Tired of freaking out about milk intake!

[lizzymac99]

My daughter is just over 9 months old and weighs about 16 pounds now (she has always been small) and has never been a great milk drinker.  She has been on breastmilk since birth and around 5 months of age her milk intake leveled off.  I have been pumping and giving her milk in bottles since shortly after birth because I had a scare with her losing weight 3 weeks after birth and have had a touchy milk supply at times.  Anyway her intake leveled off well before we started her on solids to about 20 oz a day (she just never would take more than this for me).  I dropped her to 4 bottles a day at that time because she just didn't seem to be hungry enough for her bottles - this helped for a little while and then she started to seem less interested in her bottles again.

She eats solids fairly well but her milk intake doesn't seem to depend on solid intake at all.  I have just dropped her to 3 bottles a day now because she was refusing the 2nd bottle of the day for several weeks, I tried to increase the volume of each bottle instead.  She is now more interested in the bottles again however I can't seem to get her to take more than 5 to 6 ounces at a time EVER.  I am worried sick about her low intake all the time but you just can't force a baby to drink when they don't want to. Anyway between the milk I can get her to drink and what I manage to "hide" in her cereal she takes about 16 to 18 oz a day.  the same amount as she was taking with 4 bottles a day really but now she drinks it more readily with the bottles spaced further apart.  Since she turned 8 months I have been giving her yogurt and cheese and so she also now takes in about 4 oz of additional dairy also - but is that ok??  Someone please tell me that her intake is fine for her age and size so I can relax and stop stressing out so much

Our current routine looks like this:
Awake 630
E 700 (5 to 6 oz bottle)
E 800 (breakfast - cereal w breastmilk, prunes, toast & creamcheese)
S 930 (she has just started dropping this to 40 mins as she gets older)

A 10:10
E11:30 (chicken and veggies, yogurt)
E 1:30 (5 to 6 oz bottle)
S 1:45

A3:30/4:00 ish
E 5:00 (meat & veggies, yogurt, cheese)
Bathtime and bottle (5 to 6 oz) @ 7:00pm
S 7:30pm

[Lolly]

Is she growing steadily, having plenty of wet and dirty nappies and meeting her milestones? I'm assuming "yes" to all of those, so  if that's the case she is taking what she needs .

The recs are for a minimum for 20oz a day from 6 months but this does include the dairy in food, so with her liquid intake and the dairy in her food she is getting that.

If she wasn't taking enough in the day she would be waking for feeds at night - how are your nights going?

Laura

[lizzymac99]

Nights are great with her, she has slept through the night 10 to 11 hours since she was 10 weeks old - she also never took to a dreamfeed so she sleeps solid through those hours.  I guess I worry because of all these "guidelines" that she never seems to meet when it comes to milk intake.  She has wet and dirty diapers all the time and has been (slowly) steadily gaining weight - about a pound a month even after 6 months old.  She loves water but I only give her a few sips from her cup with meals as I want her to be hungry and thirsty enough for her bottles.  Part of me thinks she just needs a bit less though because she is a few pounds smaller than the average 9 month old?

[Lolly]

It sounds like she knows what she needs and is doing well! Stop worrying (well, try to anyway ), offer her milk and food and let her take what she needs!

Laura

[*jazzberry*]

My ds2 and dd have always been on the low side for milk intake too. At the end of the day I don't think there is much you can do about it - ds2 always took what he wanted (less than 20oz) and I gave him cheese and yoghurt to try and make it up. With dd I don't worry - she takes about 20oz formula at most, and like you say, food intake doesn't make a difference to the amount she will drink (she weighs 17lbs12oz so is on the slim side too). DS2 is turning out just fine and presumably so will she so try not to worry - just keep doing what you are doing, sounds fine to me!

[lizzymac99]

Thanks everyone, I think I worry because this is my first baby so I want to do things "right".  Silly I know, I should just chill out and enjoy her 

[dizzy]

I am worried about the milk intake for my lo as well. He is 23 weeks and averages 24-26 oz in 24 hours and has been like this for a while. I am worried that I will start solids and he will drink even less. He does have 6 bottles still but am not sure how to change this as he drinks most of his milk at night and doesn't sleep through as he is hungry. He has a 7.00 pm feed a df at 10.30 pm and wakes and is hungry anywhere between 3.30 am and 4.30 am. He drinks more at night than in the day.

[*jazzberry*]

Dizzy - you may get more eyes on your problem if you start a new thread on this board

[*Kara*]

I am worried about the milk intake for my lo as well. He is 23 weeks and averages 24-26 oz in 24 hours and has been like this for a while. I am worried that I will start solids and he will drink even less. He does have 6 bottles still but am not sure how to change this as he drinks most of his milk at night and doesn't sleep through as he is hungry. He has a 7.00 pm feed a df at 10.30 pm and wakes and is hungry anywhere between 3.30 am and 4.30 am. He drinks more at night than in the day.

Start your own thread hun and will we have a dig for some solutions

[jennbk]

I'm so glad I read this!  My 9 mo ds is the exact same way!  I have always struggled to get him to nurse and take more than 4-5 oz at a time!  But the kicker is, I still DF him!! I just posted a new thread about his because I want to "do things right" too!  He eats fairly well and is about 22lbs, so I think it's okay.  But some days he has less than 15 per day!

Hope you can find some way to worry less