Not sure what to do about milk intake. Please help!

[a_astorga]

Hi,

I've posted before about this subject, but I'll see if I can get more advice.
My son is 7 months old, weighs about 23 pds. He was 1 month premature though. Anyway I'm confused on how much milk I should feed him.

Here's our daily thing:

6- 6.30 am   Wake
7:30             5 oz. milk
8:00             Breakfast  4-5 tbsp.
Bath and Nap
11-11.30       5 oz milk
12:00            Lunch      4-5 tbsp
Nap
3:30              5 oz. milk
5:00              Dinner     4-5 tbsp
6.30-7.00       Bedtime with a 5oz bottle
1:00 am         5 oz. bottle

So as you can see he's getting about 25 oz at the most of breastmilk and formula. Is this OK? The problem is it is so hard to make him finish his 5 oz. bottle and sometimes he'll just drink like 2 oz. So he drinks more like 21-22 oz. Like tonite before bedtime, he just doesn't want it. It is such a struggle when it's time for his bottle. I'm started to dread it so much. To get him to finish the bottle I have to sing, take him outside, distract him, etc.
I'm worried because I read eveywhere how he is supposed to drink lots of milk, etc. So is this enough? If he doesn't want it should I respect that? Should I skip dinner and just make him be hungry for his bedtime bottle?
Should I just give him cereal every day and mix it with milk so he can get more fluids, cause if I mix it with fruit, it will get to runny.
When do they stop drinking milk like they're drinking now? When does it stop being such a big deal if they don't drink their milk? This milk situation just started about 1 month ago and at first I wouldn't make him drink his milk until I read about the milk and how many oz. they should drink for their age.

Which is funny because before 6 months he would drink 4 or more oz every 2-2.5 hours. But that's another story.

So my parents are like well if he doesn't want any milk, don't feed him, because he doesn't like it. Or my ped, that says give him a better flavoured formula so he would want to drink it. (He currently drinks thawed breastmilk which I just found out it doesn't taste that good after being thawed and Nutramigen which basically tastes like dogfood.) So what I started doing is adding a little bit of rice cereal to either one for a sweeter taste. Today he did better except at nite.

So any suggestions? Thanks

[annamum]

I think that if you feed him solids with table spoons and its 4 to 5 tbsp for each meal, I am not surprised he doesn't want to have too much milk. I think it may be too much for his system to have so much food. I remember that you should aim at giving them 1-2 table spoons or 4 teaspoons at the feeding. Your son is 7 months so he has just started solids, I guess. You don't need to strive to have him so much on solids just yet, milk is still more important right now. You can relax about his milk intake closer to 10 monhts, although 12 months is a recommended age to stop formula and switch to cow's milk.

BTW, is there a reason for him to be on Nutramigen? Does he have a milk intolerance?

[a_astorga]

For a long time he did have an allergy to the cow protein in my breastmilk. And I went on the non dairy diet with some luck for a couple of weeks then he started to act up again and it turned out to be an intestinal malrotation, with some obstruction that had to be burned off from his lower intestine. After that the pediatric surgeon told me to give him my breastmilk since he thought this would be ok to do after the surgery. But my ped said to give him formula and then test the bm. So for many months I was on this awful diet and froze all my milk and started feeding him this with no problem at all and then I went off the diet(too weak too continue) and gave him no diet bm and turned out find. So I have one case of Nutramigen left and will start a new formula soon. Not sure which one is the best. However because babies with these malrotation conditions suffer from digestive problems, I'm afraid to switch alltogether. So not sure what to do about the milk situation. I have started feeding him less solids and thinking of giving him his 3rd solid at 4 and then he will hopefully be hungry at bedtime. BTW he was 4.5 months when he was operated and started solids at 5.5.

Thanks

[annamum]

Oh, so sorry to hear about the problems you both had. I can easily understand how hard it was to be on a diet.

Can't help you with choice of formula, though, am no expert on this. I just asked about Nutramigen because this is a brand of formula I was fed as an infant (milk intolerance).

And yes, I remember you, you are the one whose EMB turned bad  :cry: .

Good luck!

[Seona1973]

I dont know how milk intake amounts differ between countries but in the UK there is a recommended minimum of 20 ounces per day from the age of 6 months inclusive of milk used in cereal, in foods, etc. In this case I would see no problem with the amount of milk your lo is having. You can always put milk in his food or make milky puddings e.g. custard

[a_astorga]

Thanks so much.
I feel much better now.

[a_astorga]

So I'm trying feeding him 2 tablespoons of solids after his bottle. But I have to do it right away after his bottle cause it takes me 45 min. to feed him his bottle and then he has to nap soon, so I don't have time to wait and then feed him his solids. I do it right away.

However I noticed that he doesn't mind how my milk tastes. I was giving him my milk, he started grunting and closing his lips and then I tried the formula the ped told me to try (it's sweet) and he didn't want that either. So I fed him the milk with a spoon and he would open up no problem. So what the heck is that?

Confused again.

[tylersmommy]

I agree with Monika...it sounds like you might need to cut back on his solids. It's hard to get the right balance of solids and breastmilk/formula, and it often changes from day to day. I'm wondering why it takes so long for him to finish a bottle? 45 min is quite awhile. It could be that he isn't hungry (which could be helped by cutting back on solids). It almost sounds like he isn't into drinking from the bottle, for whatever reason. Is the nipple size big enough? He may not like having to work that hard to eat if it isn't. Or maybe he'd prefer a sippy cup (at this age, you'd just offer it in your arms, like a bottle).

Keep us posted!

[a_astorga]

I have tried offering him the sippy cup, no go, I've used Avent, and other brands of nipples but Gerber seems to be the one he likes more, even though he doesn't really like it. We have all kinds of sizes, brands of nipples, it's like a nipple collection here.
Could it be that he is teething and that's why he prefers to be fed by spoon? And what about at nite (in the middle of the night is never any problem). I'm giving him 2 tbsp. of solid now and wondering if I should stop solids alltogether.