Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Food/recipes

For related content, visit our food content hub.

Flip

1 2

Original poster

Disliking formula milk

47 replies

Katyw · 12/03/2001 15:06

My 4 month old has been totally breast fed until last week when I started him on solids which has been very successful.

However he will not take a bottle of formula at all. I tried about 6 weeks ago and decided to leave it a few weeks and try again, but to no avail. I have tried half a dozen brands, getting my boyfriend to feed him, different times of day, different levels of hunger, but no luck. It's not the bottle as he has had expressed milk since 3 weeks, and also happily drinks water!

Has anyone got any advice as I don't want to be expressing all his feeds when i go back to work

OP posts:

Emmy · 12/03/2001 15:31

I had exactly the same problem when my eldest was 5 months. Eventually my husband sat with a succession of bottles and I sat there crying, for a whole evening, then he took one. Aptamil was the only one he would take. The only thing was he totally rejected me then, and I had a very uncomfortable couple of days till my milk dried up. There was no easy answer. Are you sure it wouldnt be easier to express? Once he is on full solids he won't need much milk during the day, if you dont want to give up feeding you would probably only need 1 feed. How old will he be when youreturn to work?

Marina · 12/03/2001 19:22

Have you tried Hipp Organic Follow On? It was the only formula our son would ever drink, and this was the same for another friend whose child was otherwise completely breast-fed. I used it to mix his rice, porridge, etc, as I found it wouldn't thicken with breast milk.
I think it is a little thinner and sweeter than most other brands of formula, thereby maybe making it taste more like the original...

Suew · 12/03/2001 23:38

This reply has been withdrawn

This has been withdrawn by MNHQ at OP's request.

Original poster

Katyw · 13/03/2001 12:03

thanks to everyone for their suggestions - Emmy, I'm not going back to work until June, so I'm not too worried yet. I suppose it's more a matter of convenience for me at the moment!!

Marina and Suew - I did try the Hipp Organic infant stuff first, and he did drink a bottle of that the first time I offered it, but has refused it since. I hope this doesn't mean he's going to be a fussy eater...

I'll give it a go with the follow on, and also try mixing with the expressed milk.

I'll report back!

OP posts:

Original poster

Katyw · 05/09/2001 10:15

Back at work now and have finally found a solution. He never took any of the conventional formulas (I had a cupboard full of them!) and I breastfed until about 3 weeks ago (he's now 10 months) until I discovered Nannygate goats milk, which is formulated for babies and is FANTASTIC. It's quite expensive but you can get it from www.goodnessdirect.co.uk and is currently 20% off. DS absolutely loves it. He doesn't seem to have a dairy allergy as will eat yoghurt, cheese very happily, just didn't like the taste of formula (don't blame him!)

OP posts:

Emmakate · 01/11/2001 18:24

My 9 month old daughter was breastfed up to 5 months and hardly fed from me then but since then has gradually been refusing her milk (and now water!!)from a bottle and cup (we started on Hipp, then Nanny Goat for 2 months, now Soya milk) and at the moment won't have any more than c.6 fl oz a day (and that is either dripped down her throat or fed whilst asleep) - Any advice/ tips on what to do as i now feel that i've tried everything and i've now given up on my health visitors who were hopeless.
I hope that someone out there has a suggestion that i haven't tried as i don't know what to do anymore.
Thanks

Pupuce · 01/11/2001 18:44

Emmakate... why are you worried ?
Is it that she isn't getting enough liquid ?
Is it that she isn't getting enough Calcium ?
Is it that you believe that she must have a bottle ?

Jj · 01/11/2001 21:04

Emmakate, if you're worried about her being dehydrated you might try adding water to her food where possible, giving her watery juice and seeing if she'll suck on ice lollies. Keep trying the bottle and cups-- this is just a phase, she'll grow out of it. Hopefully that won't take too long. Before anyone jumps all over me, I know the juice and ice lollies are not part of an ideal diet but they aren't forever and are much much preferable to having her on a IV drip. (Been there, done that and it's no fun.) Also, keep a record of what she eats and drinks. It sounds like you're doing that already, though.

Good luck. I know it's incredibly worrying.

Pupuce · 01/11/2001 21:11

I agree with the watery juice and ice lollies (Blue Parrot cafe has a very good organic apple lolly) - alternatively you can make your own, also soup (with no salt preferably!).
As for the calcium, just read the thread on Milk...
And I am sure it will pass as well.

Emmakate · 01/11/2001 22:26

thanks for your replies - i'm not concerned about her not drinking milk per se (as a family we don't have milk either - am well aware of the cows milk/calcium debate) but my daughter is currently not actively drinking any liquid or eating anything sloppy - she'll only eat hard things like carrot, apple and rice cakes and is refusing most things from a spoon-even sweet porridge and soya yoghurt which she usually loves- i'm feeding her really juicy fruit in fingers like pears and melon and getting up in the night to drip soya milk down her throat whilst she is asleep.I'll try the ice lollies though
Lets hope that this is just a phase (even if it is a bloody big one !!).
Thanks again

Pupuce · 01/11/2001 22:44

Some vegetables like celery are 90% water... I don't know if that counts as drinking water...

Robinw · 02/11/2001 03:22

message withdrawn

Atea · 05/04/2002 22:09

Our 7 month old daughter ,Charlotte is driving me potty! For a while now she has refused milk (since feb) we've tried all the brands of follow on and progress with no luck,as well as cows milk .My health visitor tells me that she has to have at least 3 8oz bottles of formula in 24 hours but we are lucky if she takes one every other day. She wakes up numerous times in the night to drink juice (we've tried swaping the juice for milk but she refuses it ).What can we do to make sure shes getting all the right nutrients and is there an alternative to formula and cows milk which we can try that will satisfy her,aiding her sleep, as she can wake up to 12 times a night? My health visitor has been as much use as a chocolate fire guard .

Pupuce · 05/04/2002 23:22

She doesn't have to have milk... you can give her yogourt twice a day for example.
The other thing is too wean her off juice... that's probably not a very good habit she has picked up anyway (what sort of juice is it?). Will she drink water ?
What does she do when she wakes up in the middle of the night ?
I am against control crying but 12x times in 1 night seems like she might need it.

Zoe · 06/04/2002 09:32

MY ds went through a very short phase of turning his nose up at milk (nothing like what you are going through though!) and one of the tactics we used was to give him Danone baby yoghurts made with follow on milk with his meals - I think that the advice is 20oz milk or dairy products each day!

It has passed with him and I hope it does for you as it is something that you could do without worrying about

susanmt · 06/04/2002 14:40

Mind you, can you blame her? Have you tasted formula milk? It is foul!

susanmt · 06/04/2002 14:43

If she is waking up and drinking a lot in the night, could it be a wet nappy waking her rather than hunger? My dd used to drink all night but when we only offered water she soon stopped waking up, partly I am sure cos it wasn't worth it for water, but I also noticed har nappy was a lot less 'full' in the morning, which must have been more comfy for her.

Enid · 06/04/2002 16:49

Stop giving the juice! Its bad for her emerging teeth and it won't help her to drink milk. If she won't take water, offer formula instead, we tried a few brands before settling on Aptimil. I doubt she'll starve herself but I think you are going to have to be strict here...

Enid · 06/04/2002 16:50

When my mum had SMA for my baby brother I used to eat it straight out of the can - it was delicious!! Mind you, I think they used to put loads of sugar in it then...

ChanelNo5 · 07/04/2002 00:37

Atea - Have you tried any of the readymade formula milks? I know that they are more expensive to buy in the long run (but less time consuming!) and all 3 of mine transferred well onto readymade Cow and Gate Step Up (purple carton) after I finished breastfeeding them at ages 7-8 mths. Hope you soon find a solution, but I agree with the others, persevere and you'll get there in the end.

carolined · 07/04/2002 10:53

My 6 month lod son is going through the same phase..totally refusing his milk, I think he drinks about 10 oz in a 24 hour period if i'm lucky. He loves solids though, do you think its ok if i start giving him yogurt and cheese at the moment to compensate for his lack of milk ?. He drinks water and very diluted juice so no too worried about dehyrdation, just the fact that milk is meant to be his number one food still.

Queenie · 07/04/2002 13:25

My sister's dd did exactly the same when she returned to work at 5 months. She wud refuse formula all day no matter who offered it. Basically peristence did pay off and eventually she took formula - aptimil I think. My sister just tried to get other dairy products into her such as baby yogurts, fromage frais and danone with fruit and to mix a little formula into pureed fruit. Another thing she tried was to add a little more water to the formula and gradually mix as per instructions on box as she thought perhaps the consistency compared to breast milk was off putting. I think it was a month before dd eventually accepted this how her milk was to be from - formula from a bottle.

Queenie · 07/04/2002 13:42

Carolined, sorry forgot to say re cheese that recipes with cheese sauces are available from 6 months such as cauliflower cheese and grated cheese in mashed potato and fromage frais, custards, wholemilk yogurts and dairy rice are all available for babys (must be full fat). My dd lived on mashed banana and fromage frais at 6 months.

CathB · 09/04/2002 12:50

dd did all this at 7 months when I was trying to get her ready to start nursery p/t, she would not take anything from a bottle or cup including expressed milk (I was still feeding morning and night). In the end the combination of an Avantis soft spout cup and cow and gate follow on milk (? the purple one) eventually worked. It was horrendous and I was completely distraught at leaving my "starving" dd at nursery. We used the ready made up milk as it was suggested by my MiL that formula could smell and feel a bit powdery. Once she would take it, she was fine with conventional formula. Good luck!

Atea · 09/04/2002 14:08

Thanks for all your advice ,Charlotte will now take Cow and Gate follow on 3 (the yellow one )ready made ....for now that is!.We did try her on water at night but she woke up just as much to drink the lot of that too!.Even though its been a relatively short time I have noticed she is sleeping better in between wake up's and for a little longer to.She loves yoghurts now also but won't have one with bits in. Does any one have any great recipies for me to try on Charlotte ,and just what DO you do with a squash?

Flip

1 2