Stealth-feeding formula?? 9mo won't drink

[flisspot]

Hi all

So, I have a generally very well behaved DD, in that she'll drink her bottles, sleep well etc. Last week has been a nightmare as she's had a cold, and for last 3 days is hardly taking 8/9oz all day!! Just cries when I get a bottle. Assume she's teething as well (first top teeth) She's still eating fine but just refusing milk. So I've made her porridge with formula milk this morning which she demolished - any suggestions what else I can sneak a good quantity in to for lunch /supper today?? Any sneaky mums out there had this before? Thanks in advance

Should mention - she is having ibuprofen and teething gel but doesn't help with bottles. Have tried them warm, room temp and straight from fridge as well...

Have you tried from a cup?

Thanks for the reply. Yes, tried normal cup and sippy cup.

I wouldn't worry too much
Ds1 refused a bottle, I went back to work at 9 months so he went all day with no milk. He ate plenty of yogurts, cheese etc. He did still bf at night.

Thanks - just worry as all advice says they need approx 20oz formula per day until 1 year. First baby and I'm pretty clueless apart from internet advice

Look at it from a bf point of view, who know-how much they take?

As long as shes having wet nappies, and eating well I'm sure she'll be fine.

Mine's 11mo and did the same just recently (top two teeth coming through much later than all the other babies!)

She hardly took much milk, refused most food although would have rusks and those organix carrot stick things (I know), also yoghurt and fruit.

I was worried but I couldn't do anything about it. Two nights in a row, she even refused the bottle before bed which was highly unusual. But it passed and we are sort of back to normal.

It is worrying and there is no advice that I found about what the minimum fluid intake is. But as a PP said, check the nappies and if worried then seek help.

My 9 month old DD has been identical this week - she's also recovering from a cold, is teething, still eating solids but refusing bottles apart from her first one of the day.

Aside from porridge, I've also been sneaking her milk into mashed banana and also scrambled eggs.

Am hoping it won't last much longer as she's not taking much water either and I'm worried about her becoming dehydrated

Same here - have fed her ready made pouches of food and snuck some milk in there today, think we'll get to about 8oz if I'm lucky. Debating making cauliflower cheese for tea, made with formula...

Adding milk to the food is good. Also water - if you made pureed prunes/apricots/anything and add boiled water then that makes me feel better! We've gone back a stage in weaning as well. She won't touch the lumps. In fairness, I think if we all think about what toothache is like then you can understand why they go off their food and feel grumpy

fliss have you tried her with a straw? Sometimes the novelty is enough to get them to drink. At that age my DD would try sone milk from a doidy cup in the bath, again I think it was the novelty.

Are yiu offering solids roughly an hour after you offer the bottle and how many times a day is she having solids?

Personally, I wouldn't look at it from a Bfing point of view. A bf baby will take roughly 25 floz a day whether they feed twice or fifteen times so it's pretty clear how much they are having

Forgot to say. On the allergy boards I often see that people add either vanilla essence or nesquik to the allergy formula to make it more palatable. Perhaps that might be worth a try?

Has she been to the GP? Mine always refused bottles when they had a throat infection

My boy refused bottles at 9 months. My public health nurse was just so brilliant- she said he was not a calf and did not need cows milk! He had a good and varied diet and was drinking water from a cup proficiently at 10 months..he slept all night long! And no weaning him from bottles as a toddler...

Did yourvDD still eat solids with a theist infection not? It did cross my mind that this might be what's wrong with my DD as she did have a cold but she does seem otherwise OK in herself now.

Mine were never great eaters, but I think they did eat ok. They usually guzzled their milk bottles, the only time they would refuse was a throat infection.

If you do take her to the GP to get her checked over, I'd insist they check her ears as well as her throat. Painful ears can often put them off drinking from bottles

Another thing to try is making an ice lolly from her milk. Again you could add vanilla extract or nesquik for flavour or mix it with sone puréed fruit.

Thanks all. We're now at the point where she will not let a bottle of formula enter her mouth at all. Will drink water from any number of different cups, but put the formula in and it's a point blank refusal! I think she's just set herself against it - wish she hadn't inherited my bloody mindedness!! Ha ha. She's eating as normal so managing to get 2/3oz in her porridge, other than that it's any regular food and water only. Will call GP on tues as soon as they open to speak to them. Thanks for all your advice!

So we have seen our health visitor today - she says I need to get 1 pint of dairy in to her every day. Anybody got any great ideas? Feels like she will be having an awful lot of desserts and yoghurts!!

Really? Has she seen the GP and had her ears and throats checked? How much is she drinking from the cups?

Does she like cheese? You could make cheese sauce, sprinkle cheese on food or just give slices/grated cheese as finger food. Have you tried a little bit of cows milk? ( I know not recommended before 1 year but better than no milk at all)

And remember children from 6 months to 5 years should take a vitamin A, C and D supplement too especially if their formula intake has dropped

We saw the gp on Monday. She said it happens sometime so just try and get as much dairy as poss in to her for now and keep offering formula morning and night in the hope she'll start taking it again.
I'm going to give cheese as finger food with lunch, or cheese on toast etc. She's not a big fan of cheese sauce but will get it in where I can. Am off to research if I can use formula in smoothies or the like. If I can make them thick enough I can spoon feed...

I'm going to Asda tomorrow to find vitamins as my nearest supermarket didn't have any... and she's drinking approx 4 ounces of water through the day. Am giving her quite runny food and desserts to try and keep her fluid up. It's a real pain!!

Heinz do meals you can make that's like a powder you add boiled water to..I buy them for my little girl and make them with her milk because she's not very good at taking bottles anymore either..they do a cheesy pasta one, a broccoli and cauliflower one and some others. They're called Heinz dinners I think I get them from amazon but can but from supermarkets aswell my daughter loves them!