When should it be more solids than milk?

[nattymarsh]

At what age should your baby be getting more of it's nutritional needs from solid foods than from breastmilk (or formula)?  Right now my dd is about 71/2 months and is not at all intersted in soldis and maybe eats a couple of tbsp a day (on a good day).

[tylersmommy]

Not until closer to 1 yr of age...and even then, they still get 16-24 oz of whole milk or dairy per day. You've got plenty of time!

[EmMUK74]

Rachel loves her food so it was about 10 months when she went down to two milk feeds a day, but as tylersmummy said, it isn't necessary until 1 year.  although my HV says its 12oz-20oz of milk max from 1 year.

[erinsmum36]

i am a big fan of this site, so please dont take this as a critisism, but I think this needs clarifying. I am a first time mum that like many doesnt know her wotsit from er thingumyjig when it comes to babies, and just as I thought i was getting there with 4 hour easy and a predictable baby, solids came along. My health visitor, NHS literature and other authors (who, although I dont like their general books seem to have a reasonable weaning plan) all tell me that at 6 months a baby should start solids and by 7 months be getting into them in earnest - i.e 3 meals a day. apparently for iron plus other minerals this is the case. Also, they need the added calories (apparently) for crawling etc)
I am NOT a baby expert therefore am not passing comment, however in my 7 months of motherhood, weaning has confused me more than any other aspect of childcare.. after all it is what keeps our babies alive and thriving! Please can someone in 'the know' please let us know how much solids vs milk a baby at say 7 months should be having and if this differs from government literature, tell us why they disagree and if they can back up the difference - as i said.. i am not meaning to be difficult but I am being told to up solids, add texture and be feeding all food groups by 7 months and not to fill up on milk first!
Just another confused parent!

[*Natasha*]

Hi Erinsmum,

First of all big hugs to you. It all seems so easy when all babies are doing is having a bottle/bf and sleeping. Then a spanner gets thrown into the works and solids is introduced. Usually by 7months MOST babies are establsihed on 2-3 good meals and have had a try of a variety of foods. The reason we have never posted quantities for babies 6-12months is because they are all different and at this stage it doesn't matter if your baby is having 2,4 or 6ozs at one sitting. Alot of babies are happy to just a little of solids and still have their bottles/bf where are others (mine included) LOVE their food and can't get enough of it. However the most important is that at 6-8months their milk intake should be between 24-32ozs and then generally around 9/10months it does drop as babies start to drop feeds to 16-24ozs. However saying that some babies are still taking 32ozs or close to by their 1st birthday.
So anyway what i want to say to you is allow your baby to have as much solids as it wants as long as it doesn't interferre with its milk intake. HTH
Also check out the FAQS section for Solids their is some great information as to what food and when to introduce them.

[Katet]

I think the thing to look at is what your lo is happy with... solids need to be offered, but so too does milk... some adults (like my dh) eat & eat & eat, others don't eat much & we all have different metabolism.
I think more a key is to offer variety & listen to your child, if they want more solids, but are not cutting back on milk, then offer more, but if milk intake suffers cut back on solids... the key really is to offer a variety of nutrious food & let your child take the lead on how much they take... a rule that becomes ver important when they get to be toddlers & have food preferences.

[Harvey and Theos Mam]

Theo will eat what is on offer. He has 3 meals a day and still has a good 10 mins breastfeed after eating if i allowed him to.
He has only milk on his 1st feed of the day, cereal an hour later then at lunch time he has a meal and topped off with b/f. Then only b/f and then finally he has a different cereal at about 5:30pm then b/f about 6:15pm.

He had started waking at 4am with hunger and we are working on that, but now he is waking at 11:30pm aswell. SO i think we are going to have to think about how much of what he is actually getting.

I think all babies are different and therefore the amounts would be different. They do say that a baby gets most of its nutrients from breast milk up until 1 yr old and that should be their main source of food. I am working on trying to keep both solids and milk equal to each other. I don't want to over feed solids as he never seems full and will eat, eat, eat. I just let him take as much milk as he wants at those feeds.

[erinsmum36]

thanks all - this is helpful, althogh i now suspect that i am not giving enough milk, as i was only ever doing 4 feeds a day as we never did a dream feed. she has always been fine weight wise and slept thru mostly since 4 months so i wasnt worried. Am currently giving :
7:30 bf
9:00cereal with whole milk
11:30bf
1 or 3 depending on how tired.. chicken and vegees (homemade but basically 2 veg, 1 chicken, 1 apple ice cubes)
small yoghurt
4bf
around 4:30 fruit puree or similar
7:00 bf

some bf are shorter than before but im not sure i, giving enough solids to cut back any...
will be 7 calendar months on 22nd sep.

would welcome any thoughts..thankyou

[*Natasha*]

This sounds great in regards to solids. As for BF my DD was bottle feed and she only had 4 feeds a day as she slept through very early.

[Harvey and Theos Mam]

I'm sure your lo is getting a good quantity of milk from each feed, especially if she is sleeping through the night. I wouldn't worry too much about upping her solids, i think you are doing fine as you are.