Milk is the thing that most often quietly undermines a weaning journey, usually because it is easy to keep offering and hard to measure. So it is worth being deliberate about it.

What kind of milk

Under the age of one, it is either breast milk or infant formula milk.

Babies under one cannot have cow's milk as a main drink. It can be used on cereal or as yoghurt, but not as the main drink until they are over one.

Rough volumes

On average, a 7 to 9 month old baby might need around 600 mL of milk a day, from either breast milk or formula.

This reduces to around 400 mL by 10 to 12 months.

These are averages rather than targets, and it is obviously much harder to quantify in breastfed babies, which I will come back to.

What too much milk does

This is the part worth understanding properly, because it affects several things at once.

Iron

Milk blocks iron absorption. Too much breast milk can lead to inadequate iron intake, which matters a great deal at a stage when iron requirements between 7 and 12 months are rising by around 45 percent.

Protein

Too much formula milk can increase protein intake to a level beyond what we would want.

Appetite

Large milk volumes reduce appetite for food. If you or I were drinking a lot of milk through the day, it would reduce our appetite for meals, and it is the same for a baby.

We do see babies who are having considerably more than the average, and the knock-on effects show up in what they are and are not eating.

Constipation

Excessive milk intake can also contribute to constipation, because it affects intake of other foods. A baby feeling uncomfortably full may not be having the vegetables or the wholegrain foods that would help.

It does not always reduce on its own

As weaning progresses, you would hope your baby automatically wants less milk. That does happen, but not always.

Breastfed babies in particular may carry on wanting a lot of milk through the night and through the day, often for comfort rather than hunger. That can affect appetite, and it is genuinely tricky to manage.

Practical timing

The single most useful change is to avoid offering milk feeds too close to mealtimes, so there is appetite for solids.

As your weaning journey progresses, this often means switching to offering breakfast first, with the milk afterwards. It is a small reordering that makes a real difference.

Breastfed babies

You simply do not know how much a breastfed baby is getting. You could have an extremely efficient feeder taking really good amounts in about 15 minutes, or a longer feed morning and night.

So volumes are less useful here than outcomes. As long as your baby is growing and developing well, and eating a variety of food groups in their weaning diet, it would not be a cause for concern.

If feeds are genuinely impacting mealtimes, you can start shortening feeding sessions a little, or use some distraction during the day. You can also seek advice from a breastfeeding specialist, meaning someone registered to help with this, if you want support reducing feeds.

Routine and calm

Consistency is key here. Keeping to a routine at roughly the same times each day helps your baby learn when milk time is and when food time is.

Try to be as relaxed as possible about all of this. Children pick up on anxiety very easily, and tension around feeding tends to make things harder rather than easier.

Water alongside

Offer water with each meal from the start of weaning. Tap water is fine from 6 months.

In hot weather, breastfed babies may want more milk to drink, and it is fine to feed on demand. Formula fed babies can be offered a bit of extra water between meals.