9 Month Old Eating Issues

Dear A.,
Stop trying to breast feed or give him the formula right now. Switch to a sippy cup with Lipil's Alternative formula. It's like a go between formula and actual milk. My girls started drinking it at 10 months old but I think they can do it at 9 months. I didn't know it existed until my husband stumbled upon it, otherwise I would have done it sooner. Also, if he only drinks 3-4 oz. that's enough because he's getting nutrients from the baby food and rice cereal that is mixed with formula. Have you tried rice cereal mixed with formula? That will give them about another 6 oz. of milk if you feed him the rice cereal three times a day.

Children need milk, especially babies, so they don't get rickets and vitamin D or sunshine. Rickets is making a comeback and you need to make sure he gets enough milk and vitamin D or sunshine. Rickets is when their leg long bones don't get enough calcium to grow straight and they grow bow-legged. Try yogurt, cheese (although there is not much calcium in cheese) and any other way you can think of to get calcium and vitamin D into him.

He may be an early weaner. He can get quite a bit of water and fluid from foods and just keep offering bottles, sippy cups, or regular cups to see what he will drink. Straws are fun for little ones too once they figure them out. If you get worried about dehydration, try giving him just fluids without any food around. If he's hungry, he'll take them. Then offer food afterwards.

The other issue is teething. You never know what is associated with the pain or comfort with teething. He may really enjoy the pressure of chewing on things on his guns right now and that is why his preference is there.

Babies this young rarely self-wean from the breast and if they do, it is a gradual process of weaning one nursing session at a time over a long period of time. It is more likely that your little one is having teething issues and therefore it may hurt to suck.

My son went through the same thing at a year of age (he didn't get his first tooth until 10mos), he refused the breast (nursing strike) and then wouldn't even drink from a bottle or sippy cup but ate pureed foods just fine. I had to give him pumped breast milk from a syringe! This lasted several days until one sleepy evening he started to nurse again. He's 18mo and still asks to nurse so I know he enjoys it, and I cherish the bond and the immunity I give him. I agree with Alice, keep offering the breast at calm, sleepy times and he will eventually come back.

Don't worry. Try other methods of giving him liquids so he won't dehydrate (eg., cup, syringe, etc.) and keep pumping to maintain your supply of breastmilk for when he's ready. He'll need it to replenish nutrients lost and to come back to that comforting bond he has probably been missing with his mama. And congrats on breastfeeding for this long! You are an awesome mama! :)

My son did the exact same thing at the same age. It really concerned me as well as I was sure he wasn't getting enough nutrients (and I was wasting so much formula!) but he just came out of it on his own and one day just started drinking again. Wait it out and try not to worry too much - if he's hungry or thirsty enough, he'll drink it. :)

I agree with some of the responses but differ with others - I agree that he doesn't necessarily need any kind of liquids, as long as he is getting enough food that has water in it. Fresh raw fruits and vegetables are great for that - either soft or pureed, or things like cucumber that he can chew on. I don't think there is any reason to continue the formula. Personally, I would continue to offer the breast (maybe especially at times when he is tired or sleepy or wanting snuggle time, in a quiet calm dark place). If he isn't nursing very much right now, it might be good for you to also keep pumping, so that you can keep up your milk supply - he may be just going through a phase where he is so excited by becoming more mobile that he doesn't want to take time out from his explorations to nurse, but he may want to nurse more later, and it would be good if you still have milk for him then, and you can continue adding breastmilk to his food so that he can have some of the benefits. You could even stop offering him the bottle, and just continue to offer the breast. There is no reason that he needs cow's milk in any form - in fact, cow's milk is actually not a good food for humans at all, it and causes or contributes to many many health problems (see notmilk.com). It is not even a good source of calcium or vitamin D. For vitamin D, just spend some time outdoors - which is very good for us anyway! Good sources of calcium include leafy greens as well as nuts and seeds (which also are good sources of protein). You can use nut butters or nut milks or add nut meals to other foods. Enjoy!

He can get plenty of nutrients from solid food, it is normal for him to start decreasing liquids and increasing solids. By his birthday, she should be having 3 full meals, 2-3 solid food snacks, and milk with meals and as a bedtime snack maybe.
He also may be having teething pain and it hurts to suck.

-- One issue that he may have is teeth coming in-- if his mouth hurts when he sucks - he wont' WANT to- but would be happy to eat - as that doesn't hurt--. Be sure and offer him liguids that he can just drink - and check with his pediatrician - or the nurse -. And you are right- if he is excited about getting mobile ---that will distract him from the more time-consuming business of nursing- and he'll want to cut that short for now--.
Arent' they wonderful and fascinating??

Blessings,
J. aka Old Mom

I would guess that what is going on right now is either teething pain or that he is feeling too busy to focus on sitting still for a bottle. For the prior, you could try giving some pain reliever to see if that makes a difference. And for the later, you could try nursing/giving a bottle in a quiet, dark room with little stimulation to see if he's able to focus better or with a bottle, turn baby away from you so they can see what's going on while eating, which may get them to continue eating.

I believe milk in some form (human is best of course) needs to be the primary source of food for babies up to a year and personally would offer it to him in various containers. If the bottle hurts his teeth, try a sippy cup with a gummy/chewy spout or just a plain cup.

My two year old still nurses and when his teething pain is bad, he needs a bottle to relax as breastfeeding hurts him more. It took us a while to figure that out.

One other thing to consider. Is your baby suddenly eating more table foods and therefore needing less calories from milk? Milk consumption will go down once table foods take off.

Best of luck!

A.,

Sounds like he's weaning himself. My son did the same thing at the same age, and he's now 5 1/2 years old and the size of the average 7 year old. My daughter weaned at about 10 months, is now 27 months and 3 feet tall (just height checked her this morning).

My daughter took to a bottle, and my son never did. Until they were one year old, they got formula in either a bottle, usually at bed time, or in a sippy cup throughout the day as they got thirsty.

You can lead a horse to water, but canNOT make him drink. Same thing with kids, all we can do is offer the food and drink it's up to these stubborn angels to actually eat or drink it.

Hope this helps,
Melissa