9 months - time to drop a milk feed? (4 down to 3) & what to replace it with?

[zebstiredmum]

Hi everyone

DS is just over 9m old and HV said at last weigh in that I should be dropping one of his milk feeds now, and the Mum's I know from BF group with LOs same age are all pretty much down to BF am and pm, snacks in the day.

I swapped BFing in afternoon for a bottle at 7 months as DS was so distractable, and then the midmorning BF for a bottle at 8 months, and I never fed on demand, always had a feeding routine, so DS doesn't 'ask' for milk, but gets excited as soon as he sees the bottle and is always hungry for it, however in the day he only has small feeds, sometimes only taking a couple of ounces.  He eats solids really well most days, especially b/fast & dinner - lunch is a bit more hit and miss.

I don't want to drop the am milk, as it suits us to have a later lunch, and the milk sees him through, and the pm milk really isn't affecting his food intake, so why drop it?

So - my question is this - should I be dropping a milk feed yet?  If not, when should I drop it, and how much 'snack' do I replace it with? - Thanks 

Current EASY

6.15 - 6.45 wake up
7am - 6 oz bottle
8.30 - about 6-8 Tbs cereal in cow's milk (120ml/6oz) plus fruit eg 1/2 a banana
11.30 - I offer 4oz milk, he usually drinks it all, but occasionally not
12.30/13.00 - finger foods eg 1 slice bread with cream cheese, fruit, plain yogurt
15.00 - I offer 3oz milk, usually drinks all
17.00 - usually about 90ml (6 tbs)of home cooked food mashed up plus cooked veg pieces followed by fruit pieces
18.45 - BF plus top up of formula (takes between 1-3 oz of the top up)

[Tay]

Hiya,
 Both mine dropped to 3 milk feeds a day at around 9 months - they just started losing interest in it, or taking less and less. The routine is something like this (actually seems very similar to yours, except it doesn't have the 11am milk feed:
7am - milk feed
8.30am - breakfast (porridge with milk and fruit)
12.30 - lunch (full on veg and meat mashed up plus finger bits - bread, veg, fruit)
2.30pm milk feed
5.30pm dinner (same as lunch)
7pm - milk feed

HTH
xxx

[~inbalance~]

Does your LO drink from a sippy yet?  What if you dropped the 11:30 bottle since sometimes he doesn't drink it all, and just offer his milk in a sippy with his lunch instead?  If you are worried about him being hungry between breakfast and lunch you can always offer a healthy snack mid-morning, something like cheese and crackers or yogurt. 

[zebstiredmum]

Thanks for your replies - Tay it's good to see your LO lasts from b/fast to lunch at 12.30, so perhaps Zeb will too, or a small snack of rice cakes might see him through. 

I'm worried that if I drop the a/m he'll take more p/m and it might put him off dinner, but I guess if I drop the a/m he might be interested in his milk earlier in the afternoon. (if we're home he naps at 14:30ish and has milk afterwards at 15:30, as sometimes lunch doesn't finish till 2pm, but if we're out he has milk at 15:00 and then naps)

 I don't know why I'm feeling so anxious about dropping a bottle - maybe because I'm stopping BFing - I'm down to bedtime only, and the plan was to drop that next week.

If I stop his a/m bottle will that be too many changes?  Maybe I'm just finding it hard to let go of him being a baby!

Lunch is definitely his smallest meal, so perhaps is affected by his morning milk, I'm just going to go for it today and see what happens.  Feeling very strange about it though!! 

[~inbalance~]

Good luck!  I think dropping the am milk might be a good thing so he eats more at lunch.  See how it goes, if you think he's not ready you can always bring it back again. 

[Tay]

Good luck and let us know how you get on. I definately think that he'll probably eat better at lunchtime (and if you're really worried you can add a milky pudim).
Stopping BF can be very tough, but I can assure that once you're over and done and get your head around the idea of letting go of the baby stage, you'll be looking forward to a whole load of other things.
xxx

[zebstiredmum]

Thanks for your support Tay & Martina - yesterday went fine!  I gave him juice and a biscuit at 11:30.  I don't think he ate any more lunch than usual, but he didn't eat any less either.  He took 6oz ff at breakfast, 6oz at 15:30, and BF plus top up ff at bedtime.  He did eat less tea, but that seems to be a phase, as the day before he had 3oz milk at 11:30 and 3pm, and hardly had any tea then too.

He has point blank refused anything on a spoon at tea time (oh, apart from yogurt!) for the last 2 days, only eating finger foods (I always give some of both coarse puree and finger foods), not even feeding himself from the spoon (usually if I load it up he'll put it in his mouth) - but this is a whole other issue!  Hope he gets over it again soon as I have a freezer full of yummy home prepared meals!   

[Tay]

He should get over it. Just watch if he starts waking up at night looking fed, if not, then he's ok.
Keep us posted.
xxx

[~inbalance~]

Sounds like he's doing great so far.  I would make sure to offer snacks like yogurt and cheese to make up for any lost milk, but I think he's doing fine. 

Spoon refusal is totally normal at his age.  Here is a link with helpful spoon refusal tips:
http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=70142.0

[zebstiredmum]

Hi Martina & Tay - so far no NWs - now onto the third day of hardly eating any tea - he first refused to be spoon fed 2 weeks into weaning, and so we've been giving a combination of finger foods and puree since then (eg with a roast dinner he'll eat some by himself, and some pureed up). 

He took a few spoonfulls on Monday, none at all yesterday, and a few today, but he didn't take much finger food today.  He usually eats about 90 - 120ml (6 - 8 tablespoons) of home made puree, along with pieces of veg and fruit, so probably around 8 - 10 tablespoons a night, but the last 3 days he's taken about 3 tablespoons of puree and or finger food altogether.

He's eating breakfast and lunch as normal though so it's not as though he's completely off his food   He does have a runny nose, but other than that no sign of him being ill.  He's really active now, crawling a lot, pulling himself up, cruising, so I thought he'd be more hungry not less! I'll keep you posted, fingers crossed that he's getting enough to see him through the night. 

[Tay]

I found with DD that she would have periods when she wouldn't eat great, then other times when she would be the best eater. As long as he is eating something, and well at some meals, i wouldn't worry too much.
xxx

[~inbalance~]

Same here.  T always went through good and bad eating phases and still does.  But he always eats something, even if it's minimal.  He might surprise you and next week be a total pig.  lol

[zebstiredmum]

Hi Tay & Martina - update for you

DS is back on track - I cut his pm milk feed to 4 oz, and he is eating dinner no probs again.  Sure he has the occasional day when he only eats a little, but it balances out - I've been trying him with spicy foods, and he isn't keen, but when it's an old favourite he wolfs it down again.

[Tay]

That's great news! Thanks for the update. These kids... they are full of their own preferences...
xxx

[~inbalance~]

Great news!