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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:

susanmt · 09/04/2002 14:43

You can make squash into a really nice soup with chickpeas, onions and either chicken or veg stock. My dd laps it up and doesn't know how good it is for her!!! You have to take all the seeds out first - this one is made with butternut squash - the yellow one shaped like a big teardrop (to be polite, my sister calls it willy soup!!!!)

Vikura · 12/04/2002 12:15

hi everyone,

I have a 7 month old boy. He has been refusing to take milk for a while now. I am giving cow & gate step 2 at the moment.. he was ok to start with but has suddenly gone of his milk. His solid intake is fine. Everyone says he should drink a pint of milk everyday but he doesnt take more than 100 ml in 24 hrs. To compensate this I try & put some milk in his food & give him yogurt.. but i dont think thats enough for him..It is really stressful and its driving me crazy... at this age you would think his feeding & sleeping would have settled!!!

Can anyone out there please give me some advice as to what could be the problem & what can I do to make sure he is getting all the right nutrients and what can i do to increase his milk intake?

Atea · 12/04/2002 21:13

Vikura, try not to panic he's fine, until I came accross this site I was a complete bag of nerves with our daughter Charlotte not having any milk at all for quite some time ,and like your son her food intake was also fine.She'd push the milk away after a suck or two and scream for juice and she'd have you up as many as 12 times a night. In the end I tried the net and found that I was one of many parents who where also having /had the same problem and for once I got some advice that was useful and tried and tested too.Don't worry as long as he's happy and gaining weight having yoghurts, dairy produce and adding formula in to his food he'll be getting his vitamins ,try ready made formula's? Cow'n'Gate follow on 3 is good.

Atea · 16/04/2002 21:18

Thanks susanmt for your soup Idea ,Ill give it a go charlie has a thing for tomato's at the mo ,she try most things as long as it's coverd in them .Breakfast is a bit of a challenge now .....you cant cover rusk in baby tomato sauce or can you??????

CathB · 17/04/2002 14:10

I am not sure whether this helps or not but after posting previously I remembered that my step brother did all this and it was never really resolved. He never drank milk after 6 months or so but seemed to survive happily enough with additional yoghurts, dairy produce etc. He is now a gangling 17 with body piercing.

Vikura · 18/04/2002 12:54

Atea, Thanks a lot for the encouragement. Actually after I wrote my previous message, I bought some new teats for his bottles & that seem to be doing the trick. Now he is taking atleast 150 ml - 3 times a day. I am keeping my fingers crossed though...

Yeah, these websites are very helpful.. & its always nice to speak to other parents & get some useful advice.

How old is Charlotte now? I hope the sleepless nights are over now... Mine still doesnt sleep throught the night. I suppose i just have to hope that he will get better. Anyway take care & thanks again.

Atea · 21/04/2002 11:48

No ,sorry Vikura Charlotte is still waking at least 3 times a night!and I'm pretty used to it now ,our other two ar'nt Ben age 12 (he's Autistic) and Eleanor age 10,It hopefully though it will help her understand that babies are not always cute, cuddly and realy 'fab' to have when she hits teen age and that in reality they are hard work and your time no longer realy exists outside the three P's Puke,Poo and Practicaly nakerd! ha ha ha .I'm glad yor little one is having his milk now and things are settling down .Now it's time for me to loose at least 2 of my bums! ho ho ho

puipui · 08/06/2002 21:31

Can anyone help me? My daughter has just turned 3 months I fed her on formula SMA two weeks after her birth. She was feeding fine until the last two weeks I have found that she has been totally dis-interested in milk feeds. She is only taking 15 oz a day and her weight now is 12 and half pounds, I mean she should be taking 30 oz. But she has still gained weight steadily.
She drinks 3 oz pushes away and starts screaming if I feed her more, I have tried buying different teat sizes, giving her the carton SMA read books but there is no answer to my problem. Please Help Me I am really worried.
I mean she seems contented and sleeps through the night but why the sudden change of not wanting to drink milk?

threeangels · 09/06/2002 22:54

Puipui, Have you tried any other formulas. Maybe a different taste would help. I had started my 19 mo ds on a coouple different ones and then ended up on Similac. He loved it.

ls012a5440 · 10/06/2002 22:47

I have a six week old son who dont stop drinking his milk he is on cow and gate every two hours he wants feeding i have tried giving him water but that has not worked he drinks between five and six ozs in the day and night he is always full of wind as well last week i changed his milk to cow and gate plus but he is the same and he is constipated can any one advise me what to do someone told me to change his food to aptamil.

ionesmum · 10/06/2002 23:22

Is012a5440, I have been having similar problems with my dd. We did find that Sma Gold stopped her constipation but not her wind. We have also had some improvement from switching to cow and gate omneo-comfort one which basically helps baby to fart, and from adding Colief drops to her bottle. You could also try experimenting with teats and bottles- our dd has been on a three-month teat since 2 weeks. Our dd is nearly 4 months now and still has a bad wind problem, we are going to try her on a hypoallergenic milk but that should only be done with medical supervision apparently. With regards frequent feeding, as your dd is quite young he might just need the extra calories, or be having a growth spurt. On our hv's advice we did put our dd on a strict three-hour feed schedule for 2 days which broke the feeding-all-the-time scenario, so you could ask your hv if that would be suitable for your ds. There is a lot of advice that other mums have given to me on the "Trapped Wind in 3-month Old" thread which you might find helpful.

Puipui, have you spoken to your g.p. or hv? Perhaps your dd has a reflux problem? I would definitely see your doctor or hv for advice and reassurance, although as she is gaining weight and is otherwise happy there can't be anything seriously wrong.

puipui · 11/06/2002 01:58

three angels : I thought you weren't supposed to keep chopping and changing milk formulas, I mean is it recommended? I mean some people have told me aptimil is one of the better ones to try, but I am thinking should I just stick to SMA Gold until she turns six months?

mears · 11/06/2002 09:33

puipui.

At 3 months of age chaging milk is not going to be the solution and may upset your baby. Have you started solids by any chance? If you have, that might be a reason your baby does not want her milk. If so, I would stop them because milk is more important than solids. If you haven't then if she is well in every other way I would not worry too much about it. She will make up for it soon by wanting to be fed more often.

threeangels · 11/06/2002 12:53

Puipui, I probally should of said why i personally had to change formulas so much. my child had a very bad gas problem which the doctor confirmed. I guess it runs in our family. When i did start my kids on solids like cereal they too did not want bottles too much either. I would go real easy on the solids. Like mears said the milk is really more important for the nutrients they need. I can only say keep trying it may eventually pick up again. I think this is normal.

Bozza · 11/06/2002 22:14

Puipui - are you sure that it is the taste that she dislikes? I did wonder if she might possibly be teethin early and in discomfort. DS got his first tooth at 4 months but had been troubled by it earlier. Just an idea....

puipui · 14/06/2002 00:57

Thanks Bozza, ThreeAngels and Mears for all the advice. Actually it is strange you know after 4 days of HV advice to wean I stopped as I was feeling uncomfortable with weaning too early, however she for some reason is taking her milk now. I really don't know what is wrong with her for 12lb10 baby to be taking 26-28 oz a day is that OK? Is it enough? Well at least it;s better than 15oz a day right?

aloha · 14/06/2002 09:33

Puipui - what on earth is your health visitor doing to tell you to wean at 3months?? It is definitely too early. You don't have to give solids until 4months at the very earliest and ideally six months. I despair of HVs sometimes. I didn't give solids to my son until almost four months but could - and wished I had - waited until at least a month later. Sometimes I'm so glad my HV went on holiday when ds was a few weeks old and never came back!!!

threeangels · 14/06/2002 15:55

Puipui, it may be enough milk Maybe around 32 ounces ideal. Not sure of the recommended amount. When my kids were infants I gave as much as they wanted to me the more the better. As long as they werent getting overweight. There so many good vitamins in formula.

Watshire · 21/06/2003 13:53

Thank God we're not alone. Our 6.5 month old refused the breast 2 weeks ago so I started bottle feeding. He was taking 24-26oz a day until a few days ago. Now he won't have any at all! We were beginning to think we were the only ones so it's nice to know we're not alone.

He's eating well generally and will have cheese/yoghurt etc. However he has started waking up in the night, having slept through for months and we're having to feed him porridge at 4.30am.

We're trying different formulas so maybe one will work.

tiktok · 21/06/2003 14:11

Watshire - have you thought about trying your baby on the breast again? 2 weeks isn't so long....he may well decide to take the breast agan and you will almost certainly still have milk.

Watshire · 25/06/2003 13:11

I have tried that too - he just bit me! Also tried, different formulas, different cups, expressed milk. After 4 days without drinking any milk, yesterday he had 2oz a couple of times, so there's still some hope.

Watshire · 13/07/2003 20:50

I'm pleased to report that milk is back on the menu now and in large quantities. He has been ill in the meantime - I don't think that's why he's back on it, but who knows. How he can be so wilful at 7 months I don't know. But anyway, anyone else with the same problem, give it time, it maybe a phase.

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