9 1/2 mths old weaned onto formula not taking enough

littlemissfixit

Hi all!
My little girl is 9 1/2 months old and I have just completed weaning her onto formula last week after exclusively breastfeeding her. I have done so very progressively, over about 8 weeks I would say, so she could adjust well. My concern is that she is not taking much formula, if I look at the guidelines of absolute minimum 16onz. Basically I struggle to get her to that amount if at all, most days its between 14-16, never more.
I have always fed on demand and have strong belief that it is the way to go, but I do not want her to lack in important nutrients. She was always BF frequently, every 2-3 hours during the day, and when I started replacing the feed with formula, she was only taking about 4onz at a time, never more, often less. I thought it would just take her time to adjust but its not going up, its going down.
I am looking if anybody encountered this problem and what did you try to get your little one to take more formula.
-She is taking it from a sippy cup, or lidless cup at mealtimes. She is well used to that as I started very early offering her a few sips from cups and sippy cups, so this is not a problem (I even tried swapping to a bottle as last resorts to see if she would drink more from that if it gave her a bit of comfort but she didn't)
-At the start she was still having 2 BF, morning and evening + 2 cups, so when we moved on it was 4 cups (always made 7onz but she never drank it), so I tried cutting down to 3, but that didn't work either, she was only getting less.
-So now I have tried offering it more often and I can just about fit 16onz in her day, but its constant milk drinking and I dont get to give her her water like I used to.
- I have also tried cutting down solids, but she didn't drink more and it was war!
Here's her routine at present if you have any ideas:
7am Milk 6onz (put the rest in her cereals)
8:30 cereals & fruits + few bits of toast to self feed
10:30 Nap (1 to 2 hrs)
11:30/12 Milk 2-3 onz max, snack of fruit
1:30 Lunch veg/meat/etc + Milk 2 onz + yogurt/fromage frais
2:30 Nap (1 h)
3:30 Milk 2-3 onz max, snack of rice cake/fruit or cheerios
5:00 Dinner + milk 2 onz
7:00 Bedtime + milk 2-3 onz max
I always give milk before the food, makes no difference. I try to incorporate a lot of calcium rich foods to compensate a bit and I am going to see the PHN to seek some advice from her. She is healthy and her weight is on track so my instinct says I shouldn't worry, but wouldn't it be great if I could get her to drink a good 20onz/day and forget about it!!
I am thinking of trying cutting it back to 3 feeds only a day for a few days again to see if she will take to that this time. Any suggestions??

willow tree

hiya,
i wont be much good to you (im ebf my 4 month old at the moment). are you giving her any breastfeeds? sometimes they only drink the minimum formula to keep them going until they get the breastmilk?
it sounds like you have good instincts so if you think alls well it probably is. also you have demand fed so your baby is probably good at following her instincts so if she only takes that much thats probably all she needs? sorry i couldnt be much help to you but hope you get advice you need.

prissylee

OP as you say her weight is on target and you seem to be offering good nutritious food throughout the day anyways, so I would not worry too much. I would as you suggest, try going back to the three bottles a day again. I weaned my son off completely at 6.5 mths as I was going back to work. He was on five feeds a day then, then four and now he only gets three bottles a day (6oz each) and he's almost 11 months. Once you're giving her good solids, she will get her nutrients from them. I think you might be trying to give her milk too often. They do say not to give milk at meal times as it fills them up too much...only a suggestion and I know you're finding it hard to fit in the required 16oz as it is. But see what your phn says and take it from there.

Good luck

Lola92

OP have you tried giving water only at meal times and milk in between? This is what works best with my daughter (almost 8 months) no way would she be able for a meal and formula at once!

fi1979

I found that when I weaned my daughter at 7 months, she never drank the recommended amount either! However she was eating well, so had the nutrition from her food rather than from the milk, and her weight was fine as was her development. Because of this, I myself felt that it wasn't an issue. Afterall they are guidelines, and the books do say not to worry if they aren't taking solids well, becasue they're not relying on it for their nutrition. Perhaps some kids transfer to solids more entirely earlier than others?
I would agree with the other poster though. I would count the formula as a seperate item from meals, and give it a a different time from the meals. probably a little water or juice at meal times.
I used to give her breakfast, then give her the bottle maybe and hour or more later, maybe before the morning nap? She'd have her lunch, then a bottle mid afternoon, her tea, then the bottle before bed.
They simply won't take the bottle if they're full, and particularly after breast feeding, I don't think they tend to be all that mad about the bottle.

littlemissfixit

Thanks all for all the inputs, sometimes just to put it out there hekps relax about it a bit. I suppose it is just strange because ever since BF was established, I never really gave a second thought about how much she was getting, its an adjustment for me too I guess.
So as I said, I reverted back to giving her cup less often to see what would happen and also to be able to give her water with her meals like I used to before I went obsess with formula counting
She is taking her full 7oz first thing in the morning and then about 3oz 3 times during the day... ok DD, I get the message, 16oz is all you want no matter in how many cups, and thats perfectly fine!

This is another matter entirely, but regarding yogurts and fromage frais for kids which she loves, aren't everyone amazed at how much sugar is in them. I found only one, the glenisk sugar free (and it taste just as good if not better, I have to stop myself from eating them too ), just dont see why they put so much junk in babies food when its completely unecessary!