Is it ok for my 8 month old to only have 2 bottles a day?

[lilmisslilly]

Hello

My little monkey is 8 months today and currently has
1 7oz bottle with his porridge at 8am - 8.30am
A dinner and pudding with water at 12pm
7oz bottle at 4pm
7oz bottle at 7pm.

My HV has told me now he's 8 months I need to start giving him a tea too at 4pm to give him the full nourishment he needs. She said he will probably have his bottle too with his tea but I know my Rhys and if he has a dinner and a pudding he won't have his bottle so it would mean he would only have 2 bottles a day (14 oz in one day). Is that enough for his age or does he need more? I don't know what to do xx

 

[mommysbaby]

Don't worry. My lo always hated milk.. I know that's weird.. But it's true. Now she is 8 months 3 weeks on two full meals + breakfast & snack. Then she has just two bottles of 4oz each a day. Whatever works for ur lo is good for him.

 

[x_WelshGirl_x]

My LO has never been too keen on milk, never took more than 7oz at a time. By 11months he was only on one bottle of 5oz for bedtime. I wouldn't worry.

 

[Noelle610]

My LO has never loved milk either, but I thought it was supposed to be their primary source of nutrition until one year old? I think the guidelines may be different in the UK, because I always see HVs recommending that LOs drop bottles. I have had two pediatricians here in the US and they have both encouraged offering milk prior to solids and ensuring that baby has at least 20 ounces of breast milk / formula daily.

 

[lhancock90]

You can find otherwise to supplement milk, yoghurts etc

 

[erikab922]

My LO has never loved milk either, but I thought it was supposed to be their primary source of nutrition until one year old? I think the guidelines may be different in the UK, because I always see HVs recommending that LOs drop bottles. I have had two pediatricians here in the US and they have both encouraged offering milk prior to solids and ensuring that baby has at least 20 ounces of breast milk / formula daily.

Where I live this is the same advice that we got, LO had a check-up at 9 months and they said we should be aiming for a pint of milk a day (about 20oz) as the main source of nutrition, with food/snacks for fun and learning. My LO is not very keen on milk but I keep thinking, it's only a couple more months, I'll keep trying to give it to her. She still won't drink more than about 5oz at a time so we're giving her bottles often throughout the day. She still wolfs down her food and of course prefers it but we always do the milk first.

 

[Noelle610]

You can find otherwise to supplement milk, yoghurts etc

But surely yogurt, etc doesn't replace the complete nutrition that breastmilk or formula provides?

I hope it doesn't come off as if I'm trying to start an argument. I am just generally curious about how the guidelines differ from country to country (and even region to region!).

 

[Noelle610]

My LO has never loved milk either, but I thought it was supposed to be their primary source of nutrition until one year old? I think the guidelines may be different in the UK, because I always see HVs recommending that LOs drop bottles. I have had two pediatricians here in the US and they have both encouraged offering milk prior to solids and ensuring that baby has at least 20 ounces of breast milk / formula daily.

Where I live this is the same advice that we got, LO had a check-up at 9 months and they said we should be aiming for a pint of milk a day (about 20oz) as the main source of nutrition, with food/snacks for fun and learning. My LO is not very keen on milk but I keep thinking, it's only a couple more months, I'll keep trying to give it to her. She still won't drink more than about 5oz at a time so we're giving her bottles often throughout the day. She still wolfs down her food and of course prefers it but we always do the milk first.

Yup, Charlotte is completely the same! I can't wait to be done with formula. It's such a pain right now and I always worry she's not having enough. My girl LOVES her food, too, so I just try to ensure almost all of what she eats is super healthy. I say "almost" because she loves puffs and I'm pretty sure that they are not that great for her

 

[rebeccalouise]

My LO will be 9 months on the 15th, she only has 2 bottles a day now. I'm so glad, hate making them! x

 

[Jackyx]

Can you not just move the 4pm bottle to about 3, food for tea at 5.30 then a bed time bottle so your little one gets 3 meals and 3 bottle a day, you will then fine your lo will reduce milk in take naturally as they eat more food. This is what I do with my lo anyway x

 

[080509]

You could add formula to meals, like porridge/cheese sauces etc? My LO is still on 7 bottles a day, yawn!! xx

 

[lilmisslilly]

Can you not just move the 4pm bottle to about 3, food for tea at 5.30 then a bed time bottle so your little one gets 3 meals and 3 bottle a day, you will then fine your lo will reduce milk in take naturally as they eat more food. This is what I do with my lo anyway x

We used to give him his bottle at 3 but we recently had to move it to 4 because he was just point blank refusing it because he wasn't hungry. He also won't snack between meals because again he isn't hungry. He eats enough to sustain him and that's it xx

Thank you for all the replies. It's good to know that other babies have been fine on less milk but I'm still not sure what to do xx

 

[izzlesnizzle]

My LO has just dropped to 3 bottles a day. Im not sure shes a huge fan of milk either. She has 4-5oz in the morning at 7am, i put the rest of te 7oz bottle into her cereal. She dropped the 11am bottle recently as she was only having 2ozs so i swapped that for a snack of a little yogurt or fruit puree, then lunch at 12, bottle at 3pm- again sometimes only wants 2, 3, 4 ozs, sometimes she'll take the full 7oz, dinner at 4.30pm, bedtime bottle at 6.30pm- again depends how she feels anything between 4-7ozs.

I checked with my HV that what i was doing was ok and she said yep fine, aim for 20ozs a day but if she doesnt want it all then i can count in all the cheese, yogurt, butter etc that she has in her diet but to continue offering the 3pm bottle until the age of 1, even if she will only take a couple of ozs.

I have spoken to other mums in playgroups who say their baby of the same age is only on 2 bottles a day coz they wont take much more and theyre not concerned as the baby is nice and healthy and has a varied diet with lots of cheese etc.

I just make sure she has a vitamin supplement every morning.