3 bottles a day - is too much?

[OuiOui]

My dd is coming up to 12 months and she's still having 3 bottles of 7oz a day. Ok she doesn't always have the whole bottle but certainly no less than 5 oz each time. She's been on this routine since about 7months. She also eats a lot of solids - cereal at 830, bottle at 1030, lunch at 1230, bottle between 3-5, dinner at 530-700ish and then final bottle at around 830/9ish.
This is a roughish routine as it changes depending on whther she's at nursery(3 days) or at home, or indeed if we're out & about. On the Formula box, it says that she should still have 3 bottles until 12 months but my friend says that she knows others who only have one bottle now and take a lot of dairy in the solids. Will she naturally want less milk? A few times she's gone to bed at night without having the final bottle but then waking distressed at midnight, wanting her milk. Any advice?

[Bumblelion]

My DD is now 11 months and is still on 3 bottles of milk (9 oz) a day. She has a bottle at 7:00 am, some breakfast at 9:15 (ish), depending on when I get back from the school run, then sleep. She has lunch at 12 ish and then a bottle of milk about 3. She then has tea about 5:30 and then a bottle before bed at 7:15.

I did in fact mention this to my health visitor but she didn't seem unduly concerned. All the time she wants her milk, she can continue to have it, while I am introducing more of a varied diet.

[Philippat]

Goodness, my 11 month old is still on 4 bottles - 4oz at 6.30am, 4 at 9.30, 4 at 3.30 and 8oz at 7pm (bed). Can't see her giving one of those up without a fight as small and often is her prefered eating routine.

I understand for the first few years you should aim for 1pint for milk a day, either in milk itself or dairy in food. Dd hardly eats any dairy in food so I'm not bothered about the 4 bottles.

[LIZS]

Our just 1 yr old has b'feed first thing, 5 oz formula at breakfast (9 ish) 5 more mid afternoon then a 7 oz before bed although she doesn't always finish it. She had almost dropped her breast feed until she resumed with avengeance just as I was deciding not to bother.

OuiOui, I would not worry as I'm sure these will decrease with time. Just make sure you continue to offer solid food in the same quantity. Our dd is currently going through an independent phase of not wanting to be spoon fed much so perhaps she is compensating for this by retaining her milk input. DS was already down to 2 bottles at this stage but I guess they all vary.

LizS

[GillW]

My 12 month old is still demanding 4 or 5 250ml (9oz) bottles/cups of milk (he's on goats milk) a day. It doesn't seem to affect his appetite for food though as he can still put away 4 good meals a day. I do wonder if he's catching up now on what he might have missed earlier, as before we discovered that goats milk suited him he was down to about 12oz a day of regular formula at one time. Quantities went up (but his eczema worsened) when we tried soya formula, and since we've been on goats milk he's been having loads more - some days soon after we made the switch he'd be having 6 x 250ml. I'm not concerned at the moment as he is finally going back up the growth charts to where you'd expect him to be for his height, having slipped from 91st centile to 25th.

[sb34]

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[lilly72]

My 13 month old still has 8oz first thing in morning and 8oz at bedtime...she also has 4 oz on her breakfast... I understand it that babies require a pint of milk per day at this stage..

[inga]

Hello. Both of my baby books say babes up to 12 months+ should be drinking i pint/600 ml+ a day. One book suggests twice a day the other suugests as and when babe needs it, but probably best not with food.
A mother I know was feeding her 5 month old son only twice a day (9oz a feed)and feeding him solids three times a day. So clearly there is no hard and fast rule! Reassuring for those of us who are a little unsure of things!

[whitfield]

My 13mth ds also has 3 bottles (8, 6 & 8oz) a day plus solids. My view is if they want their milk why not let them have it, as it can only do them good. I would worry more if they weren't drinking their milk. They do gradually want less milk as they get older as his 3.5 yr old brother has proved.

[floops]

Our ds who is now 2yrs and 3mths has always been a milk drinker. Until recently he would have 35oz a day plus all of his meals. Our HV reassured us by saying that so long as the milk is not substituting meals there is no upper limit to the amount of milk they should or should not have. He still loves his milk but probably only has about 25oz now.Dd heading the same way - 9mths next week and just increased her milk again (guided by her!). Probably has aroung 35oz plus three good meals a day (plus rusks in between!)Ds sits between the 50th and 75th centiles, dd sits on the 25th. Have not done anything differently for each one just let them guide me.Oh and OuiOui - when my two sometimes fall asleep without their last milk they too wake up in the night but I just let them have their milk then - they're happy and I'm happy.

[OuiOui]

Thanks to all - I feel much better - it all makes sense and yes she does have more milk when she refuses her solids. and yes why not let her have more milk if that's what she wants - it's hardly harmful...