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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Original poster

So how bad a mother am I to put strawberry crusha in 8mo DD's formula?

86 replies

becklespeckle · 20/09/2008 13:29

I really need some advice so please read before you flame me!

DD will not take formula.

I introduced a bottle to her at 6 months and she was happy with it for a few weeks but at 7 months decided she didn't like it anymore. I have tried various cups/beakers/bottles but with no luck.

The main problem for me is that I go back to work on Monday and although I am happy to BF in the daytime I would like her to take milk in the evening for DH while I am at work. I have never been able to express so that is not an option for me. I am also thinking that if she would happily take formula I would stop BFing entirely - TBH on only 2-3 feeds a day my supply is really struggling so not sure it will survive me returning to work anyway.

The other night DH offered her the milk in the same beaker she drinks her water from (tommee tippee tip it up one) and she eagerly reached for it only to push it away when it got within sniffing distance. We have tested this with other cups since putting water in one and milk in the other - she knows the smell of the milk and won't touch it (clever girl!)

So last night, in a fit of desparation, I put a bit of Crusha in and she drank the lot.

Is it feasible to do this and just put a bit less in each time until she has just formula? Or would I be doing untold damage?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

OP posts:
Original poster
becklespeckle · 20/09/2008 14:19

am not happy with the idea of cows milk just yet either colditz although DH thinks I should try it ("you read too much, it can't be that bad for her...")

OP posts:
Original poster
becklespeckle · 20/09/2008 14:23

I think DH doesn't read enough!

OP posts:
SmugColditz · 20/09/2008 14:29

I do think if you put a drip of sugar in you will be able to reduce it gradually. All formula contains glucose, as does breast milk.

Kbear · 20/09/2008 14:32

Thing is she will get a sweet tooth and just as you're weaning it's not going to make that very easy, ie she will only want sweet tastes not veg or savoury and you might be causing problems for yourself and her long term.

Why not up your day time breast feeds and cut out the evening feeds - this will become easier once she is established on solids.

I would persevere with the bottle of formula rather than the cup - she can't smell it so much for a start.

I'm not flaming you but crusha is a no no I would say!

Original poster
becklespeckle · 20/09/2008 14:39

do you think the sugar would make it smell better for her?

OP posts:
Original poster
becklespeckle · 20/09/2008 14:40

she is very well established on solids KBear and not at all picky about what she eats at the moment (although she will not eat jar food)

OP posts:
Kbear · 20/09/2008 14:42

even better and easier to drop a milk feed then! Maybe yoghurt instead of a milk feed?

Original poster
becklespeckle · 20/09/2008 14:55

Will she be okay on just 2 milk feeds a day now? she does have yogurt and cheese most days. Her 11 o clock one is more of a drink than a feed TBH

OP posts:
lardybump · 20/09/2008 14:55

My dd does not like formula milk either. She used to eat 3 yoghurts and cheese every day. But now we found the smoothy maker!!!

We blended banana or strawberry or blueberrys with the milk and give to her in a advent beaker but remove the plastic bit as there are some pips. She also still eats lots of veg and has a mixed diet so at this time we were not worried about it...

When she turned one we switched to cows milk and she will drink that as long as it is ice cold from the fridge so the problem is resolved. She only has two beakers a day though one in the morning and one at night, during the day she will only drink water..

Caz10 · 20/09/2008 15:25

the formula/fruit smoothie sounds a good idea!!

NoblesseOblige · 20/09/2008 15:40

its expensive but there is a squash (a NICE ORGANIC) squash that you can use in milk as well as water, think it is by company called green bottle or something? they make posh elderflower presse as well.

or rock blackcurrant squash, that is organic and nice as well and might also work?

gabygirl · 20/09/2008 16:12

I would not regularly give a child of this age a sweetened drink in a bottle. Not unless you want to reduce her teeth to rotten stumps.

Can you not bf her in the morning and two or three times after work? If you can do this and she is eating a good weaning diet then I don't think it matters one jot whether she has formula in the day while you're away.

MrsThierryHenry · 20/09/2008 16:16

You'll most likely find that as you continue weaning she'll show a strong preference for sugary foods...it'll do your head in. Crusha = short term gain - is it really worth it?

You have my full sympathy on the formula thing; my DS never, ever took a bottle. I was lucky to be able to stay off work until he was fully weaned. Best of luck to you, m'dear.

NoblesseOblige · 20/09/2008 16:18

by the way, in case i am judged for offering advice (mn, judge? never!) can i just add that i don't condone this, but can understand a means to an end, so to speak.

chipmonkey · 20/09/2008 16:51

MrsPicles just saw your post and had to say if your dd is under 12 months honey carries a risk of infant botulism. Over 12 months it's fine.

Original poster
becklespeckle · 20/09/2008 17:09

Thanks for the advice everyone!

I like the formula smoothie idea, might speak to HV about that as she will happily drink from an open cup or a doidy cup!

OP posts:
jimjamshaslefttheyurt · 20/09/2008 17:21

I woulnd't give crusha because of the aspartame. Try natural fruit, or failing that some of the plainest chocolate powder you can get away with. Then try reducing it until you're back on milk.

If you have to stick with the added extras just get her off a bottle and using a cup asap- that should help the teeth.

lizzytee · 20/09/2008 17:39

becklepspeckle

are you trying dd with follow-on formula? The added iron (esp Aptamil) can give it a metallic taste. DD would not touch Aptamil follow-on but happily slurped from-birth when she occasionally had formula. Just a thought.

Also, it seems to me that many bf babies of my acquaintance don't drink anything like the amount of milk that formula packets or HVs say they 'should' once they are weaned. If she is only eating home cooked food then she will have a low salt intake and may not be that thirsty.

ElfOnTheTopShelf · 20/09/2008 17:50

I have no advice (I was quite lucky as was able to maintain a supply through expressing while I was at work for DD to drink) but will back up the teeth thing.
Back in the early 80's I used to drink ribena in a bottle, it damaged the hell out of my "baby" teeth and the photos of me as a young child are terrible, all brown decayed teeth.
I have great teeth now but a lot of sugar, epsecially in bottles (I think it is to do with the length of contact on the teeth?) can really have a bad effect on teeth.

tiktok · 20/09/2008 18:16

What a faff and a fuss, sorry...I can understand you feel your dd needs milk when you are away, but for the sake of a few hours, she can have a drink of water and whatever solids she has. I don't understand the bottle of milk as essential item in the evening, though maybe I am missing something.

Obviously the Crusha idea is out, for the reasons explained, but putting other stuff in the bottle is not good either - cereal, fruit mashed up, sugar, whatever....not good to have solid food (eg cereal or fruit) in bottle form, as the baby glugs back more than she needs and this could overload the kidneys ( a small risk in an older baby, but it's one of the reasons why bottles should only contain milk or water).

Honestly, beckle, one option is just to leave dd with dh and a cup of water and a bit of solids...surely?

SquiffyHock · 20/09/2008 18:21

Have you tried Hipp Organi ready mixed? It is much sweeter tasting than other formulas.

TheNinkynork · 20/09/2008 18:33

Another vote for Hipp Growing Up Milk. My DS wouldn't touch anything other than BM for eleven months until we tried that

PeppermintPatty · 20/09/2008 18:50

My DD doesn't like formula or cows milk (to drink) either and never has. She sounds like your DD - one sniff and it would be rejected!
She also wouldn't drink expressed milk.

When I went back to work when DD was about 8 1/2 months she just had 3 BM feeds a day and this was fine. She drank water when I wasn't there.

I stopped BFing when she was 11 months and just made sure she had plenty of yoghurt / cheese, milky weetabix etc. She doesn't mind milk in food, just not to drink!

She is a bit of a fussy eater too but will always eat yoghurt. I often buy natural yoghurt so it isn't v sweet and mix it with fruit.

She doesns't drink any milk and hasn't done for months. I was very worried about this at first and probably worry too much about her diet even now.

But she seems to be doing ok.

HTH

mybabywakesupsinging · 21/09/2008 01:07

ds2 wouldn't take any liquid from a cup or bottle when I went back to work and he was only 10 months. I'm out the house 12 hours a day and sometimes 20 hours a day. He had 2 breastfeeds a day (still does) and had finger food, fruit/other puree, yoghurts etc in the daytime. If I wasn't in before he went to bed he had a bowl of porridge with fruit in, he loves it and that way he got his milk in the porridge. I too thought my milk supply might not be maintained on 2 feeds but it has been fine. So if you want to bf your lo you could feed in the daytime and give solids + water in the evening, as tiktok says.
You don't know how your lo will react when they realise you are really not available for bf the nights you work - they may surprise you by deciding the formula is OK after a few nights if your DH just offers formula or solids...
best of luck going back to work

gabygirl · 21/09/2008 10:31

Tiktok: I went back to work three days a week when my first was 5 and a half weeks old. She wouldn't have formula and I wasn't able to express much. I left the house at 7am, leaving my mum with two 4oz bottles of expressed milk at most (some days less). I'd be back at 3pm. My mum would give dd the milk and if she wanted more she'd have water. I bf her through the night, first thing in the morning and in the evening, and didn't wean until 16 weeks (as recommended 9 years ago). Despite being a big baby (9lbs 6oz at birth), she thrived on this regime and carried on putting on weight.

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