Parents of Preschoolers  Discussion Forum

Hi All,

My baby is almost 10 months old.. I' ve stopped breast feeding her, and I give her the regular cow' s milk. My doc said that only milk isn' t enough for a growing baby and that I should mix it with fruits or give it in the form of kheer etc. The problem is once I' ve begun doing this, my baby refuses to drink plain milk at all.. Also, I do not know if the quantity of milk she' s having is enough. Right now she has about 250 ml approx in a day...Other than this, she has a healthy diet.. veggies, fruits, cereals etc..
Pl Advise..
SupS Mel replied. I think it' s better to establish an eating routine, rather than waiting for them to get hungry. This way, their stomachs get conditioned to feel hungry at the same time daily.

On waking, give as much milk as she wants (7-8 oz). Then at about 9:00 breakfast - upma, idli, sooji kheer, bread & butter, macaroni with cheese, etc. Also, give her some juice (about 2 - 4 oz) after breakfast
Mid morning snack at about 11:30(some biscuits, cheese, fruit, yoghurt, etc), followed by milk after half an hour.
then lunch at 01:30 (rice / chapati with veggies / dal / paneer / dahi) then at about 4:30 or so, give him a mid afternoon snack (noodles / fruit / cheese / biscuits / crackers, etc) followed by milk, dinner at 7:30 p.m. (same as lunch), then milk before bed, or if you want... some milk based dessert - custard, pudding, caramel, kheer, etc).

Since you are veggies, make sure you give her iron drops at least on alternate days. It is not advisable to give leafy veggies everyday (no more than once or twice a week). Mel replied. Ridiculous ! First of all... 250 ml is NOT ENOUGH. And if you are feeding her solids, then why isn' t milk enough for a growing baby ??? Your doc is retarded. Yes, ONLY milk at this age is not enough. So, we are supposed to give infants other food groups... fruits, veggies, carbohydrates (rice, roti) legumes, meats, eggs, etc. But, they still can have plain milk.

As long as she is eating a healthy diet otherwise, it would have been better if she had at least 16oz of milk per day. 250 ml is a little over 8 oz (half the quantity that she SHOULD be having).

Now, you have to retrace your steps and undo what your dumb doctor has done. Try and get her used to drinking milk. Give her kheer etc only as an evening snack or after her breakfast, but don' t give it at the time when you want her to have milk. In the mornings and night, when she has her milk.... now that you have already added fruits to it... slowly reduce the quantity of fruit. So, if you were adding half a banana, add 2/3 banana and offer her from a glass (not with a spoon). Children tend to consume less from a spoon and more from a glass or bottle. So, if a baby drinks 16 oz milk from the bottle, they tend to drink about 12 oz from a glass and even less from a spoon.
Offer this thinner mixture for a week, then slowly make it quarter banana for the next week, and slowly eliminate the banana. She' s too small to be having only kheers and milkshakes.

So, please change your doc... And slowly get her used to drinking milk.

Make sure that she gets fruits, etc as a part of her regular diet.