Sweetening Formula with Strawberry Syrup

I'm sorry some other moms have been so judgmental about this--you are not the one who started this; it sounds like another person did it first, and created the problem (or complicated the problem).

Call the pediatrician and explain the issue & what happened w/ the syrup. I think you might want to try a different formula first (maybe try switching to an organic, and maybe switching from a cow's milk based one to a soy one or vice versa, depending on what she's on now). If that still doesn't work, call the pediatrician back and let them know.

You definitely do want to keep the baby on formula for another couple of months, according to every recommendation I've seen and according to the AAP (www.aap.org).

Maybe you should alter her formula. Try a different brand or type and see how she feels. You could also try letting her drink a little strawberry or fruit juice. Maybe she just wants that taste! Is this like Nestle Quick or something? I certainly don't think it's great, but it also isn't that terrible. Nesquick is made to be added to milk, so take a look at how much sugar it has in it. Given how much juice so many children drink, I would compare the grams of sugar in Nesquick to the grams of sugar in 8oz of juice. If they're comparable, then I can't see a reason not to give it to her and cut out some of the juice in favor of water.

What kind of formula is she drinking? Powder, ready-to-feed liquid? My older son would ONLY drink the ready to feed version. It was expensive, but he drank it like a champ. My younger son had powder and never knew there was a tastier option out there.

For sure I would never start giving the formula with the syrup unless you want your daughter to be addicted to sugar. If she is eating everything now try blending a couple fresh strawberries and add it to the formula maybe?

wow thanks a LOT whoever was watching her. HUGE no-no. break the habit now or you will have a five year old throwing tantrums if you don't have pink milk to give her. yikes. who would do this??

i guess i would definitely throw it out, first of all. start with the first bottle of the day, that's when she'll be the hungriest. hold your ground and just love her and be patient - it's not her fault and she has no idea. i hope you made it clear to this sitter that that is UNACCEPTABLE to give your child pink formula. GRR!

I would probably change her formula so that you don't have to put the sugary strawberry flavor in it to make her drink. Also look really close at the sugar free additives, do you want your child to have problems later in life. The same stuff as in the sugar free soda and that causes problems with bones and mental development.

Do your best to reverse what has happened and give the person a good piece of your mind that did this to you. They were not doing you any favors.
Let your pediatrician also know what happened so that he/she can help with the problem.

Good luck to you.

The other S.

PS It is obvious that babies taste buds are more developed than we think and they have a "sweet" tooth. Nip it in the bud.

Very wrong. Please don't create bad habits that you are just going to have to break. Your next adventure will be to the dentist for early cavities!

Let her drink what she will. My 15 month daughter, from the time she was 8 months on, will have drinking days and non drinking days (she also had non eating days). She went from the 60% to the 30%. I have taken her repeatively to the doctor and tried to get a physician to take me seriously. Because she is healthy, they look at me as I am crazy. Now at fifteen months, she is eating and drinking more.

Your daughter is probably in a stage. Don't panic, just make sure she stays hydrated and keep offering her the formula and water.

Good luck.

Maybe you cean wean her off of it. LOL! My DD did the same thing with regular milk when we were done with formula. Her's was chocolate. But we weaned her off of it and now she'll drink white or chocolate. :) Good luck J..

My first wouldnt touch powdered or ready to feed, he would only drink the concentrated out of the cans that you add water to. My second couldn't tolerate the concentrated or the ready to feed, she could only keep down the powdered. Maybe you should try a different type. I don't understand what you mean by "Someone watching her put strawberry syrup in her formula" Did you mean her Peditrician did or told you to? Or you have been?

I would say if it feels wrong, then stop doing it. You don't know what the effects of all the sugar are going to be on her teeth when they all come through, a baby that young doesn't need all of that sugar. Maybe you could switch her to milk, or mix half formula half milk (plain white milk). My first has a similar problem, his Pediatrician said it would be okay to start switching him to whole milk at 11 months. We did half and half bottles until he was over 1 year.

You should probably just ask your pedi. When my son turned one he wouldn't drink cow's milk out of a sippy, only a bottle. His dr told me that he needed to be off bottles and I explained the situation to her. She told me it was ok to add some choc or strawberry to the cow's milk as long as he was drinking it. I wouldn't say it would be the same with formula but it doesn't hurt to ask. Being so close to a year old they may just have you switch her over to whole milk instead anyways!

I put a little bit of pediasure in my son's milk, just and ounce or two to add some flavor. It has a lot of good things in it nutrionally. It is kind of expensive, close to 10 bucks for a 6 pack, but the generic is just the same for a couple bucks less. They have vanilla, chocolate and strawberry flavors I stress that I only put a little bit in with the milk, though.

J.- I wouldn't just be concerned about the sugar- what about the red food coloring? Have you thought about sweetening it with maple syrup? (REAL maple syrup, not flavored corn syrup) I also wanted to just say that my first son, was given raw cows milk since he was 3 months old- in addition to breast milk. At first we poured the cream off the top, and watered it down a bit, then eventually he was on the straight milk, and then with the cream mixed in. His iron levels have always been off the charts. I think as well as your child is all around healthy- this shouldn't be a concern. With my youngest- 7months- when I need to supplement with raw cows milk- i put a small amount of brewers yeast and blackstrap molasses in it. His iron has been good as well, so I don't put a whole lot of stock in the 'no cows milk' theory. I think breast milk is best, but I would rather give my child cows milk, then some of the ingredient that are in the formulas. Ever wonder where they get the protein they put in formula? I'd advise looking it up!
Wishing you the best!

You could change the formula if you want. However, I don't think a little syrup is a big deal...that is, IF you get a little sneaky. Your daughter has associated the addition of the syrup with "yummy." OK, "damage done," so to speak, but it's all right, it happens. Doesn't mean you have to comply and add a huge chunk of syrup, though. This may sound a little mean, but you can "trick" her (like I did with my son). I would "add" just a few sprinkles of Nesquick -- JUST enough to give the milk a pink tinge (this was when hewas a toddler would refuse to drink milk unless it was "sweetened"). I mean, literally, about a quarter of a baby spoon or even less was more than enough. At the same time, I would "show" him that I was adding it if he got suspicious and would look at me while I prepared his bottle, you know, to make sure I was adding. So, I would start adding, showing him a small lump of Nesquick on the spoon, and then, distract him and very quickly remove a large portion and add only a little dribble to give the appearance of pink. And I found that this was enough to get him to take his milk without a problem.

I let this go for a few months, and then started to wean him off the Nesquick. So, I would give him milk with something else he liked to eat. In order to eat what he liked, he had to drink the milk the way it was - only choice I gave him was to warm it a little. At first, he protested - but he eventually got the idea and now he's fine.

When my daughter was around 9 or 10 months she would not drink her formula either. Her ped. told me to put a tsp. of vanilla or some other flavoring in it. Do you realize how much alchol is in vanilla flavoring. Needless to say I only put about 1/4 a tsp in it if she would not drink her bottle. She is 7 now and will only drink plain milk and very rarely stawberry milk. I used strawberry flavoring and not syrup in her formula, still had the alchol.
However my four year old son who was breast fed till he was 18 months old will not drink white milk. However I will not either it is chocolate or nothing for me. So I figure as long as he is drinking milk it is fine. He might not end up like me that would not drink my milk until I was pregnant with him.

I think the easiest thing to do is just wean her down on the strawberry syrup. Show her that you're putting it in her bottle, but cut back the amount every few days, and you can get it down to a drop or two in her bottle. One drop in her bottle, or sippy cup, or glass is a small price to pay to get the milk down. Someday she'll get tired of it.

Wow, some passionate answers out there! Formula is nutrionally designed to deliver fat, calories and iron to help babies develop. If she is a good eater and getting the nutrition she needs from the food she's eating (whole fat cheese, red meat or high iron alternatives like beans or dark green veggies, yogurt, cottage cheese) 24 Ounces of formula could be excessive. Talk to your ped about it again, or try another ped in the practice for a different opinion. I might also suggest non-soy powder based formula, organic if you can. It has the least amount of preservatives and more high quality protein then other formulations. Don't beat yourself up, just change what you can.

switch to an organic formula... Adam and Eve have a good one I think. Have you ever SMELLED mainstream formula - it smells worse than warmed up poop. Can you imagine what it tastes like? Organic not only SMELLS better, I've been told it tastes much better too.

Too bad you didn't breastfeed.

That's a tough one, b/c we know how strong willed babies can be and forcing to eat/drink is not an easy task. But I can understand why you're concerned b/c the eating habits that are established now really do effect the rest of their lives.
If you want a healthy, cost-effective potential alternative (that does taste great w/o having the added bad sugars and dyes) send me a PM and I'll share with you something that some mom's who've been in a similar predicament have done. I'd rather not post it on here, seems like there's a lot of edgy moms out there ;) plus I'm scrunched for time at the moment.

Keep doing the best that you can and hold your ground when you can.

My DD would only drink her cow's milk if it had chocolate in it. She's 3 now and will still only drink chocolate milk, but we have always bought the sugar free hershey's syrup. It's not the BEST option, but it got her drink it in the earlier years and now it's just what she prefers and I'm a sucker. :)

Our first son was on a prescription hypoallergenic formula, and our dr warned us that it did not taste that great and he may not want to drink it. She suggested going to the health food store and purchasing alcohol free vanilla extract to sweeten the formula so he would take it. Then we just gradually weaned him off the vanilla until he drank just the formula.

I just wanted to let you know that you should never use honey or corn syrup for infants under 1 year. They both can carry bacteria that can cause botulism and this is deadly! There are formulas out there that are already flavored, I think vanilla is one. They are for the older babies and toddlers, but talk to your doctor first, and see what s/he thinks. Good luck. The good thing is she only has to be on formula for 2 more months, and then you can safely wean her off of it and start giving her whole milk. :D

We do this for our 7 yo who hates milk; I don't see a problem with it and hershey makes a good sugar free strawberry syrup that we buy by the case. Be forewarned though about the sugar free substitutes as some cause major gas problems in some people.

Maybe a little ovaltine in the formula instead?

Why not try sweetening it with honey? It's a NATURAL sugar that has some very good properties and is good for the immune system. Honey effects the body differently (not adversly) like processed sugar does.

See if that helps. Another option might be AGAVE nectar........NOT cheap, but again, a NATURAL sweetner.

FYI........You're right.......you DON'T want her to have all of that sugar NOR do you want to get her "addicted" to the sugar.