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Dropping bottles.....

My dd is 24 weeks. When she was first born I tried to bf but didn't produce milk. I combi-fed for a while before reluctantly switching to formula. My dd would take 2-3oz of milk, which was about right for her age, but then as she grew older didn't really increase the amount of milk she took. Some days it was a battle to get her to have even half of the recommended amount. I assumed this was because she had colic, but even when Colief alleviated the symptoms, she still wouldn't take milk in any real quantity. Before we started weaning she was up to taking 5 5oz bottles a day, sometimes. Sometimes more, sometimes less. She dropped two centiles but eventually made one of them up. She was born on the 75th, is now on the 47th.

Anyway, she has really come on with weaning and seems to love her food, but over the last couple of days is refusing milk. She wakes twice in the night and takes 4oz at each feed, but in the morning will only take 2-4oz of her first bottle. She has breakfast at about 8.30 and her next bottle is due at 11, but the last couple of days she has flatly refused to take it. She takes 4oz in the afternoon after lunch and 4-6 before bed after tea, but on average that is only 16oz at most over the course of 24 hours. In reality on most days it is closer to 12oz I know I cant force feed her, but is this okay? I really do not want to go through dropping centiles again. People keep telling me that if I want her to sleep through the night I have to break the habit of feeding her when she wakes, but I darent stop otherwise her milk in take would be even lower. Any advice appreciated x

Replies

  • my ds has always known his own mind. he would guzzle milk when he fancied it and flatly refuse it if he wasnt in the mood. when he started having more 'off' weeks i used to make a lot of milk based foods ie with cereals/macoroni cheese/rice pudding etc and keep a count on the milk i was adding here - this really did help with keeping a decent milk intake, plus with the high fat content my ds was more settled with less night waking. this sort of broke the cycle as he then became more hungry in the day as hadnt had a night top up, and he then took milk and food in the day. it wasnt a quick fix and took a couple of weeks but it did work for us. x
  • Thanks for replying. I do add milk to food, although tried not to today because she has also been constipated. I guess we just have to keep going and see where she takes us!
  • Good luck, sorry i couldnt be of more use. im sure youll find a system that works and if all else fails then look for alternate calcium rich foods like yoghurt or leafy greens to keep her bones nice n strong! x
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