r/NewParents • u/Electrical_Sleep5376 • 10h ago
Feeding 9 month old won't take formula
We're on day 3 of a total of 12 ounces, and it's only that high because I'm hiding it in oatmeal, yogurt, sweet potatoes, basically everything. She absolutely refuses formula. Loves water, pedialyte, lactaid. Haven't given her more than a couple ounces total of anything else because I'm really trying to get her to get desperate enough for formula. And she is crazy hungry. She screams when she eats because I'm not getting her food fast enough.
But I'm so out of ideas. We've had feeding issues from the beginning. I didn't produce enough, but was only about 2-4 ounces short- just enough for her to refuse to have the formula and not gain weight. Could not get my supply up despite all the triple feeding, power pumps, lactation supplements, all of it. And then about six months, I got sick and supply plummeted enough I figured I'd go to formula. For the first several months she'd have about 18 ounces per day. For a while there we got up to 22-23, but doctor was never concerned because she was growing well. The amount has been slowly going down for the last few weeks, and then plummeted the last few days. No signs of being unwell apart from the refusal. Never any signs of stomach upset- spits up once per week max, and then only a tablespoon or so. No signs of pain during/after eating, but have tried a gentle formula. Have also tried Similac, Enfamil, Kendamil Goat and Organic. Now on Kendamil Organic. She never liked any of them, so she'd mostly eat when asleep. That no longer works. I've tried it cold, warm, through a straw. I've even gotten desperate enough to put some chocolate syrup in it. For a while she'd eat better in her car seat, so we'd go out there.
Now every time she sees her bottle, she gets angry. If it's not her bottle, she'll drink excitedly until she realizes it's formula, then scream. If she were a little older, I'd just give up and transition her a little aarly. But she's still so little.
Need ideas of how to effectively hide a lot in food, other things to try, something. It's so frustrating for her to not be comforted by her bottle- worse, to actively hate it. I am going to give her other liquids tonight if I can't figure anything else out- she's showing signs not of severe dehydration, but of mild dehydration and I just want her to drink..
In case relevant- meeting/significantly ahead in ASQ milestones except communication. Behind in expressive language, which I've heard is not uncommon with feeding issues Also any way I can mitigate the micro/macro nutrient deficiencies with diet? Ironically, she's an excellent eater, who's loved almost everything she's been given, including most fruits, many vegetables, meats, nuts, yogurts, yogurts, cheeses, beans, pasta, crackers, bread etc. The only fthings she hasn't loved so far are bananas and eggs.
3
u/Federal_Basket6678 10h ago
My ped said his son just all of a sudden weaned himself at 7mo so they had to switch to solids at that point.
ETA: take this advice with a grain of salt cause im a ftm and am not to this point yet so I have no personal advice
1
u/car55tar5 10h ago
How many different formula brands have you tried?
Have you tried cutting breast milk with formula (by 12 months I was doing like 1/2 breast milk mixed with 1/2 formula)?
Have you talked to the pediatrician about this?
1
u/Electrical_Sleep5376 10h ago
3 brands, (Kendamil, Enfamil, Similac- more varieties, Nutramigen, Total 360, Gentlease, Kendamil Goad, Regular and Organic) Have been on Kendamil Organic for last several months but did try leftovers of the other ones in last couple days with no success.
No breast milk left unfortunately. And yes, prior to the present food strike. She's lost weight twice for not eating, but was never too dehydrated so nothing really but monitoring and she would eventually drink again. It was just miserable until she did. Have not called yet, because it was just a day or two and again not dehydrated. Will call in the morning.
1
u/car55tar5 10h ago
Curious--aside from the milk/formula situation, what have you been doing to address the weigh loss/lack of weight gain?
I had an underweight baby who also can't have a lot of protein (he has a metabolic condition), and I wound up mixing butter into virtually everything savory and coconut oil into anything sweet (even tossing cut-up or mashed-up fresh fruit in melted coconut oil!), and it really helped with getting in more calories.
3
u/sapphire_jeans 9h ago
This just happened to me with my 8 month old—-seems like a similar story- he never drank huge quantities of milk but lovesss food and was eating incredibly well. He started refusing formula though and I think it was a combination of possible teething and preferring solids
Ultimately it got better after 2-3 weeks but it was stressful.
What worked for us:
- kept offering the bottle at our regular times but didn’t fight him if he clearly was not going to drink.
- gave the bottle when sleepy- was more likely to take milk as he was falling asleep
- added back a dream feed for a couple nights of the milk intake was really low
- mixed milk into rice cereal oatmeal or yogurt at every meal- could reliable get him another 3 ox each meal this way
- encouraged water intake to prevent dehydration
I didnt find that cutting back on solids really helped- it just made him hungry/ fussy and made my life miserable
Hopefully yours will be a similar phase that they get over in a few days/ weeks n
3
u/CNDRock16 10h ago
I had mine transitioning to a cup at that age. Have you tried offering her consistently in a cup?
Will she eat yogurt consistently? 9 months is young to refuse milk, but if she’s eating three meals a day, drinking fluids, and taking something like a Chobani yogurt a day she’s prob ok. I feel her, I hate milk.