now I am REALLY concerned about ..

[learningallthetime]

how little milk my 7 monthd old dd has.

She now only wants 2 6oz bottles a day. One when she wakes and one when she sleeps.

I offer her 2 more in daytime but she doesn't hardly touch them.

Is she filling up too much with other food? Cutting back on the other stuff, if she is, might help.

what does she eat the rest of the day? this is good news for me coz i am going back to work at 6 1/2 mths and my ds won't take a bottle - sorry to hijack

No problem cosima.

She has breakfast: porridge/weetabix/redy brek and fingers of toast or fruit slices

Lunch: pureed veg followed by a yogurht

Diner: pureed meat & veg followed by either fruit as a finger food or pureed fruit.

what age did you start weaning her?
does she have water?

My 6mth old has only 2 BIG bottles of 180ml each, first and last thing in the day, a bit with lunch.... and then one 120ml bottle at about 3pm.

I think he gets the minimum requirement with that- 540ml, so am not worried. How big are the two bottles? It's not about the frequency, but the amounts, right?

Happy for someone to tell me I am wrong though.

She's such a good eater I don't want to reduce the food unless I know it the 100% right thing to do. If she was three months older (12 months) then what she's having now would be fine.

I started weaning her at 6 months.

She has water, she's just started to really enjoy her water.

She has 120z minumum. some days she has more.

She has 40z of cows mixed in with her breakfast porridge, does this count?

She has 40z of cows mixed in with her breakfast porridge, does this count?

yes, that counts, and so do the yogurts. I wouldn't worry too much as long as she's growing - she's obviously just taken well to solids and is happy on them.

When DS started eating solids in reasonable amounts he cut back on his milk a lot too - they all do it at different times.

The HV said she was thriving. I'm just concerned that she's getting all the nutrients she needs.

hi there
Learningallthetime my ds (8months) is doing exactly the same as your lo. I asked the HV abt it on monday at the clinic and she said 2 x 6oz bottles is fine as long as they are also eating things like yogurt and cheese too which also count and make up the min 20/21oz they should be taking.

I too asked if i should cut down on the amount of solids i give to encourage more milk, but she said no, just carry on as i am and my baby will 'lead the way'!

I guess its natural that they cut down on milk for more solids as their stomachs are only so big!

His weight isn;t suffering for it .. so far.

I hope this helps.

When ds was 6 months he was only having 2 bottles, at 9 months 1 bottle. My hv said it was fine coz the more solids, the more nutrients etc and he had yogurts, custard, cheese etc. Like you I didn't want to reduce solids as he loved eating.
We did a few weeks with 1 bottle and I re-introduced a 2nd one and when I got him weighed, he'd come offm the chart (normally 98th centile) so have stopped it again.
Take a moment to sit on your own, think about it for a minute and follow what ytour instincts tell you.

Yeah, on the weight thing though, my DS2 is pretty bloomin' big- almost 10kgs (quite tall too though!- not a little ball of blob or anything!), clearly no issues with weight, or what he is eating,.... but I would worry about his bones and calcium intake.

Yoghurts would be the easiest thing, but they just do not have the choice here in NL as in the UK, for organic, non-sugary, non this non that, infant yoghurts. (it's all weird pink this, or cartoon characters that.... smarties to throw on top of this one, coco pops on another! No way I'm buying those!)
I miss Yeo Valley!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for the reassurance mine, littlemydancing and littleboyblue.

My instinct tells me to follow my dd, let her lead the way.

bergentulip - You are right, its not just about weight, its about the nutrients as well. I'll make sure I'm topping up her calcium intake with plenty of dairy like cheese and yogurts.

Its good to know that dd isn't the only baby whose not guzzling gallons of milk.

One pot of yoghurt is the equivalent of a 5opz bottle, if that helps.

really!!! Thats great then.
When you say pot.. do you mean one of those little baby pot yogurts you can buy???
I know it sounds like a silly question, its just that my mum taught me how to make my own yogurt at home and i just spoon loads of it in a bowl and then spoon in whatever fruit puree i have make that week! So i just wanted to gauge the measure that equates to 5oz..... sorry for the waffle.

guidelines are 16-20oz anyway so two bottles + some in food is fine

It was my HV who told me about the pot=5oz thing, so I'm not sure exactly, but I got the impression that she meant a normal adult individual-serving size of pot.

I was told that cows milk does not count. If it did, then surely from 6 months they wouldn't need breast or formula? You could just wean them straight onto cows milk, surely?? Cows milk doesn't offer as much nutrition as breast or formula..

..Can someone clarify????

I am not sure what the issue is here - yoghurts and fromage frais come from cows milk (usually) and so a look at the ingredients on each pot will show you how much calcium, protein and other stuff are in them. I don't see how 'one pot' can always be exactly the same as a 5 oz bottle...it's going to depend on the size of the pot, for a start, and what ingredients you are looking for.

Most yogs are not from full fat milk, so they will not contain fat-soluble vitamins (they've disappeared when the fat is removed)...formula is based on skimmed milk but some of the vits are added back in as part of the manufacturing process.

Certainly, dairy produce does include yogs and the like, and they're good and nourishing for babies, but trying to get the exact equivalent to replace milk is neither possible nor necessary, I don't think...but in answer to the OP, a 7 mth old will certainly benefit from having other dairy products every day, if she is only having 2 x 6 oz bottles. Common sense, rather than maths, would make me want to give her a yog a day, plus a fromage frais, to make both of them full fat, and to put formula on her breakfast cereal, too. I'm not a dietitian, though, just someone trying to use common sense

Thanks for that TT, I guess I was just wanting clarification on whether cows milk is included in the 20oz approx of milk that they should be having at this age.

Ah, I see the question is 'does cows milk count'?

I don't understand the question! Do you mean 'count towards the amount of milk a baby has in his diet'?

Well...I don't see why not. Cows milk as a main drink is not advised for a baby under 12 months, because it is comparatively low in iron compared with other milks (ie breast and formula) and the concern is the baby might 'fill up' on it and not have 'room' for his iron-containing solids. But that doesn't mean it is worthless!

Am I missing something?

X posted, Edie.

No that's great. Sorry if im unclear, I was wondering and have been for a while, if cows milk can be included as breast and formula is. I know they say at this age they should be having about 20oz of milk a day, I thought this meant breast or formula. If it means cows milk too I can relax a bit

Is that clear?