Milk/follow on milk advice?

[inscotland]

Hi

My DS is 11 months old. 1 at the end of the month.

Anyhoo, he seems to be cutting back on his forumla feeds himself during the day. I offer him 8 oz at 10.30 and 3 pm and he's drinking less and less each week although still having some.

Most nights he will still have close to a full bottle at bedtime which is around 6.45 pm.

He currently has cow's milk with his museli in the morning and eats it no problem however, he's not taking to cow's milk as a drink at all. He just wants water. He doesn't even like juice!

We're emmigrating at the end of July and I'd like, if possible (but don't know how possible this is) to have gotten rid of the bottles and steriliser by then. I appreciate however that he may not give up his bedtime milk so 1 bottle may well make the journey with us.

What do I do about his milk during the day? How can I cut down on the formula or allow him to do it himself if he's not taking cow's milk as a drink Is that ok? Does he really need cow's milk? I'll keep offering a little with each meal but it isn't going down well.

He generally eats very well but some days less than others. He has 1 yoghurt a day but isn't keen on cheese either.

Any tips? He's my first!

BTW I have tried him on the aptamil follow on milk for toddlers and he spat it out!

We just swapped formula for cow's milk after DS was one. At the time, he had a bottle in the morning, in the afternoon and before bed. We just did a straight swap with the afternoon bottle first and he took it for a couple of weeks, then refused it. Then we changed him onto cow's milk in the morning and evening and he kept that up for a good long time, and only dropped the morning one at about 18months.

We just did a straight swap and he took it OK. You could try mixing formula with cow's milk though and gradually increasing the amount of cow's milk.

After a year, they need about a pint of milk a day. If he takes a good size bottle at night, you could probably make up the rest with yoghurt, on cereal etc. Would he eat rice pudding or custard?

DS will not take milk from a cup at all (except at nursery!) so he has the bedtime bottle, plus milk on cereal, a yoghurt and some cheese every day.

He didn't like rice pudding when I last tried him. Rachel's organic stuff. I might try him with some custard though. That's a good idea.

Can I make his formula up with cow's milk rather than water or just make say 3 oz of formula in the normal way and top up to 6 oz with cow's?

make up the formula in the usual way and add it to the cows milk.

From 1 year the recommended intake drops to 350mls which is around 12oz. Milk with cereal, in foods and any other dairy counts so it doesnt have to be in drink form. Does he like cheese sauce? DD can eat her own weight in macaroni cheese!!

That is another dish I have yet to make. I am not a good cook so making a cheese sauce scares me but thanks for the tips!

You could also try ground rice. You can buy it dry in bags, you just mix it with milk and a bit of sugar and simmer until thick enough to eat with a spoon. Really, really quick and easy to prepare and makes a nice change from yoghurt. DS really likes it and there's always enough left over for me to have some too - yum!

Look up microwave cheese sauce method - you just bung cold milk (I think about half a pint, about a tbsp flour and about 2 tbsps of butter - I just guess the amounts, it either turns out thick or thin!), then microwave for 30 secs, whisk, then micro for 30 secs again, whisk and repeat until it is thick. Then just add grated cheese. I used to struggle with the normal method, but with thnis one thne only thing that goes wrong is if I let it boild over and have to clean the microwave! Good lucK!