Cow’s milk or formula?

Hey Vanessa. Do you see your HV regularly? You can try introducing whole cows milk to cereal and to cooking. Reducing bottles is needed here but obviously this can be tricky when babies don't eat enough solids. Please see your health visitor for chat and a weigh in they will give you great advice xx

@Jen Hi x thank you for your reply..we had 2 months ago a review and he is doing well(he always had a nice weight)..we don’t have regular visits unfortunately and last visit i talked with her about this ..but she said i need to reduce his milk..which im not comfortable with if he’s not earning food 🥴…i can’t see him cry for milk and not giving him..I did cook for him w cows milk (porridge, wetabix etc) and still do..even though he’s taking only 2,3 spoons..

Keep trying hun. Ring the health visitor tomorrow and say your concerned. They should come over and offer some help. My baby girl loves her food so I'm sorry I can't help further. Has the HV given you any vitamin drops?

Have you maybe tried mixing some cows milk in with his formula? For example, if he has a 7oz bottle, you could make up 6oz formula as normal and add 1oz cows milk. Then as you go on, decrease the formula amount and increase the cows milk amount. It's such a minefield! The NHS website says: "Formula milks are not needed once your baby is 12 months old. This includes first infant formula, follow-on formula, growing-up milks and toddler milks. Cows' milk can be introduced as a main drink from 12 months."

@Jen they didn’t gave me any drops..i will ring them just to clarify..thank you 🙏

@Yasmin i did mix some cows milk w formula very little as he isn’t drinking warm milk so as soon as i do it 150 ml on the prep machine i add maybe 20 ml cows milk to cool it..i will try tomo to give a bottle of cows milk and see..but i guess i need vitamins ?

Hey, we had a similar ish issue - our baby was on 4 bottles a day, not really interested in food until I dropped his afternoon bottle and he became very hungry and ate a LOT more than he’d ever eaten. We’re now down to 2-3 bottles a day and he’s eating much better but they won’t eat when drinking a lot of milk. I’d suggest trying for one day to cut his bottles down and offer him a full meals worth of food, you may be surprised at how much he eats. If I was in your position I’d stick to formula too but baby does need food at this age to develop as the formula is not enough. My dms are open! X

Same! Ours naturally dropped his afternoon bottle without us doing anything and he eats dinner better now. I think it can just happen naturally over time. That’s what I’m hoping anyway cause I’m not willing to stop bottles before he’s ready either!

@Parris hey, i literally just got up from bed bcse he woke up and cried for milk and just gave him weetabix w yoghurt and smashed banana to avoid giving him the bottle..he ate 3 spoons and that’s it..he will scream for milk in 30 min..i don’t know how to sort this..

@Christina I don’t feel comfortable either cutting his milk as HV said..really hope will.. as you say naturally dropping the amount he drinks.This morning i gave him breakfast instead of of milk but no much luck..now im just waiting to see when he screams for milk

@Vanesa yeah tbh I avoid HV advice if possible while they mean well it’s often really outdated. You could always try and drop volume rather than frequency. My boy has been doing that too x

Just keep offering food first and give bottle if your little one isn't interested, eventually it'll happen :) if he is interested in what you're having, you can share what you have to get his interest up

When baby moves onto cows milk you should give baby vitamins with it, we have the well baby one and you put 5ml into 1 bottle so that way he’s still getting his vitamins. A bit like above I would offer food first before a bottle, even if it’s mashed up food doesn’t necessarily have to be BLW and then if he’s still hungry give a bottle and just keep trying to do bit more each day x

@Heidi i no longer cook just for him ..he wouldn’t have his purée s or other food i cook just for him..now i offer whatever we have , we mindful of salt of course so we don’t use it like before..

@Vanesa I know the stress!! Definitely speak to your HV and GP and ask them to refer you to a dietitian or paediatrician for support. Also try leaving 3 hours between a bottle and solids, that way he should be hungry for food? That’s what worked for us but I know it can be difficult fitting feeding sessions into wake windows :(

I would personally stay on formula while he’s still having that many bottles and slowly reduce quantities as said above… having that much cows milk could upset his tummy + too much dairy also makes it harder for body to absorb iron, I know he doesn’t eat much but if he does start eating more be mindful of that! They recommend no more than 24 oz of dairy a day. does he eat snacks at all? Little puffs or yogurt or any safe food he likes? Maybe some fruit purée straight from the pouch? Have you tried ditching the high chair and maybe sit down with him on the floor and give him food while he’s playing and is relaxed? At the moment my girl will just eat finger foods on the floor and at this point I’m just glad she’s eating! You’ve got this, just trust your gut! Your boy won’t be on milk his entire life and he’ll get there 😌

@Sophie usually i try breakfast after his bottle (1h later) and he isn’t interested much) lunch after he wakes from his nap..and dinner the same..but i get only few spoons..

@Mathilde he likes banana strawberries and biscuits as snacks..or puffs..i haven’t tried puree from the pouch( i will try tomo actually, thank you) he won’t stay in high chair so i feed him while he is in the walker and i sit at his level on the floor..he will eat meat and green beans..and pasta..but surely i can’t give him all day this..🫣i am out of ideas and today was drinking 150 ml of formula every 1.5 h 🥴

@Vanesa it sounds like he’s eating or tasting a lot to me, my girl is stuck on porridge, omelette and pancakes at the moment and snacks! You’re doing great, it sounds like you’re offering him healthy and varied stuff, you’re doing your job, it’s his job to decide if he wants to eat or not, maybe offer him food/snacks before each bottle and maybe he will gradually eat more, you can still have the bottle ready in case he wants it straight away? If you are open to the idea of reducing his milk, could you maybe do bigger bottles less frequently? Does he drink for a cup/straw cup? Maybe you could try food + some formula in a cup on the side? Just trying to find some ideas, sorry if it’s stuff you’ve tried already!

@Mathilde i would love him to drink a big bottle at once but he won’t do it…he’s always been very messy with his bottles..we are still on 4,5 oz every 2h ish ..he never drank more ..looks like when he feels like burping..he stops and won’t have more milk..Like you said..i noticed he likes snacking on food but not having a full meal..i will keep trying and hopefully soon will drop some milk , thank you for everything 🙏

Hi there, I found that my little one wasn’t eating much solids and when I reduced his milk he ate a lot better and started sleeping better too

@Ell hey , how did you do it? i don’t know how i’m supposed to do it if he’s crying for milk…as he’s still on many bottles a day..drinking only 4 , 5 oz at once

@Vanesa how many hours between each feed? Maybe try and give him a little snack after his milk (you could also give him less milk at this time) and see if that fills him for longer so you can spread the milk out but he also gets some solids too?

@Ell usually he will feed every 2h still..around 4 /5 oz but not always finishing the bottles so that’s around 7/8 bottles a day 🥴

@Vanesa maybe try 2-3oz and some fruit or a wafer or a little sandwich. See if that helps introduce him so solids and might fill him more between feeds. I found my little boy was waking overnight and we would feed out of habit but we stopped and just comforted rather than fed and he still went back to sleep x

@Ell i will try today less milk and some fruit plus his meals to get some food in

@Vanesa let me know how he gets on!