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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

Confused about dropping bottles

17 replies

MinisterforCheekyFuckery · 12/05/2019 17:55

DS is just shy of 7mo and having three small meals a day plus bottles. Current routine goes something like this

7am Bottle- usually takes 5/6 Oz

8am Breakfast

9am Nap

11am Bottle- usually takes 6/7oz

12.30pm Lunch

1pm Nap

3pm Bottle- takes anywhere from 5-7oz

7pm Bottle 7oz

11pm Bottle (dreamfeed) 7oz

The HV has told me that he's having too much milk as now he's on 3 solid meals he should have dropped a feed by now.

Which feed would you drop from the current schedule? Should I alter mealtimes to help with this and do I reduce the milk feed gradually or just drop a bottle altogether? Do I need to increase the amount of solid food I give him to compensate?

Any advice much appreciated, thank you.

OP posts:

Newbie1981 · 12/05/2019 18:00

I would swap the 3pm for a 5pm dinner

Newbie1981 · 12/05/2019 18:01

Posted too soon. And keep the rest as it is as that's my exact schedule and working great. Oh except no dream feed.

dementedpixie · 12/05/2019 18:01

I would start lowering the dream feed gradually tbh.

dementedpixie · 12/05/2019 18:02

You said he's on 3 meals, when is the 3rd one?

Original poster

MinisterforCheekyFuckery · 12/05/2019 18:08

I would swap the 3pm for a 5pm dinner

Sorry, typing fail. He is already having a 5pm dinner. Forgot to put it in

OP posts:

Whatsnewpussyhat · 12/05/2019 18:11

You seem to be feeding your baby a lot.

At that age I gave morning bottle with breakfast. So porridge etc then bottle. 8-9am

lunch with bottle

Tea with water around 5ish

Evening bottle about 8 then bed.

Snacks if needed.

In a few months drop the lunchtime bottle.

Original poster

MinisterforCheekyFuckery · 12/05/2019 18:12

I would start lowering the dream feed gradually tbh.

I'd love to drop the dream feed to be honest as it's a pain but I'm a bit scared to as he's only just started sleeping through again after several weeks up repeated wake-ups and then a delightful phase where he was up for the day between 3am and 4am!

OP posts:

Havana7 · 12/05/2019 18:12

I would swap the mid morning and mid afternoon bottle for snacks. I started with the mid morning then a couple of weeks later the mid afternoon. That’s what my HV said and it worked

dementedpixie · 12/05/2019 18:16

I don't think there needs to be a great rush to drop the bottles. I think my DS was on 5 until 8 months when he dropped his middle of the night bottle. At 9 months he was on 3 and then dropped to 2 by 11 months.

Think it was the 11 am one that went first and wad replaced with a snack and drink of water

Original poster

MinisterforCheekyFuckery · 12/05/2019 21:16

DS won't drink water at the moment unfortunately. Maybe he will once he's taking less milk.

OP posts:

MumUndone · 12/05/2019 21:32

There's no rush to drop bottles. Your DS will do this himself as he starts to eat more substantial meals. A few mouthfuls of vegetable puree or whatever is not a substitute for milk. HV is talking rubbish.

homemadegin · 13/05/2019 02:44

About the same as my DD op.

We are

8am porridge and 5 ( was 6)
12 lunch and 5 ( was 6)
4pm 5 oz ( was 6 at 3 pm)
6pm dinner ( did have bottle here that's gone)
7pm 6 oz
2am 5-6 oz

She was doing bottles at 3,6 and 9 but have dropped one and then lowered the rest. She's hungry and looking for them. Not sure where I can take another out either.

Rtmhwales · 13/05/2019 03:14

I'd just gradually reduce the dream feed over 2-3 weeks. DS is 10 months and has three bottles (7am, 1pm, 7pm) and sleeps through twelve hours at night no problem now. I just gave him an ounce less every 3-4 days for the dream feed over the course of a few weeks.

Original poster

MinisterforCheekyFuckery · 13/05/2019 10:01

Mumundone I was quite taken aback by it but she was adamant. It felt like a bit of a telling off really. Her exact words were "no, no that's way too much milk!" but how can it be too much if he's taking it? I always thought babies were supposed to be good at self regulating.

OP posts:

dementedpixie · 13/05/2019 10:42

If he's still having the same at 10/11 months then you could think about cutting it down but at 7 months it really isn't an issue

MumUndone · 14/05/2019 11:27

What about the whole 'food before one is just for fun' thing? And if you're BLW then at 7 months there's probably very little actually going in. HVs all say different things, I always take what I'm told with a pinch of salt. Agree that if he's still having lots of milk at 10/11 months then worth cutting down slowly at that point.

MumUndone · 14/05/2019 11:35

P.s. my 7 month old has:

6.30am bottle
7.30am breakfast
8.30am nap
10am bottle
11.30am nap
1pm lunch
2pm bottle
3pm nap
4.30pm bottle
5.30pm tea
6.45pm bottle

About 7 ounces each bottle.

He's pretty big for his age but in proportion, I'm not worried about his milk intake.

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