Can't get 8 month old to drink more than 4oz of formula

[Cupcakemummy85]

I'm slowly weaning my 8 month old off of bf and now giving her 3 bottles of formula a day. First thing when she wakes, 2nd one after her afternoon nap and the 3rd when she goes to bed. The only time I bf her now is before her afternoon nap and in the middle of the night. She has three meals a day. Why is she only taking 4oz at a time? Can she survive in just that? I'm scared to give up bf all together just incase she can't survive on that amount of formula. I give her yogurt and cheese etc but I do worry it's not enough. My dd1 took 8oz three times a day until just before two. Does anyone have any suggestions? I did also post this In breast and bottle feeding but I thought I'd try hear too just to cover all angles as I'm truly worried and becoming a bit obsessive over the ounces

[ilovepowerhoop]

they need around 20oz between 6 months and 1 year so 3x4oz plus the 2 bf's plus any dairy in the yoghurt and cheese should give around the correct amount. Milk in cereal would also count towards the daily intake.

[Emmie10]

I have the same issue with my almost 7 month old. She will only take 3-4 oz each feed (switched from boob to bottle at 5.5 months) and has 4 feeds per day. I spoke to hv today as I am concerned she doesn't take enough milk and had heard the guidance of approx 1 pint a day as a minimum, which she has nowhere near. Apparently her 12-16 oz is fine alongside a balanced diet. Her weight gain is still good and has continued on her centile so I am going to relax about it now!

[noblegiraffe]

If they are having less than 20oz, you are supposed to give a vitamin supplement.

[BotBotticelli]

Yeah just to say, guidelines say babies should have 20oz of formula up to a year, but they're not going to die if they don't!!! My DS is living, thriving, crawling cruising proof of this! I think there's a bit of misunderstanding around this recommendation. Definitely aim for keeping their milk intake high cos it's full of lots of lovely fat, calcium and vitamins, but ultimately you cannot force feed your baby formula. Follow your baby's lead. Your baby may not have read the DoH's guidelines on this subject ;)

DS started dropping bottles from around 7months, down to just 2 bottles per day, 6oz each at 9mo. I have always tried to keep his intake of formula up but he is a very headstrong little man and he had his own ideas. And then one day he woke up at 10mo and just decided he didn't drink formula anymore. None. Nada. Zip.

I have tried giving it out of different cups, different temperatures, all to no avail. It's like he woke up one day and just decided he didn't like it any more. He eats 3 meals per day (and 2 snacks, like a toddler!) mostly self-feeding with fingers and a loaded spoon and is thriving. I give him vitamin drops once per day on advice of the HV to make up for the vits he's not getting in formula, and i make sure he has lots of calcium rich food: cows milk on cereal in the morning, yoghurt for pudding after lunch, lots of cheesy pasta sauces and butter on everything. Grated cheese on pretty much every meal. He is 75th centile for weight and has been since birth. This has not changed since he stopped drinking milk.

I wrung my hands about this in a fit of the guilts for a few weeks but have just decided to roll with it now. Ultimately, babies all grow into children eventually and stop having milk/bottles in the end. Some just obviously do it sooner.

Please don't feel like you are somehow failing your baby if you're not 'getting the right amount of milk into her'.

It's not very likely that all babies will have the same apetite for the same amount of milk as they start to enjoy food, is it? HTH.

rant over!! sorry feel quite strongly about this, having sent myself slightly loopy worrying about DS's milk intake over the last few months!