milk intake drastically dropped - how to handle it??

[*Becky*]

DD has always been a very good eater. The last few days she has been hardly drinking her milk i.e. today 15oz as opposed to her normal 27. It is not teeth as she was cutting her first tooth last weekend and was still eating and drinking fine but DS has had a virus which left him with a poor appetite so I 'guess' it could be that.

I just wanted advice as to how to handle it really. She was on 4 bottles a day but we had decided to cut back to 3 just as this started. Is it ok to stick with 3 or do you think I should be offering 4 still???

Yesterday was a 3 bottle day and she took 15oz and then I went back to 4 today and she still took 15. Do you think just keep on with the 3? I worry about dehydration as she will not drink water out of her sippy.

Thanks

[Lolly]

If you think she is ill then I would stick with the 4 bottles until she is well again, it may be the same amount of milk but she will be having it more frequently which would probably be better for now if she is ill. Once you know she is well see how the milk intake is and re-evaluate.

HTH!

Laura

[*Becky*]

thanks laura xx

[*Becky*]

today she took 6oz of the am bottle but then 3 of the second and i really had to push to get her to take that which I don't want to do.....
She is not that ill, I am confused as to what to do. Do you think stick with 4 for another 3 days or so and then re assess?

[*Becky*]

so it went 6,3,4,7

the middle 2 were a struggle.....cannot tell if this is just her way of telling me she does not want 4 bottles!!??

[londonlady]

I think if you're happy she's not that unwell and she's eating solids ok, then maybe try the 3 tomorrow as you were saying she was taking the same volume... Just to see what happens yk?

Does she take any water with her meals? And can you add any milk into her meals tomorrow to bump her up?

xxx

[*Becky*]

she will not use her sippy so no, she does not have water. I do add milk to her cereal and I have been adding it in where I can. my mum has her today for the first time as we are out for lunch so will not make any changes but if still the same tomorrow then I will try 3 again.

She did drink all her bottle this am so that is something.
thanks Rach x

[*Becky*]

refused the 2 midday bottles - drank bedtime. Yikes, just do not know what to do here...

[*Becky*]

ok well after talking to DH we are just going to go to 3 bottles and 'try' giving her milk before her pm nap in the hopes that she will take it then...fingers crossed.

[Lolly]

I think that's your best bet really. Make sure you do it for at least a week to let her adjust to the new routine before you decide if it's working or not.

What type of sippy cup are you using?

Laura

[*Becky*]

a small pink tommee tippee one. I remember DS was the same and then one day when he was about 1 he picked it up and drank from it...

[londonlady]

Sofia has the same one. It's tricky because she needs it really full to be able to drink from it at the angle she can tip it to, but when it's full it's quite heavy for her to lift with 1 hand (which is how she seems to want to drink.) So I usually help her with it and she drinks a fair bit.   Have you tried any other cups - maybe a straw one?

Try not to panic about her milk intake. Is she still sleeping ok? I know a lot of other mums whose 8-9m olds are already down to 2 bottles and they're just making up the extra ounces where they can with dairy foods.

x

[Lolly]

I am a fan of the free flow tommee tippee cups - we still use them for drinks in front of the TV! Do you tip it up for her? We got ours to drink from them by letting them play with them, we showed them to tip them up onto their highchair trays and splash in the water and encouraged them to put their fingers in the water and into their mouths - messy but fun! We also tipped the cups for them when they put them near their mouths as they really didn't know what to do with them at first! They all do get the hang of it eventually though!

Laura

[*Becky*]

we are struggling along. I spoke to the HV yesterday and she seemed to say that anything over 15oz was just about ok.

We managed 5oz this am and i got 3 into her cereal. She just does not seem to even like seeing the bottle. She IS very whiny and has a lot of BM's so I suspect teeth but I cannot actually see anything.

[londonlady]

Hope the HV has given you some reassurance she is getting the nutrition she needs.  Teething is such a rubbish rubbish time. You almost wouldn't mind if they religiously sprouted a tooth each time they display all the symptoms, but more often than not it comes to nothing!! So frustrating.

Sending hugs and "OUT OUT TEETH" vibes. x