Milk Questions

[jamm]

My not-so-LO just turned 1 and I have a few milk questions.  I've weaned her from day time breast feeds but still bf her in the morning and before bed.

1) How much milk should she be drinking daily? I find she's only drinking 1-2 oz of milk at each of the 2 feeds. I'm not sure how much she's getting the morning or at night because I still nurse her but I don't think it's too much because she doesn't nurse for long...

2) How do I know when I have dried up and need to give the bottle instead? As I mentioned, I usually bf her before bedtime but yesterday I was away so my DH put her to bed and she had 8 oz! I'm sure I don't have 8 oz to give her from the breast! Should I transiton to a bottle to make sure she's getting enough?

3) I tried to give her cold homo milk from her sippy cup but wouldn't have any of it! She drinks water well from her cup. Any suggestions?

4) At this age, should I continue to give milk 1st before solids? I've been doing it to make sure she's getting enough milk but as I mentioned she only has a couple of oz. Maybe she's weaning herself from the milk feeds?

Please help! Thanks so much for your input.

[Samuel's mum]

Hopefully a bottle-feeder will pipe in too - but my 2 cents:

1) How much milk should she be drinking daily? I find she's only drinking 1-2 oz of milk at each of the 2 feeds. I'm not sure how much she's getting the morning or at night because I still nurse her but I don't think it's too much because she doesn't nurse for long...

You'd need to give her 12-18oz daily. A very quick nursing session could still likely mean 4-5oz though. You can also 'replace' some of these oz with dairy products such as yoghurt and cheese.

2) How do I know when I have dried up and need to give the bottle instead? As I mentioned, I usually bf her before bedtime but yesterday I was away so my DH put her to bed and she had 8 oz! I'm sure I don't have 8 oz to give her from the breast! Should I transiton to a bottle to make sure she's getting enough?

As long as you feed (even only one feed a day) it's unlikely you will actually dry up. If you want to wean you'll need to make the move first rather than wait for drying up. Babies tend to feed more from a bottle esp if they are usually breastfed - with the faster flow the milk just pours out and they tend to take more than they would for simply hunger reasons. So by all means transition to a bottle if you want but don't assume all those 8oz were 'needed' - it was probably faster flow and comfort sucking at bedtime.

3) I tried to give her cold homo milk from her sippy cup but wouldn't have any of it! She drinks water well from her cup. Any suggestions?

So she takes milk from a bottle fine? If she's only just 1 I wouldn't panic just yet about eliminating bottles. Yes, ideally bottles start to phase out but your priority now is getting the milk intake right. Bf babies aren't used to cold milk so you could warm it at least to room temp or even warmer. You could try mixing it with some ebm to make it a little sweeter and then gradually use less and less ebm. Bf babies sometimes need a bit of persuasion to move to regular cow's milk as it has such a different flavour. It sometimes helps not to use the same kind of cup she associates with water as she may be expecting water. A straw cup or a 'grown-up' open cup make go down better.

4) At this age, should I continue to give milk 1st before solids? I've been doing it to make sure she's getting enough milk but as I mentioned she only has a couple of oz. Maybe she's weaning herself from the milk feeds?

You can move to solids first at this age if you want too. It's possible for a baby this young to begin self-weaning (though unusual for it to be from all milk). I expect it's more to do with not being interested in the milk either because she's not hungry or because she wants to get back to the world. Play around with the timing and she may take more. Milk is really about calcium intake - it's not some magical potion. If her milk intake doesn't improve significantly there are ways to increase calcium intake i.e. dairy products as I mentioned or other calcium sources like leafy green veg (spinach), tofu, dried figs.

[jamm]

Thanks for taking the time to respond, Emma. I'm still a little concerned about the fact that she only has a couple oz from the bottle during the day. Maybe I should eliminate her between-meals snack so she's hungrier for milk?

[Samuel's mum]

I guess it depends how much snack you are giving her. Reducing them may increase her milk intake but it also may not if it's more about the taste of the milk.
How much do you give her at snack time? Or what is her solids intake overall?

[jamm]

solids intake is generally pretty good. snack time in the am is usually a cheese stick and a whole wheat digestive cookie or a couple of mum-mums (her favourite). she has a yogurt (minigo) for her afternoon snack.

[Samuel's mum]

I wouldn't decrease solids. She'll begin to take more from a sippy. You are obviously giving dairy so that compensates for less milk.