Weaning and milk!
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Thanks! That’s what I’ve heard too. But the nhs and some other health advice says sooner … but there’s literally no way a baby can eat 3 full meals a day and drink the same amount of milk unless it has a hugely expanding stomach ?? I’ve heard the saying food before 1 is just for fun, but others say that isn’t true and they need to eat - and tick off the allergens etc ideally before a year 🤷🏻♀️ I guess everyone just goes with the flow and does what their baby feels :)
Like everything with babies I think they really vary. My boy is so much more into solids than my girl was, and I can see I’ll be moving him to three times a day sooner just because it seems to suit him. He’s EBF otherwise. I don’t feel too worried about him giving that up either… I think he’ll just take it all!
I think maybe 'milk is their main source of nutrition til 1' and 'food is only fun til one' is a bit misleading. The first one definitely isn't often true, it can be but most often they will reduce nutrition from milk gradually as you can't just switch from one to the other at 1. As per the NHS most babies will be ready for 3 meals by 7-9 months and if they want to eat more solids they will naturally reduce their milk intake. I disagree with Willow that you should reduce food if it's making baby have less milk- it's not the goal to keep the same amount of milk constantly, it should gradually change, some quicker some slower. Feed them responsively and let your baby decide what they want - ensuring that there is a good balance of protein etc in their diet (but for example if you just feed veggies your baby might adapt to need less water but will maintain what they need for protein, they are very clever).
My 2 year old reduce her milk intake massively when she started weaning. I was told by HV to include as much diary as possible and to give her a multivitamin supplement. My Sept baby is doing the same, her bottles have reduced as she has very little interest in them, so she has 3 small meals a day plus 4/5 bottles.
Don't rush to be on 3 meals. before 12 months tbh it's more important to have their milk like u said so if u give them more food n there milk intake goes down that's a good indication that ur giving to much food for them to handle rn. If u think ur baby can handle 3 meals a day and Not affect milk them go for it. Honestly it's just trial and error and following their lead all babies r different, don't sorry to much about when they need to be eating 3 meals a day 12 months is the goal n that's all u need to keep in mind for the next few months x