concerned...not enough formula

My son is not drinking his bottles anymore. He was drinking about 24-28 oz now if I get 18oz in him, I'm lucky. He's only drinking 4oz per bottle and that is a struggle. He isn't crying while eating like he was before taking previcid. He just turns away and rolls over. He just doesn't want it. I've been giving him oatmeal for dinner so I can at least get a couple more ounces in him. He is teething (nothing yet though!) so maybe the bottle is bothering him. He does chew the nipple. Maybe a faster nipple would help? They are almost 10 months old. Any input would be great! Thanks!

Lori

 

Is he filling up on solid food during the day? It's normal for babies to decrease the amount of formula they take in; doctors advise 16- 20 ounces of milk a day after one year old. Perhaps your son is making this transition early? Is he still gaining weight and happy?

If he is still on Prevacid, when is the last time you had his doseage increased? He may be experiencing pain while eating that causes him to push the bottle away early. I would check with the pediatrician about increasing the doseage to see if that helps.

 

QUOTE(idril @ Aug 18 2008, 09:08 AM) [snapback]935055[/snapback]
Is he filling up on solid food during the day? It's normal for babies to decrease the amount of formula they take in; doctors advise 16- 20 ounces of milk a day after one year old. Perhaps your son is making this transition early? Is he still gaining weight and happy?

If he is still on Prevacid, when is the last time you had his doseage increased? He may be experiencing pain while eating that causes him to push the bottle away early. I would check with the pediatrician about increasing the doseage to see if that helps.



I never thought about the Prevacid because he doesn't seem like he's in pain at all. Before prevacid, it was horrible! I wasn't feeding him dinner thinking it was that so he would drink his bedtime bottle but that's not it either.

 

You can also try putting it in a sippy cup. Sometimes if a baby won't take much from a bottle, they'll take it from a sippy cup. I would also call the pedi and explain the baby's response. It may be something medical. This way you'll know you're getting good advice either way.

 

Do you give any other food other than oatmeal? Maybe hes just full of food.. I know that my DD from about 8 months would only eat 4 oz. and she still does at 11.5 months, But she eats a ton of food.. She just likes the food better.

 

QUOTE(Ash Twins @ Aug 18 2008, 11:12 AM) [snapback]935237[/snapback]
Do you give any other food other than oatmeal? Maybe hes just full of food..


He is eating all stage 2 foods right now. He loves every veggie and fruit. We aren't doing meat yet (per pedi instructions). I'll start that at 10 months. I think if I fed him solids all day he'd eat it. Maybe he's tired of formula.

As for the sippie cup, he still can't get that concept. I tried. Maybe I'll work harder at that and see if it works.

 

Sometimes when my babies stop drinking their milk well, they have ear infections. You might watch his temp and see if that is high. One of mine has reflux too, and we tried everything to do with reflux meds before we found the ear infections!

 

How long has he been doing this? When we had this happen, it was usually one of two things...teething or time to drop a bottle so they would drink more of their other bottles.

 

I would try going up a size in nipple, dropping a bottle, and or slowing down on a bit of solids. Maybe it is time to adjust your schedule and do longer stretches between bottles. I think a call into the Ped is a good idea about the Prevacid dose, but I have read that the dose of Prevacid is less weight sensitive than other meds like Zantac and it depends more on the severity of the symptoms as to whether there should be a dose increase. But it never hurts to ask. GL! :hug99:

 

DD will sometimes do this, but after a week or so, she's back to drinking her regular amount. It definitely sems to coincide with the arrival of a new tooth for her. Maybe he's teething and it just hasn't come through yet?

 

My DS Conner was awful with his bottles from 8 mos & up. We were down to 3 bottles a day with him by 9 mos /c I hated bottle time so much! By 10 mos, he was on a Stage 4 nipple with an additional sit cut in it, so it was FAST! When we dropped all bottles & went to sippy cups at 11 1/2 mos, I was SOOO happy (and, ironically, now he drinks WAY more from his sippy than his brother)! I hated the constant fight & worry about his intake...although the Ped constantly reassured me because he was gaining weight (although not as quickly as his brother). What I hated most was that daycare wouldn't fight him like I did, or wouldn't do my 'tricks' to get him to drink (giving him something to play with in his hands, holding him tight so he couldn't wiggle, going in a dark & quiet room, singing to him, etc). They'd give up after 2 oz & he'd be so hungry that he'd HAVE to get up in the middle of the night for a bottle.

I'm not trying to come across pessimistic. Try a faster flow nipple. Try less distractions during bottle feeding. Try Orajel (that'd sometimes work for us too). Try dropping a bottle. Keep trying different things until something works. If you feel he's getting dehydrated or not gaining weight, DEFINITELY discuss it with your Ped. The Prevacid might be worth looking into, but I have no advice there b/c my boys were weaned off their reflux meds by 6mos.

Good luck...I recall the daily frustration & hated it. So, big hugs...hang in there!

 

Thanks ladies! It's been going on about a week now. I did notice that he sometimes pulls on his ear but I thought that was teething because he is not cranky at all. His temps are fine too. I'll call the pedi if this continues and also try all your suggestions. Thanks so much!

 

Sophie will often only drink 4 oz, but if we turn on Baby Einstein she will usually sit still and drink more. I guess she can get easily distracted and wants to get up and play.

Jen

 

Sometimes they pull their ear when they have teething pain too. I have poor bottle drinkers and have for sometime. Plus low weight babies. I had to introduce yogurt and custard early to increase their calcium. (Pedi recommended)

I also make custard with their formula... 150 ml of formula (cold ) add 1 1/5 tsp of arrowroot powder, stir, micro for 30 sec, stir microwave 20 sec., stir, possible further 20 sec. Cool to room temp and store in fridge. It is sort of like gravy /glue consistency but if you add it to veggies and microwave it, it turns out fine. The arrowroot is very easy for babies to digest. I have recently been adding scoops of formula to their food (just say one or two) to get some extra nutrients as well. Each meal for us has some sort of calcium and formula component. Avocados are high in calcium as well.

Do what you feel is best for your two. Best of luck.

 

My boys have always been little drinkers. They have NEVER drank more than 22 ozs in a day. The past month they have gone down to 12-15oz and it's my daily battle to get them to drink more. We've been using the highest flow nipples for months so that isn't helping. From what I've found, they just like their solid food and finger food better. I have to give them their bottles first before I even take the other food out of the fridge/cabinet. I'm not sure if you are giving them bottles on the floor or in high chairs, but I found that if they are strapped into their chair (we have ones the recline) they eat much more than if they are in the Boppy. The world is so fascinating to them and they want to be exploring not eating. Try to avoid distractions (usually this means making DH leave the room). I hope this helps. Talk to your dr. about it. Our pedi had us increase the amount of formula in the water so what they are drinking is higher in calories.

 

My DS is the same way and has been for weeks/months. I did call the pedi and they weighed him and made sure he wasn't dehydrated etc... and said just do what youre doing.

He just LOVES solids and would rather eat food than drink milk (formula) so we offer him formula and if he takes it great if not than he gets his carloies from food (he put down an ENTIRE bagel w/cream cheese the other day when we went out for breakfast)

So I too was TIRED of fighting with him so I say call the pedi let them know, go in for a weight check and make sure that it's not an ear infection or anyhting else of the sort and if all is ok then just roll with it and don't worry about forcing him to drink.