I am concerned that my 9-month-old son is not having enough milk
My son is now approaching 9 months and has seriously reduced his milk intake. As he has never been very good with his milk intake, I have been making sure he takes between 16 and 18oz per day since the age of 6 months (previously he was on about 24-27oz per day).
Recently this is beginning to reduce even more than the minimum 16oz I want him to have. He takes 7oz in the morning: 4oz on his cereal and 3oz to drink. He has been having 4oz at 2.30pm but this is now causing him to refuse his evening meal at 5pm and he is often vomiting after only a few mouthfuls. In addition, the 2.30pm is very difficult to give him and the only person who can manage it is me! At 5pm he has tea and at 6.30pm he is having 5oz. So all in all he stands at 16oz currently but more often than not, it can end up being only 12oz.
Is this a problem? He does have fromage frais and yoghurts by way of puddings, as I figure he needs more dairy if he is going to refuse milk. In addition, a lot of the food I make him contains cows milk, cheese and butter. He is also doing very well on his solids and follows a well-balanced and varied meal plan. Do you think bearing all this in mind that a milk intake of 12oz is too little? I would really appreciate some advice as I am quite anxious about it.
It is always an anxious time when a growing baby appears to be taking in less milk than he has been. Now he is nearly nine months old, his milk intake will begin to lessen as he has three solid meals a day. He needs a minimum of 17-20ozs a day but that includes the milk used in cooking and on cereals. By a year the minimum he needs inclusive of cooking is 12ozs so you can see how his solid foods are beginning to replace the need for a lot of milk.
A 125g pot of yoghurt or 30gr (1oz) of cheese can be substituted for 7ozs of milk. As you are making sure that he does have plenty of other sources of milk in his diet, he appears to be well within his daily amount for his age, despite his decrease in the amount he actually drinks.
As he is no longer interested in his afternoon milk you could begin to give him a drink of water or well-diluted juice and a small piece of cheese or small fromage frais at this time and see if he is more interested in eating his tea. By now he should be receiving his breakfast milk and his 2.30pm feed, if he will take it, from a beaker.
Be aware that offering juice or even water too near to a meal time will take the edge off his appetite. Also make sure he has eaten most of his solids before offering a drink to prevent him from filling himself up too much.