How much milk for 13 mth old / and beaker question

[janethommo]

Hello ladies

My HV said at 12 month review that my DD still needs 500ml of milk a day but I forgot to ask when/how soon should this be cut down? At the moment she has a 150ml bottle when she wakes before breakfast then another 150ml at 3pm ish after her nap then 200ml bottle at bed.

Should I be reducing this now?

I've tried unsuccessfully with various beakers for the afternoon feed - any tips on what to try?

She's fine with the tommee tippee lidded beaker (free flowing) for water but don't really want the same thing for milk as may confuse. She's refused beakers so far for milk...

Thanks
Jane

i'm assuming you mean cows milk?

personally i'd either just give her the beaker she will use, or stick to a bottle for milk. it's not ideal for teeth, but it's better than her refusing to drink milk at all.

and why would you cut down- the amounts you've stated add up to 500ml

Once a baby is over 12 months they can move on from breast or formula milk as their main drink to full fat cows milk.

In terms of their nutritional need for calcium they need about a pint per day. However, included in that pint is the dairy they eat like cheese and yoghurts, for instance.

Here's some useful info

Yes cows milk - just wanted to check that 500ml a day was right and should I cut down at some point? She has cheese and yogurts too...

My DS (14m) wouldn't take milk from the sippy cup either, so we now give it to him in a regular glass (plastic glass). We hold it up to his mouth and he drinks. Sometimes he holds it himself (but we hold it too, to prevent him chucking a whole glassful down his front!).

It's not the milk itself that is important, it's the calcium. So you can reduce milk intake as long as she gets her calcium from something else. Milk is the easiest way though.

from 1 year the minimum required drops to around 300mls (approx 11oz) which doesnt all have to be in drink form so yoghurts, cheese, milk in cereal, etc all counts as well. As pp said it is the calcium that is important so if she drinks less milk you can make up the intake in other ways.

When I started switching to a beaker for milk I gave the daytime milk feed in a cup and left the am and pm feed in a bottle. When they got better at taking the milk from the cup I switched the am milk into the cup too and eventually switched the pm milk to a cup as well.

Once your baby is having less than 500ml of formula milk (usually at around a year) per day they'll need vitamin drops too.

Some info on Vit drops.

If your DD is growing nicely (more or less following the centiles on which she started) and eats a wide range of healthy foods but still wants her milk then there's no problem with her having it. However, if she's gaining too much weight or isn't eating other foods because she's too full up on milk then it's time to cut some milk out.

I have similar doubts...

15mo DD is very attached to her milk. She would have about 200ml for breakfast (refusing cereal, even if we don't feed her anything), 200ml at 2.30pm in nursery, and 200ml before bed. That's more than a pint a day!

It's always in a bottle, and she gets very upset if she doesn't get her milk... Not keen on using a beaker either, I guess she likes the sucking..

She has good apetite for other foods, and is consistenly in over the 90th percentile in terms of height and weight. She is a very happy baby, as long as you don't mess around with her milk...

I am currently doing 2 bottles cow milk, and 1 bottle formula a day.

Just wondering if I am getting it right? Should she be having so much milk (she has cheese, but not a fan of yogurt)? Given the amount of milk should I be feeding her formula, full fat milk, or change to semi-skimmed milk? I know that only full fat milk is advised for babies, but she is eating vast amounts!

Would be very grateful to get some views/info on this! (confused)