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Infant feeding

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

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Original poster

9mo DS doesn't like the taste of formula. What can I do?

18 replies

HolidaysQueen · 13/01/2009 19:52

Trying to wean my 9mo DS and it is going really badly and I'm getting desperate. He was mix fed for a long time with Aptamil stage 1 so in theory should be happy with it, but after a month of not having any formula after dropping his night feed, and having become a much more assertive little boy in that month, he is now refusing it.

He will happily drink other things from a cup, so he tries it when I offer formula but once he realises it is formula he will push it away and is very forceful. No crying or histrionics, just a firm push and turn of the head.

I have tried offering him alternate spoons of yoghurt then formula to see if he will take it and hence know if it's some sort of cup issue, but he refuses the formula each time yet happily has the yoghurt. I tried him with a little bit of cows milk today just to see if he would drink that, and he was happy drinking that. Basically it is very clear that he hates the taste of formula! I've only tried Aptamil 1 as I'm assuming that they all taste similar. I've tried warm milk and cold milk and room temp, but no difference in his reaction.

I have tried expressing for the last 3 days as I was hoping that I could give him expressed milk and then gradually mix that with formula until he was fully on formula, but in 3 attempts yesterday I got no more than a tsp of milk in total I've always had difficulty expressing and it clearly hasn't improved so isn't an option for trying to wean him onto formula.

He hasn't had a breastfeed at that feed (3pm) since Friday. Instead I give him a yoghurt to get milk into him, and i try with formula but am getting nowhere. Should I stop the yoghurt? I really don't want to try starving him into submission though

Please help. I really really want to stop breastfeeding now as I've never really enjoyed it and couldn't deal with return to work and keeping breastfeeding going.

OP posts:

TaurielTest · 13/01/2009 19:57

Maybe buy a 200ml carton of Aptamil 2 and a couple of cartons of other brands, just in case they do taste/smell a bit different to each other and he's just taken against the Aptamil 1? I think Aptamil smells a bit fishier than Cow & Gate, though I know they're both Milupa. Would be nice and simple if that was all it took...

thisisyesterday · 13/01/2009 19:58

try giving it in a bottle?
or a different formula?

thisisyesterday · 13/01/2009 19:59

bear in mind the reason babies love breastfeeding is the closeness and comfort, not just the milk.
so trying to replicate that may help. he may just not like having to have his food from a cup. iyswim?

hazeyjane · 13/01/2009 20:03

Having tasted Cow and Gate, Aptamil and Hipp Organic, i can definately say that formula's do taste different. Aptamil is quite metallic, Hipp Organic was quite sweet and creamy (I thought it was the nicest) and Cow and Gate tasted like sick (imho), so maybe give some different formulas a go.

Original poster

HolidaysQueen · 13/01/2009 20:14

i'm def trying to replicate bf - cuddles before and after, and have him sat cuddled close on my lap rather than in chair or on floor.

he's completely refused bottle. will at least put sippy cup to his mouth, and yesterday even had a swig before realising what it was and spitting it out!

i didn't realise they could taste so different - will give a couple of others a go. i guess powder tastes different to ready made as well right? have tried ready made aptamil 1 as well as powder, but not the others.

thanks ladies

OP posts:

gagarin · 13/01/2009 20:20

My dds never drank a drop of milk other than breast milk - many years ago now though.

They just had lots of dairy in their diet - in mashed potato/mac cheese/white sauce/yoghurts (by the bucket load!).

Maybe he's sort of saying "I'm too grown up to drink much milk now"?

Try adding it to his food and don't fret about him not drinking it.

thisisyesterday · 13/01/2009 20:23

gagarin this baby is only 9 months though. he shouldn't be having cows milk as a main drink/source of nutrition.

formula or breastmilk should be a baby's main source of nutrition until they are a year old

gagarin · 13/01/2009 21:24

"should be" - but IMO formula in food/cereal/custards (yuk!) plus a breast feed or two at the most in the evening would prob be ok to tide this baby over esp if breast feeding is becoming a negative experience.

(Unless of course there is any underlying issue with his nutrition)

galen · 13/01/2009 21:43

I would def try a different formula. My Ds ( also 9 months) has been going through the same thing. I have also recently stopped breastfeeding. I did eventually pursuade him to take a bottle, but could only ever get him to take a couple of ounces - and that was even a struggle. Then at the weekend in desperation I went and bought a diff formual - (cow and gate 1st) and he is drinking his bottles MUCH better. I also thought that they would all taste the same - but it seems not!
Also Ds always drinks best in our rocking chair in the bedroom where it is nice and quiet and snuggly!

Dragonhart · 13/01/2009 21:47

I second the formalas being different. With ds1, I tried about 4 before I found one that he like. I wanted him to have aptimel but he ended up on sma. Try the cartons as someone suggested as I ended up with loads of big cartons of powder and no idea what to do with them!

I found the opposite re the feeding position. I turned them away from me so his back was against my tummy. Then he knew it was a different thing then gave loads of cuddles in the day.

They are all so different though arent they! dd2 would drink any formula but wanted a softer spout to drink from, even though she would drink water out of a tommee tippee cup. SO I used the white soft spouts for avent cups. Hope you have some joy!

thisisyesterday · 13/01/2009 21:47

but the OP is giving up breastfeeding. he hasn't had one since friday.

MERLYPUSS · 13/01/2009 22:28

Hipp does taste nicer than Aptamil. It tastes a bit like coffee whitener - creamier. You can buy the ready made in a screw top bottle which is even thicker than the powdered stuff. My DTS preferred it to Aptamil. HTH.

Habbibu · 13/01/2009 22:30

Yes, change formula. Aptamil smells like rotten cabbage. I gave dd the odd drink of formula during the day from about 10 mo - she wouldn't touch Aptamil, but was ok with SMA Gold.

Original poster

HolidaysQueen · 13/01/2009 22:57

Sorry if i didn't make it clear - i've not gone cold turkey: DS does have his morning and evening breastfeeds, just not his afternoon one. i don't want to drop morning and evening until i know he will take formula, whereas at least i feel the afternoon one might go naturally sometime in the next few months anyway and also can get yoghurt or something in him for now. but of course until i know he can take formula i can't really wind down the evening and morning feeds.

thanks for all the advice. i'm going to go out and buy a few other formulas (all my friends who ff use aptamil so can't even steal any powder from others!) and hopefully he'll like one of them! i may try a different cup as well in case he has issues with milk in a tommee tippee - keeping separate colours for milk and water but maybe he wants something completely different.

OP posts:

hazeyjane · 14/01/2009 08:19

Dd's hated drinking milk out of the tommee tippee sippy cup with the flip up spout. But love drinking it out of the Tommee Tippee cup with the easy flow spout, i guess because it is more of a sucking action, they are easier to clean than the ones with the flip up lids too.

NotQuiteCockney · 14/01/2009 08:24

At his age, he could be fine with just morning and evening feeds, if he likes his solids (and will take water). If you could drag it out like that, until he is 12 months (or 11, whatever) and can move to cow's milk, maybe that would be easier?

Original poster

HolidaysQueen · 14/01/2009 10:26

Hi NQC - I had thought of that, as he is BLW and in the last month or so has started to eat huge quantities of solids. He is always demand fed for that feed and invariably it has been 4pm or later before he has demanded it so he could probably last until tea with a snack mid-afternoon. I'm offering formula at 3pm at the moment so he isn't starving hungry, and I'm giving him a yoghurt (90g, so I guess roughly equivalent to 90ml/3oz milk) then as well while he doesn't take the milk which lasts him until tea.

So I'm not really concerned about him not taking that feed per se, but I want to try and get him to take something then so I know I could drop the other feeds. My main concern is that I go back to work when he is a bit over 11mo, and obv I either need to stop bf a bit in advance of him going to childcare or keep going until he is well settled - even if I could switch to cows milk around then, I couldn't/wouldn't do it while he is settling into childcare. Not sure I can keep going that long, but if I end up having to then I guess I can survive

OP posts:

Original poster

HolidaysQueen · 17/01/2009 09:50

Just wanted to give an update. I switched to Hipp and he will take a sip or two at least before refusing any more so that is one step better than Aptamil which he just flat out refused (probably on smell). We will just persist for a while longer and see where we get to. Thanks for all your advice

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