I was wondering if anyone else has had the experience of weaning their baby from the breast to cow's milk and found that their appetite decreased?
In my case, its actually significant, to the point where I can only get one decent meal in per day at the moment. I offer fruit as a bit of a sweet bait and still can only get in a few mouthfuls.
I had a similar issue with my son, but I don't remember it being this stressful. All I can remember is that he drank a tonne when we made the switch. Poor thing must have been thirsty.
So here are the facts
I made the switch from breast to cow as he took quite a dip in his weight gain (same thing happened to DS1) and once we made the switch the weight put on easily. I haven't had a chance to weigh this baby, but he does feel heavier.
This has been carrying of for nearly a week.
Im still offering a breastfeed in the morning, but to be honest, I don't even think he's drinking. He makes the motion of drinking, but Im not always sure he is.
He gets 240ml at his first nap time at 9am, then about 200ml at 2ish (around his 2nd nap time), then he'll only take in about 160ml before bed.
As for meals, yesterday he had 1 x weetbix with milk, then 1 small baby yogurt for lunch then for dinner (as he refused his offered dinner) 2 x biscuits, 1/2 banana and mashed with milk. He ate half of it, then said no to the rest. Shame, because it was super tasty.
So this morning a few mouthfuls of weetbix mixed with apple, he's just eaten a reasonable amount of his pureed food and lets see what dinner presents.
We thought he might be teething, but I just can't see any bulbs and I can't imagine teething can take this long. Or could it?
How old is your son?
When you say a dip in weight gains, you mean he's still gaining weight but not as much? It is normal for their weight gains to slow considerably as they get older.
That's quite a lot of milk - it's possible that he's filling up on it and just doesn't have room for solids. Even when babies breastfeed very frequently, they naturally take less and less milk overall as they eat more, it's quite a neat system. But when we replace feeds with big bottles we can inadvertently add more milk into their diet.
My DD is 11mths old and we are down to 1 BF a day and it's at night and she only has water through the day. He could be filling up on the milk and not wanting anything else as he is full???
They will eat when they are hungry, you probably already know that Lol.
It really is stressful when they don't eat, hope he improves soon
DS2 is almost 10 months. Please dont say anything about the 'no cows milk before 12 months' as Im well aware of the recommendation, but I have read some random international information that says you can commence at 10 months, which is what I did with DS1 and with no issues and my health care nurse (depending on what state you're in) didn't critizise my decision at the time.
As for the dip in weight gain, he had basically gained 300grams in 7 weeks, which isn't very much, I was pumping him with loads of solids before this point, and still breastfeeding him 4 times a day, so I just knew it was time to switch.
When I rang a hotline to query how much milk they should be taking in, she recommended a minimum of 600ml and up to a litre. I must admit that Im not sure if I made it clear to her that it was cow's milk or she assumed formula..... This is how I came to give so much.
I might try and scale back for a while and see what happens.
Anything else you think of Im open for suggestion.
ok But yes, they probably were assuming formula.
That weight gain is probably fine at that age, to be honest. But anyway, he doesn't need to be filling up on all that cow's milk.
I give DD cows milk on all her things. If he is happy then that's your guide
I am not sure of the fat content difference between formula and full fat cows milk?
I still think you probably could drop even the day time bottle and see if that helps. Offer him water through the day, leave it around on the floor so he can get it if he wants.
It sounds like he is filling up on milk. The other thing to consider is how active he is. If he is crawling around and walking around furniture, then he will not gain alot of weight as he is active.
Good luck curly173.
I was under the impression that even after introducing solids at 6 months, milk (breast or formula) was still supposed to be a baby's main source of nutrition until they were 1 anyway. Of course there wouldn't be too much nutrition in cows milk, so you would need him to be eating a variety of foods (which can be a difficult task for a 10 month old). The amount of food you specified actually sounded reasonable for his age, also if he is having yoghurt as a meal and milk on his cereal and in his banana then he is having a heap of milk aside from the bottles you are giving him.
but can I ask why you are concerned about him gaining large amounts of weight in the first place? Did you consider that if both your children had the same dip in weight gain at the same age, that maybe it was a natural amount to be gaining, and that you might not need to stress about trying make him gain extra?
There is no where near as much nutrition in cows milk as there is in breast milk or formula, especially iron. Unless your baby is gaining sufficient iron levels from elsewhere, then I'd be a bit cautious about moving to cows milk fulltime. Sorry, I know you said you'd researched but just thought I should say that.
As for appetite, I'd say that's normal. Their appetite goes up and down depending on how much milk they have, if they're having a growth spurt or if they're teething. We've just had all sorts of issues with DD as she was ill around her first birthday and teething so her milk intake (both formula and her transition to cows milk) were not the best. She's back on track again now though.
One thing to remember, when babies move onto cows milk, they're supposed to be getting a lot from solids as well - especially protein and calcium - so it's not unusual for babies to take less milk providing their solids diet contains the extra (so yoghurt, cheese, vegies, fish and meat). The milk intake guide at 1 year is 600mls a day (so three bottles) so I would assume at 10 months, it should be about 800mls. But once again, I personally don't think cows milk is an ideal choice just yet and that may have something to do with his appetite levels. Just at thought!
PS: it might not seem like much between 10 months and 12 months but 2 months is a long time when you're only 1 year old! My DD at very different things at 10 months to what she could eat at 1, teeth and age had a lot to do with her diet. That is another reason why they don't recommend switching to cows milk until they're 1.
Last edited by Taurean; October 10th, 2010 at 10:58 PM.
The dip in weight gain that concerned me was that he moved down 2 percentile lines on the graph they give you for weight gain. His height is more or less on track, but the weight almost didn't move, and that is what got me concerned. I had loads of weight gain issues with the DS1 (or at least all the health nurses gave me such a complex about it. Im much more relaxed this time around, but I always keep an eye on it when I can. Plus this baby is not very active - ie he is not rolling or crawling - currently just happy to sit as a little budda.) I was always never confident that my milk 'was enough' although DS2 was quite happy for about 6 months.
Turns out that DS2 has broken another tooth and his food intake is improving, but I have scaled back each bottle to 160ml or skipping the odd afternoon one here and there. Probably all coincidence, but it is just getting the balance right.
He's also quite keen on feeding himself at the moment, ie, if you put all sorts of food on his tray table he'll happily grab and eat it even after he has refused his puree. So for the moment I 'top up' on whatever else is floating around meal times, which, in turn, is a handy way to introduce lumpy foods and 'our food' for the future.
Im still open to comments and suggestions. Thanks
The dip in weight gain that concerned me was that he moved down 2 percentile lines on the graph they give you for weight gain. His height is more or less on track, but the weight almost didn't move, and that is what got me concerned. I had loads of weight gain issues with the DS1 (or at least all the health nurses gave me such a complex about it. Im much more relaxed this time around, but I always keep an eye on it when I can. Plus this baby is not very active - ie he is not rolling or crawling - currently just happy to sit as a little budda.) I was always never confident that my milk 'was enough' although DS2 was quite happy for about 6 months.
Turns out that DS2 has broken another tooth and his food intake is improving, but I have scaled back each bottle to 160ml or skipping the odd afternoon one here and there. Probably all coincidence, but it is just getting the balance right.
He's also quite keen on feeding himself at the moment, ie, if you put all sorts of food on his tray table he'll happily grab and eat it even after he has refused his puree. So for the moment I 'top up' on whatever else is floating around meal times, which, in turn, is a handy way to introduce lumpy foods and 'our food' for the future.
Im still open to comments and suggestions. Thanks
I think breastfed babies tend to be lighter than formula-fed ones between 6-12 months, on average, so you'd expect breastfed babies to drop down the standard health charts in Aus. The WHO releases charts for breastfed babies only, which might be of interest.
Finger food is a great way to go if that's what he wants. And yeah, teeth would definitely explain a decrease in interest in solids.
Weaning to Cows milk & loss of appetite
All I can remember is that he drank a tonne when we made the switch. Poor thing must have been thirsty.
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But yes, they probably were assuming formula.
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