My almost 9 month old baby boy

[Father2024]

Hi all, I’m a first time father and have a little baby boy who is almost 9 months. There’s been a number of problems we’ve come across which we’re not sure how to work around. We’ve been to the doctors and health visitors but no one has given us a satisfactory answer. The usual, as long as he doesn’t show signs of dehydration, you’re good. Really quite stressful to say the least. He was all good until about 4.5 months old, where he started developing teething symptoms. Since that point, he has completely been disinterested in milk. He’s always been a formula baby but he seems to have lost his ability to suck the teat. We’ve changed his bottle/teat multiple times, tried a cup/glass instead, changed his milk, tried multiple different solids, he simply has no appetite. All he wants to do is bite, and he has a weird habit of pulling and trying to eat hair (kinda more like flossing his teeth with it). He’s now almost 9 months and nothing has changed. His first 2 teeth came out at 6 months and we’re still waiting for the rest as he continues to teeth. He’s very frustrated every day, always mmming and owwing. He screeches at times, maybe just finding his voice idk. I’m not sure if it’s signs of autism either. He does say baba and mama but sometimes his pitch changes, not sure if that means anything. He doesn’t really have flappy hands and feet but he does rotates his hands and feet when frustrated, which is almost all the time. He’s currently trying to crawl.. well has been for at least a month but to no avail. I’ve got him in the bad habit of wanting to walk now so I’m always helping him with assisted walks (it kills my back!!) but he gets very happy doing it, bless him. Please, can the good people of the internet provide some insight/similar experiences? Anything I haven’t tried? I just want the best life for my child, like any sane parent so I want to be prepared for everything. Thank you!

Ok so there's a few things going on there.

He's 8 months but almost 9, is that right?

Can I ask which formula he's on and how much he has in 24 hours?

And how many times is he offered solids in a day?

The rest, the noises, the trying to crawl, wanting to stand and the moving hands and feet all sound very normal

Firstly, thank you so much for responding.

That’s right, he’ll be 9 months by the end of Jan.

He’s currently on Kendamil Stage 2 milk. He was originally on Cow & Gate until about 5.5 months. He currently has between 20-24 ounces a day. This is us having to distract him with the TV and it taking a good 45 minutes to an hour to finish.

He’s offered solids 2-3 times a day. Different textures but usually has baby cereal (Kendamil Cauliflower, Broccoli and Tomato Bake) because he keeps throwing up anything else we give him and then he won’t even take milk at all after he vomits for a day or two. Even with cereal though have a few spoons and that’s enough for him.

Okay, good to know that’s all fairly normal for a baby. I just stress because he’s always frustrated but do my best to keep him happy.

Thanks so much for replying. Have you seen any change since moving to Kendamil? Are things better or worse?

He improved for a small period of time, maybe a month, but then it’s been up and down since then. I guess because he’s teething? He’d rather bite something, like the teat, than drink the milk. He’ll only drink with the tv on now as well.. a bad habit !

Oh that brings back memories...
My DD1 stopped drinking milk at 5 months. Would NOT. We tried every bottle, every teat (she was even hospitalised for a few days while they checked to see if there was a medical issue) She never accepted milk again. She had to wean early and the only liquid she would drink was baby granules (fennel) Then Milupa stopped making them and we literally trawled every Boots to find them.
We gave her calcium in whatever form she would accept.

She developed typically but had a LOT of sensory aversions to food textures. Still has. Ate a very limited diet ..still does. However... she's a healthy adult, and is now a doctor so the lack of milk didn't affect her cognitive development (a GP) . Still won't touch milk!

I hope that reassures you a tiny bit! She is on the autistic spectrum, and was a very quirky child but an amazing adult!

@Father2024 if you've seen some improvements with Kendamil, could you try swapping to Kendamil Comfort? It might be a bit easier for them to digest as the proteins are broken down a little by the hydrolysation process.

Thank you for your response! Yeah, I feel like it’s the same with him. He’s just not interested in milk and only slightly interested in foods when we eat them. But then again, he’ll have a few baby bites and it’s enough for him. Touchwood, we’ve never had to go to the hospital even though we think he’s not getting enough. Nevertheless, I’m glad it’s not really impacted your daughter’s life. Hopefully my son’s the same. My main concern is his cognitive development. I just want him to be healthy.

This is the next thing I’ve been thinking about but he’s 9 months now, and I don’t think we plan on continuing the formula for much longer but this is still in consideration. The stresses of being a parent!

If you're thinking of stopping formula as well as making sure he has enough calcium you also need to make sure he has enough fat and protein.

Boys can have oily fish up to 3 times a week (2 for girls) so I'd try and incorporate that into his diet and you can add things like mascarpone or olive oil to some of his foods before he eats them

Thank you so much for the information. I really will look to incorporate fish in his diet!