Any advice on which milk I should be buying?

[isabellastar]

My lgs just turned 1 and she relies abit to much on her milk still she still has 3 6oz bottles a day and still wakes in the night for a comfort 1/2 oz she doesn't really eat her food just picks at what shes given! We have tryed mashed/puréed/ and finger foods so far she's only really eating sandwiches and yogurts! My question is to I keep her on stage 2 milk or move on to stage 3 I'm worried she won't get enough from stage 3? I have asked a HV about this and she made me feel like I had done everything wrong and my lg should only be having 1 bottle a day and shouldn't be waking at night, I know she's probably right but all babies develop at different times, she told me I should just refuse the milk and make her eat her food because "she's not going to starve herself" which I'm not going to do! Just wondered if anyone had any advice

 

[Lady_Bee]

I'm in a similar situation. My LO hardly eats anything, so we are giving him toddler formula first thing in the morning, last thing at night and at nap times. So he's still on four bottles a day! Don't feel bad. I'm sure it's more common than you think, as from what I've read there are a LOT of babies who get picky with food and refuse practically everything around this age It's hard to know what's best to do but I don't want to compromise his nutrition. And I don't fancy facing endless sleepless nights because he's starving hungry either. xx

 

[special_kala]

I just moved onto cows milk at 1

 

[rjm09]

Have you tried letting him fall back asleep on his own when waking for this 1/2 oz?

The hv is right, to an extent. Your lo wont starve themselves.

Offer more food more often, and maybe 4oz in the bottle at a time or milk in a sippy. Once they figure out how to use it and that their milk is in there, the faster they transition.

 

[isabellastar]

I offer snacks a lot during the day to tem

 

[isabellastar]

I offer snacks a lot during the day to temPt her into eating but she just plays with it, she does have a sippy cup and will drink water/ juice from it but will still refuse milk out of it. I won't just change onto cows milk because I'm worried she doesn't eat enough food and the cows mill won't fill her up, I know the health visitors right about not starving herself I just hate to see her screaming and getting so upset because she wants milk and I think she knows that's if she screams longer enough I'll give in and get it her,I'm wrapped around her little finger already lol and no she won't go back to sleep at night she screams, I had nearly 2 hours of it the other night and don't want to be going though that every night at 4am, and as she doesn't have a dummy it's the only thing that re settles her x

 

[lilyd]

If she knows she will get milk then she has no incentive to eat more food & she will also be full from the milk so less likely to eat.

Have you tried swapping the first bottle of the day to cows milk & seeing if that encourages her to eat more?

 

[special_kala]

I definitely wouldn't switch to stage 3 that milk is so sweet it won't encourage your lo to drop milk.

though willow fed a lot past a year too I didn't question it.she also fed a few times at night so I wouldn't try and force food instead of milk

 

[isabellastar]

That's what Im thinking she has been slow at everything including weaning she didn't really learn how to swallow untill around 7 and 1/2 months so just think I'm going to let her do it in her own time Im going to try a bottle of cows milk though see of shell drink that x

 

[Lady_Bee]

Isabellastar you could always add formula and cow's milk half and half to her bottle if she won't take straight cow's milk. That's what we do for the two nap time bottles. LO doesn't seem to notice the difference! But he isn't keen on cow's milk on its own.

 

[isabellastar]

Would I just put 3oz her milk and then 3oz cows milk? Will give that ago on her afternoon bottle x

 

[Lady_Bee]

Yeah something like that. If she still won't take it then you could start with mostly formula with a little cow's milk, then gradually shift the ratio. Maybe then she won't even notice the change

 

[StranjeGirl]

My lo eats pretty well but still drinks a lot. My dr said she shouldn't be drinking more than 32 oz a day bc that would mean she isn't getting enough nutrients from food. I'm not sure if that is based on age, or the individual (she is a very big baby for her age) I still give regular formula a few times a day bc most of the toddler formula is sweetened. Dr said it is perfectly fine. I also asked if I could alternate milks as I'm not a huge fan of giving so much cows milk and he said yes...that cows milk isn't some magical thing. I chose goat milk rather than cows milk and I make my own hemp milk for her, which in my opinion is healthier than the dairy and it gives a variety. It doesn't sound ot me that your lo is drinking all that much so maybe just keep offering the foods and I am sure she will in time take more and more to solids. My mom said my sister refused to give up the bottle and eat solids and trust me she eats tons now lol (she's 50) I'm sure your lo will be just fine!

 

[Lady_Bee]

I don't think toddler milk is necessarily sweeter is it?? The one we get is actually slightly less sweet than the infant version. I think it's mainly the flavoured milks that get a bad rap for being so sweet? I don't know about other brands though, maybe some are sweeter than others.

 

[special_kala]

In the UK the toddler milk I've tried has been sweet. Like cereal milk.

I don't like toddler milk, it plays on parents insecurities to make money.

 

[Lady_Bee]

To each his own. As a parent of a picky toddler who is extremely difficult to feed and also very skinny, I am quite glad it exists. He's had infant formula since he was a month old anyway so I guess I don't have the aversion to formula in general that I know a lot of bf mums have.

 

[special_kala]

My eldest was ff from birth. A lot of the benefits of toddler milk are over exaggerated by the companies. If I didn't move into cows milk I'd have just stick to stage 1

 

[Lady_Bee]

We were initially going to stick to infant milk actually, but then we discovered the toddler version worked out slightly cheaper!

I've no doubt the benefits are exaggerated if your child has a balanced diet. I know ideally a one year old would get pretty much all their nutrition from solid food. But the balanced diet is the part we're missing unfortunately! Believe me, I'd love him to go onto just cow's milk, but Alexander is just not a good eater at all, and he is such a skinny thing. We feel really needs some kind of supplementation for a while longer.