More solids NOT more formula.....right?

[willowonyx]

Hello, my DD is 11.5 months old and is not a big eater, never has been. She is not even 18lbs yet. Anyway, I know that at this age, they are well into dropping a bottle and upping their solid intake but my little one seems to still prefer the formula (was breastfeed until I dried up at 6 months). It seems like she is not eating enough, she downs her bottles and only finishes her solids at school, never at home, and she maybe eats 3-4oz of solids. This is her schedule:

Wake 6am
Solids 7am
Bottle 6oz at 8:30
Solids 11:30
Bottle 6oz 12:30
Snack 3:30
Bottle 4oz 4pm (this used to be 6oz but are trying to phase it out)
Solids 5:45pm
Bottle 6oz 7pm (bedtime)

It was suggested by her teacher to increase her bottles. But to me at this age, that seems counter-productive. She  "needs" to be increasing her solid intake not her liquid intake.

Thoughts, ideas are greatly appreciated!

[oe]

Owen is 11 months old and I just switched him to 2 bottles a day today actually. I would def try to phase a  bottle out. Do one at a time, slowly. If you have already started the 4pm one, then do that first. She will probably surprise you and do really well.

[willowonyx]

Owen is 11 months old and I just switched him to 2 bottles a day today actually. I would def try to phase a  bottle out. Do one at a time, slowly. If you have already started the 4pm one, then do that first. She will probably surprise you and do really well.

Will do. A question, do you give him water in a sippy cup? How are you going to give him reg milk at 1yr old?
She does REALLY well with her water in the sippy cup, she is always asking for it and drinks a ton.

[oe]

That is great that she loves her water! I do give him water in a sippy cup. He isn't that good with it though. when I transition to milk I will try and give it to him in a sippy cup, except before bed which will be a bottle until I phase it out around 14-15 months or so or sooner.

[MadisonC]

My LO is just about 1 and a week ago I dropped the 230 bottle so now he has 2 a day (morning and night) and he gets cows milk in a sippy with each meal and its working out well.

[Buntybear]

Hi, I was a BF'er so no help on bottles but found this sticky in the bottle feeding forum that might help?

http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=67569.0

Personally at 11 months we were down to 3 BFs a day and then down to 2 (morning and BT) by 12 months. 22ozs does seem a lot and so yes I would def be cutting one out and think about dropping the other day feed soonish? Do you use milk for cooking etc? Offer yoghurts and cheese?

There is another sticky on the bottle feeding forum about transitioning to a sippy cup you might find useful?

[Lemonthyme]

At 11 months we kind of forced the issue (because I was going back to work) and got him down to 2 breastfeeds a day, morning and night which we kept until we stopped BF around 13 months.  

One of the bottles isn't long after lunch.  Have you tried a nice stodgy milky pudding?  Maybe rice pudding?  That's nice and comforting.  You could always miss out the sugar and mix in fruit or dried fruit?  Or I have a (kinda) pannacotta recipe which contains a small amount of sugar but seems to fill up my DS http://mamacook.blogspot.com/2011/05/yoghurt-panna-cotta-ok-for-babies-if.html

[huntersmummyinoz]

lemonthyme, i tried to ask this on your blog but cant post for some reason. but what strength gelatine leaf do you use for your recipes?? my LO cant have preservatives so gelatine leaf is fine and i've been looking for ideas for milk jellies and such since he refuses to drink any milk, so your panacotta sounds perfect. i have titanium strength leaves.

[Lemonthyme]

In the UK gelatine isn't listed with strength.  It might be worth looking on the pack and seeing how much liquid it will set but be aware that obviously the yoghurt is thick itself.  It does give quite a soft set so if you use a bit too much accidentally then it shouldn't be a problem and if it doesn't set within a few hours, leave it overnight and have a look.

Titanium strength eh?!  Blimey!  You think I'd know all this considering I used to work in gelled confectionery but we used to use powdered gelatine there.  I suspect the difference might come from the source as much as anything.  I remember doing a trial to swap pig gelatine for chicken gelatine.  Not successful at all!

[huntersmummyinoz]

Titanium strength eh?!  Blimey! 

hillarious isnt it! do your leaves have a weight?? mine is 5g, says it will set 250mL liquid, or equivalent to 1.5tsp powder. looks like i'll be doing a little experimenting i'm guessing one leaf will def do the job but might be too thick??

[Lemonthyme]

Oooh lighter than that.  Only about 1.5g each.  Yep, I'd probably try half to start with; my gelatine leaves say 4 leaves set 570ml (1 pint) so 1 leaf would set about 140ml so that's just above the amount of milk in the recipe.  If you used half you'd probably get a good result overnight but if you wanted it to set quicker, just add a bit more I guess?

[huntersmummyinoz]

thanks hun, greatly appreciated, cant wait to try it

[willowonyx]

Sorry ladies for the complete drop off, I was on holiday in Ireland and London.

Anyway, the LO is turing 1 in just 2 days and it looks like I have a lot of work to do. We are down to 3 bottles (6oz each) right now and it looks like I need to drop the one right after lunch first. Drop by 2oz at a time right? Should I only wait 3 days inbetween drops or longer?

Also, she does do really well with her water in her sippy, sometimes will drink down 8oz in one sitting (not great when right before a meal). So, do you think I should just put the cows milk in there this coming weekend and see how she reacts?