My baby is 4 1/2 months old. He only drinks 20-24 ounces a day of formula a day.?

Question

He still wakes up at night twice and has two four ounces bottles then all day barely eats at all until four pm. He is growing fine (13.6 pounds) and wetting diapers, and is always happy I had him on nutremagin and want to switch because it taste bad and the ped said that might be why. any suggestions? I also was going to start solids but stopped because he drinks so little and i know he needs his fomula at this point. Does this mean he will be horrible on solids and hate eating? I just know he should be getting more. And he only takes 2-3 ounces except at night when he wakes up.

Answer 1

I had the same problem with my little guy.  He was tiny (only about 12lbs) at 4 months old.  I started him on solids at 4 months but I was worried that solids would make him eat less formula.  But it didn't really.  He ate the solids and still ate the formula.  I couldn't get him to take more formula until he was about 6 months old.  He literally went from 4oz or less per bottle to 8oz.  

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Answer 2

Hmmm, I know every baby is different so I am not criticizing, I will just tell you about my daughter so you have some comparison. She is 3 months 3 weeks, and weighs 14 pounds. She is also formula fed, and drinks 5 ounces every feeding, which is every 2-3 hours, but sleeps all night for about 11 hours. So, she drinks on average 30 ounces a day, give or take. I would be a little worried that he isn't drinking more. You said you were at the pediatrician, but I would consider getting a second opinion if I were you. Also, I don't think it means he will be a picky eater. Maybe he just has a small appetite, hopefully as he grows he will start to drink more. Best of luck!

Answer 3

It's OK!  My son is 10 months and has always had about 24 oz/day.  Babies go through slow periods of growth just as they go through growth spurts.   My son rarely ever drinks more than 4 oz at a time, even still, but is growing and thriving....so I am not concerned.  You may be surprised when you begin to feed him solids.  Although milk is still the main portion of my son's diet, he absolutely loves solids and will eat them like a champ.  

You might want to wait another month to start him on solids again, just focus on making sure he is getting the milk he needs.  When you do start solids again, I would recommend always giving him milk first, them follow with solids (so that he does not get too filled up on solids).   Giving him milk first has NEVER stopped my son from eating his solids!

Once he hits another growth spurt, chances are his milk intake will increase and from then on he will be in the habit of getting 4,5,6 oz at a time.   Don't worry too much mom, sounds like he is growing very well!  :)

Answer 4

My daughter is the same age and she only does 20-25 ounces a day. I was concerned also but I asked my pediatrician and she said that as long as she is gaining weight and having wet diapers she is fine. I guess some babies just eat less. My daughter is on Alimentum which also tastes horrible (it's the hypoallergenic which I think is what nutremagin is also) so there is probably a good chance that the bad taste could be part of it. My daughter was put on it when she was about 4 weeks old because she was allergic to the soy formula and my doctor said that if I had tried to give it to her when she was 6 weeks or older she might not even take it because the taste buds are more developed then and it has a terrible taste. I think that as long as your son is growing you have nothing to worry about. I did start my daughter on a little cereal at night because she has acid reflux and it helps to keep the formula down. She still does the same amount of formula since she started the cereal so if you wanted to try him on solids i don't think it would make him drink any less. Good luck, Im sure he is fine..just a light eater :)