moving to bottle at 11 months. how much is too much?

[*Sandra*]

My daughter is almost 11 months and I have started formula last week.  She has had bad reflux that seems to be under control now but it has affected her eating in a bad way.  She eats carbs (puffs, breadsticks, cereal) and drinks breastmilk or formula.

She is currently have 2 bottles and 2 breastfeeds during the day and then one breastfeed at night she drinks about 7 ounces per bottle and is spending a lot more time on the breast than she use to so I assume she is having a lot there too.  Is this way too much?  I try to feed her lots of solids but she isn't very interested.  if I withhold a bottle or breast she will just scream and cry, not eat more solids.

Should I be on the solids board?  Confused

[*Liz*]

At 11 mths Megan was having 3 x 8oz bottles a day - when we dropped to just one nap I dropped a bottle and she now has 2 x 8oz bottles.

By contrast DS was on 3 bottles at 11 mths, of roughly 4oz, 5oz and 7oz before bed.

I think your quantities sound completely fine, and likely she is just being a bit slow onto solids due to the reflux. DS was a food refusing refluxer and it did get better when I finally dropped a bit of milk. He only dropped his night bottle at 11.5 mths though.

Both of mine went to the bottle later as well - DS at 7mths and DD at 9mths.

HTH 

[Lolly]

I wouldn't say she is having too much milk, but she is having more milk than some babies her age so it could be that her milk intake isn't helping her solids intake IYSWIM!

Both my refluxers were bottle fed, and both were on 3 bottles by 11 months which seems to be the "norm" for formula fed babies, breastfed babies do keep more feeds for longer, I think 4 at this age is about right (but check with the breastfeeding board on that one!). It may be worth thinking about weaning the nightfeed, at her age she should be able to take enough calories in the day but that's up to you really.

I will move you over to the feeding solid food board though!

Laura

[*Sandra*]

Thank you!  I feel a bit better.  I worry she'll never eat well but I've never heard of a kindergarten student only taking bottles

When are these bottles?  We are down to one nap (usually) and our feeding schedule is currently
1. wake up aprox 6 or 6:30 and breastfeed
2. 9:30/10 - I try to push this bottle but she gets so upset
nap at around 12:30
3. 2/2:30 breastfeed
4. 6:30/7 bottle

I'd like to merge the 10 and 2 feeds into one just before nap but she just can't wait!

Liz, I definitely think the lack of food is due to reflux. I just wish it would get better. 

[~inbalance~]

(((hugs))) I think Liz and Laura have better bottle advice that me, but with regards to solids you just have to keep offering and stay relaxed.  DS2 was a refluxer too and did not eat a lot much before 13mos.  You really have to move along at their pace when it comes to solids. 

[Hedgehog17]

Just following along, another food-refusing refluxer here 

DS won't eat pureed veg (unless it's mixed with fruit and sweet) and is getting increasingly fussy about finger foods and being spoon fed. I have to introduce everything slowly because he's MPI and has eczema.

He loves his milk and would drink gallons of water if I let him!

Mealtimes are becoming a battle (he only excited about his beaker of water) and I feel like I'm getting it all wrong 

Would it be better to just stop trying solids and only bottle feed him for a while, or just give him formula in his cup at mealtimes? 

[*Sandra*]

Hedgehog, my daugher wont even take water. I'm lucky if I can get her to take a tiny sip!  I would think that much water would be bad because it is filling him up on water but I'm not sure.  I don't think that it is that unusual that he prefers sweet thing (my daughter seems to like salty - ie crackers) and I would keep mixing the veg with fruit, at least that way he is getting everything.  My son is 4 and only starting to eat vegetables aside from cucumbers and carrots which he always ate but he was always a big fruit eater.

My DD barely touches fruit or vegetables, I'm glad to hear that it is normal for refluxers though.  I guess a few more months of mostly formula and breastmilk wont do her any harm.At least I have a dog to eat all the food that she throws on the floor

[Lemonthyme]

Just a thought as your LO is approaching 12 months it's an idea to get onto a sippy cup anyway and if you change to that you might find she has less and then starts getting more interested in solids?

Have you tried making the solids milky?  E.g. porridge, fish pie, yoghurt etc, etc?

[*Sandra*]

Put her formula in a sippy?  I was debating trying that.  I could attempt it for a mid day bottle and see what happens.

We were outside for a while today and it was HOT and she would only play with the sippy cup (maybe taking a few sips).  I came home and gave her a bottle with formula with 3 ounces (two hours before her next bottle was due) she drank the whole thing and she was still thirsty so I put water in the bottle but she would barely touch it.  Two hours later she took a full 8 ounce bottle and maybe could have even have more but she was getting so sleepy that I put her down without making more and she went straight to sleep.  But she ate less solids at dinner than she has been for the last few days.  But it's hot and she needs to hydrate herself. what would everyone else have done?

[Lemonthyme]

I think some babies get attached to bottles because it's comforting to suck on them.  It took a while for my LO to take milk from a sippy but now takes 120-150ml (4-5 ounces).  It's worth getting your head around that it's all he needs with all the rest of the dairy stuff he has in a day.

To get my LO used to drinking from a sippy as he'd never been great at it, I put one containing water out all day (I put a clean refilled one out from time to time).  As it's just water not juice it won't harm his teeth and that way even if it's only a few sips at a time, he keeps hydrated.  I also put it on a low table within his reach and he now picks it up and drinks from it himself.

[*Sandra*]

I have had a sippy cup out all the time for months already.  Actually, yesterday night she finally put it to her mouth and tipped it up but I'm still not sure if she was playing or drinking, either way it was good!

My daughter has reflux and we are still not sure if she has a dairy issue so I don't actually give her any dairy.  Her formula is soy as she doesn't seem to have any issues with that.  So, she is not actually getting any dairy at all.  She really eats mostly carbs.