How many times and how much milk do you give for you baby from 12 months up?

[gladyswly]

I was told by the nurses in MCHC when I took my baby there for the 12-months check up, that I should reduce baby's milk feeds from 3 times to 2 times a day, and about 7oz each time. And the sooner I cut the mid-afternoon milk feed out, the easier it is for the baby to wean that feed. Yet I also heard other mums saying that it's a 'Chinese' thing, I should keep giving my baby milk 3 times a day.

What should I do? What do you do, moms?

 

[City Jammer]

It's really up to you what you want to do and what's comfortable for your baby. My little girl started on 3 meals of solid foods a day when she was about 10 months old. I have her two or three milk feeds a day, with 3 oz in mid-morning. She usually misses that feed as she's napping during that hour most of the time. I tried giving her more milk but she refused, so it's just 3 oz. Her next milk feed is around 4 pm, which she'll take between 4 to 6 oz. The last feed is 8 oz before she goes to bed.

There's no hard and fast rule. My little girl is almost 13 months but since she has no teeth yet, I'm going to continue with the schedule I set up regardless of what the nurses say.

 

[pooch]

Both my boys dropped to two milk feeds at around 12 months. A small cup in the morning with breakfast and around 6-8oz before bed. They were both well established on 3 solid meals by then so really didn't need large quantities of milk. When I dropped the afternoon milk I replaced it with a small snack at his time instead (normally a bowl of chopped fruit)

 

[coco1]

I agree, if you are happy and your baby is settled, eating reasonably well& growing, don't feel forced to change things quickly. Traditionally, we look towards moving to 2 milk feeds in the West too from around 1 yr and giving more water to drink. Cows' milk doesn't have that great a nutritional content (ie not much iron/ vitamin D etc) but does fill babies up so they may not have a great appetite for other foods. By cutting one milk, they get hungrier and may try things for tea they'd otherwise turn their nose up at. That said, the rules aren't hard and fast. If your child loves their milk and is also eating well and growing, what's the harm? My daughter still has three small drinks of milk/day (in a glass!) and she's 2.5!

 

[gladyswly]

thanks for the advice!

 

[nicolejoy]

My daughter (still breastfeeding) is down to just one feed a day at 13 months. I try to give her cows milk/cheese/yogurt every day so that she gets enough calcium and all. I don't even really know what they SHOULD be having, I've always kind of just followed her lead... I wouldn't stress about it too much though. My opinion is, when they're 20 will it really matter? There's such a wide range in what different people do and what is "normal" that as long as the baby is growing and healthy, is it really that huge a deal?

 

[LeahH]

Nicolejoy - is that one feed in the morning or night - how long does she feed for? I'm currently BF my 9 month old morning and night but looking to wean one of the them.

Both his morning and night are pretty quick now - maybe only 2 mins of strong sucking each side. I worry that it's not enough - although he get's 1 x bottle in the day and eats three meals.

 

[Shenzhennifer]

My son is almost 11 months and takes 3 bottles a day, usually drinking from 180-240mls each time. He also eats 3 square meals a day, plus the occasional snack. I don`t anticipate him wanting to drop a milk feed any time, but like I usually do, I will follow his lead.
He also has one breastfeed per night, before bed, but it`s not that long and more of a relaxer as he follows it with about 150-200 mls of formula.

 

[southside852]

my son at 18 months had 3 milk bottles which was a total of about 15 - 18 oz.

 

[nicolejoy]

Nicolejoy - is that one feed in the morning or night - how long does she feed for? I'm currently BF my 9 month old morning and night but looking to wean one of the them.

Both his morning and night are pretty quick now - maybe only 2 mins of strong sucking each side. I worry that it's not enough - although he get's 1 x bottle in the day and eats three meals.

Actually, the one feed is in the middle of the night!! No fun. But around 11 months, she was still on 4-5 feeds a day, then I dropped the ones that were first thing in the morning and also in the afternoon, then the two daytime feeds that she was having were 11am before her nap, and 8pm before bed. I dropped the 11am one and she still went to sleep with no problems, so I also dropped the 8pm one and she also had no problems going to sleep.

She's woken in the middle of the night since she was about 7-8 months, had one "midnight snack" and then slept the rest of the night. Before this, she was sleeping through - but overall not as long. Now she's in bed for total 12 hrs at night with one feed half way. I've thought about weaning her off that feed - but breastfeeding is the fastest way for her to get back to sleep, so in the short term, it's easier than NOT breastfeeding her. I'm going to wait another month and see what happens with it, but then maybe try harder to get rid of it. For now it's not a huge issue because she's back asleep within 10 min or so...