When do you stop milk?

[J & J's Mum]

Hi,

My DS is 22 months and still has a bottle of milk in the morning and a bottle before bedtime.  When should I stop his milk?

His routine is a bit like this:

7.30 - 8.00 wake and milk
8.30 - 9.00 breakfast
12-12.30 lunch
1.30 -3ish nap
5.30 dinner
6.45 milk
7.30 bed

I'm not sure if I should take out his morning bottle becuase I think he has his breakfast a bit too late some days and give him breakfast instead?

Thanks

[lilmonkey]

Why do you want to drop his milk intake?  Is there a decrease in solids?  It doesn't look like his is taking in too much milk as it is still recommended that children drink about 12-16 oz of milk a day for the calcium and other nutrients.  .
I still offer dd milk (in a sippy or cup) with her meals and during our bedtime routine.
Are you thinking of switching him to a cup or sippy cup instead?  You could try give your lo a little bit of milk to hold him over till breakfast is ready so breakfast isn't so late.  Or if he is the type to wake very hungry, then you can offer solids first. 

HTH

[yaya]

I was wondering this too, DS is 15 mos and has 3 bottles altho hes slowed down hes solids so maybe I should cut a bottle out?

[Kimberly®]

Well I wouldn't say drop the milk altogether, but by 14 months DD had no more bottles of milk, we dicreased her milk to 16oz because she eats a lot of milk foods, I think by 22 months you can drop the 2 bottles, increase milk food intake and keep sippies or cups of milk during the daytime, meals are a great time to have it.

When your LO wakes give him Brakefast and just have a cup of milk with it, and at dinner have his cup of milk with dinner, he shouldn't need a bedtime bottle.

Yaya cut back on the bottle, try sippies instead, as he gets used to them he'll take more, but don't be alarmed if the first few days he drinks little to no milk, just make sure he has cheese, yogerts, and other milk products. By 15 months the main nutrition should be from solids. As your DS drinks less he'll balence that out by eating more. It'll take a few days for ajustment but it'll happen, when he starts to eat more solid foods he'll wake less to eat too and eventually not wake at all. This is what I did with my friends 14 month old when he was staying her overnight. I cut his milk in half and cut juice right out, he was having 45-50oz a day of liquids and needing to feed at night to make up for it.

HTH

[dkjokisch]

I agree with pp.  Dd is 24mos, and she gets milk with breakfast, lunch, and dinner and usually with her after-nap snack, about 16-18oz per day.  However, the ped told me she should be getting 24oz per day, so I am trying to encourage more.  She was ebf, so she hasn't had morning/evening milk since I weaned her 11mos ago.

[yaya]

thanx girls! Prob is a have only6 just introduced foods with dairy traces in them , not yet full dairy as DS has been lactose intollerant so we try to reintroduce dairy every 3 mos. He still has formula milk, lactose free so I worry he isnt getting what he needs if i take the dairy away. But yep, will cut back on a few bottles, he didnt have any today, just meals, he really resists a sippy

[Kimberly®]

Also try using lactose free milk to start with, then you can mix in a little of the reg milk slowly, if he has a reaction you know to stick to lactose free milk. 16oz is still enough, just make sure he gets omega fatty acids from other foods. Check with your doctor about other calcium and omega rich foods that your LO can have in place of milk. As long as he has the nutrition from other foods you have nothing to worry about

[lilmonkey]

You can also check out some nautural food stores as they have some great ideas on hypo-allergenic food items.  As for the sippy cup, could it be that he doesn't like the spout?  We have purchased 6 different kinds before we found one that dd likes.  It's the soft sprout from Nuby.  It's kinda slow so I had to make the hole bigger for her.

Good luck.