My 8 Month Old Won't Take Formula.

Hi, I was just wondering what kind of formula you are giving your baby? Maybe you could try a different kind and see if you can find one she likes. I breast feed twins for 4 months and when I switched to formula we used infamil lipil, they did very well with that! I think it is the most like breast milk. Well good look!

Sherri

P.,

You should contact your pediatrician. Sounds like you may just have a picky eater on your hands, but do you notice anything else happens after she drinks that milk? (diareah, gass or constipation) What is she getting during your work hours?

If you are using baby cereal, it should have a good bit of her daily iron in there anyway but I would continue to mix the formula in with it to ensure she is getting all of the other vitamins and minerals the formula provides. With the water and juice she is getting, dehydration shouldn't be a problem but I would be more concerned about her not getting enough important nutrients. What does your pediatrician have to say? I also agree that trying a different formula may help. Also, some babies find that they prefer ready-to-feed formulas better than powdered or the other way around so you might want to try that too. Good luck!

I wonder if she's lactose intolerant? Maybe you should try a lactose free formula to see if that works. I am lactose intolerant and I still remember drinking milk with dinner and collapsing to the floor in pain half way through my meal. It took years for my pediatrician to pin point the problem (and I still don't like milk!) I think they can test for it now though.

Have you tried goat's milk. It is very close to breastmilk nutritient wise.

Good luck!

I made my wn formula when I stopped breastfeeding. I will get the proper ratios for you and you can discuss it with your ped. My ped loved the ingredents. It involved coconut milk, soya powder, molasses (iron), tahini, nutrional yeast. I also added bananas, and sometimes vanilla, you can add cereal...ect...It is a tad thicker, but was yummy...

We have a similar problem with our 7 and a half month old. He was on Enfamil Lipil with iron from about 4 and a half months with no problems. Lately he's gone off it, and we were given some of the same stuff but in the concentrated liquid form (the sort you dilute with water) and we're having more success with that. However it is expensive.

Regarding the constipation, we find baby food prunes very helpful! I mix that with his oatmeal cereal and whatever formula he doesn't finish for breakfast.

I had to wean my 9 month old and it was a total nightmare! I feel for you!! But, hang in there eventually something is going to work. I added Nestle strawberry (and sometimes chocolate)flavoring to the formula. I wasn't happy about doing it but, I was at my wits end and it worked. I slowly decreased the amount of flavoring to none. It took about 2 weeks to get to just formula. Good luck!

i'm not sure what the nutritional intake would be but maybe soy milk or coconut milk! just an idea! B.

She may be having a hard time with the formula itself. My daughter Jenna did not like the Nestle Good Start. She would start crying every time my husband or I would try to feed her. She got to the point she didn't even want to drink a bottle at all. We switched formula's. We tried Similac Advanced w/Iron. Once she realized we had given her a different formula, she drank down a 6oz bottle. She has had no problems with the similac, so that's what we have stuck with. Your little one might have developed an allergy to the formula. http://familydoctor.org/178.xml, that website may be able to help you a little bit better.

When I weaned my son he was about the same age, he didn't want a bottle either till we figured out that he wanted it cold or at room temp, he didn't want it warm. My sister also had a problem with her daughter and it came down to the fact that she just wouldn't take a bottle from her mom, she would drink it if it was give by someone else or if it was proped up for her.

Ok P., several things may be going on:
first off you need to try 1 formula (brand) at least for a week to give it a try. if that doesn't work then try another one. she still needs her formula. at this age that's her major source of nutrition (iron especially) whereas everything else is to help develop taste to different textures less for nutrition purposes.
so, i did go through the exact same thing as you are but it was at the age of 5 months with my daughter. she was breastfed and formula-fed from the get go. she was on similac advance but at 5 months (breastfeeding had already stopped) she stopped taking the formula. i went to the ped a few times with this concern and was told 'baby will drink when she is hungry.' the day and night she spent not drinking more than 5 oz in 24 hrs i took her to the ER. turned out she was reacting to that formula (forgot the proper term something with intestines) but that it was causing her stomach cramps. after spending 5 nights at the hospital she was discharged with advice to start giving her alimentum advance with iron. apparently it's much milder. i could tell it was a different formula because when mixing it it did not make any bubbles. the first time i tried giving it to her she drank 8 oz without stopping. so it was the formula that she did not want, not because she was not hungry
so, i'd suggest you call the gastroentologist (pediatric) and call and explain what is going on and whether they think you should bring her in for a checkup.
good luck
vlora

I don't know if you have tried different kinds of formula or not, but maybe you could do that.... like different brands... or soy versus regular... also, I remember from when my kids were on formula the powder is a lot less thick than the liquid kind, even the kind you have to mix with water maybe if you try her on the powder version she will tolerate it better... good luck... if none of that works, I say talk to your pediatrician... also, if you are feeding her food already, she will not 'NEED' the formula as much as before...

this may seem a little extream but it worked for me. i went to the store and picked up 1 of every type of bottle and sippy cup i could find. tried them all and she finally settled on one. advent was her choice!

Ok I know the real issue here is she won't take the formula... But her iron intake is another one, right? Trying to get that formula into her other foods came become difficult! So I just thought I'd let you know that if you talk to your DR. about it he can prescribe some iron drops, much easier to put into the food!!
Sorry I can't be of more help!

P.,

There are alot of flavors you can add to milk like vanilla, stawberry and chocolate. Have you tried any of them? My sons playmate did the same thing and her mom tried the vanilla flavor and hasn't had a problem since. I think you can find it with the hot cocoa at the store. Hope it works out.

S.

My son is allergic to milk so we use pediasure. Maybe you can try mixing it half and half with formula he loves the vanilla taste that it has. Pedisure is sort of expensive, but you can get generic at wal-mart, target, or giant. It has iron in it and alot of the other vitamins kids need. Good luck :)

P.,

I too had the same problem with my breast fed baby! He wouldn't have anything to do with formula, but I was able to get him to drink the Nutri pals flavored toddler formula. It has the same nutrients and iron. I was able to get at least one of the containers in him a day. At a year I also had problems with whole milk, but a little chocolate syrup and he loved his milk. We slowly eliminated the choclate over the second week, and now he loves his milk!

Best of luck to you!
K.

Hello P.,
I also breastfed two of my babies and like your's mine were not interested in any formula and believe me the Dr.'s put them on several different kinds. I also made everything from scratch and put it in a blender to mix well...never seasoned anything for them. So I just made sure they got their veggies, like spinach, broccoli and beets which have iron. My kids love all kinds of veggies and they eat them raw. Any way...mine never had any iron deficiency. You could give that a try if you like or talk to your Dr. and see what they would prefer...they will probably want to try another formula.
Good luck with your nursing degree!

Could she be lactose intolerant? Try soy! Also there are iron/vitamin supplement drops located behind the pharmacy counter made by Enfamil.

I had sort of the same problem with my 10 month old daughter Ava. She didn't like it either. My pediatrician told me to put it in her food or put it in anywhere to get her to drink/eat it. You are doing fine. As long as you are getting at least 16 ounces in, you are good. For the rest of the nutrients, try the Yo Baby yougurt. My daughter loves it and it gives her the extra vitamins and minerals she needs. Do not worry. Your daughter is getting to the age where she knows what she wants.