still hard to feed after a year..

One of my twins has never liked her bottles. It is finally getting so frusterating to feed her.. and i know she is just baby but she fights the bottles so much.. the doctor says she needs to still drink at least 18 ounces a day, but often after a bottle of 4 ounces she screams and pushes it away. We don't think she has reflux, she just wants to go play! other than that she is happy and busy.. anyone been through anything like this? she is still on formula but i'm going to ask about switching to milk, my thought is maybe she doesn't like the taste of formula.

and the reason for concern is she is still on the small side and dropped in her percentile over the months...

feeding has been the hardest part about having babies!

other than that they are a joy.. and some bottles when they are into it, are relaxing and i enjoy that part too.. so i don't mean to complain as i am thankful and love them so much, but just wanted to vent a little to other moms who might understand.

oh and she just turned one.

 

It could be that she is ready for milk. Have you also tried a sippy cup with her, maybe if she can take her drink with her in something new, she might drink more? This is a tough age, they are so "busy" with everything :hug:

 

I am pretty much in the same boat as you are. My DS was great eater, took his bottles with no problem.DD on the other hand suddenly decided she does not want to be bottle fed her formula starting at 9 months(they both turn 1 few weeks ago). It seemed to me she started not liking taste of the formula, so I decided to add pediasure vanilla flavor.Made huge difference.She BTW would not take any bottle so I have to spoon fed her formula (it is pain, but this is the only way she would take it). My guys are in 5% so pediasure gives them extra few calories. I also(per pedi) adding cereals in their formula, which again adds few more calories.
Our pedi did not recommended milk yet since they both on smaller size. I am planning to keep them on bottle/bowl for maybe few more months.

I told everyone I know that feeding is the hardest part for raising my twins for me. I could change 200 diapers a day for someone to help me with feedings.

GL to both of us.

 

I would try a sippy and see if she'll take that. Maybe make a big deal about her new special big-girl MILK sippy! Thats what I did with my girls (got them ones with Elmo on it), and they loved it. Actually they still love and use those Elmo sippies for milk.

 

Hey beendbee! :wavey: I remember you from FY; we both had the same problems with one of our LOs and bottles. We're just now making the transition to milk and I'm definitely worried about Nate getting enough calories because he's still not even on the chart. My ped said to throw away bottles at one year, but since we won't have a well-baby visit until Sept., I'm gradually moving to more milk and offering sippies. We'll see what the ped says next month about their weights.

I agree that feeding is the toughest part. It's hard to worry about every drop of food they're getting.

Good luck to all of us! :hug:

 

Boy am I in the same boat too. Plus, my dd is so small and is on high cal formula..yes formula. She has a milk allergy. Anyway, it is a fight to get her to drink too. I try alternating bottle and sippy cup. That works sometimes.
OK, I never thought I'd be this mom, but, to get her to drink her milk, I will put chocolate or strawberry syrup in it. It works! She loves strawberry syrup and sucks the bottle right down. I also alternate her formula with juice to kinda mix it up a little. So far so good. I hope you find something that works!

 

At this age you should try to stop worrying too much about their milk consumption. You could put some carnation breakfast powder in her milk though if you're worried, but she should get most of her calories from food anyway.

 

I was going to suggest this because I STILL have to do this. DS hated bottles from day 1 and still doesn't like milk. I add flavored pediasure or hershey's syrup to his milk. He's also on the small side and barely on the charts. Good luck! Feeding has been my #1 stress too!

oh, forgot to mention...you can increase his yogurt and cheese consumption if he is not drinking enough. I was getting maybe 10oz at 1yr in DS. Lots of cheese and yogurt!

 

My two were small one was 5 % percentile but she is doing really well now. Her sister was 3rd and even dropped below that. Food has been an issue since birth. Someone on here mentioned a book and I got it from the library. Child of mine:feeding with love and good sense. It was amazing !! I think any parent who has a child with feeding issues should read it. It has made our meal times much more enjoyable. I still give my two formula (both because the other sister will steal her bottle eventhough she doesn't need it) I do a concentration of formula and the other half milk. I also do lots of Yogurt and cheese and custard. I look for the highest calorie and fat custards. At times when she gets sick she goes off food. so when she is back eating again I often will put cream in her veggies, custard, yogurt, etc. to try to catch up on what she has lost.

Lately I have been trying to give her snacks every 2 hours to see if that is better for her. Often it isnt' at the table, but if it works then I'm happy.

It is a tough road having a difficult eater.