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Weaning

Find weaning advice from other Mumsnetters on our Weaning forum. Use our child development calendar for more information.

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Original poster

Milk first or breakfast??

21 replies

shish · 08/02/2007 09:57

Do you give you baby (around 7 and a half months old) milk first in the morning or breakfast. How much of a gap do you leave between the two??

I used to b/feed him at 8am and give him breakfast at 9am. 2 days ago he decided he did n't want to b/feed any more (this was the only one - all others bottle now). Someone suggested giving him b/fast at 9am followed straight away by milk, but he won't drink more than 3.5 - 4oz. He's more interested in the food. This is after reducing the b/fast a bit and I feel really cruel doing that.. Should I try giving him his milk at 8.30am and then as much b/fast as he wants at 9am??

OP posts:

Quootiepie · 08/02/2007 10:04

DS has a bottle on waking (used to be breastfeed(s!)) about... 7ish? Then I like to leave about 45 minutes before breakfast. I will let him burn some energy, have a play, generally wake up then give breakfast then change his clothes after breakfast. Sometimes he is less hungry than others, although today he scoffed tons of porridge!

Quootiepie · 08/02/2007 10:06

oh, if he wakes at 5 ish for some reason and has a feed, I will maybe give breakfast first as he isn't wanting a milk feed. If in doubt you can always do both together - ceral/porridge or just breakfast and cup of milk?

DizzyBint · 08/02/2007 10:58

milk first, breakfast an hour later. she has no milk through the night anymore so she's ready for milk on waking, has about 100mls.

mylittlestar · 08/02/2007 11:08

milk first, nappy change and get washed and dressed, then breakfast

pelvicflawed · 08/02/2007 12:14

My DS is comming up to 9 mths but the routine has been the same since starting three meals a day. Bottle of milk around 8'ish and then brekkie and hour later (will have to change times when he starts nursery soon). I think in the morning he is thirsty and hungry and milk first seems to make him a happy chap

odbod · 08/02/2007 14:07

since 7 mo we did breakfast first and milk next (straight after) because idea is he'll eventually cut down on his milk in favour of food anyway (ds is 8.5 mo now) and we'll replace afternoon milk with a snack in few weeks so soon he'll just have evening bottle

seems to be a bit different to everyone else whos posted so there's no right way, but more food than milk seems like a natural progression to me

Original poster

shish · 08/02/2007 16:40

He seems to love breakfast, but I worry that he isn't getting enough milk, although he does eat cheese and yoghurt. He doesn't seem satisfied since I reduced his breakfast over the last 2 days in the hope of getting a decent amount of milk into him. Maybe tommorrow I will try milk first, let him have a play and then breakfast - just like when I was b/feeding him in the morning. That way he can eat as much breakfast as he likes as I don't have to worry about leaving space in his tummy for milk. I'll let you all know how it goes. Thanks for all the advice.

OP posts:

Original poster

shish · 09/02/2007 09:52

I gave him his bottle first followed by breakfast an hour later, just like I used to when I was b/feeding him in the morning. He drank about 5oz of milk, but hardly touched his breakfast. Mind you he didn't really eat more than a couple of spoonfulls at dinner last night either. Could it be a phase or something?? I'm getting quite stressed. I know he's does this before where he eats really badly for a day or 2. I'm gonna try this again tommorrow and see how I get on. Maybe I'll have to experiment a little??

Surely the milk can't have filled him up that much? He used to eat a whole weetabix with fruit and full fat milk without any fuss.

OP posts:

DetentionGrrrl · 09/02/2007 10:32

I give breakfast 1st, then a bottle about an hour later. Then DS drops off for a morning nap.

Original poster

shish · 09/02/2007 11:48

HV has told me that I should just give him b/fast and top him up with bottle and that it doesn't matter if he doesn't drink more than a couple of ounces of milk. I wasn't too sure about this. I didn't think this was enough as he only has about 4-5oz in the afternoon and 6-7oz at bedtime - depending on his mood. He's also been fussing with his afternoon milk over the last couple of days so I'm gonna try a faster flow teat today as mybe he's not getting the milk fast enough..

OP posts:

Enid · 09/02/2007 11:50

I started giving her breakfast first and then a bottle from around 7.5 months

Original poster

shish · 09/02/2007 11:53

What if he doesn't drink enough milk though? Did you limit the amount of breakfast?

OP posts:

Enid · 09/02/2007 11:54

no I used formula on her apricot wheats then gave her the rest in a bottle

Ali5 · 09/02/2007 11:58

Aren't you supposed to make sure they drink at least a pint of infant milk a day? Isn't it milk that gives the nourishment? With this in mind, I've always offered milk first. I don't do milk with lunch but at the moment (after a recent tummy bug) I do milk at tea time, followed by food (I used to do it the other way round). Then milk at bedtime. I worry more when ds doesn't drink milk.

Original poster

shish · 09/02/2007 11:59

I use full fat milk in his weeatbix.. I really don't know what to do. He loves his breakfast. I tried reducing him to half a weetabix instead of a whole so he would drink more milk, but he really wasn't very happy with me. Do you think he may gradually increase his milk intake if I give it after breakfast as it is new to him at the moment??

OP posts:

Original poster

shish · 09/02/2007 12:00

..Or will a faster flow teat help. I'm quite new to bottle feeding

OP posts:

Enid · 09/02/2007 12:01

can you make up a 7oz bottle and use some on his weetabix then give him the rest after? then you know he's had his 'quota'

Ali5 · 09/02/2007 12:02

Faster flow may help although when we move up one it's carnage - milk everywhere and it seems to give ds wind. Try it on one feed when ds is not so hungry.

Weegle · 09/02/2007 13:04

We do breakfast then milk straight after (8 months). He wouldn't eat any breakfast when I did it the other way around. I don't think you need worry about the milk amounts because all milk products count towards the daily total, so cheese and yoghurt can help bump up the amount. Also I hated the feeling of spending the best part of the day feeding him so he has breakfast/bottle together and dinner/bottle together else you feel like you're feeding every 2 hours!

DizzyBint · 09/02/2007 14:37

shish- i think you're getting your knickers in a big old twist here. it's not an exact science, just try something for a week or so, if it doesn't work out change it next week. it's different strokes for different folks yes? i know when i wake up i want a big drink, other people wake up starving hungry.

it works for me to do milk first, then breakfast an hour later because dd has her bath in the morning, after her milk, plays with her bath toys for ages and ages, then we get dressed, come down stairs and have breakfast together. i really hardly think about amounts of anything at all, she seems happy enough, i'm happy, we do what fits with our day IYSWIM.

Nip · 09/02/2007 14:47

Shish - my DS has a bottle at about 7 and then breakfast at 9. Giving him a few hours lets the milk go down and then he enjoys all his breakfast...

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