Too Many Bottles???

Updated on March 01, 2010
T.G. asks from West Haven, CT
15 answers

My 10 mo old is on formula now. (I stopped BF at 8 1/2 mo) she also eats about 3 jars of stage 2 food a day, and a few "puffs" she only has 2 teeth so i dont give her much "real" food. But she drinks about 5-6 8oz bottles from 6am to her bedtime around 8pm, and usually 6oz around 3 am. She is 23lbs. She was a slow gainer, barely on the chart. Now she is 95% for weight. I dont want her to be heavy, but i also want her to be full. First it was "your baby is too skinny" now its "look at that chubby baby!" am i worrying about nothing?

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P.K.

answers from New York on

That is an enormous amount of formula! At 10 months she should be
eating mostly table food. Jar food is great on the run. Even with two
teeth it is amazing what they can eat. I would cut back on her formula.

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D.W.

answers from Indianapolis on

You are worrying about nothing.

I had 2 chunky babies. Both were consistently in the 75-90th percentile on both height and weight. I obsessed about it with our son and brought it up at every appointment with the pediatrician.

He said he wasn't worried until they're still exhibiting it at 2 years. Chances are, she's going to go through a growth spurt. But, babies are generally amazing self-regulating creatures.

Doing the math, it does seem like she's getting a lot of formula (generally 24-32 oz/day are recommended). You may want to talk to the pediatrician to see if he is concerned with her growth. At her age, there really may be no recommendations. But, as she moves more towards more table food, she'll wean herself from those bottles.

I wouldn't recommend anything until you speak with the pediatrician as he's the expert and has your child's best interests in mind.

here's a link from the American Academy of Pediatrics that may be helpful:
http://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/baby/f...

2 moms found this helpful
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M.S.

answers from Tucson on

It sounds like you are doing the right thing. She wasn't gaining, so you responded and now she is healthy. And if she is like my girls (twins 13 months), they were their chunkiest at 10 months.

Once they started walking all that just melted away. I look at photos from that time and I really miss all those baby rolls.

One of my girls looks chunkier than the other, but she is actually a little smaller. I attribute it to her round face. She hated tummy time when she was younger. So keep up with her tummy time and maybe doing some baby stretching games, kissing her toes, stretching her arms overhead, stomping her feet together.

And if she is crawling, crawl around with her. My girls loved it when I chased them around, down on their level.

Or you can always try more foods. I was surprised how much my girls could consume. My Dr. said they wouldn't over eat, if they were full they would tell me by turning away from the spoon or spitting out food.

And most importantly, don't worry she is healthy. It sounds like you are doing a great job!

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A.N.

answers from New York on

My daughter is also almost 11 months and at 95% weight and height (she's just a solid little kid)! I just talked to my ped and at this age, she should be getting at least 10-20 oz forumula & 3 "meals" per day. At 10 mos she can easily do Stage 3, which will also give her a little bit of protein (most jars have 5 oz) and yogurt, so you can be sure she's not hungry at night. I disagree with one of the other moms in that formula is still important for her nutrition. You sound like you are doing GREAT; babies at this age know when they're full and she'll let you know. The only thing is that you could drop the 3am feeding. She definitely can sleep through the night; she's just getting up for comfort and out of habit. From everything I have read, you really don't have to worry about her not regulating how much she eats until age 3, with the exception of rewarding her with food (i.e. using food to soothe her when she's crying-not a great thing to do)! You sound like you are doing a GREAT job. Plus, she'll slow down eating when she's not growing as much.

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J.M.

answers from New York on

Hi T.,
I think that people should be less concerned with using terms like "slim" and "chubby" for an infant and more concerned with "healthy". (It's amazing how much our adult baggage comes into play when people label our children! A baby's outward appearance doesn't always correlate with caloric intake. My child is in daycare and I've noticed that some of the children with the largest appetites are the slimmest and vice-versa. Plus, babies tend to look chubby until they develop more muscle (after walking ect.) Why don't you keep a log of food and formula and show it to your pediatrician (if you trust him/her's opinion) and see what he/she says. My doctor suggested waiting until age 1 to introduce significant amounts of water so that the baby didn't become full on a fluid that has no nutritional value. We should allow babies (unless they have some medical or genetic problem) to be guided by their own appetite. You sound like you're doing great!

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H.H.

answers from Dallas on

Sounds perfectly normal to me....she's just loving her meal times and just growing! I'd say, as long as she's happy and not spitting up after feedings (due to overfeeding), then don't change a thing.

Maybe try eliminating the 3am feeding. At her age, it becomes more of a habit to wake up and nurse/bottle feed (know this from experience with my oldest 2 kiddos). Warning though, you might have to a use a little bit of 'tough love/cry it out' method once you do decide to eliminate that bottle.

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G.B.

answers from Tulsa on

If you go to babycenter.com there are many resources that you can print off, I believe their nutritionist say 24 - 36 oz of formula a day. But I am just a person with no real training in the area of nutrition. I love parencenter. I get email updates on each of my grandkids and lood forward to them.

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J.P.

answers from New York on

Agree with the other moms. Drop the 3 am feeding. No reason for that at her age and weight. Also you can add more finger foods if she has a good pincer grasp. That is the indication for readiness there, not teeth. They mostly mash with jaws anyway. And once she starts walking the chubbiness will melt away!

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T.Q.

answers from Albany on

Wow, that seems like a lot to me!! At that age, my kids were getting 3 "meals" per day and 4 8 oz. bottles (sometimes not quite 8 oz). Your child is getting about 50 oz. in 24 hours plus 3 meals. Most children that age should get about 30 oz. (give or take a little) I think.... I would defineately cut out the 3 am feeding, as she is probably only waking out of habit. Well fed 10 mos olds don't wake up because they are hungry. Also, maybe try giving a sippy cup of water a couple of times through the day instead of a bottle of formula and cut the bottles back to about 4 maybe 5 per day. Also, my son didn't have any teethe until 12 mos, and only had the front four until he was 18 mos. then he got a few molars... he just turned 2 and is still teething. Anyway, we started giving him little pieces of table food at 10 mos... soft or dissolvable things like cheerios,american cheese, toast, graham crackers, cut up bananans, pan cakes, ground turkey, steemed veggies etc. You would be suprised what they can "gum". Real food may be more satisfying too, which may make her less reliant on the bottles. Good luck...

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M.T.

answers from New York on

T., a 10 month old does not need a middle of the night feeding for her nourishment. I'd feed more food at suppertime and offer only water if she wakes in the night - she may simply be thirsty, and formula really isn't a drink, it's a liquid food. Some babies continue to wake in the night simply out of habit - if they realize all they'll get is water or nothing at all, they may stop waking. Rest assured, she does not need a nighttime bottle

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M.B.

answers from New York on

What you are doing is satisfying your baby's hunger, which is great. I have found with all three of my children that they all had different appetites and they all found their way to turn away food & drink when they weren't hungry for it. That will certainly be the case when she goes onto a non-formula based diet, which is not far off.

The only thing I wanted to pass along was that my pediatrician told me when my kids were 10 pounds they didn't need a feeding in the middle of the night anymore. He told me that the feeding in the middle of the night was more about habit than hunger, especially when they have formula before going to bed. So I stopped a bottle in the middle of the night quite early. Just wanted to pass that along as another data point. Hope that helps.

G.R.

answers from Dallas on

i think is normal when you stop bf and is only in formula the bab gain a lot of weight is not toomuch bottle because the first year is formula th only food they have for table food is just training.

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N.D.

answers from New York on

Slim is better than chubby, try to limit her formula and give her water in between. Sometimes babies are simply thirsty. She also should not be eating at 3 AM, give her water then too. Then as she eats more food cut her bottles down to 4.
I just read the other responses and am VERY surprised that no one else mentioned water. WATER is very important for babies. They should ONLY have water at bedtime, since anything else can rot teeth and cause ear infections.

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J.G.

answers from New York on

I would ask your dr, but I would say it's nothing.
My 7.5 mth old does 4-8oz btles & eats 2x.
My dr said-if she eats it-she probably needs it!
Maybe try btls of water or tea. Maybe she is just thirsty?

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M.F.

answers from Phoenix on

By 10 months, she should be getting most of her nutrition from solids/jars and not relying on so much formula. 95% is fine, but you might want to add more solids and cut back the formula (typically 16 oz. is recommended with a maximum of 24 oz.). Plus, since she's not underweight, there really isn't any reason other than habit for her to be eating in the middle of the night and not sleeping straight through. It will take a few nights of no bottle and some tears, but if you just stop giving her formula in the middle of the night, she'll quickly learn that it's time to sleep and will be able to put herself back to sleep if she does wake.
My daughter is 10 months, 75% for weight and has recently weened herself down to 2 nursing sessions per day. The doctor gave me the okay to start giving her whole milk in her cup instead of water and she drinks about 6-8 oz. in a day.
Here is what she eats daily:
9:00ish Nurse when she wakes up: She gets about 4 oz. per nursing session and is satisfied
9:45 Breakfast: 4-5 oz. fruit mixed with 1/4 cereal (rice, oatmeal or mixed grain) followed by whole milk in a sippy cup
12:00 Lunch: 1 oz. meat and 3-4 oz. veggies mixed with a tablespoon cooked, brown rice and a little less than 1/4 cereal followed by whole milk in a sippy cup
3:00-4:00 Snack after nap: Anything from Cheerios, Goldfish, Wagon Wheels, Puffs, 4 oz. of yogurt, etc. followed by whole milk in a sippy cup
6:15 Dinner: 2 oz. meat and 4 oz. veggies mixed with a tablespoon cooked, brown rice followed by whole milk in a sippy cup and a few bites of my dinner
7:00ish Nurse before bed

I hope this helps! Oh, and it's amazing what kids can chew without teeth. I've had little one's with no teeth gum pizza crusts like pros. Many kids have issues with textures and gag when chunks are introduced, but while it looks like choking and can lead to a "reappearance" of the food, it's just them learning that pieces are different from purees. Keep at it and try new things and it will be a fun experience for both of you! Good luck!

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