7 Month Old Fickle Eater

Hi S.,

When my son was about that old, he started a pretty regular schedule. He ate breakfast, lunch and dinner, with a bottle before we laid him down. I was told that they are pretty good at knowing when they want to eat...if he's not hungry in the morning, maybe let him play and wake up, and then offer him a bottle/breakfast. Plus, if he's teething at all, that could affect his appetite too. When my son was teething, his appetite seemed to decrease. Hope this eases your worries.

My daughter is 6 1/2 months and does the same thing. We started her on baby food at 4 months also. Sometimes I will wait 30mins to 1 hour and try to giver her the bottle and that usually works. Our pediatrician told us as long as she is getting 16oz of formula a day. She also told us not to over think it...she will let you know if she is hungry. So I say try to wait 30mins to an hour and see if that works. I would discuss it with his doctor if you are really concerned. Good luck!

What I did with my kids is use the 7 oz. bottle(maybe about 4-5 oz) of formula to mix their cereal. I would then feed them the cereal and then they would drink whatever was left in the bottle. This would guarantee that they got the whole bottle. My children only had 3 bottles a day at this age. They ate every 3 hours, but it alternated between baby food and bottles. I gave them sippy cups when I would feed them their baby food.

yes it is very normal. As he get more into food he will prob not want his bottle as much! I have a 17 mo old that when he was 2 weeks old went on baby food. By the time he was 8 mo i had him reg milk. He is prob also going through a growth spurt just hang in there

I think the more food your child eats the less formula they'll take. I wouldn't worry unless his weight drops dramatically. My oldest never drank more than four ounces of formula at a time until he was over 18 months. He started out with solids at six months but he didn't react well and ended up on formula until he was 18 months old. He ate every four hours or so and that was it. When he finally did start eating he ate everything.

I'm not saying your son can not have solids, I was just explaining what happened to us.

With my second son, he was eating real food, not baby by the time he was six months. He didn't like bottled food. He drank only 6oz. at a time. They are both healthy and within their right weight for their age.

As far as I can tell, your son is doing what is normal. When my son was about that age, he didn't breastfeed as much when I introduced baby foods either. I've been told by his doctor and nurse that usually the baby knows how much they need with fluids and solids, it seems as though it fluxuates to what they need. Hope this helps.

What he is doing is perfectly natural. Their intake on formula decreases the more "real" food they start to eat. Sounds like he is a perfectly healthy boy! My daughter who is now 8 yrs. old, was 10 weeks premature and she did the same thing Easton is doing. She is perfectly healthy and by looking at her today you would never know she was so tiny! (3lbs. 12oz.) Good Luck! T.