My 9 1/2 month old daughter has recently started refusing bottles. At times we can maybe get 2oz in her. Her nighttime bottle is the only larger one, but even that one she has started not to drink all of (last night we got just under 6oz, when use to be 8oz). She gets cereal at breakfast and lunch, so we are able to get 2oz in that (some nights I have started to give her cereal at night to get alittle more in her).
She eats her food just fine, just hates the formula. Yes we have tried the sippy cup too...
I am not too condcerned since she is eating her food and not losing weight (that I can tell), she is my 99% tile girl..lol
Just wondering what you have done to get your baby to take formula when they don't want it!!
The trend now, I hear, is to get them started on a cup before 1 year anyway, so go for milk and a cup. Does it really matter if they continue with bottles and formula, especially if it sets you up for a struggle? Healthy development is the goal.
SAHM of seven
My son was the same age when he did the SAME thing. I think he was just more interested in food than the milk. It made me crazy and I obsessed over it. That really did me no good. It didn't change what he drank. So, I just made sure he got a multivitamin and offered 4oz about every few hours. I also went straight to sippy cups and never looked back at bottles. He actually did better sitting at a table with the sippy than laying down with the bottle. Now that I think about it, maybe they have to work harder to get the milk out of a bottle and that's no fun. Who knows? But they do. They'll never let themselves starve. Good Luck!
I second the dumping of the baby bottles, she's ready for sippies or even a cup. How lucky since many kids can't kick the bottle habit and develop tooth problems.
Consult your pediatrician, but also consider switching to whole milk and a supplement now.
Another thing to consider is teething. She might be having some pain, and the bottle is aggravating it.
You could try an open cup or straw. Try feeding her formula before her foods, when she is hungry. She should have at least 24oz a day, but you can't really force it down her.
Have you tasted it K.? Formula tastes gross... all the corn syrup in the world doesn't mask this.
Since she is self-choosing food over formula, follow her lead. Give her water - which is healthier than formula - and offer her a liquid supplement like EmergenC or others (there are many)on a spoon or cup. Offer her milk, goat's milk or soy milk to see if she like these things - all are fortified.
Formula is simply a carrier for supplements to help a baby grow and develop. As a food it is neither healthy nor normal ~ it has fillers, corn syrup, and way more supplements than most babies need.
Consider: breast milk is not fortified and yet allows for a baby's growth and development easily :o)
