How much milk does a 6-month old need?

Well there doesn't seem to be a proper anwer to this question.

If any bloke reads this blog then I apologise in advance for some of the details.

Just about 3 weeks ago we had to suddenly and unexpectedly stop breast feeding. It was half-planned really as I wanted Logan exclusively bottle-fed when I was back at work full time. I knew there was a tablet that mummies can take which stops milk production and disperses the milk so my plan was to do this the week-end before going back full time. However when I spoke to my health visitor about it, she said the NHS has stopped doing it because it is not necessary. In other words, you mummies have gone through childbirth, you can bloody well stop breastfeeding without a pill that costs the NHS money. As if childbirth wasn't enough pain and discomfort...

So 3 days of constant pain (felt like humongous bruises) and just about 3 weeks later, the boobies have just about got the message. I thought it would only last a week!

Logan has gone to the bottle really well. He was of course already having 2 bottles each day so it wasn't as much of a change as it was when he started having 2 bottles each day. The only problem is the type of bottle. It seems that the cheapest are the best! Indeed I bought lots of Tomee Tippee "mimics the shape and feel of mummy's boobies" bottles, well he doesn't like them. First of all it's a lie (of course! I mean, honestly???). Secondly, it's really hard to get air to go in as Logan sucks without milk leaking from the bottle all over the place. Thirdly, the teet is really wide so Logan has to open his mouth like crazy to manage. It's ridiculous. DON'T BUY TOMEE TIPPEE.

Buy Asda or Tesco's own cheapos instead!!! Much easier, small teet, easier to clean, and they save a lot of money!

Back to the question in the title. Advice completely varies from one website to another. As Logan is also on solids 4 times a day, he doesn't need as much milk as 4 x 240ml that's recommended. So I've decided that his body will know what it needs. I think as long as he gets 500-600 ml per day including Petit Filous and other yoghurts then his bones will be just fine. So some days he'll drink more, other days he'll drink less, and if he's hungry anyway I'll know about it!

We've started meat and that's pretty good fun. So far he's had mince beef, pork and lamb and has liked it all. Last night I cooked meatballs in a mediterranean sauce so I kept some mince, tinned tomato and pasta and made him his own little tupperware of "pasta bolognese". I might not need to cook his food long in advance and freeze it anymore: as long as I remember to keep some of what we're going to have, un-seasoned, no garlic, no sauce then I can prepare his meals at the same time as we prepare ours. 

Logan VS Dogs

And I was supposed to have more time to write when I was back full time during my lunch hour but it's the first time in 10 days that I actually get the chance!!

Today I am going to talk about Logan's first experience with dogs.

A couple of week-ends ago we took a short trip up North to visit Logan's Auntie Rona and her family in Aberdeen, and our good friends up near Turrif. Both families have dogs and to be honest I didn't think any of it before travelling.

Auntie Rona has a Cavalier King Charles called Baxter. He's a gorgeous wee dog and just came back from his holidays (while his mistress was away on her holidays, he was on his too!). When Logan clocked Baxter and vice versa, Logan was in absolute hysterics! He hadn't really seen a dog properly and this close before, and touching the fur was a totally new experience. It was hilarious to see how he reacted. We had him sat on our lap and Baxter was on the floor looking up at Logan, while Logan was grabbing his fur. I have to say Baxter was very patient!

Our friends up in Turriff (I don't like to give names much, but this is Paula who has the excellent blog about her village of doll's houses) have 3 dogs that they have rescued from various horrible situations. Sandy's a caramel Cocker and her first master died so she was a poor sad wee thing when they first got her. She's now full of beans and the oldest of the bunch. Then they got Fink who's a bichon frise (I think she's a cross cos she's not very much frise!!) she's quite young and pretty excitable. They got her as her previous family couldn't keep her. At last there's Snoopy who's a black Cocker who was maltreated by his previous owners. He's a bit of a naughty boy but adorable nonetheless. He managed to eat half the chocolates that Paula had bought for after dinner!!

3 dogs were a few too many for Logan. Too much movement, and he got really scared a few times by Fink's barking (she was just saying that there was someone outside the door every time). Like, REALLY SCARED. Big tears, huge cries, had to rush him to another room and give him a big long hug to calm him down. Poor Fink was just being a dog, and in a way it was a good thing for Logan as dogs bark so he'll have to get use to that sooner or later!

Unexpectedly, we had to stop in Aberdeen again on the way back (mummy had forgotten the big sterilising box so daddy had to drive halfway back to pick it up from Paula's OH), which gave Logan another experience with Baxter. This completely reconciled him with dogs as he absolutely ADORED being licked by Baxter, who wasn't going to be asked twice!! Big grins and laughter, it was so cute!

On the developing side of things, he can now sit without being held (I do put pillows around him!) and loves standing up with his 2 hands on something for support. And he has his first tooth!!

6 months already...

Yes indeed, Logan was born just over 6 months ago. It's unbelievable how quick it's gone. And it gets better and better as the interactions between him and us get more interesting.

So I'm now back at work full time. I've arranged to work longer hours so that I can take my wednesday afternoon every week and spend some time with Logan. Who is going to nursery 3.5 days for the next 3 weeks as his grand parents are on holidays. Today is his second full day.

Typically his dad drops him off around 9.30 am and I pick him up after work around 5.45 pm. Yesterday was his first full day and apparently he did great. The girl in charge of his "section" said the other baby whose first day it was too cried all day, but Logan had a ball. Not sure how I feel about this: he shouldn't be happy when I'm not with him!! However, this makes it easier to go to work as I know he's not going to be miserable. When I get up in the morning I have to prepare his food for the whole day, and MY lunch as well.

He was SOOO happy when he saw me last night! Big smiles and all that! And then we got home and he saw his Dad and his familiar environement and did a wee jig! Honestly! He danced in my arms and gave huge grins to his dad! It was really cool. In 2 weeks' time he'll be so used to it he'll not react anymore...

His grand parents got him a baby walker for his 6 months "birthday". He loves it. It has a "DJ" bit at the front that plays music and animal sounds and has lights etc... it's great fun.

Second day at nursery today and again he was delighted to see me, but he was very tired and grumpy. He went to bed early and I felt cheated!! Ah well, tomorrow is Wednesday so I get to spend the whole afternoon with him!!