Baby is rejecting milk.

[Dandy0911]

Hi everyone.

DD is coming up 10 months, we have introduced her to sippy cups this week and she's taken to them really quickly and loves them. She either had water or diluted juice (1 part juice 10 parts water).

She is formula fed and fully weaned. She has 3 meals a day and a bottle in the morning, lunchtime and evening.

So basic breakdown
3 bottles a day.
Breakfast, lunch and dinner.
1 snack (cut up fruit / yogurt / veggie sticks)

But she's now decided she doesn't want milk! She is a hungry baby she loves her food. She won't take a bottle now she has a sippy cup.

Do I just give her milk in sippy cups from now on? I've tried and she has about 4 sips and throws it down. Shall I stop the water and just offer her milk in her cup?

Note we only introduced water in her cup as she has naturally lessened her milk intake and we wanted to make sure she was drinking enough.

I'm wondering because the saying 'food before 1 is just for fun,' implies that their diet should be milk based.

Any advice?

Thank you!

Food before 1 can sometimes be very unhelpful.

Keep the water in the sippy cup and offer milk this way if she likes it. Ditch the juice.

I'd reduce it to just morning and evening milk. You can also give milk in other ways like with yoghurt or cheese.

Don't stress about it though. Sounds like she's naturally dropping feeds.

Sounds like she’s doing great! By the time she’s 1 she’s supposed to ditch all the bottles and only needs 12oz of milk a day and this can be in food. Obviously there is a transition process which why I hate that nonsense of ‘food is for fun before 1’. You are nearing the end of the weaning process and it sounds like everything is going as it should. I would give her a bottle first thing when she wakes before food. Then again before bed. Don’t worry about bottles in the day if she doesn’t want one. As for how much water she’s drinking, I know it probably doesn’t seem like much but they are tiny so need much less than us. She’s not refusing the cup and is drinking so it’s highly unlikely she’ll dehydrate herself. If she’s happy, looks well and having wet nappies then it’s all good. You can also consider a baby vitamin to ensure she gets the nutrition that would have come from the formula. My first did the bottle strike very early so this was recommended to me by her doctor and she’s now a healthy 4YO.

Thank you both so much! This is really really helpful. I have the food before 1 saying too, so unhelpful and untrue.

I will offer her milk in the morning and before she goes to bed. If she doesn't want a bottle I'll just put it in her sippy cup and see how she goes. But thank you! She's doing really well. She's bang on in her growth charts and things.

Only a couple more months and I can ditch the sterilising and just give her fresh cows milk in her cup.

I'll ditch the juice for now and keep her on water.

Thank you both! Very helpful!

At 10 months she only needs 400 ml/13.5 floz of formula a day.

I'd ditch one bottle, maybe the first one and go straight to breakfast but I'd also ditch the juice as that could be filling up her tummy and not leaving enough room for the milk.

Juice is never ever going to be something a baby needs so I would definitely ditch that. It’s totally fine to give her her milk in a cup if that’s what she prefers. If she eats well she will have less milk anyway, so it’s normal that she’s reducing a bit.