I'm wondering how much milk is normal, he drinks about 24-28 oz of milk at night, is that the normal? I think it's too much but he'll cry if he doesn't get his milk and won't go to sleep unless he has his milk, I tried to lower the intake but he's hungry and gulps it down.
Well he drinks only breastmilk and homemade baby food, I called and talked to the pediatrician and he said as long as it's not whole milk and breastmilk tends to be digested faster so he might be going through a growth spurt but he will check him out next appointment in 2 weeks. Will see, I still think it's too much but since he only drinks a total of 8 oz during the day plus the 24-28 oz. at night. Thanks for your responses ladies
After seeing your edit, I think it is totally normal for a growth spurt. My daughter is 7 months and she has days that she only drinks 2 4 ounce bottles but then at night you would think she was a bottomless pit. She'll take another--letting me get ready for bed and then nurses some more. And that is after she has her food.
I don't think there is such a thing as too much breastmilk! It's the exact right thing for a baby and won't cause a stomach ache or cause constipation that cow's milk can cause. I'm assuming you are exclusively pumping since you know how much he is drinking? If he's not drinking it during the day, he's making up for it at night.
I'm not sure if your son is completely off of breastmilk/formula and getting 100% of his nutrition from milk and food. He's not 1 yr yet, right? Either way, that seems like an awful lot of milk. When we stopped formula and switched to milk and "real food," my Pediatrician told me that my kids should drink no more than 24oz per day (even to their current ages). Also, when I stopped formula and started milk, I eliminated bottles so I didn't contend with bedtime feedings. But, again, my kids were a bit older -- 13 months old or so.
Too much milk causes constipation. But my children have never had this problem, despite the fact that some days they have a bit more than 24 oz. I have them drink water in between meals and try to save the milk (which they love) for meals.
You probably should call your Pediatrician and get some expert advice, based upon your son's food/formula/breastmilk situation.
PS...you didn't mention if you give your son a bottle of milk to take into the crib, but please know that that practice is terrible for a child's teeth.
Our pediatrician also recommended a maximum of 24 ounces of milk daily, so 24-28 ounces of milk at night PLUS whatever he drinks during the day seems excessive. While the milk is helpful in growth and development, too much milk (especially whole milk) can have detrimental effects on his health. That's a boatload of calories, not to mention all the sugar that sits on the teeth over night.
He truly does not have a 'need' for the milk; it is a want. If your son wanted 7 candy bars before he went to sleep and threatened to scream if he didn't get them, I doubt you'd let him have the candy bars before bed. Slowly wean him off of the milk or cut it out cold turkey. Does he take naps during the day? Does he have to drink in order to nap? If not, then treat the night time sleep as a nap. We did that at 12 months and cut out the before bed feeding cold turkey, because we knew if he was capable of going down for a good nap without the bottle then surely he could go to bed without it too. And, just as we expected he didn't skip a beat.
