Been advised to reduce milk intake for 11 month old

[violagal]

Hi all,
My DS has just had his one year review and we were told that firstly he was taking too much milk and secondly that by 12 months he should be dropping all bottles drinking from a cup, cows milk only no formula. It was a bit of a surprise to me as his weight is fine (between 50-75th percentile) and eats fine when he's at home and at nursery where he is three days a week so wondering if I really do need to intentionally reduce the milk? HVs said it will be affecting his appetite for solids...

His routine is below;

WU 6am
E 615 - 6oz formula
E 730 breakfast which includes 4oz porridge with cows milk
S 930ish 20min nap
E 1130 lunch (no dairy unless some cheese in meal)
E 1230 - 6oz formula
S 1245-245
E 1630 dinner including. 4oz yoghurt
E 1830 9oz formula
No night feeds

He drinks water fine from a Tommee Tippee free flow cup at all meals and in between, whenever he likes.

I'm guessing I should tackle the volume of milk first before tackling how he takes it?

Be grateful for any advice!
Emma

[Lolly]

From 12 months they only need 12-14oz of dairy to get their needs met, this includes the dairy in food, so he is getting plenty and reducing the liquid milk won't be a problem at all. The HV is right that too much milk can reduce their appetite (it's not often I say a HV is right!!) formula is filling and the majority of toddlers seem to start getting picky around 1 and living on fresh air so you don't want them filling up on milk!

I would start by offering cow's milk in a sippy in the afternoon instead of the bottle, if he drinks it great, if he doesn't then it doesn't matter! We swapped to cow's milk by swapping 1oz of formula for milk every 2 or 3 days until they just had cow's milk. Some toddlers are fine with a straight swap, some can get a bit constipated on cow's milk so it's up to you how you do it.

You can then swap the morning bottle for a sippy of milk with his breakfast and then tackle the bedtime bottle when you are ready! Some toddlers drop it easily, some like the bedtime bottle for a while which is fine providing you clean teeth after the milk before sleep. I had one of each, DD swapped to cup at bedtime at 17 months with no problem, DS had the bottle until 2.5 .

What do you think?

Laura

[K-JDA]

Hi

Do you mind if I join on here and ask a few questions? My DS will be 12 months in 3 weeks so this thread is timely for me.

DS has 2 x 6-7oz feeds at the moment (at wake-up and bedtime) plus milk on cereal and diary in food (probaly totalling 20oz) so based on 12-14oz total I need to reduce things a bit too.

DS is starving for his milk at 6.30am (having only just dropped the night feed) and then doesnt get breakfast til 8am at nursery so should I start by replacing with cows milk in the morning feed first? Do you do this in the bottle and then transition to a sippy? Should I reduce to maybe just 4/5oz to get the overall volume down and then maybe reduce the bedtime feed a bit too?

When you say tackle the night feed - do you replace with cows milk also and then look to drop when ready? By this do you also mean transition to sippy and/or replace with supper?

My DS is battling with constipation at the moment and we have had to use a laxative (currently ongoing) so what would your advice be re transitioning to cows milk? He has struggled with drinking enough water which i think is the main reason for his constipation so have had to try various cups to encourage drinking enough. He will take small sips from a sippy and am currently trying out a straw cup which seems to improve his water intake.

Sorry to barge in - hopefully these questions will help you out too violagal?

[violagal]

Hi Laura, thanks for your reply! Looks like 29oz is pretty much double what he needs then...oops time for some reduction.

I agree the afternoon bottle seems the easiest one to tackle so should I just swap the 6oz straight to a cup and see if he takes it (whilst swapping in cows milk)? Assuming he does take it I guess I should be actively eliminating it so over what period would work, 1oz a day say?

And like Kate I'm wondering if I should also reduce the others a bit so maybe breakfast down to 4oz and bedtime down to 7oz just to get overall volume down? Or just leave bedtime as is - full tummy not a bad thing just before bed? And if he eats more dinner this will reduce right?

Also is the TT free flow cup ok? I went to find a larger one the other day but was overwhelmed with the choices!

[violagal]

Evening ladies, an update from me.
I started by cutting down the morning bottle to 5oz and now 4oz and he bitterly complains about it when the bottle finishes! But we now give him breakfast sooner and he is eating more.
The lunchtime bottle again I cut to 5oz and then 4oz and that is now half/half formula and cows milk. However he has been eating more at lunchtime (probably due to earlier breakfast) and a couple of days this week only took 2-3oz so I think we can drop that feed in a couple of weeks.
Bedtime bottle I have left at 8oz but it is very variable how much he takes depending on his dinner. Today for example he ate loads at dinner including a 5oz yoghurt and then only took 5oz milk.
So I think doing it slowly is increasing his appetite for food.
Regarding the sippy cup I bought another Tommee Tippee one, the explorer cup and while he will happy drink water out of it he looks horrified when I attempt to put milk in it! Looks like he definitely prefers milk in bottles for now!
My plan now is to wait until the lunchtime bottle is dropped and then try swapping the bottle for the cup at the morning bottle over the next few months and not worry about the bedtime bottle given that lots of people say this took up to 18months to 2 years to stop!

[Lolly]

Glad things are going well! Well done to both of you!

I think your plan sounds good - it's a gradual approach so he can adjust!

Sorry I didn't get back to your previous post by the way We are still using the TT first cups with spouts with my 6yo and 4yo sometimes for drinks that I don't want tipped all over the floor, they are free flow and they are cheap to replace! I tried all sorts of cups for DS but gave up as I couldn't get anything out of the valved cups and just stuck to the TT free flow!

Laura

[MumAnzy]

Hello regarding sippy cup we have TT and have recently started using the dr. brown's soft spout cup.  He seems to prefer the dr. brown's and that is where I am tring to transition from bottle to cup.  Maybe because it resembles shape of bottle a bit. He will take all of milk in bottle and when drinking from sippy cup does not even take half but I guess this is how they transition to dropping them.  Hope this helps!