Daycare.com Forum

Daycare.com Forum (https://www.daycare.com/forum/index.php)
-   Daycare Center and Family Home Forum (https://www.daycare.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=2)
-   -   8 Mth Old Doesn't Want Formula (https://www.daycare.com/forum/showthread.php?t=50107)

providerandmomof4 08-25-2012 04:49 PM

8 Mth Old Doesn't Want Formula
 
I recently signed a dcf with the sweetest little dcg (8mths). The thing is, she will only take a small amount of formula, maybe two or three ozs a few times a day. I fed her baby food and crackers which she ate and I thought this was just her pattern. Dcm comes in the other morn and tells me that dcb acted like she was starving at home, eating non stop and how was she eating here? I said well...she doesn't want the formula and then I feed her food at lunch, breakfast and snack and stop when she acts like she is finished (spitting it all over..lol) So she asks me if I can try to feed her food more often. I feel like all I get accomplished is trying to feed the baby and am afraid next week when I have more kids in care that this could be a problem. Shouldn't she still be drinking quite a bit of formula at 8mths? What do you all think?

itlw8 08-25-2012 05:35 PM

do you use the same kind of bottle? is the flow of the nipple the same? the temp? have mom bring a tshirt she wore and did not wash. drape it over you and hold baby facing out a bit it might work. yes most babies still drink a bunch of formula. BUT breast fed babies often wait to nurse when mom gets there so this baby may be doing the same

I would still only feed at normal times but maybe offer the bottle an extra time. does she hold it herself. if so try letting her feed herself the bottle. Maybe she does this at home.

Breezy 08-25-2012 05:41 PM

I have an 8 month old dcb who does this occasionally too. Usually eats 6 ounces 3 times while he's here plus baby food but at least once or twice a week wants nothing to do with the bottle but eats a ton for mom later. I have found that he does it most when he has a tooth coming through

Unregistered 08-25-2012 05:48 PM

Originally Posted by providerandmomof4:
I recently signed a dcf with the sweetest little dcg (8mths). The thing is, she will only take a small amount of formula, maybe two or three ozs a few times a day. I fed her baby food and crackers which she ate and I thought this was just her pattern. Dcm comes in the other morn and tells me that dcb acted like she was starving at home, eating non stop and how was she eating here? I said well...she doesn't want the formula and then I feed her food at lunch, breakfast and snack and stop when she acts like she is finished (spitting it all over..lol) So she asks me if I can try to feed her food more often. I feel like all I get accomplished is trying to feed the baby and am afraid next week when I have more kids in care that this could be a problem. Shouldn't she still be drinking quite a bit of formula at 8mths? What do you all think?

Most 8 months old usually eat 6-8oz every 4 hours.

I know all babies eat differently but here is what my 7 month old DS eats in a day just so you can get an idea:

7am- 7oz bottle
9am- 1 jar of fruit and cereal
11am- 6oz bottle
1pm- 1 jar of veggies, and finger foods (puffs, mum mum, etc)
3pm- 6oz bottle
5pm- 1 jar of veggie or fruit and cereal
7pm- 7oz bottle

BumbleBee 08-25-2012 07:31 PM

Originally Posted by providerandmomof4:
I recently signed a dcf with the sweetest little dcg (8mths). The thing is, she will only take a small amount of formula, maybe two or three ozs a few times a day. I fed her baby food and crackers which she ate and I thought this was just her pattern. Dcm comes in the other morn and tells me that dcb acted like she was starving at home, eating non stop and how was she eating here? I said well...she doesn't want the formula and then I feed her food at lunch, breakfast and snack and stop when she acts like she is finished (spitting it all over..lol) So she asks me if I can try to feed her food more often. I feel like all I get accomplished is trying to feed the baby and am afraid next week when I have more kids in care that this could be a problem. Shouldn't she still be drinking quite a bit of formula at 8mths? What do you all think?

My first thought is that it's a new and interesting place. Lots to see and do so eating isn't high on baby's priority list, kwim? If this is the case, it should resolve over time.

Also, does mom have a certain routine for feeding bottles? If so, perhaps doing a similar routine will help.

cheerfuldom 08-25-2012 08:25 PM

what hours is the child there? are you licensed (aka required to offer a certain amount of food/formula at certain intervals?)

providerandmomof4 08-26-2012 07:08 AM

Originally Posted by cheerfuldom:
what hours is the child there? are you licensed (aka required to offer a certain amount of food/formula at certain intervals?)

Yes I'm licensed and I feed her baby food at every meal the required combo of cereal/fruit/veg and she eats this up. Dcp brought bottles and formula from home because she is supposedly attached to this certain bottle/formula. When I try to give her the bottle she just turns her head away or shakes her head. (She really doesn't want it) So my thinking is maybe now that she has a taste for food she has decided she doesn't want formula. However the problem is that she doesn't eat enough food in one sitting to keep her full, so I'm trying to feed her food every couple of hours and I feel like this is taking up a considerable amount of time when she still should be having bottles of formula to keep her full and provide nutrients. kwim?
Also, yes she holds her own bottle- and won't have it any other way :) but she just takes it and squeezes it out all over the couch, carpet, etc...just playing with it.

Loveyoustinkyface 08-26-2012 07:15 AM

Could you try a sippy cup for the milk? Or even a different bottle/nipple?

Willow 08-26-2012 08:56 AM

Just a few thoughts...

Could it be your water? I've had infants be a little thrown because I had well water and home was city water. Could taste quite a bit different depending on something like that.

Could temp be influencing how she feels about it? does mom do bottles warmed, room temp or cold?

Perhaps positioning is the problem, does mom feed her reclined or sitting up? Some babies with reflux it literally hurts to eat laying back.


Or maybe mom is just feeding her more solids at home than you are attempting to there? The babies I've had run the gamut (including my own who were polar opposites!), some are eating almost no solids at that age, some that's about all they want. In the end as long as she's getting enough calories and her system can handle more solids at this point I'd ask mom to get a dietary statement from the pediatrician and take baby's lead.

queenbee 08-26-2012 01:52 PM

Originally Posted by Willow:

Or maybe mom is just feeding her more solids at home than you are attempting to there? The babies I've had run the gamut (including my own who were polar opposites!), some are eating almost no solids at that age, some that's about all they want. In the end as long as she's getting enough calories and her system can handle more solids at this point I'd ask mom to get a dietary statement from the pediatrician and take baby's lead.

Willow, I'd like to respectfully disagree with this. At 8 months, infant shoulds be getting their main source of nutrition and dietary needs from breast milk or formula. Their main intake shouldn't be solids whether the baby only wants solids or not - at 8 months they don't get to decide what's best for them. Breast milk or formula should be #1 with them, and solids coming in 2nd.

OP, if the baby isn't loading up on formula with mom and getting the recommended amounts then I'd either cut back on the solids you are giving her, or try giving her a bottle before meals so that she is getting what she needs first and eating solids afterwards. Definitely worth a try. Good luck.

DaisyMamma 08-26-2012 06:11 PM

I'm having the same problem with an 8 month old that I've had since he was six weeks. He would rather eat food now , when before he would drink and drink. I've found that if I wait about a half hr after regular bottle time and don't offer snacks he will drink it. He is definitely more interested in what is going on around him. I'm wondering if its time for a cup.

Willow 08-26-2012 06:18 PM

Meh, I guess I'm more inclined to side with a pediatricians input on this as I said. I may know a decent amount about nutrition but I certainly don't know everything.

Every child is different, dietary needs included. If mom is ok with it and an actual doctor says it's perfectly fine who the heck would I be to argue?

And sometimes children do indeed know what's best for them. I had a infant/foster toddler once who kept refusing grain/breads. I had to offer them, and I tried to encourage her to eat them as I thought was appropriate for her age.....only to find out she had a gluten intolerance several months after worrying she wasn't fitting into the cookie cutter expectations of what a toddler should be eating. They were literally hurting her body when she ate them. It was something she knew but couldn't express with words. I feel awful I didn't at least try to listen to what she was trying to tell me by refusing them.


All times are GMT -7. The time now is 05:03 AM.