Milk intake dropped - should I change brand?

[bookwormbeagle]

my 9mo DD has never been a milk monster, at her peak she'd take 25-30oz max per day, but never more than 6oz at a time.

Since moving on to 3 proper meals a day plus snacks she's really enjoying her solids to the point that she's really not fussed at all about her milk. I keep offering milk at 7am, 11am, 3pm sometimes, 7pm and dream feed about 11pm. She sleeps great so I'm happy with this routine - but am getting concerned as her intake is dropping. She will have probably 18oz throughout the day which seems too low. It's as if she doesn't like the taste of it (cow and gate six months plus milk), so I don't know whether to risk swapping to a different brand? Or would this upset her tummy?

Any help appreciated, thank you.

Swapping brands won't hurt but I don't think it will make much difference. The minimum she should be having is 20floz a day and you're not much short of that. Could she have a couple of ounces mixed with ready brek for breakfast? Could you cut out the snacks so that she is more hungry for her milk?

did she used to drink the first milk ok? Why not switch back to it if she did as the first milk is fine until she can go onto cows milk at 1 year. At 9 months my ds dropped to 3 milk feeds - am, mid-afternoon and bedtime.

Thanks for both your replies. She wasn't that bothered about the first milk either - she'll drink it but only really 3-4oz at a time which is why I've stuck to smaller bottles at regular intervals. I would love her to have just 3 x 8oz for example, as this would fit in a lot better around school pickups/drop offs/work/family life but she doesn't seem to have the capacity for that much milk at a time!

I've had a look into calcium rich diets and will try to up her intake with mashed sardines, plenty of dairy etc.

I'd still swap to the first stage formula. The added iron in follow on milk can act as an appetite suppressant.

How about offering something like this?

7am 4floz
8am breakfast
11am 4floz
12pm lunch
3.30pm 4floz
5pm dinner
7pm 4floz
11pm 4floz

I know it will mean more bottles but at least you can cut out the snacks for now. Do you think this might work for you?

I had the same problem with Ds at this age , we tried everything but it got progressively worse until he refused milk most of the time .

We were advised by hv to use his milk in porridge/cooking , up his calcium with dairy products & in meals & also to put him on vitamin drops .

He's 7 now & is the tallest in his class , is in age 10-11 clothes & his favourite drink is milk !!

Great advice, thank you both. She's a very happy girl and seems to be growing fine, but I'll try putting some of your ideas into practice. Especially switching back to first stage milk.

Oh good. The amount of solids she is on is more like what is recommended at 12 months. At 9 months she should just be having solids 3 times a day

Really? My HV said to give light snacks on top of the three meals a day! To be fair she's 10 months next week so I'm not going to worry about it too much
Think we've had a breakthrough today, she seemed to keep drinking longer when I let her hold the bottle herself, so maybe she'll get better with more independence. Thanks again for your input.