Challenging Feeding Schedule for 7 Month Old.

I have a nine month old who is the opposite! She loves her bottle, but finds it hard to take all the solids. That being said, she is totally thriving, active, and passing all developmental milestones. I imagine that even though my baby is only eating 2 solid food meals a day, she is malnoroushed or in need of anything. I think if you were talking about a newborn, definetely be concerned, but at this age, I think they start to take what they need. I bet as she becomes more active, crawling, walking, etc., she will eat more. I truly beleive you would know it if she were hungry or starving, and although it is tempting to follow the "numbers", every baby is different. Take cues from your little one and roll with it. I hope this helped!

I say a little of what everyone else already said. She will take what she needs, and as long as she is drinking something, and wetting diapers she'll be okay. A DR once told me that even the solid foods do have water in them. If you are adding formula to the cereal, add extra so she gets the fluid and the nutrients. What I did a little different, I would give the bottle and solids back to back. Give her breakfast, bottle then right solids, then lunch the same, do a bottle first since she isnt drinking much and do the solid right away. Dont space them appart. Maybe stick to 4-5oz bottles so she isnt topped off that she wont eat her solids. I use to try and make sure several hours go by that she hasnt eaten, so you arent feeding her something every 2hrs that she just has no interest, make sure she is in fact hungry at bottle time. They do have sippee cups for 6+ mo old. Try her with that, maybe in between the meals and for dinner give her the sippee cup. And her usual bedtime bottle. Some kids get off the bottle much earlier than others, and she may be one of those kids. Have you tried her with juices? Maybe dilute them with some water. Just as long as she is gaining weight, I'm sure she is fine. Hang in there Mom, just your concern for her shows you are in fact doing everything right!!!

kids go thru stages all the time.. try a sippy cup.. maybe she's bored with a bottle.. get one of those free flowing ones to start and then work your way up to the ones where they suck to get liquid.. she may find it fun to use and start to drink more

Hi K.,

My daughter went through the same thing when she was about 7 months. Once we introduced solids, she went from eating about 35 oz. of formula a day to 16-20 oz. a day. She has now improved some that she is 9 months old. I really think it was some sort of phase.
Some things that worked for me was actually dropping one of the bottle feedings. We went from 5 times a day down to four--one about a half hour to an hour before each meal and one at bedtime. She actually started taking more each time.
As or the 700-800 calories that your daughter needs to be getting, I would bet that she is pretty close to that. Most baby food is about 75 calories per half cup. If she is eating about 2 cups a day of food, thatis 300 calories right there. Formula has 100 calories for every five ounces. That means she only needs 20 oz. to meet the 700 calories for the day. Just something to keep in mind.
My daughter out grew this phase, and is now eating between 24-30 ounces a day along with her three meals. Your daughter might be going through the same thing. If she is growing, pooping regularly, and peeing regularly, I wouldn't worry too much.

Hope this helps,
S.

Hi K.!
If your daughter is gaining weight and thriving, I wouldn't worry too much. You could try introducing yogurt with whole milk - like YoBaby. I think you can begin with this around 7-8 months. As long as she is wetting multiple diapers each day, dehydration probably isn't too much of an isuse. I think babies tend to drink as much as they need. If you were nursing, you'd have no idea how many ounces she was getting and it would all be based on her weight gain. Trust your instincts. I hope to see you soon!