Eating Solids/Not Loving Her Bottle

So with the OK from Kaedyn's ped we've started her on vegetables.

We started her off on Sweet Potatoes for 4 days to be sure she didn't have an allergic reaction and now we are on carrots and doing the same.

She absolutely loves her veggies, not even 1 face with either the sweet potatoes or carrots. The only problem is, she seems un-interested in her bottle since we've started her on the veggies.

She gets 1 tablespoon of cereal and 5 oz's of Formula in the mornings, then veggies at lunch and a 5 oz bottle, veggies at dinner and a 5 oz bottle and then just a 6-8 oz bottle before bed.

Keep in mind that this little girl has ALWAYS loved her bottles and had no problem finishing it off (even with the cereal/veggies at the beginning).

Now she seems totally "bored" with her bottle and hardly ever finishes it...usually leaves at least 1-2 oz's in it everytime. She ALWAYS finishes her bedtime bottle and for the past 3 days she has not. She pushes it out!

Could it be just a phase? Am I giving her too much formula? Is this normal?

By violetsmom
Posted November 7, 2009 at 5:17 am
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How old is she? I would question whether you are giving her too many solids, and does not have enough room for her milk/formula. If she is less than a year adjusted, most of her nutrition needs to be coming from formula or breastmilk. Any solids prior is simply to practice eating.

By Kaedyns_Mommy
Posted November 7, 2009 at 10:19 am
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She's 7 months (4 months corrected).

We got the ok from her pediatrician to start giving her veggies/fruit (we haven't started her on fruit yet).

I didn't think we were giving her too much and she loves her cereal in the morning and veggies.

What would you suggest?

By violetsmom
Posted November 8, 2009 at 2:13 am
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I would talk to your doctor again and see what he/she thinks. If it were my daughter, I would cut back on the solids and strictly give her formula/bm and cereal. She is still young and definitely needs the nutrients from the milk....she won't get those same needs met through solids. Different peds and parents have varying opinions on this, however the APA and textbook recommends less solids and more milk at 4 months adjusted. I don't adding the solids at this age would be a problem if she was not rejecting her milk. Go with you gut...you are her mother and you will make the best decision for her.

By CalliesMommy
Posted November 8, 2009 at 11:23 am
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As long as she is not constipated you shouldn't worry to much if she is drinking a little bit less now that she is eating solids.
We started solids at around the same age your daughter is and only had problems because Callie doesn't like bottles because of bad reflux. Our doctors/nurses and follow clinics all believe that starter solids are important not just to practic eating but also to condition the stomach and GI tract for when solid intake increases later.

By Kaedyns_Mommy
Posted November 8, 2009 at 12:34 pm
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She definately isn't constipated from it....I've taken away her veggies at lunch, now she gets 1 teaspoon of cereal in the morning with a 4oz bottle, a bottle at lunch, 1 teaspoon of veggies with a 4oz bottle at dinner then a bottle before bed.

She's has always been a puker well more like spit up but it seems like she's been doing it more the last 3 days or so, with every feed no matter how much she burps....

She has been on the same formula since the day she's born (Enfamil A+) but do you think in your opinion we should try a different formula? Also I was wondering if it could be possible that she is lactose intolerant....but how would we know?

By Brayden123
Posted November 8, 2009 at 3:29 pm
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My sin had the same puking issues in fact still does. Somedays more than others and as he got older it seemed he would puke a ton for a week than slow down. Then three weeks later lots of puking. He is 7.5 actual 5 adj. We started solids same time as you. We finally found a pattern that works for him. We never give a bottle and solids at the same time. A friend suggested if we had to give bottle first than solids. So the nutrition is from formula and any extra she wanted would be from solids. This is our schedule:
700 wake up, bottle (6-7 oz)
900 nap
1000 wake up, oatmeal and fruit
1200 nap with bottle
100 wake up play sometimes watered down juice
300 nap with bottle
400 wake up
430 oatmeal and veggies
600/630 bedtime with oz bottle.
Hope this somehow helps!! Good luck!!

By violetsmom
Posted November 8, 2009 at 6:08 pm
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The research shows that the gut is ready for solids around 6-9 months and that starting early can be harmful. Unfortunately not all doctors are up on the latest research and OK starting solids early. It's important to weigh the risks and benefits and I can't think of any benefits to starting solids before 6 months adjusted. However, there are risks...including increased risk for food allergies, iron deficiency anemia, diabetes and obesity. Starting solids later actually makes it easier because the gut is more mature and ready to tolerate solids. There are plenty of babies who are fine with starting solids early, but I would not take the risk when there is no benefit.

By mygirlsmom
Posted November 8, 2009 at 9:45 pm
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Kaedyns_Mommy-
It is totally normal for her to be all "jazzed" about solids and not as interested in her bottle - that's a sign that she's gaining a little attitude, and that's a good thing! My girls would go through phases, especially around Kaedyn's age, when they would not be into the bottle as much - developmental burst, teething, new foods, etc. The key is that after a few lower volume days, she is generally hitting her target volume on a daily basis. So I'd keep giving her solids, the amount you are giving her is sooooo small, I really can't imagine it's hurting her. Brayden123's schedule may help too. Also, changing formula right after you introduce solids may be too much change all at once, so I'd stick with your current formula, at least right now.
My kids were eating solids by her age, and never had any problems, gained weight well, etc. You want to just monitor it for now, but sounds like she's on the right track. I would personally be more worried about her not liking the solids, with a preemie, so if she's tolerating it well, that's a very good thing. To be honest, when my girls were your babe's age, they were eating 1-2 ounces of solids at each meal, and drinking about 30 ounces of formula - each baby is so different! We started solids at 3.5 adjusted (per my ped's recommendation - they too were grabbing for our food and drinking huge bottles, not totally satisfied) and my kids are very healthy good eaters now. Good luck and have fun with your little eater!

By Kaedyns_Mommy
Posted November 8, 2009 at 9:50 pm
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My neighbor has a daughter the same age as Kaedyn, she is also on solids...she said she gives her a 7 oz bottle in the morning and before bed....every other feed during the day is about 2-3 oz's....and veggies at dinner...

I dunno what to do...if I am feeding her too little or too much....argh!

She was downing her 7-8oz bottles no problem, once we started her on solids she is barely drinking 3-4 oz's....I just worry...and with all the spitting/throwing up she's been doing the last few days....its strange. Like I said she has always been a spitter/puker but it just seems like more the last few days no matter how much she burps...so frustrating, I just wanna do the right thing!

Thanks mygirlsmom, I love when you reply to my posts...you always have great advice and make me feel better!

Any suggestions you might have for me are greatly appreciated....I feel like I dunno what I'm doing!

By mygirlsmom
Posted November 8, 2009 at 10:01 pm
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The truth is, 90% of parenting is trial and error - that's what I know for sure, especially when it comes to feeding! Is she teething at all? We never really understood why, but our girls, espeically Eva, would go through this weird bouts, where she would not be into her bottle, and would have serious spit-up episodes for like a 2-3 week period. It was very noticeable how intesified it was. And then just as quickly as it began, it would calm down. Sometimes we thought it was teething, sometimes we thought she might be coming down with something, but it was just this big change. I would just keep offering her the bottle and try not to get to stressed about it (I remember my husband would be a wreck during these periods - he's be like "Eva only at 2 ounces, what are we going to do!!") but eventually she'd have a really good day, and get back on track. Keep your pediatrician in the loop. And as I said earlier, teething, introducing solids, and developmental spurts can throw it all into a tail spin. That's jut part of them growing up. At 21 months, we still have days when they don't eat a darn thing I offer them, or they'll not touch their milk, and then a few days later, they can't get enough. I don't know why. Good luck and hopefully this just solves itself.

By Kaedyns_Mommy
Posted November 9, 2009 at 11:18 am
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I am confused as to how much I should be giving her.

This is what we've been doing.

6-7am (1 teaspoon of cereal, 4oz's of formula)
10-11am (5 oz's of formula)
3-4pm (1 teaspoon of veggies, 4 oz's of formula)
7-8pm (5-6 oz's of formula)

And every time she throws up. I didn't think that was too much....I feel like if I cut her formula down to 2oz's when she has cereal or veggies that it isn't enough?

I guess you are right that its all a change...its just worrysome when we've been SO used to her eating like 7-8 oz's of formula no problem....now its a fight to get 5-6 oz's down, sometimes a fight to even get 3-4 oz's down....

All the vomitting is worrying me...but I dunno what else to do...blah!

By mygirlsmom
Posted November 9, 2009 at 12:06 pm
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Have you talked to the pediatrician about the vomitting? I would definitely ask him if it's concerning you that much. Your schedule seems pretty good. When we started solids we did 3 "meals" and 2 snacks after naps.

7am - Breakfast (solids + 4-5 ounce bottle)
9-10 - nap
10 - snack (4-5 ounce bottle)
12pm - lunch (solids + 4-5 ounce bottle)
2-3:30 - nap
3:30 - snack (4-5 ounce bottle, + puffs)
5ish - Dinner (solids + 4-5 ounce bottle)

This schedule worked well for us, b/c it allowed us to smoothly transition to all solids and whole milk. They still have a very similar schedule to this. It may help to do 5 feedings overall instead of 4, just to keep the volume per feeding a little smaller, so she's less likely to vomit. But definitely talk to doc. if you're really worried. Good luck.

By mygirlsmom
Posted November 9, 2009 at 12:14 pm
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One more thing. I did talk to our ped. a lot when my Eva was puke-city. And he was never very concerned, mostly b/c she was gaining weight well and never seemed uncomfortable. She was never medicated for reflux, and grew out of the spitting up once she was on 100% table foods at about 14 months actual. Some moms on this site probably think my ped. was too lax about her reflux, but it helped me relax, and she's very healthy now, and is a very good eater and big girl. Some preemies, the reflux makes their babies miserable, lose weight or gain little, etc., and some babies, it just is a thing they do, you know. I would talk to your ped. and get his/her opinion.

By Kaedyns_Mommy
Posted November 9, 2009 at 1:02 pm
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I've talked to my ped about it. I asked her about the rfelux and she said she doubts that that is the problem. She to wasn't very concerned about the spitting up/puking and said she would eventually grow out of it.

This morning at 6:30am Hubby gave her 1 teaspoon of cereal and 4 oz's of milk...she ate all the cereal and had 2 oz's of the milk and fell asleep for about 15-20 mins then had the other 2 oz's and threw up.

I just finished giving her a 4oz bottle (12:30pm) she drank it all, burped and so far no puking.....

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