Weaning and formula consumption....

[Sallypoo]

Hi all

DS is now 6 and half months old and we started weaning about 3 weeks ago. It is going well with DS having two meals a day as he isn't showing any interest in Breakfast.

I know that at this age babies are meant to have at least 600mls/20oz of milk a day. However DS is having considerably more - his current routine is:

7.00am - 8oz bottle - takes all
11.30am - mixed veg (7 or 8 icecubes)+ 5oz bottle
3.00pm - 8oz bottle - takes all
5.00pm - mixed veg (7 or 8 icecubes)+ water
6.30pm - 8oz bottle
10.00pm - 6oz dreamfeed
3.30am - 2 - 4oz bottle

This works out at about 37oz or 1050mls of milk. Do you think I can cut back on his milk a bit? Say starting with the 11.30am milk? DS has snuck up to the 91st centile from the 75th in the last 6 weeks or so.... Am I feeding him to much?

Your opinions would be most welcome.

Thanks
Sallypoo

As your lo's intake of solids increases his milk intake will decrease by itself. If you were going to get rid of any of the feeds, I would aim for the 3.30am one rather than a daytime one as you wouldnt want him to start waking for more milk in the middle of the night. The next one you could aim to get rid of would be the dreamfeed but I would do that gradually rather than all at once e.g. gradually reduce the amount you offer by an ounce every few days. My ds was 8 months when he gave up his night feed and he did it of his own accord.

that's a fair bit of milk, but if he takes it he must be hungry - veg purees aren't very filling

try introducing starchy foods and protein - when i did this with DD her milk intake went down by itself. before this she would gladly gulp down veg puree as fast as i could give it to her. also giving finger foods helps slow mealtimes down from gulp-athons, so they get a chance to actually start feeling full

in terms of feeds to drop - my DD's routine naturally became:

6.30am - 7oz bottle
8am - porridge
11.30am - lunch
2pm - 7oz bottle
5pm - dinner
7.30pm - 7oz bottle

i also give her plenty of water - maybe you could replace the 11.30 milk with water, like you have at 5pm

and how about trying to move the 6.30 bottle back and dropping the dream feed as the next step?

i wouldn't worry too much about all the centiles etc - my DD is 98th centile and i worried about it lots. now i just don't get her weighed - she doesn't look at all fat, as she's very tall. i bet your DS is the same

Thanks Seona and Pinata,

DS didn't have any formula in the night last night again, so I'm hoping we are starting to drop it - fingers crossed. 3 nights this week without wanting a feed.

I to think that when I introduce protein and starchy foods this will help - I have to wait until he's 7 months right? or can I go for it a now - at 6.5 months?

Pinata, your routine looks just like what I should aim for and so will keep this in mind over the next few weeks. Thank you for sharing.

BTW, DS is quite tall, but has very cute roles of errr muscle on his arms and legs. He does get comments like "ooow what a big boy" I'm sure it will drop of when he starts to crawl.

many thanks
Sallyp**

protein and starchy food are ok from 6 months so start when you feel ready. I started with toast as a finger food and something like weetabix, ready brek for breakfast. You could start adding chicken in with the veg you currently give

Thanks Seona,

I was thinking chicken. Will try dropping the night feed, and then hopefully breakfast can be added.

I'll let you know how I get on in a week or so.

Many thanks
Sallyp**

ha ha - yes, my dd has rolls too - they're very cute.

glad my routine was of some help and as seona said starch, protein etc are fine from 6 months - DD loves fusilli with philly

definitely let us know how you get on

Hi ladies,

Many thanks. I'm pleased to say that DS has slept through for the last three nights, and we've managed to drop the 11.30am bottle. We've also dropped the odd ounze off here and there so that we're down to 27oz a day. This seems a bit more reasonable, and the food is gonig well. The rolls are still there, but we do seem to have plateaud!

DS is enjoying a range of fruit and veg. I'm mixing the veg and he's happy with sweet pots, butternut, spinach, broccoli, green beans, red peppers, tomatoes, peas, courgette and carrot.

However, if I try adding even one cube of potato (to 7 very smooth cubes) he won't eat any! The lips become firmly closed and that's it for the whole meal - even if I offer Apple & cinnomon for dessert!

Should I just be patient with the lumps? Or could I try something to make him a bit more accepting? maybe steamed carrot stick? When I say lumps I mean I've purreed the potato, so it's very very small bits.... much better than my mash!!

Thanks all,
Sallypoo

My son was similar. He took to solids really well but still loved his milk so for a while he was having 3 good sized solid meals, plus 4 7-8oz bottles a day!
I had to force the issue a bit and dropped his mid-morning bottle replacing it with a small snack of fruit or rice cakes (as per HV advice). I think if I'd have waited for him to give it up by himself, he'd still be happily drinking it and be a little blimp by now...
He's 9 months old now and his routine is something like
6am - 7 oz bottle
8am - breakfast. Usually Weetabix and fruit
10.30am - snack. Fruit or rice cake and water
1pm - lunch
2.30-3pm - 7 oz bottle
5pm - tea
6.45pm - 8oz bottle
He still has rolls on his arms and legs!

Be patient with the lumps. It's still early days. Just offer it to him and don't worry if he doesn't want it. Maybe he just doesn't like potato! Do try finger foods though, lots of fun.

Thanks Hensmum, I'll keep you posted!

Sallypoo

Just seen this thread and realised you say you puree the potato? I did this and thought it was more like wallpaper paste and tasted just as nice! No wonder my LO refused it!

So my mum told me to use a moule - pain in the but to use, but the finished product is much better. And my LO scoffed the lot

Just thought it was worth passing on.

G

for potatoes just use a masher like you would for normal mash - add more milk to get it to the sloppiness you need.

Moulis are IME only really useful for things that have skins / pips to leave behind (sweetcorn, tomatoes etc)

re. lumps, DD would eat nothing with lumps in, yet completely solid finger food was fine - maybe try BLW?

Hi all,

many thanks. Yes it does seem to be the suprise lumps that are a problem, so normal mash is refushed... however rice cakes and cucumber are accepted.

I'm def going to try more finger foods, especially as DS is suffering with teething pain at the moment.

Have now added Chicken to DS's menu and this has been well accepted, so it just might be he's bored of veg. I would be after 5 weeks of nothing else!

I've got some of that baby pasta, and I'm going to give that a go, although I suspect this might be seen as a lump.

Fingers crossed.