Dropping bottles

[Fletcher567]

DS turns 8 months in the next few days and I’ve been weaning him for a couple of months now. Generally he is a great eater, tries and seems to enjoy most things I offer and is preferring feeding himself which is nice to see. What concerns me is the effect it’s had on his milk intake. He was having 4 x 7oz bottles in the day a few weeks back (on top of food and water) but has now drastically started dropping them eg today had 4oz this morning (I used the rest on some weetabix although he didn’t finish this) 3oz mid morning, refused the third bottle completely and has now had 2oz before bed and refused anymore. His sleep is currently atrocious and he is sometimes feeding in the night again (not sure if this is due to less milk in the day) but I still don’t think he’s eating enough to account for such a massive reduction in milk. Everything I read says that they will gradually drop one of the bottles (often one of the day ones) but it’s concerning me that’s he’s barely even touching his bedtime one…any advice??

Please

It's been a while but I remember my DD (she's over 2 now) quite dramatically dropping her bottles when we started weaning and she was eating more solids. Sounds similar to your situation!

I tried to get her milk into her in other forms, like using her formula in weetabix/porridge as you have done and offering her some before bed as well as the morning when she was refusing her nighttime bottle. I found that filled her up a lot more for bedtime than when she just had a sip of her bottle then refused the rest.

It actually was only temporary and she started taking her bottles more again after a few weeks. I don't know if it's just the big change of eating real food puts them off the milk a bit as they maybe prefer the other foods?

Try not to worry too much as long as they are still eating and drinking some of their milk and not losing any weight ❤️

@BabyBunnyMama thank you for your reply, it has concerned because of how drastic it’s been! Like I said in my OP, even a couple of weeks ago he was having the food plus finishing all his bottles with sometimes a 9oz one before bed. Tonight he has had 1oz before falling asleep and it worries me in case it is a sign of something else

@Fletcher567 Honestly my DD was the exact same it wasn't like she gradually ate more solids and reduced milk it seemed very sudden (I was worrying at the time too) but it did seem to just be a phase. Suppose there's so many other factors that can influence how they behave it's hard to know why.

Is he OK otherwise? Like any signs of coming down with something or cutting teeth even? With you saying his sleep is atrocious I wonder if he's maybe even going through a sleep regression/leap that's maybe putting him off his bottles too?

The only other advice I suppose, and I don't know what your feeding routine is, but make sure there's a good bit of space between his solids and milk incase he's maybe feeling full at the time of being offered a bottle? Or maybe do bottle first and solids next as they say their main nutrition should be their milk before 1.

@BabyBunnyMamaYes given what his sleep is like at the moment I’m also wondering if it’s linked to teething or a sleep regression, it could be so many things, it really doesn’t help when trying to find a solution! I’m hoping it evens out sooner or later as it’s definitely a testing time at the moment and this massive drop in his milk worries me

@Fletcher567 oh nothing worse than when they aren't sleeping well and you're having to deal with all the worries on lack of sleep. I hope he settles and starts taking his normal bottles again soon for you lovely ❤️

My DD done exactly this at around 8 months too. She was completely refusing her bedtime bottle so it had an affect on her sleep so I dropped one of the day ones. She used to have milk at 7, 11, 3 and bedtime (food at 8, 12 and 4) so I dropped the 11am one (bought lunch forward) and gave her the 3pm one at 1:30pm before her nap and it worked a treat.

My DS did exactly this. From around 7-9 months he massively dropped his milk feeds. He was taking about 2ozs at a time, had absolutely no interest and I was struggling to get even 10oz a day into him. He's a big baby so I knew he wouldn't starve but I got so worried about his bone growth etc. Anyway he has just turned 11 months and is back to knocking back four 7oz bottles a day so like @BabyBunnyMama it was just a phase. I just figured I couldn't worry because there was absolutely nothing I could do about it, you cant force feed them!

@Vicky1989x that’s really interesting to hear, we’re on similar timings at the moment so I think I’m going to try this thank you!
@soggycornflakes that’s it isn’t it we can’t force feed them but it still has worried me this past week. I know I shouldn’t with a baby but when he isn’t following his usual behaviour or pattern in feeding/eating/sleeping etc I get really stressed out by it all!
@BabyBunnyMama thank you for all your solidarity anyway I definitely feel a bit better that it could just be a phase although I’m going to try that recommended shift in bottles!
Thank you ladies x

Totally @Fletcher567 its so hard when they change from the pattern you're used to! My DS's milk strike came hand in hand with 6 teeth, crawling/cruising and lots of new sounds so it was a pretty miserable three months but he's back to his happy self now!.... for the time being anyway 😆

OP I am going through exactly the same thing with my 6 month old DS! Since he’s having more solids, his milk intake has dropped massively. He wakes up in the morning, hasn’t eaten for almost 12 hours, yet only has 100-150ml. I’ve been really worried wondering how he can’t be absolutely ravenous. But I read today that at his age he only need 500-600ml of milk in 24 hours. And he does have that, so I’ve stopped worrying so much.
Reading all the comments on this thread has made me feel a lot better as well :)

Is he perhaps teething so that the test against his gums is uncomfortable? DD had this for a spell. Changing to a softer teat helped hugely.