Also when your baby started dinner did you drop a milk feed or did these stay the same?

@SassyPants87 My DD has never drank more than 6oz in one go so she had 4 x 6oz bottles a day. I kept them the same but she started refusing her bedtime bottle at 8.5 months so I decided to drop the 11am bottle and move the 3pm bottle.. so I’d give milk at 7, 1:30 (before her nap) and then before bed.

She’s almost one and is still having 3 x 6oz bottles!