9.5 month old gone off milk

[honeybee1986]

Hi all,
First time mum and first post here just looking for some advice!
My 9.5 month old DD has in the last 2/3 weeks gone of her milk , she is only drinking 90ml on wake up , 50 ml in afternoon and 100 ml at bed time as even that is a struggle ! She will have some water but not a great deal. Having 3 good meals a day. I'm worried this is not enough as the recommendations are at least 500ml a day . I've tried adding milk to foods like porridge/ weetabix but she has gone off those aswell !
Is it normal to cut down this much at this age ? What did or do your little ones drink at this age ? Tried anbesol/ teething granules at time of bottle to check if her gums are sore but doesn't make any difference.
Many thanks

Could be she just doesn't like milk? I stopped drinking it when I was about 3 months old, apparently, and I still don't drink it now. Or eat porridge or cereals.

If she's eating 3 full meals a day, then it could be she's not hungry for it.

Have you changed how you give the milk to her? Is she still on formula or have you started her on cow's milk? Does she have it in a bottle or a cup? Did she used to have it warm and now she gets it room temperature? Have you tried almond or other nut milk to see if that tempts her?

How do you prepare the porridge? Is it watery or thick? I'm just thinking if it's watery, she may have gone off it because you presumably feed it to her and she now wants to feed herself. Making it thicker may encourage her to eat it, as she will be able to grab handfuls and feed herself. I find 1 measure oats to 2 measures milk/water then in the microwave for 3-4 minutes gives a thick enough texture that they can actually pick up themselves.

Hi
Thanks for taking the time to reply.
Nothing has really changed, she has had the follow on formula since 7 months when I stopped b feeding her and has been fine with it up to now . She always likes it Luke warm have tried it room temp / in sippy cup etc doesn't make any difference. She has had cows milk in cooking etc but I didn't think you could give it as a main drink untill 12 months . That's a great idea about making the Porridge thick so she can pick it up herself had not thought of that . I would of normally given it to her normal porridge consistency.

Yep, advice is formula until 12 months. I was just checking.

I don't know what else to say about drinking the milk, sorry. Hopefully someone else may have a better answer. Or you could try your health visitor?

I phoned the health visitor and not very helpful just said you need to get the milk in to her some how 🙄 !
Thank you for help though with suggesting about making the porridge thicker 😊

When my ds was 10 months old he gave up milk and that was that.

Same the dummy.

My dd was still having night time botttles and a dummy until turning 4yo

They are so diffetent

Anyfucker, did your ds eat a lot of foods with milk in or did you not worry too much about it ?

I feel your pain, 6 month old ds only ever has about 70ml at a time, often less. He really isn't a milky baby. He doesn't even feed particularly more often than my friends babies of similar ages. I have no idea how to get him him to take his milk and I have a feeling that now he's starting solids he'll drop even further.

I worried lots, honey, and gave him lots of yoghurts and Ready Brek type stuff

He simply closed his mouth and refused to drink milk

He is now a 6 ft teenager and still doesn't like milk

2 of mine gave up milk by 10 months the 2 were milk addicts!

Focus on varied diet with cheese. I reintroduced chocolate milk around 16 months and then milk again.

I do wonder if after eating proper food formula just tastes vile!

I had trouble getting DD to drink milk but she would eat cheese, yogurts etc. so I just made sure she had these everyday and our health visitor said as long as she was getting it from other sources not to worry. Homemade cheese sauce with lots of milk was useful - and like you we made porridge too.

When she was about 2.5 she started drinking milk (maybe because they offered it to her at pre-school?) and now she loves the stuff!

So here's another twist. What if they're dairy free due to allergy and still won't drink their formula? (Sorry to hijack op)

Do you have a helpful health visitor or dietician you could speak to, Double?

There are lots of dairy free milks, including oat milk and rice milk, which you could use in food, but you should really speak to someone who knows what they're on about, rather than me (DS is lactose intolerant, so I have a vague idea what you're dealing with, but he has always enjoyed his formula). They would hopefully have better tactics and advice.

If it reassures you a bit, I had to be weaned at 3 months because I wouldn't drink milk, and I still don't drink it now. I don't have any issues.

Well i tried the porridge balls / fingers and she smeared them all over her face ! So didn't eat any of it 😩!!
Argh it's really stressing me out . I guess i will try the cheese sauce !

Doublecarrick sorry to hear you are having problems too , worse than me I imagine x

@fireflygirl my hv is awesome but my gp is rubbish and refusing to refer to a dietician for some unknown reason (they're now in special measures)

Don't stress, OP. Just keep trying. It's not going to damage your daughter overnight. I don't mean that to be flippant but honestly, don't panic, just keep trying. Keep us updated as to how the cheese sauce goes! You have me fancying cauliflower cheese now!

My dd did this. She still doesn't like milk.
Plenty of yogurts, cheese, custard (homemade) and lots of vegetables.
Would she drink smoothie?

Thank you , it's when you see your friends from baby group's babies having all there 200ml 3x daily like clockwork that makes you worry about it I suppose and they look bemused when I say my DD is not doing well with milk . Cauliflower cheese for lunch it is !
I have be adding full fat soft cheese in to her meals , that's ok isn't it ?

Greatbigpolarbear she will only drink water spits juice / smoothie out 😕

My 9 month old will only have an 8oz bed time bottle now. I make sure that he has a varied diet so I know he gets the vitamins he needs and make doubly sure that he gets plenty of calcium (cheese and yoghurt) mostly.

Have you tried whizzing some milk up with a banana for a milkshake?

I worried to begin with but think the worst thing you can do with anything food related is force them to eat/drink as it will put them off even more.

Both my children went off formula by 10 months. I spoke to the HV about it and she said as long as they're eating well it's not a concern. She also advised me that if they wanted to drink cows milk at that age it was fine too, although I know that goes against all the advice you're normally given so I'm not advocating you do that. However, my 2 both started drinking cows milk at 10 months and have turned out just fine!
But like I said, it's not usually advised so check with your HV if you want to do it.

My 9 month old just has 2 x 7oz bottles a day. Along with 3 meals and snacks. The formula guidance is mainly so they're getting their vitamins and minerals. I give readybrek every morning mixed with fruit purée as readybrek is fortified so contains 100% of lots of vitamins in one serving. I also use Arla big milk, which is cows milk but is also fortified with vitamins so I know that even if he doesn't drink much formula he's still getting a balanced diet.
Also give cheese and yogurt daily. I mix cream cheese into lots of meals like spag Bol and fish based meals and 2 yogurts a day usually.

Info on photos. So you can see he's getting lots of his vitamins and minerals just from the milk and readybrek.

Mine always went off his milk when he was teething, he pretty much stopped drinking altogether. I was panicking about the 500ml thing too but the HV was very relaxed about it, just said to keep giving him vitamins, as varied a diet as possible and include plenty of liquid and dairy in his food. He had a lot of fruit pouches, cheese or cheese sauce in everything, formula in ready break or on weetabix, massive bowls of Greek yogurt etc. He did start drinking a bit more milk but still isn't that fussed at 18 months. We also found he'd drink from the munchkin cups when he wouldn't take it from a bottle.

Thanks all, so helpful much appreciated for Everyone's input. Feel a lot better now.

Glad to hear that, honeybee.

And if I might give a last bit of unsolicited advice - don't compare to your friends' kids. That way lies madness...