My 8 month old is still eating 3 ounces per feeding what should I do?

Question

She should be eating at least 8-9 ounces every 4 hours now, instead she eats really little, I have to wake her up at night to feed her. I also give her 2-3 jars of solid in between her milk (but she needs more of her milk)..what should i do?
She weighs 16.5 now, I know her weight is ok..but I need her to eat more than she is eating now..please help.

I am giving her solids b/c she won't drink her milk, regardless of if she eats the solid or not.

Answer 1

My 8 month old daughter is exactly the same, and she weighs the same :) I wouldn't be too concerned about her formula intake unless the Doctor gives you reason for concern. If she's eating the daily requirement of solids, formula should be taking a backseat right now anyway. If you want her to have more dairy try giving her yogurt at lunch. I give my daughter plain yogurt 3% mixed with the Astro Bio Best fruit yogurt - it has Omega 3 - mixed with her oatmeal cereal at lunch. This way she's still getting the calcium and the dairy even though her formula intake is less than the general standard. My daughter only has 3 bottles of formula per day. I put 6 oz in each of them but she only drinks about 3 - 4 oz of each. My daughter is healthy and happy, and as long as your daughter is healthy and happy that's all that matters. Click here for the link to the Feeding and Nutrition Guide http://ca.geocities.com/__geri/FeedingAndNutritionGuide.xls

Answer 2

Ever consider that maybe she doestn need more milk?

Stop waking her up to feed her, and 8 month old baby does not need a night time feeding unless theyre waking up and demanding it. By 6-9 months babies are able to, and need a full 8 hours sleep at night.

She sounds like she's eating an appropriate amount of solids, and so long as she's in a healthy weight range, and not losing weight, then there is nothing to be concerned about.

Generally a baby that age might only have 2-3 8 oz bottles in a day. So she's actually getting a great amount of milk.

If you want her to eat more in a sitting, give her a bottle less often. Otherwise, leave her alone and feed her when she's hungry. She sounds like a fine eater, and you sound like you're freaking out....

Answer 3

Is she drinking at least 16-20 oz of formula? That also seems like a lot of solids. I'm sorry my daughter prefers her milk over solids so I have to hide the bottle until we can get the solids down!! LOL Ask your pedi since she's not getting that can she have some type of supplement. Also I would try to replicate the nutrients she's getting in her formula through solids as much as possible. I don't feed her at night either. I feed her for the last time at about 6:30 and she eats again around 6:30 for breakfast. She should be consuming about 12 oz of solids. That's usually about 2 jars of stage 3 foods. Do you give cereal?
If it helps here's my daughters schedule
6:30-6 oz of formula and 1/2 c of cereal
10:30 & 2:30-4-6 oz of formula and 3 oz of solids (she may or may not drink it all)
6:30-6-8 oz of formula she usually drinks about 6 oz or less

Answer 4

Hello there. Coming from a mother of 5 (mostly grown) this is what I have to say.
Are you breast feeding? If you are then yes, your baby is getting short changed as far as substituting a far superior food (breast milk) for an inferior food (baby food).
If you are giving her formula I am not sure it is as important but it does seem that she needs much more milk than what she is getting.
First of all when she is hungry, always give her the milk FIRST. That way when she hungriest she will be offered milk first. She should be hungry enough to drink more than 3 ounces. I would limit the amount of baby food that you are giving her. This will encourage her to drink more milk and eat less of the solid food.
If she is 8 months old it is normal for her to sleep all night. Stop waking her and maybe first thing in the morning she will be hungry for her milk!
When ever she is hungry, always offer her the breast of the bottle first, then if she is still hungry try giving her just ONE jar of baby food. If she still seems to be hungry, switch back to the milk again.
This should do the trick.
I would tend to agree with you that she needs what is in the milk more than she needs solid food at this point in her life.
I would be sure to tell your pediatrician about this also, get her opinon.
Take care and feel free to write to me anytime. I will respond.
Love and Blessings
Lady T~

Answer 5

Why are you giving her so much solids? I would check this with your doctor. She probably only needs to eat a little baby cereal mixed with warm formula, both morning and evening, with 1 jar each of vegetable and fruit around mid-day. The proteins for strong bones and teeth are in the formula. I'm from a family of 8 girls and there were 44 grandkids among our offspring. My youngest grandson was born in Ireland, where they feed babies mashed potato and gravy, right from the get go. He never ate baby food. Friends 06

Answer 6

Your baby will do what is natural. Everyone is different. Some babies will consume very quickly while other very slowly. Some will consume a lot, others just a little.

When you say "milk" I hope you mean "breast milk". Formula is very harmful and completely deficient.

You are feeding your baby food from a jar. Perhaps you should try some 'real' food. Steam some different garden root vegetables and mash it up. It's really easy -- very quick -- and cheap too (make certain they are organic). Find what the baby likes, and there you go. Our baby enjoyed steamed turnips, daikkon, and the like -- they become very soft in about 5 minutes and are easy to digest. Later as she got older, she enjoyed sweet potato, and slowly other solid foods from the garden.

Cooked and processed foods will be very hard on any baby's digestive system, plus be highly deficient, not only in nutrients, but breasts are reactive to the baby. The breasts will produce what the baby needs; such as antibiotics etc. Living milk will digest well just as a raw apple will, but if breast milk is cooked... the enzymes etc. are killed, thus it will not digest properly.

Answer 7

Feed her less solids if you want her to drink more formula. Speak to your pediatrician or his/her nurse for suggestions. No "set" rules on food/liquid consumption but they will give you guidelines.

Answer 8

beleive it or not but like us babies do no what is good for them just carry on she nos if she needs more and as her weight is fine i would just carry on how you are but if her weight suffers then do something. also maybe mention it to the health visitor so they know whats goiung on.
best of luck