My 5 month old daughter is not drinking her formula. Her ped said I can start her on some solids at 4 months if I wanted. So, I started my daughter on solids at 4 months. She also has reflux which she is taking Zantac for. She's been eating solids for about 3 weeks now. I feed her about an oz of baby cereal in the morning because thats all she'll take. Then I give her a 3 or 4 oz bottle depending on how hungry she is. Then for lunch I give her about 1 1/2 oz of stage 1 veggies.Then a bottle like 30 mins after because she won't take one right after she eats the baby food. I just give her formula at night cause i was worried she wasn't drinking enough formula. Everytime I try to feed her formula she turns her head and cries so I give her some water just to see if she'll take that and she chugs the bottle of water and I have to take that away from her. When she wakes up for her night feeding I just give her formula and she will only drink 3 oz out of a 5 oz bottle. Then I give her a little water and she wants to chug the bottle of water again. She is also having trouble sleeping. She use to sleep 6 to 8 hours a night and now she is waking up every 2-3 hours. Im worried shes not drinking enough formula. I talked to the ped and he says its fine because my daughter is a small girl. She weighs a little over 12 lbs now at 5 months. What do i do? Should I be concerned?
remember at this age solids are practice ( and IMO there is no reason why a 4 month old should be eating solids, but again that is MO) so why not cut back or eliminate the solids and see what happens....Now the formuls could it be giving her a tummy ache? Is she possibly intolerant? is that why the reflux? maybe try a different type of formuls?
My older daughter had extremely severe reflux...a couple of thoughts. She probably wants space between the solids and her bottle because her tummy is full and she needs some time to digest. Babies figure out very quickly what makes the reflux worse (a full tummy) and adjust their feeding accordingly. She's also small and is getting calories from her solids, so probably doesn't need as many from the formula and will cut back on that. Kids are good at figuring out that their bodies need a lot of times, so as long as the pediatrician isn't worried, I would just follow her lead and get what formula in her you reasonably can. The sleep may just be a developmental issue, she's working on some skill or working on teeth. Good luck and hope you get some more sleep!
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BTW, just read the other moms answers and they are totally right about her needing formula over food. I was going by my own experience of having a baby with such severe reflux that she didn't want to drink anything, because it all just came back up. I had to start solids on the early side because the heavier food was all she could keep down well. I focused on cereal, and made it watery with as much formula as I could get away with to get max amount formula in her. If your daughter was doing well with the bottle before you introduced food, sounds like you might want to back off food again for a couple of months and focus on formula. Take care
Hello, Here is my experience with severe reflex. If it was due to that she would be throwing the formula up! But I would offer the formula before the baby food and see how much she will drink and whatever she drinks is whatever she drinks and then try the food with water with some vitamin drops in it. My sister had to do this as well as both of her children could not take any type of formula when they where little and the women in our family had trouble produceing breast milk. None of us could breast feed so we where all kind of stuck in the same place! Believe me it does work! We did soy milk with baby vitman drops in it and when they got old enough we started food but always offered the milk first. Good Luck to u and your daughter hun.
it sounds like her reflux is bothering her my daughter did and still does do the same thing she will want food or water instead of the milk because the formula can sometime make the reflux worse and it burns there throat and she probley want the food because it coats her throat and stops the burning and she is prolly thinkin (because babys are not stupid) that everytime she drinks it that its going to burn her throat..maybe try gettin her meds up some we had to do that to..if you have to let her eat some food maybe half oz then her bottle then her throat will be coated and she will be able to drink her formula.that is what my ped told us to do until the meds kicked in with a higher does..hope it all gets better and good luck
Before you try switching formulas or changing her reflux medication, I would just do the bottle before the food. If you do it after, they are full on solids and won't eat. I was told (by doctor and lactation consultants) to always offer the bottle first as that should be their primary source of nutrition. Then let them eat whatever they want of the solids afterwards. Did your pediatrician say that giving water is ok at this age? I would not do that, water can be very dangerous to babies if they get too much, aside from the fact that it fills them up but offers no nutrients. I did start offering my son a sippy cup of water somewhere around 6-7 mos, but that was just to train him on the sippy cup. He didn't chug it, he didn't drink much at all. You might also need to switch to a fast flow nipple on the bottles, that will help her get more formula. But I am not sure how that will work with the reflux. If you have been told to not use a fast flow, then disregard that idea. And don't wait too long between bottle and food, or they have already digested and it will spread their feedings out too far apart and she will not get enough formula from this also. About 20 minutes after bottle is what I was told.
I would see if her Zantac needs to be increased to start. My son would get completely off his feeding routine when his Zantac needed to be increased! Also, stop offering her water and other food. You are correct, she needs the formula, she doesn't need the other stuff right now. Get her back on track with her formula before starting solids again.
Have you tried a different formula? Maybe soy?
My DS is almost 5 mos old and is BF. He really has never taken much formula. I don't know if he doesn't like the taste but we've thrown so much away. I did switch to a soft topped sippy cup which he seems to prefer.
You didn't mention it, but was she BF before this? Was she taking formula better before?
I'd try different formulas. And at night, I'd let her drink as much as she wants. You don't want her getting dehydrated!
when I start a baby on solids here at my daycare I find the following schedule works best
wake - bottle 6 oz
an hour later some cereal w/veggie or fruit
nap
wake - bottle 6 oz
an hour later some cereal w/veggie or fruit
nap
repeat...
The formula is the most important at this age, so feed it first
Hi, I would introduce probiotics to your daughter. It will increase the healthy flora in her gut and make digestion easier. http://www.thelaboroflove.com/articles/how-do-probiotics-... Our doctors wanted us to delay solids as long as possible since little or no nutrition is absorbed by babies until they are at least 6 months old, and not to introduce solids unless they seemed interested.
Solids are not recommended for babies under six months, and for the entire first year, baby's breastmilk or formula is their primary source of nutrition, food is just a supplement. If you give solids at all at this age, they should be given AFTER nursing or a bottle, not before. The food fills them up and offers very little nutrition, their milk has the nutrients that they need. Water fills them with NO nutritional value. I would wait til six months to offer food, and only after her milk,
Was she drinking her formula before you introduced solids? If so then the solids are not really necessary right now so you could back off. I really didn't do veggies or three meals until then. Could it be the nipples and maybe the formula is not coming out quick enough as the water does and that is frustrating her. Just a suggestion but I gave formula when my children first woke up and then gave the cereal around 8:30 or so. This way when she wakes in the morning she may take the bottle easier. I would not do veggies yet I would try to get more formula into her during the day. I always gave my kids cereal and fruit at dinner time and then a bottle before bed. If it is not the nipples, she may need to up her medication for the reflux. Formula is the most important nutrient for her right now so if you have to I would back off the solids. Good luck!!
