Nutrition for Busy Parents

Baby won’t drink milk!

• Vanessa T. Hi Megha, Don't panic! It is totally normal for kids to go through periods of wanting more or less of something. Tell me a little bit more about the situation: - How much solid food is he eating? What does he eat and how many times per day? - What kind of formula does he take and if you're mixing it, what recipe do you use? Let me know and I'll look at his caloric intake. Thanks! Vanessa

• Megha He has four 7 ounce bottles a day - similar pro advance mixed with nursery water. For breakfast he has usually a puréed fruit, or a blend of avocado/blueberry/banana purée with oatmeal about 2-3oz. Lunch he has about 3-4oz of a puréed lentils and brown rice with a green veggie and sweet potato or an earths best stage three pouch of a meat blend. Last meal is a mini whole grain pancake ripped into pieces with a fruit or veggie. Now... it’s a battle to drink the formula.... just wants water or he will sip on an ounce of milk for what feels like 5-10 min. Super worried about dehydration :/

• Megha Similac* Pro Advance

• Vanessa T. It sounds like you are doing a great job with solid foods! What is his schedule like? What time do you give him all of his bottles and meals?

• Megha Well he sleeps early and wakes early so we are trying to shift that. As of now it’s the following schedule: 6:30a: 7oz bottle 7:30a: breakfast 10:00a: 7oz bottle 11:15a: meal 2 2p: 7oz bottle 3:30: meal 3 5:30: 8oz bottle 6p, bedtime Today he drank 19 oz total and 2oz of water, but had three full meals.

• Megha Oh yes - he also eats yogurt for breakfast sometimes

• Vanessa T. That looks like a good schedule to me! Some babies just take to solid foods faster than others. It is natural for babies to drink less as they eat more and your baby is getting lots of protein and fiber-rich foods which may be making him full. You can try offering lower fiber foods like applesauce or cutting back on portions to see if his formula intake increases again but either way I don’t find this too concerning. Ideally, he would take 24 ounces of formula on most days. I would expect him to take no more than 8 ounces of solid food per day and I would limit water to 2-4 ounces total to encourage formula intake. You may also find that this is just a phase- next week he might be back to his typical intake! Let me know how things go.

• Megha Okay, so it’s okay that today he only had 19 ounces? The last 6 he only took through a sippy straw cup and has to her looking out the window while standing on our windowsill ! Haha.

• Vanessa T. Yes, it’s okay if he sometimes takes less than 24 ounces, especially if he is eating a lot. Try not to force, distract or show your son that this is stressing you out. Even though it may help you get in a few extra ounces short term, long term it can make him more stressed around the bottle/cup and even less motivated to drink.