My 5.5mth boy does not like milk. What should I do?
I cannot get my son to take more than 4oz of formula and never have. He was never that interested in breast milk and the maternity nurse I had with me told me to stop breast feeding. She left after a week as she said she couldn’t do anything with him and that he would start sleeping when he went onto solids. He’s now 5 1/2 months old and on 3 meals a day and still won’t take any milk. Even if I mix it into the solids he gets upset. Consequently he is still waking in the night. Can you recommend anything for babies that seemingly hate milk, even their mother’s! He’s my second baby; my first one went through the night at 8 weeks and was a very good eater/sleeper.
At present he weighs 18lbs 14ozs. He feeds at 7.30am 2ozs. He takes a ramekin of baby cereal with 3-4ozs of milk. 11am 2ozs, 2 cubes of vegetable with rice and 2 ozs of milk. 2.30pm 3-4 ozs, 4pm 2 ozs water, 6.30pm 2-3 ozs and 2 cubes fruit, rice mixed with 2 ozs milk. 2.30am 4 ozs.
He sleeps at 9-9.50am, 12-2.15pm and settles at 7pm. After his feed at 2.30am he will sleep until 5.30am.
Your son appears to be one of a fairly small group of babies who genuinely do not like milk. Has your HV or doctor ever expressed concern over his dislike of milk? If you are worried about his nutritional needs, ask to be referred to a dietician who can help you increase his solids in the correct way to ensure he is receiving all the nutrients he needs.
His intake is just about the minimum required by his age, so it would be best to continue to use milk to mix his solids with, providing he is eating those well. As well as giving rice with his lunchtime vegetable you could also introduce potato and sweet potato and use milk to mix them with.
Once he reaches six months you will be able to give him yoghurt and cheese as well as introducing more milk based sauces and custards. All this will help his intake.
When did you stop giving him a 10pm feed? Possibly you decided that he will take more milk if left to sleep to 2.30am rather than being woken at 10/10.30pm? Until a baby is taking sufficient solids by day they will continue to need a fifth feed. As your son does not have a large amount of milk and is still in the earlier stages of weaning it would be worth trying to reintroduce this feed at 10.30/11pm. If he will take his 4ozs then he should be able to get through to 5/6am. He may possibly take a small feed then, providing this does not put him off his 7am feed and breakfast.