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Houston Babies
Moms w/ babies that didn't drink a lot of milk...
This is a little long...
E is a small baby at 5%height & 13%weight right now. I always thought E was drinking a ton of milk while BFing because it seems like it was what I did all day long.
However, when I went back to work and started pumping, I realized that she was barely drinking 22-24oz. per day. At the time (4 months) the pedi said that as long as she gets at least 20 oz AND maintains weight/growth AND has plenty of wet diapers that I shouldn't worry about it.
I started solids at 6 months. She will eat pretty much anything, but will not eat a lot. It took her weeks before she could finish an entire jar of anything.
At that time she started to drink a little less milk per day and over the past few months had dropped down to about 18 oz per day. At her 9 month appt., the pedi wasn't real happy about that, but since she is growing/gaining weight, plenty of wet diapers, etc, he said I should just continue to offer it to her all day long trying to get in as many ounces as I can.
So, one week ago we started introducing a mixture of formula & BM to transition her before we leave on our trip. She has transitioned really and never seemed to notice or mind the difference.
However, she is barely drinking 16 oz per day. With her being 10 months old--is this enough?? I know what my pedi says, but did any of you have babies that were drinking such small amounts of BM or formula per day? I can't tell if it's because she eating more and more solids and just is too full for more milk or something else.
I just need some reassurance that this is okay--if it's not, how do I force feed her?
It's not that she doesn't like it, it's almost like she gets bored . She will drink a few sips, throw it down and go play. I keep giving it back to her and she'll repeat this until she's finished the entire bottle. An 8oz bottle can take her almost 2 hours to finish.
In addition to her bottles, I've tried sippy cups w/ 3 different kinds of lids and cups with straws, etc.
What do you guys think? No big deal or what?
TIA!
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Moms w/ babies that didn't drink a lot of milk...
At our 1 year appt, our pedi said that DS shouldn't be having over 16 ounces of milk (so he doesn't get full on that and not eat "real" food). I think she is just working up to that. 16 ounces sounds ok. Is she eating table foods, too, along with baby food? We tend to give DS a warmed sippy of milk in the morning as soon as he wakes up. He drinks while we change his diaper and put on his clothes. He seems most thirsty at this time (just waking up), so he'll take down whatever we give him (usually just like 6 ounces). This might be a good time of the day to see if she'll drink any more. This is the only time that he will drink a whole sippy in one sitting. Any other time it's only a few drinks and he's done. So, I wouldn't worry about it. Just keep offering it and keep up with the baby food and table foods. Offer other things similar (cheese, yogurt, etc.) to fill in spaces if you feel like she is not consuming enough actual milk.
She sounds like she is still on track, although small, so I wouldn't stress out too much about it. She will start and stop eating when she is hungry, now. I wouldn't try to force anything - might just produce an even more negative reaction.
ETA: I noticed DS tended to drink more with the soft silicone top type sippies (munchkin), so we stuck with those, although annoying to keep putting together!
Under 11-12 months, I think their main source of lqiuds, fat and nutrient is from formula/BM and so I agree with your pedi that she should be drinking AT LEAST 20 oz. I have read that it should be a min of 24oz from a few sources. With that said, I feel your pain. DD2 is chubby and so I'm not as stress but she hates drinking from a bottle. She can probably eat 3 jars of food in a feeding if I let her though.
I would suggest try switching to a different nip level if you're not on level 3 already. So then she'll drink a lot more in a shorter period of time. Also, I sometimes pretty much rock her to sleep and then when she's asleep I feed her a bottle. From doing this, she gets 24-28 oz a day (4 bottles - 6-7oz each time). If I let her have her way, she would only drink probably 15oz a day (which can also lead to dehydration). Also a side note, not sure if it's the same as BM, but I was always told that formula after an hour of drinking has to be thrown away because it can form bacteria.
Honestly...now that she's only a couple of months away from switching over to whole milk, I wouldn't worry too much, but maybe try to get her to eat some table food to build a good eating habit prior to switching to milk.
if she won't take a sippy, try making the hole in the nipple bigger. Marion was the exact opposite, when we introduced whole milk, the kid was drinking close to 30 ounces (and eating three meals a day.) But we definitely went through that bored stage. She would just rather be running around than sitting and having a bottle (especially since we always made it a point to bottle nurse her instead of just leaving the bottle with her.)
Have you tried the born free sippy cups? Those trainer cups were our best transition cup.
j+k+m+e | running with needles
DD only takes 15-18 oz/ day at 7 months and pedi is perfectly happy with that. DD is also quite petite only weighing 14 lbs at 7 months. She has always been in the 5-10% for height and weight. She is completely healthy.
DS was not much of a drinker either and I don't recall him ever taking more than 20 oz day. Pedi was fine with him as well and he has always been healthy.