9mo drinking too much?

[Imnotbeverley]

Hi,

I breastfed my son until 3 weeks ago, he was a hardcore bottle refuser but now it fully on bottles of formula. I'm a bit concerned that he is drink huge quantities (I know, I know- I worried he wasn't drinking enough and now I'm worried it's too much). The guideline amounts for his age are 3 x 7oz bottles in a 24hr period, he is having 7 or 8 bottles of 7oz. Until recently I was breastfeeding on demand and I formula feed on demand now, but previously I wouldn't have known how much volume he was actually getting.

Does this sound like a ludicrous amount? Growth spurt maybe? Any thoughts appreciated

[lisaloulou84]

This does seem like a lot. My 6.5 month old was formula fed from beginning due to complications at birth and he took 5 7oz bottles from about a month old until we started weaning him 6 weeks ago and he's slowly reduced to 4, two of which are 3 or 4 ounces between meals and a 7oz in the morning and at bedtime.
So I'd expect him to be on a similar amount at 10 months.

Is he getting big enough meals? In theory he shouldn't be hungry for milk if he's satisfied by his meals.

[Imnotbeverley]

He is generally pretty good with food. He won't be fed anything with a spoon, so we have sort of ended up doing BLW. I can't be that sure of the quantities he eats (lots on the floor), but he seems to have a fair bit. I don't really know how I could get him to eat any more food but I agree with your suggestion!

[Imnotbeverley]

Also, he wakes up at night still and we feed him then. Maybe I need to take the plunge and night wean him?

[lisaloulou84]

I'm doing the tradition purée thing so I guess I can see how much he's getting. He's eating the equivalent of a small jar of the shop bought food plus a bit of fruit or yoghurt after each meal. He wakes in the night but I don't feed him unless he hasn't had his usual amount during the day, sometimes he starts to fall asleep after a couple of ounces if his last nap wasn't as good. But never a full bottle, usually only a couple of ounces.
I'd slowly drop the amount you feed him at night and maybe try and get him to suck 'meals' from something other than a spoon, toast fingers? Then you know he's getting a bit more. Is he a bigger baby though? My DS is between the 50th and 75th so if he's above that he still might a need a bit more milk.

[Imnotbeverley]

Thanks for the suggestions, it's helpful.

He's not particularly big, or small. I haven't had him weighed for a while but he was always on the 25th centile.

Last night he went through 4 bottles between 7pm and 7am, this time last week he wasn't waking until 2am for his one feed a night. I don't want to leave him hungry, but it does feel like he's got things the wrong way round and maybe I need to have a hard couple of nights to get him the correct way round

[hollie84]

I'd try smaller bottles. I think babies have a tendency to just drain whatever is offered because they can drink it so quickly.

[NorahBone]

May be a stupid question, but could he be thirsty? Is he drinking water with meals?

[Imnotbeverley]

Not a stupid question, but yeah, I offer lots if water with meals and also when he wakes from naps.

Re trying smaller bottles, we have just gone up to 7oz after having to make up second bottles for him when he would finish 6oz and still seemingly be hungry.

Babies, so hard to figure out!

[LST]

My 7mo has 4 9oz bottles a day. I can't get him to eat much either. I am persevering with a spoon as blw is imo a pita all the time. For the occasional meal it's fine but I just find it such a waste of food. He up until about 2 weeks ago refused a spoon point blank but after giving him nice things like banana and yoghurt he is finally starting to open his mouth for a bit of homemade mushy stuff.