Does weaning reduce the amount of milk they take?

[Willsmum79]

I have started weaning my LO (just ice cube amounts at breakfast and teatime) but his milk intake has been reducing dramatically. It began just before weaning but today he has had (2:15pm) only 9oz of milk. He had been having 5-6oz with a 4oz 5-6 times a day but now we are down to 2-4oz.

I did wonder if I should abandon the weaning (he is 4 months, takes food with no problem from a spoon) and wait until next month because I thought milk should be the main form of nourishment until 6 months or should I change the teat on his bottle from medium to fast flow as we had this issue at 4-7 weeks and went from slow to medium flow teat.

Not sure what to do.

Well, standard guidelines say 6 months for weaning with milk as the main nourishment till then.
I can only tell you that DS was 5mo when we started weaning and it didn't affect his milk intake - maybe the times he took his milk, but until he was on his "proper" meals, he didn't drop feeds.

Is there a reason you're weaning so early?

Milk is their main source of nourishment until 1 year old ('until they're one, it's just for fun' and all that)

You ask if you should 'abandon the weaning' so I can only assume that you are not weaning on medical advice which rather begs the question of why on earth you are trying to wean a four month old?

It's strange your baby is reducing milk with only ice cube amounts. Mine kept up the same milk feeds until I was giving solids every 2-3 hours during the day! DD is bf so it's hard to know the exact amounts, admittedly.

Given yours only 4mo, I'd say you might be better off waiting. If you keep going, you might end up replacing nutricious milk with carrots, reducing his needed calories for growth.

By the way, it was nearly 12mo when I actively day weaned DD from bf. Hence giving her solids everytime she's hungry. She was already going to nursery FT and was only bf during the day in weekends.

diedandgonetodevon

I find your tone a tad judgemental i.e "why on earth?"!!!!.

6 months is a GUIDELINE NOT THE LAW! There are purees that are marketed from 4 months. If it was sooooo bad I doubt they would be allowed to put them on the shelf!

I am weaning for reasons that are known to me and nobody else needs to know them. Considering that weaning has been done at different ages for decades (3 months in 70s, 4 months in 80s & 90S and early 00s) and only changed a few months ago AND that a recent study now has shown that 6 months may be a bit late to wean, I think it is safe to say that there is no RIGHT OR WRONG time to wean because NOBODY seems to have an actual age on it. Babies learn to crawl, walk, sit unaided talk, roll over etc, etc at different ages and babies are ready for weaning at different ages. If you want to follow NHS guidelines laid down by the bloody government, then please go ahead - no judgement on my part. I do resent though people QUESTIONING my parenting skills!

I KNEW it was a bad idea posting a question on mumsnet - too many 'know alls' and judgemental people who think their way is law and everyone else who does things differently is a bad parent. THANKS!

Also focus on the question in hand. i.e does weaning reduce milk intake? Would there be a less judgemental answer if I said LO was 6 mths? Some people focus on the insignificant details rather than the main point of the question!

Arf!, take a deep breath. The guidelines did not change 'a few months ago', what utter rot.

6 months has come about due to research into gut maturity. You cannot 'see' when the gut is ready for solid food.
If your 4 month old can sit independently, had lost their tongue thrust mechanism, can grab and place food in their own mouth then fine, go ahead. If not, then why not do some research instead of assuming that what used to be considered fine still is.

Think about it- babies used to be put on their tummies to sleep. The 'Back to Sleep' campaign changed that. Which is better for one specific child? Who knows, but are you going to take the risk and go against respected, properly reviewed studies? Maybe you are, maybe you're not but do some research first.

Just to let know the 4 month on packets thing is because there are food that are unsafe below 6 months so they highlight the foods that are safe earlier.

But in answer to ur question if the milk has dropped so much u might be better to wait a while. Have u also tried making sure hes had a milk feed before u offer solids?

Hello again! Charliemumma - I like your tone of a reply. Honest but not judgemental. In answer to your question, I always give him his bottle before a solid. My mistake could be waiting too long between milk before giving the solids as it reduces the time between solid to his next feed - if you catch my drift. I will try and alter that tomorrow. Thank you!

diedandgonetodevon - apologies for MY tone. But not for my answer.

Granted was supposed to say 'a few years ago'. I know this because my friend's 4 year old was weaned at 4 months as this was the case then and was for years including when myself, my friends, my friends babies and the kids that I teach (on talking to their mums) and all fine, walking, talking can tell the tale!

It seems (on talking to GP a lot more help than some!) that reducing milk intake IS normal. However my LO came down with a bug which coincided with the weaning. I quizzed my GP extensively on weaning at 4 months and he gave me his 'honest' professional opinion. Weaning used to be recommended at 4 months, 3 months going decades back! It was changed to 6 months because by then (as diedandgonetodevon mentioned) most babies have guts that are ready. There was a minority of babies who were not ready at 4 months but a large number were ready. The 'health experts' changed the guidelines but also said 'weaning can begin from 17 weeks, no earlier'. My LO was 17 weeks!

Just an update - my LO is weaning brilliantly. He is on 1 'meal' a day and has just increased to 3 teaspoons with the normal 26-30oz of milk he has in a day. He still has a bit of the bug hanging on him but the GP looked him over (30 minute appointment) and gave us the 'go-ahead' to continue to wean. As he said, I am a good mum and 'MUMS KNOW BEST'.

So please can the 'Why on Earth' brigade pipe down and operate brain before engaging mouth when they leave a comment. And remember to answer the question rather than just leave you opinion which is clearly not needed.

I weaned my daughter at 4 months as milk just didn't seem to be satisfying her. She's 1 in 3 weeks and is crawling around like there is no tomorrow, she is on the 75th percentile?!?!? and best of all she will eat anything that is put in front of her. She doesn't take a great deal of milk and hasn't from the day I started weaning to be honest but after speaking to the health visitor she didn't seem worried at all. It doesn't seem to have done her any harm and as your doctor said 'Mum knows best' xx