[Kalbert]

Good afternoon

A quick question for you all.

I have a 7 month old daughter and she has been on solids since about4 months (only started small though). She is obsessed with food and will snatch it out of your hand or off your plate to feed herself. She is unbelievable. She can hold her own spoon and feeds herself and is starting to get the chewing motion down pat.

We've never fed her many meals. She would get two solid servings a day, and maybe some fruit as a snack.

The past week, she is refusing most of her bottles. I have tried everything from different bottles, to heating them up, cooling them down etc. She might only drink 30mL's of it and then shoves it out of her mouth. For the past three days, we have stopped giving her solids so she isn't replacing solids with her formula coz I know she still needs the formula.

She is still refusing bottles and it is to the point now where we can't eat in front of her coz she will crack it and get upset when we don't give her any.

I don't know what to do. Any ideas? She's always been really advanced for her age and she's a healthy weight so I'm not concerned there. I'm just worried she is self-weaning herself away from bottles. She might only have 1 or 2 a day now and not a whole one.

Thank you so much for your help.

Kat :-)

[lucky 2]

Is she crying with the bottle, could she have a sore throat?
Could you start trying formula in a cup, even try giving it cold in the cup, maybe she could take it in smaller amounts but more frequently that way (that said, my dd was not good with a cup until >10 months but if you baby is advanced then ?
Short term you could also put some formula into some of her food, ie breakfast/porridge and get it into her in that way.
All the best.

[howdo]

If she is getting a balanced diet, why does she still need a lot of formula?

If you stop her solids meals and she refuses her formula as well, she's not getting enough to eat at all.

by 7-8 months DD1 who was also advanced, early developer etc etc was having 3 square meals and two snacks. She was down to maybe 2 half bottles a day. I had a bottle of water at the ready all day and transitioned that to a sippy cup gradually by 12 months. She was weaned from bottles by 13 months.

I spoke to the GP who indicated that if she was eating a wide range of foods and having meals with the family then formula once or twice a day was adequate.

I think DD1 simply didn't like the taste of formula once she'd been exposed to much tastier food! Check with your GP or MCHN, but I wouldn't stress over the amount of formula if she is eating a lot, just ensure she gets enough fluids. DD1 drank a lot of water from about 8 months.

This post has been edited by howdo: 02/01/2013, 01:07 PM

[Kalbert]

Thank you all.

She doesn't cry when offered the bottle, she just shuts her lips and refuses to take it. Or when she does, she only has a tiny bit and then pulls away, shutting her lips up really tight.

She drinks a lot of water and I have these wherever she is.

I think what PP said, I think the taste of formula would be pretty bland compared to what she is eating now.

I've got her booked in to see our GP next week so I will talk to him and see what he thinks.

I just read somewhere that solids before 12 months are just for fun and not to rely on them. So, I'm worried she may be missing out on nutrients but she would rather just eat what we're eating. Including meat, dairy, vegies, fruit etc.

Thanks for your help :-)

[KRT]

At that age, DS was on three good meals, and four BFs. He wasn't very keen at all on the BFs and was just as happy with only three short feeds as with four. It got worse and worse up to 9 months, when he suddenly started asking for BFs again and feeding much more effectively. Solids intake didn't slow down at all.

I would keep offering both, but not worry about it.