40oz at 1 years old

[kbwebb]

Lucy had her 12 month check up with the hv yesterday and was 28lbs which is past the 99th percentile line. (Her height is 98th). I didn't think this was that much really, seeing as she was 25lb at 9 months old so she has slowed down gaining and is tall. The hv told me off for giving her more than 20oz that's reccommended and said I'm over feeding her on her milk. She has 5 8oz bottles, one before or after breakfast depending on when she wakes up, one dinner time, one just before tea and one before bed. Then throughout the night she will have one. She doesn't look fat at all she looks in proportion.

I have started cuddling, patting etc in the night to see if she settles before giving her milk to mak sure she wants it, but it still feel she needs all of these bottles. We do blw and unless she has pasta she doesn't eat much she just tends to snack here and there.

When I said I was wary of giving cows milk because of her eczema on her face she didn't know what to say or suggest. I explained that I couldn't decide because if she has other types of milk I need to give her fats through yogurt etc but this flares up her face too.

She said I need to get her to self settle but never gave any suggestion as to how to do this? And I have an appointment in three months for reweigh and discussing milk.

Other than that she passed all her milestones with flying colours.

 

[cocosianelle]

It's a tough one because all babies are different but my LO will be 1 this month. She has 3 bottles and she probably drinks 16-20 oz a day. We are blw too so she has 3 meals and snacks. Do you offer 3 meals?

Like you say she is in proportion for weight and height but it's a shame your HV wasn't more helpful.

 

[MindUtopia]

I would try to find ways to encourage her to eat more solids during the day. Are there things you haven't tried that maybe she might like? We found that egg (scrambled or quiche or baked in muffins with cheese, veg, etc.) and sandwiches (cheese & onion, chicken and mayo, egg and mayo) and filled pastas (raviolis, tortellonis, etc.) all work really well. As does any type of porridge (oat porridge, hot weetabix) and yogurt with fruit. Could you try pastas that are more filling, like stuffed pastas, so she eats something more substantial. What about high protein snacks like nut butter on rice cakes or cheese sticks or sliced turkey or chicken? I'm thinking maybe those things might make her a bit fuller so that she doesn't want milk as often during the day. I wouldn't necessarily worry about the night weaning just yet. I think if you focus on her eating more food during the day, you'll probably find she eventually doesn't need the bottle at night. But I would say that 40oz at 1 year is a lot but she's also a big baby (my daughter never had that much, but she's also small). By a year she was on milk 3x a day (morning, afternoon and before bed), plus 3 meals and 1-2 snacks. I'd just try to get more creative about the kind of meals you give her and try lots of different things. You'll eventually hit upon something she likes and you can build on it from there.

 

[KayBea]

at a yr old my LO was on 3 bottles of 6 oz a day. one when she woke one mid afternoon & one before bed.

shes always been a big eater & chose food over milk as we blw, she was on 3 meals and a snack.

maybe you can offer food instead of bottles, she may be waking at night due to being hungry as shes filling up on milk which doesnt do much at that age with them being more active. x

 

[Rachel_C]

I would try to lead her more towards solids too, but no need to be mega strict! By now, I'd say you should be giving bottles after food, not before, as milk is filling so why would she eat solids if she's just had 8oz of milk? I'd probably not eat my dinner if I'd had that much milk a few minutes before and I have a (much!) larger tummy than a 12 month old.

I'd do something like:

Breakfast
Milk
Snack
Lunch
Milk
Snack
Dinner
Milk at bedtime
Milk in the night

If she really wants another bottle in the afternoon/early evening, I'd give her a smaller amount and water it down so it's a drink rather than a meal. You could try giving it in a cup/straw cup etc instead of a bottle too - my oldest would drink a lot more milk from a bottle but wasn't so bothered about a cup.

I wouldn't worry about her weight as she is in proportion, but it is rather a lot of milk especially if it's filling her too much for solid food.

I wouldn't change anything about the bottle at night though; the need to self settle is a purely parental need at such a young age. If you're okay with it, no need to change it.

If cow's milk causes her problems, I would look into alternatives - you can't keep her on formula forever so you'll have to do it at some point. May as well be now!

 

[kbwebb]

Thanks everyone, I've reduced all the bottles by one ounce each so far. I'm making her wait for her dinner and tea etc if she's hungry already and I'm in the middle of cooking it rather than giving her her milk. We're working on self settling which is going better than expected. She will lay right down in her cot as soon as I come in the room and will even go asleep with me just sitting next to e cot and singing to her.
I'm going to trial cows milk in a few weeks, she only just had her mmr that can cause a rash and fever etc so don't want to mistake and allergy for symptoms from that as it can take upto three weeks for them to occur. I'd say she will be down to four bottles in the next week or so

 

[zorak]

It sounds like you are doing really well!