Dropping milk feeds when weaning?

[Lu28]

Aisling is on 3 solid meals a day and if offered, she'll still take all her usual bfs although she does mess around with most of them. For the past couple of days, I've stopped offering her mid morning feed and just waited for her to want it and it hasn't happened. I'm still offering her afternoon one and she's feeding for longer for this one now.

For those of you who are weaning or have weaned, did you keep offering feeds or did you purely wait until you LO demanded them? Wondering what I should do about her mid afternoon one but I'm a bit uncomfortable about the idea of her not having any bfs between 7am and 5pm...

Thanks!

 

[Foogirl]

Annabel Karmel reckons at 6-9 months they should be having 5/600 mls of breastmilk a day as it is a great source of iron and they are unlikely to be getting enough from their food alone.

If she isn't taking the feeds properly, you can use the milk in her meals, making cheese sauces or white sauces or mixing with rice/porridge. as a bonus, cheese is also a good source of iron. I would still offer the feeds as a snack though, even if she doesn't take a full one. You could even start her on a cup to see if she will take milk that way.

From 9-12 months they still need the same amount of milk, but fewer milk feeds so using more milk in their meals is a good idea.

I highly recommend her book, it has some fantastic recepies in it!

Abby is a wee bit behind you in terms of weaning, but I still offer her feeds every time she wakes from her naps (3 times a day) then one at bed time and she gets one first thing.

 

[Kitten]

I've been stressing about this. I go back to work when Theakston's 9months so need to get rid of his day feeds but he won't take ebm in a cup or bottle so depending how things go with blw I might have to use formula until he can have cows milk.

 

[Lu28]

I'd say she's getting enough milk during the day at the moment anyway. I don't pump anymore because the tiny amount I was getting wasn't worth the time it took so she has about 120ml of formula in her breakfast porridge alone and then the rest of her bfs. I think between the mid morning and mid afternoon feeds, she was probably taking the same amount even if I didn't offer the mid morning one as the now feeds for longer in the afternoon. I guess I'm wondering if I should just be waiting for her to ask instead of offering? I have a baby who would never turn down a bf if offered, even if she just takes a small bit!

 

[Kitten]

Yeah I was reading some blw stuff yesterday and they say if they ask for it, give it to them but don't offer it.

 

[Foogirl]

I've been stressing about this. I go back to work when Theakston's 9months so need to get rid of his day feeds but he won't take ebm in a cup or bottle so depending how things go with blw I might have to use formula until he can have cows milk.

How were you planning on giving the formula?

Apparently it can take a while for them to get used to the cups. After about a month, Abby is kind of getting used to it. We give her diluted juice as she wont take water, much to my annoyance, but she does manage to take a wee bit now through the cup.