Baby weaning himself off milk at 9 months

[Pregnant4456]

My son is 9 months old and has had a milk intolerance diagnosed since he was 3 weeks old.

Since he was 4 months he has never been a big milk drinker, partly because we switched the brand following medical advice and and because were advised to wean early so he started solids around then too.

Since then he has discovered solids big time and loves them, eats most stuff we give him, and likes to largely feed himself. His weight has always been low but has got to a much better level since he discovered solids.

He has 7 Oz bottles a day and doesn’t really want much of his morning or lunchtime bottle but drinks most of his bedtime one. Sleeps through the night and is a pretty happy baby.

He just doesn’t want the milk at all and clearly has a preference for solids! Just for lunch today he had 2 pieces of bread, one as a chicken sandwich and the other peanut butter, a strawberry smoothie and a packet of veggie sticks. Average dinner will be a portion of tomato pasta, butternut squash and peas and he will finish most of it other than what falls on the floor.

Tbh, I don’t mind that he has naturally weaned himself off milk but conscious of this 20Oz minimum, but I can’t force feed him the milk!

Does anyone have any recommendations? I don’t want to stop him eating what solids he wants to get him to have the milk but thinking of giving him a multi vitamin and just letting him carry on as he is.

I should add he likes water and has some on and off during the course of the day.

Thanks!

Given you've had medical guidance on starting solids early, you're best speaking to you paediatrician to get advice and guidance rather than anecdotes from random people on Mumsnet.

It's very common for people to insist that their child self-weaned early when it's most likely to have been developmentally appropriate fussiness and/or nursing strikes, so you're better seeking proper medical opinions.

Our ds completely refused milk from 10 months. He was big into solid food and ate a 3 course Christmas dinner just as he turned 6 months and ate plenty of dairy. However he was a right chunk so I wasn’t worried about weight. He is very healthy and still many years later won’t touch milk even though he is the least fussy child I know. If they completely refuse to drink it I don’t know what you are meant to do, you can’t force them!

It's fine for them to show a preference for solids. I've got CMPA and have never really liked milk.

I would be conscious though of replacing the protein and fat that milk provides. Most people tend to focus on the calcium but he does need all three.

Apart from the chicken and peanut butter his average day seems a bit carb heavy, could you introduce more calcium rich foods and maybe replace the smoothie with a cup of his milk?

Which milk is he on btw?

Definitely seek advice from your pediatrician. Can you use the milk in his food prep so he gets it along side his solids? E.g. on cereal, in porridge etc

This exactly happened with my baby from 9 months he dropped milk intake dramatically. My dietician said it was fine as he was gaining weight better on solids than milk. Bit like yours
he was neocate and HATED formula so from 11 months we were allowed to move to oat milk, which is does drink much better but still not a lot