8.5 month old... TOO MUCH MILK???

[SaraMamma]

Hello mums,

I'm debating whether I'm giving my DD (9 month at the end of November) too much milk... which in turns would also affect her solid intake?!

I'll give you an example of her routine:

8am wake up and milk (bottle, 150-180ml)
10am solid - generally 6tbsp of fruit with yogurth and cereal and seeds flour... she'll gag on anything over the puree size 

11/11:30 1.5h nap

1pm milk (150ml)
2:30pm solid lunch... an odissey generally. She might get 4tbsp of food (pureed veggies with meat/legumes/fish and cereal flour) but often she'll just refuse it, having maybe 1 teaspoon, if that. Again, anything over puree size and she'll make weird faces 

4pm 1/1.5h nap

5:30pm milk (150ml)
6:30pm FINGER FOOD DINNER (she likes it, but she has close to nothing, just a few crumbles of whatever I give her)
8pm milk (she'll have 210ml easily, many times crying for more!! So sometimes I end up giving her 270ml  )

8:30pm bed time

Do you think it's too much milk?
I remember reading in Tracey's books always to give solids before milk, to encourage them to eat more of those... but in the example routine I've found here I always see milk first... should I try and change?

She's quite a picky eater, her brother was (and still is) so easy with food. He'd eat anything with no much fuss, I could experiemnt so many different foods and texture, it was/is a pleasure to cook for him... I know all babies are different, but I'm getting a bit frustrated with her, especially if she doesn't eat at all.

At this point shouldn't she have 3 meals? She doesn't have many solids and not if they are a bit thicker in consistency. 

Any suggestions would be much appreciated, thank you!

Sara

[Katet]

Milk is the most importan food source until 12mo. Since the BW books were written research has been made & WHO guidelines have been updated, so the information about solids being more important is outdated.

Also there is not "should be on 3 meals" some babies are still on one or 2 at 9months old as at that age it's all about developing a taste for it including texture. Often babies that eat a variety become more limited eaters at they get older & vice versa (definitely the case with my children & my siblings!) As it's got to do with taste buds... it's a modern thing that they should eat 100s of different foods & that doesn't really mean it's biologically normal. So don't think of her as "picky" more "exploring at her own pace!"

In terms of milk, it is high & that's probably why she isn't wanting loads of solids, although as long as she is experiencing them that's sufficient.
in the next couple of months you could try swapping the evening meal to before milk or the lunch to solids to 1pm & the milk to after.

100% the most important things are
 1) don't compare children with food EVER (actually it's best not compare them at anytime.   (my youngest was a better eater at 2 than his brother....that all changed when they got older & my eldest now eats far more variety than his brother... my sister's children also did the swap. Also some children just eat more than others.
  2) as long as she is growing, happy & her bodily functions are happening normally then she is getting enough nutrients.
3) keep offering food to explore AND eat food with her not feeding her alone, children learn so much more from seeing us do it than doing it on there own... the timings really aren't important, so if it works give her solid food when her brother & you eat rather than by the clock.

As a wise person once told me "when they have their first day of school, a teacher won't know which children were breast fed, what age they slept through the night, what age they toilet trained, or if they ate 100 foods or 10 as a 2yo... what they will notice is if they have become anxious around food because of how much or little they ate" so be relaxed and follow here lead... she knows her own body.

Another thing to do in the coming months is swap one bottle to a cup so she gets used to it, she's having plenty across the day, so if one drops back to only 50mL or even 10mL it will be fine. Also offer water with meals.