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Weaning

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

Should I increase milk or solids?

6 replies

Belephant · 14/06/2022 10:27

My nearly 7 month old started solids a few weeks ago and seems to really like it. He mostly has spoon-fed type meals, but he picks up the spoon and feeds himself, which is great fun (but very messy!!). So as he's doing it himself, I know that he's eating as much as he wants. He usually never finishes a meal, but he eats the majority of it and then loses interest, so I take that as a sign that he's full. We're currently doing three meals a day.

For milk, he has five feeds a day and one overnight, and it's combination of breast and bottle, but he seems to be losing interest in breastfeeding recently. When he has bottles, he has 7oz ever since 5 month old and he's always left a little in the bottom of the bottle.

However, the last few days he's started completely draining his bottle every time. So I'm guessing he's hungry! Does anyone have any thoughts on whether I should increase the amount of milk I offer him, or should I focus on getting him to eat more of his solid food instead?

I know milk is supposed to be their main nutrition, but the health visitor told me I should start dropping milk feeds when I began weaning, which I haven't done as it just didn't seem right for us. But it's all left me a little confused!

For reference he's a big, tall, 99th percentile baby, so I do worry that he needs lots of calories to maintain his ginormous size 🤣

OP posts:
Littlebirdyouaresosweet · 14/06/2022 10:38

Until 1 milk should be the main source of calories..

SummerHouse · 14/06/2022 10:43

You are doing an amazing job! Keep doing exactly that but I would increase the milk in line with demand.

At seven months we were just at the smearing food around and gagging on most things stage.

CatSeany · 14/06/2022 10:48

I think I'd introduce two snacks in addition to the three meals. I tend to give my daughter packaged weaning foods at snack time (it's easier for me and she always eats them without fail) ... a few melty sticks or a handful of veggie straws or a couple of biscuits sometimes with half a banana. Then she has proper cooked food for her three meals. Alongside the two snacks you can increase milk in line with demand so that he has an increase of both.

Belephant · 15/06/2022 08:34

Thanks for the advice everyone, I've started giving him 8oz yesterday and he seems very happy with that Smile I will also introduce some snacks I think'

OP posts:
PritiPatelsMaker · 19/06/2022 11:12

Are you offering milk before solids @Belephant?

What does his typical day look like for feeds and solids?

Belephant · 19/06/2022 16:07

@PritiPatelsMaker so, here's our usual routine (the times I'm putting are very rough as we just go with the flow really, but the order of things rarely changes)

7am - wake up and milk feed
8am - breakfast (usually porridge, fruit, yoghurt, or a combo of any of them )

10am - milk

12noon - lunch (usually some type of vegetable or scrambled egg, sometimes both)
1pm - milk

4pm milk
6pm - dinner (what he has entirely depends on what me and DH are having for dinner)
7:30pm - milk
8pm - bed!

Some of these are breast feeds, some are bottle, it depends on the day. The last few days I've been experimenting with adding in some 8oz bottles instead of 7, and sometimes he definitely wants the extra oz but other times he leaves it.

Usually he wakes up for a feed around 2am - 4am. I'm not sure how much of this is hunger and how much it is just a habit in all honesty, as he normally falls back asleep extremely quickly after latching on.

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