Only drinking 12 oz. of milk a day

[Mydreamcametrue]

Hello:  I hope I have posted in the right spot.

My son is 11 1/2 months old and we have recently tried switching to whole milk.  Even before that, but more so now he is only drinking about 10 to 12 oz. of milk a day.  I know according the guidelines they should still have about 16 to 24.  I do give him cheese and yogurt.  He will have about 4 oz. of yogurt and maybe one little cube of cheese a day.

He has never been a big eater and has always drank on the low end of the recommended amount, but I am really starting to worry about him.

He does not even show an interest in eating either.  I have taken him to the doctor and they have done blood work and everything is fine.  They said he could just be teething REALLY bad.  All he does is whines all day long :-( 

Any advice.  Is this normal when they are teething.  This has been going on for over 3 weeks now!!!

Thanks,
Wendy

[*Natasha*]

Is he still having milk in a bottle or in a cup?
At what times do you offer milk?

[* Paula *]

Wendy,

I can tell you that when Thomas was teething really badly he would not take any milk at all.  He had bottle strikes that lasted up to 5 days long.  You cannot force them, and they do not have the capacity to starve themselves, and will eat when they are hungry.

I gave up on worrying that Thomas was not taking any milk, and he soon started taking it again.

Have you tried rubbing some teething gel on his gums before a bottle?

Sorry I can't give you much advice, but just know that you are not alone.

Paula x

[Mydreamcametrue]

What a night.  We just got back from the emergency room and now know that Zach has a Viral Infection.  His doctor was really worried because he was not drinking anything and was barely having wet diapers. 

He got fluids in an IV and they did blood work to determine it is a viral infection.


SO I am assuming this a large part of the reason why he was not driking his milk, but even before all this he had started to slack off a lot.  Maybe 15 oz. a day (if that)

Natasha:  He is drinking his milk from a bottle.  I was giving it to him in a cup in the morning with breakfast and then a bottle before Nap (1), Bottle before Nap (2) and Bottle before bed.

He would drink about 2/3 oz. in a cup at breakfast
- 3/4 oz. in a bottle before Nap 1 at about8:30/9:00
- 3/4 oz. bottle at about 1"30/2:00
- About 3 oz. before bed.

I can't even remember the last time he had a 6 oz. bottle

Since he has been sick, he want even drink that at all. 

Tom Tom's Mum:  Thanks for the encourgement.  It is tough..  Maybe he was not taking in only 15 oz. or so before because of teething and now of course because he is sick that is why he is not drinking.

I thought maybe there was just something that I was doing wrong....

HAVE EITHER ONE OF YOU TRIED A FOLLOW UP FORMULA?  I WAS THINKING ABOUT DOING THAT INSTEAD OF WHOLE MILK, ESPCIALLY NOW SINCE HE HAS BEEN SICK AND NOT EATING.

Thanks!!!
-Wendy

[gabriels mum]

Hi Wendy

Just wanted to say sorry your LO is unwell at the moment, and hope he is on the mend soon!!  But also, just  to let you know you really are not alone with trying to get your LO to drink milk!

I have ALWAYS struggled to get my DS to drink milk (see my many, many posts on this!).  He is not quite 10months old, and usually only takes around 12oz a day (although I make up approx 28oz each day, so it's not that I'm not offering it!)

I have tried everything to increase this, and so try to mix in as much as possible with food, give yogurts etc, etc, and have concluded that he just doesn't like it very much!

I would also say, that as long as your LO is gaining weight and is happy, then he is getting all the nutrients he needs.  But I would try switching to Follow on milk, as it has more iron in it than stage 1, and one mum on one of the posts even found her LO's milk intake increased when she made the switch, as she thinks she preferred the taste!

My HV tells me not to worry about his milk, and as long as he is eating well, then they will get the nutrients they need.  But I do know what an utter nightmare it is, as we have struggled from 6 weeks (when I stopped bf), so we've had months and months of this!

Good Luck!

Gabriels Mum

[* Paula *]

Wendy I am so sorry to hear that your lo is not well.  I hope he is on the mend soon. 

I know that virul infections can seriously decrease their appetites.

We tried the follow on formula, but must say that we did not have any joy with it.  It was a lot thicker, and DS found it hard to get through the teats.  I even tried making extra holes in the teats but he still was not having it so we ended up putting him back to stage 1.

To be honest, I do think that there are lo's out there that are just not fussy on their milk.  I dropped Thomas down to 2 bottles at around 9 months old.  He is now on Cows mik - switched just before he turned when our HV gave the go ahead and we have not looked back since.  He will take about 9oz in the morning including cereal, and will drink a full bottle in the evening around 10.5oz.  He really does enjoy the cows milk.

[Mydreamcametrue]

Thanks everyone for the encourgement.  It always seems like it is SOMETHING, you know.  Zach was a very colicky baby and was on a hypoallergenic formula for the first 9 mos, then we switched to Lacto-Free.  He has always taken the "lower" amount of the recommened formula.  Anyhow...  I guess I just want worry anymore.  I do offer cheese and yogurt. 

The only thing I was worried about was him not being a big eater.  Even before all this sickness, he never was that big of a eater.  I can't remember the last time he finished a bottle and he never would take a whole jar of baby food. 

Just to give you an example:  He may only eat 1/ 2 little cubes of cheese, 2 meat sticks (Gerber) or a few bites of sandwich.

Like you Gabriels Mum:  It is not like I am not offering it to him.  Is you lo on formula?  What kind? 

We did make the transition to whole milk about 2 weeks ago, but the doctor told me to go back to formula since he is having these other issues.

Does anyone know if there is a Post out there about follow up formula?  My gut tells me to give it a try, but then again I could be wrong!!!

Thanks everyone!!
-Wendy

[* Paula *]

Hi Wendy,

There is a sticky topic in the bottle feeding section - 6 Month Follow On Formula - It was started by Callums mum - I know she has hd a lot of response to it, so you might find it helpful.

HTH.

Paula x