8 month old not drinking milk as normal

[SRH]

Our 8.5 month old hasn’t been interested in milk for the last two weeks, he takes maybe half the recommended daily oz. At first I thought it was a tooth coming through and his top two teeth have indeed appeared but I didn’t think his aversion to milk/the bottle would last for over two weeks. Has anyone else experienced similar around this age? Should we see the GP urgently? He takes some food but doesn’t seem as hungry as he was prior to this episode and not interested in trying new things, likes to stick with his porridge and maybe mashed banana. x

So is he having 10floz a day?

Yes maybe around 10-14 oz a day

Oh ok. I was just checking as some MNers have a bit of a warped idea of what the recommended amount is

Does his appetite improve if you try some pain relief? How about if he’s done a lot of physical activity like swimming? And do you think there’s a chance of bottle aversion, tongue tie or CMPA?

Have you spoken to your HV or tried a comfort type of formula?

It must be worrying

I think the NHS recommendation is 20+ something oz. 😕 He’s not taking anywhere near that at the moment although his wet and dry nappies seem normal.
We did use calpol last week but don’t recall this making much of a difference. Will phone the health visitor tomorrow. Thanks for your help x

No you’re bang on with what you think he should be having. It does dip at 10 months to 15 Floz.

I’d speak to the HV, that sounds good. I’d also consider a comfort formula and reading Your Baby’s Bottle Feeding Aversion by Rowena Bennett.

I hope the HV is helpful. Let us know how you get on

Ideally he'd be having 17-20oz a day at this point though it drops to about 12oz by a year.
I don't think it's a huge issue though, but you should give him a vitamin drop.

If he's only drinking 10oz can you get a few more oz in through food? You can easily use 3-4oz in weetabix for breakfast for example, and stir a couple of oz into pasta or rice.

Is he eating solids and drinking water?
Maybe he is simply feeling too full. You could try giving formula in a cup with his meals or mixing it in to porridge/cereal

Is he dropping through the centiles? Might he prefer a sippy cup? Is he sleeping? For your peace of mind, get him checked over by a Dr - I'm always mindful of ears.

If all well, 10-14oz is probably fine. Might he have yoghurt for pudding?

Yes we have started mixing his porridge with milk and not water and he loves a petit filous x

Do you mean an ear infection? What would the signs be of that? He hasn’t got a temperature and seems himself most of the time. I’m a FTM and feel useless most of the time, I don’t have a lot of confidence in myself and I just want him to be well and OK

Ear infections can be difficult to spot. I can remember getting really frustrated with my DS not listening. Eventually I asked him if his ears hurt and he said one had been hurting all week. Turned out he had an ear infection and couldn’t hear me properly.

If you do go to the GP, ask them to check his ears, throat and tummy as those 3 can affect feeding

OK brilliant thank you. I’m going to phone the health visitor this morning and then the GP if they think it’s necessary. Thank you so much xx

@SRH please get him checked by a doctor before you seek advice from an HV. HV's advise about well babies.

I spoke with health visitor who said this isn’t uncommon and try to get milk into him in other ways I.e. through his food. She said if he doesn’t have a temperature etc it’s unlikely the GP will do anything or offer tests because baby seems OK in himself

Odd advice there. The GP can still check his ears and throat.

@SRH if I were concerned about my child, I'd get them checked out by a doctor before referring to an HV, a nurse, for advice about feeding.

Did the HV check your baby's weight was consistent with their centile?