How much formula is not enough?

[Lbratton]

My DD is just approaching 11m. I breastfed for 6m, started weaning into solids at 5m and switched from breast to bottle at 6m. I never really had any problems breast feeding and she has always been great with her solid food but she has always been hit and miss with the bottle. She has never ever managed to have the recommended daily amount, even back when she wasn't eating much. I see lots of comments in threads on here about trying to reduce milk intake to encourage solids, or problems when babies struggle to eat solids because they are so attached to their regular milk bottles. I feel like I have the opposite problem! She eats fine but I am always worried she doesn't get enough milk (she has milk on cereal and yoghurts etc) and she doesn't hardly drink any water or other fluids during the day. The last few days she has refused her mid-afternoon bottle and just had a couple of ounces in the morning and evening. Is this just a normal and natural reduction? I am worried about her dehydrating and not getting all the nutrients from her milk. Is it enough just to try to encourage having as much water as possible instead?

My son never reached his recommended daily amount and I was just encouraged to add vitamin drops to his food. I know there were 2 particular vitamins I had to look out for but can't remember what they were (sorry!) I do remember which drops I used though and it was Abidec multivitamin syrup...its for 1 to 5 year olds so you are only a month off being able to use it!

My lo has never has the recommended minimum amount even before weaning. It is fine as long as they get vitamins and enough calcium from other foods. My dd can't have dairy but if your is having yogurt and cheese u have no problem at all. Ps. My daughter is under the care of a well known London gastro paed and dietician

If they have less than 500ml a day before 12 months then they do need a vitamin supplement as they won't be getting enough from their milk.

After 12 months it's about 350ml of cow's milk per day, but you can include cheese, yoghurt and milk in cereal or custard in this total.

I was told by hv that cheese/yogurt counts

yoghurt, cheese, etc do count towards the total. From 1 year they only need around 300mls worth inclusive of dairy products

I was always told dairy products do count. Milk cheese yogurt, custard, sauces, milk on cereal etc

No award-winning recipes here but when my refluxy DD is struggling with milk, I add it to her veggies. She's 6 months old though. Does your 11mo have mashed veggies/potato? You could add formula to that, make it all creamy. My DD has never had the recommended amount and that's been fine, she is not the recommended size either, she's a person. I find this daily target of 500ml perplexing considering it makes no allowances for babies being on the 1st centile or the 99th. Babies have appetites, fact. My DD has a small appetite but is lovely and chubby for being a 25th centile baby, and is growing as expected. This is inspite of the fact that she is having about 200ml less than she is supposed to be having. Obviously she hasn't read the rules.

Btw sorry for sounding rather confrontational in that post, I'm just tired, nothing was meant by it.

I think the 500ml is the amount of formula that contains enough vitamins, rather than enough calories - so if they have less than that they need a vitamin supplement.

That makes sense, sort of. But say you have, I don't know, a 25lb baby and an 18lb baby. They can't both need precisely the same dose of vitamins, can they? If 500ml contains precisely enough vitamins for an 18lber, then it can't be enough for a much bigger baby?

I am probably going to come across as needlessly obstinate about this, sorry. I've just had Health visitors leaning on me about DD's intake since birth, even though the GPs and a paediatrician agreed she was totally fine. The paediatrician urged me to be led by my baby not by volumes. It's difficult isn't it?

I think the recommended daily amounts for vitamins are fairly broad - it's easy enough to give vitamin drops if your baby doesn't get the minimum though.