[HileryS]

Hello everyone. I am hoping someone can give me advice or calm my worries regarding an issue with my daughter. She is 9 months old and for the last few weeks will not drink substabtially from her bottle. She will drink maybe 2 ounces in the morning. Maybe 2 around 11 am and again at 2 pm and then usually 4 ounces before bed. This does not seem like the usual amount a 9 months old would eat but she eats solids fine. I have tried serving her less solids but she will won't have the formula.
Anyone else had this problem or maybe it isn't a problem?! Maybe I just need to be grateful she is weaning herself?

Thanks,
Hilery

[posh]

I would tend to say since she is on solid foods she doesn't feel she needs more bottle. She will take it if she needs it I am sure. I don't remember my children drinking full bottles once they were on solid foods.

[jpeel99]

I think their bodies tell them what they need. MY son is 10 months old and is very uninterested in the bottle now.

[Tinkrbel]

Hilery ,
Is she drinking from a sippy cup?? Or is the bottle the only fluid she is getting?


Stacey

[dspakowsky]

My daughter is not that interested in her bottle either. But the problem is, she's not too interested in her sippy cup. She has to get fluid one way or another.

Does yours drink from a sippy cup?

[saranbr]

As long as she's drinking adequate volumes of water/diluted juice and eating solids I wouldn't worry at all!

[HileryS]

We have been working with the sippy but she can't hold it yet and I can't seem to find one where she gets lots of liquid. I am using the Nuby and I just bought one today that has the straw hoping that would work better.

Thanks for making me feel better. I won't worry and will just enjoy not buying as much formula!

Hilery

[csw]

Maybe she is teething and her gums hurt? She still needs to be on formula at this age for nutrition..jarred baby food just doesn't have that many nutrients or iron....is she on a infant vitamins? I wish we had a bit of that problem over here..our daughter just turned 3 and still has a bottle at night..she was on 5 bottles at night at 9 months old when she came home..yikes..
We kept our daughter on a toddler formula until fairly recently for various reasons..she loved Baby's Only Organic..maybe talk with your doc..maybe she is ready for a cup and doesn't have that strong sucking need some kids have..

[sfalone]

Hi,

My son is 11 months old and started not drinking his bottles as much once we started solids. I then started him on whole milk and he drinks that great.

Stacy

[lsk]

The same thing with our little girl, but she is teething and I think sucking on the bottle really hurts her gums. Our Dr.told us that at this age, the average formula goes down to between 16 and 24 ounces a day. I usually wait to give her a bottle until about 1/2 hour after I give her some childrens tylenol, and she seems more willing to drink then.

[shelbydog]

Try the straw cups. Some kids don't like sippies. To "train" with the straw just put an inch of liquid in the bottom of the straw, hold your finger on top, put the straw in her mouth and let go until she gets the hang of the liquid coming out of the straw. My son took straw cups at 9 months and hated sippies. Mia actually likes the sport bottle top bottles so try those too!

[KKR213]

Have you switched the nipples in the bottles to the next flow? My son wasn't drinking much using the #1 nipples so I moved to the #2 and he now drinks his whole bottle. He was getting frustrated with the slower flow. Also, when he is teething he tends to drink less too.

[poppy]

Do keep track of his growth. My son just turned two and is still small for his age. He quit breast feeding on his own when he was about 9 mos. He refused a bottle and a sippy cup, formula and milk. I could hardly get them down him but he took solids great. He ended up losing weight and fell from above 50% to off the charts quickly. At 14 mos. he finally had gained a tiny bit of weight... just enough to keep him from being considered failure to thrive. Now he is gaining at a normal pace he's just small for his age.Just wanted to let you know that it can get bad quickly.

I found that he loved drinking from the sippy cups with the rubber straw. And I ended up finding a cheap off brand soy formula that he would take the best. I tried all kinds of formulas and every kind of milk including choc. and strawberry. He now likes choc and white milk.

I hope this can help you.

[kcbailey777]

Just my opinion but I wouldn't try to wean her off bottles or formula. The bottle is needed for bonding and the formula is needed for nutrition. My daughter will be on formula until she is almost two because her little tummy can't eat enough food to get the nutrition in the formula.

Have you tried waiting at least a half an hour or maybe even an hour after a meal for a bottle? You could also try giving the bottle first. This may not work because your baby could get mad you are not feeding food first. You can also try to dilute the formula. For example 3 scoops to 7oz water. I do this so my daughter gets more liquid.

As others have mentioned there could be medical reasons that will pass. Your baby could have a sore throat or gums. This sounds strange but I have also heard that babies eat less during growth spurts. I used to work at a daycare and it was common for babies to go through phases of not drinking their formula.

Lisa

[sheena7112]

She might just be full from the food maybe try giving her the bottle before the food. Have you taken her to the DR. She might have an ear infection. doest want to suck maybe becausee her ear hurts? I dont know just throwing it out there. I will pray for your little one. take care, Kim