Switched baby from breatfeeding to bottle and i can't really get him to eat very much.. ?

Question

My son is 5 months old and has been exclusively breastfeed since I brought him home from the hospital. At 2 months he started having bloody mucousy stools and I was told at that point to either put him on a prescribed formula or eliminate the top allergens from my diet. I tried putting him on formula, but he refused. I ended up eliminating dairy, soy, wheat, egg, shellfish/fish, nuts, and peanuts from my diet for 3 months. My son made a slight improvement.. But blood would still show up in his stools. My son's GI specialist said that something in my diet was still upsetting him. I couldn't eliminate anything else b/c I already lost 25lbs and didn't know what else to get rid of. For the past week he has been eating his formula, but not without a fight. He hardly eats (maybe 3 oz every three hours). I'm offering constantly b/c I'm terrified that he is going to dehydrate and/or not gain weight and continue to grow. That's another point, he thrived on my breastmilk.. 20lbs 2 oz at last GI appoint. about a month ago. I don't know what to do.. My husbands in the military and gone so he can't help.. and now my milk is pretty much dried up... I'm so upset, and I don't know what to do. Has anyone else ever switched their kids from breast to bottle and had the same issues? Did your children come around? The GI specialist keeps telling me to keep him on the formula that no baby will starve themseleves, but I'm a mess crying all the time. Any advice would be GREATLY appreciated. Also, I've tried lots of nipples and flow amounts.. He only takes one kind, Thanks for any responses.

Answer 1

Well, I can't answer from personal experience, but I can share what I do know from reading a lot.  Babies metabolize formula slower than they do milk, so they don't need as much as often.  Also, I would think there must be an adjustment period being that he wasn't weaned, but just switched abruptly.  If you keep in close contact with his doctors and they say he is doing well and not LOOSING weight, he's probably okay.  If your mommy instinct is still telling you something is not right...get a second, or third, or fourth opinion...whatever it takes!  FYI - my daughter is 8 months old and only weighed 12 lbs at her 6 month appointment.  Her doc said that as long as she is gaining some weight and is healthy otherwise, not to worry so much about percentiles and such.  Also keep in mind that he'll be eating solids soon (we started at 6 months) and then he won't be relying completely on formula.  I hope that helped some and I wish you the best!