How do I get her to take full feeds? (8.5 months)

[momma.bear]

DD will be 9 months on the 25th, and has been struggling with milk feeds for months now. She was doing really well with solids (started at 5.5 months) but that only lasted about 6 weeks. Now she's to the point where she'll basically only eat cheese, cheerios, baby mum mums, and the odd piece of banana. She is resisting being spoon fed. I'm currently giving her 4 bottles, but I have to coax her to drink a full 6 oz. bottle at each feed. The best feed is the morning and evening, the worst is the 11am and 3pm where she'll usually drink 2 oz. and push it away. I'm wondering, do I switch her to 3 bottles a day? I have done this a few weeks ago and I can't say it made a real difference, but that was before she was being such a fussy eater with solids. Any advice to get her to drink her bottles without me having to constantly distract her would be very helpful!

[Lolly]

I would try 3 bottles again, so do first thing, and early lunch, bottle before nap and then bedtime bottle. If she is spoon refusing you can just give her finger foods BLW style. It could also be teeth that are putting her off food and sucking so it may be worth trying teething remedies/ pain meds to see if that helps.

Laura

[momma.bear]

Tried your suggestion today. This morning she took her 7 oz bottle with relatively not much fussing. But when I gave her a bottle at 1:30 before her nap this afternoon, she only drank 2 oz. and refused the rest. I then gave her the other 5 oz. at 3pm when she woke up, but most of those 5 oz. was forced (as in I had to totally distract her and she pushed the bottle out of her mouth at least a dozen times). Now what?

[Lolly]

Can you post your EASY with times and amounts of milk and solids for us to see please?

Laura

[momma.bear]

Each day is different, but I'll do today's for you to see:

6:30 wake up and 7 oz. formula
7:00-7:30 sleep
8:00 breakfast: few slices of banana and a few cheerios, about 1 Tbsp fruit puree with oatmeal that I snuck in
9:30-11:00 nap
11:30 lunch: half a slice of toast with cheese, 1 Tbsp. fruit/veggie puree that I snuck in her and about 2 Tbsp. pear in her snack feeder
1:30 2 oz. formula
1:45-3:00 nap
3:00 5 oz. formula
4:00 baby mum mum with 1 Tbsp. fruit/veggie puree
4:30-5:00 cat nap (almost never do this but she had a poor PM nap)
5:30 dinner baby mum mum and a few bites of a broccoli/cheese muffin
6:00 7 oz. bottle, usually starts it with dinner and finishes by bedtime
6:30 bedtime

[Lolly]

She's not having much A time for an 8.5 month old - I think if you stretch those A times and she is having more activity you may find she is actually a bit hungrier. Have a look at this link which gives you some sample routines for her age, she should be having at least 3 hours between naps by now really http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=164030.0

I don't think her intake is too bad really, she had about 20oz of formula which is the minimum they recommend but she had some dairy in her food too which counts towards her intake. I would have a look at the link and see if you can get her on a more age appropriate napping/ eating routine and see if that helps. How are your nights?

What do you think?

Laura

[momma.bear]

Looking at the sample EASY for 9 month olds in that link, she's similar with 3-3.5 hr. A times. I'm not sure stretching them would help, as she is extremely tired by the time I put her down, and is asleep within a minute. I already stretch her A times as is. I realize she is getting enough milk, I just wish it was easier to get her to drink.

[Lolly]

On the routine you posted she's not getting that length of A time though - she had 30 mins first thing, then 2 hours, then 2hrs 45 mins, then 1.5 hours then another 1.5 hours just before bed. I know you need to reduce A time after a short nap but usually by 30/40 mins.

Has she always struggled to drink her milk or is it a new thing? Does she have reflux?

Laura

[momma.bear]

Sorry, I should have let you know that it was not a typical day. She normally only has a nap around 9:45am and then 1:45pm, that's it until bed time. She started struggling to drink milk at about 6 months of age.

[Lolly]

What type bottles and what flow teat are you using?

Laura

[momma.bear]

Medela or Playtex bottles with fast flow teats. She'll occasionally drink out of a sippy cup or straw as well but she'll never drink more than 3 oz. in a sitting.