Help with My 5 Month Old, About Feeding.

When my son started eating more solids; cereal, fruits, veggies, etc... he did stop drinking quite so much milk/formula. We were fairly relaxed about his feeding schedule and tried to let him grow into different amounts as necessary. I think a good rule of thumb is to monitor his/her weight gain/loss and worry accordingly. Our Pedi. did not seem to worry about the slow down on milk/formula as long as he was still hitting his growth/development milestones.

Check with your Pedi.

Hope this helps...

Hi M.,

I have a 5 month old that is in the same stage. I started her on rice cereal (put into her formula) but it appears she needs more. She's obviously still hungry even after downing 8 ounces of formula with the cereal in it every 3 hours! This past weekend, I started her on pureed, organic, butternut squash in lieu of the formula and she took it very well. I spoke to the nurse at my pediatrician's office about all of this and her advice was to prop her up in a high chair and start her slowly on the "yellow" vegetables to see how she does. I think it's still O.K. to give your child some forumla (as I still do), but it's time to realize that she's growing up and doesn't need formula like she did before. She's on to real food now!

About me: I'm a 42 year old PTWorker/PTSAHM with a 2 year old boy and 5 month old girl.

My daughter just turned 5 months also and is getting to where she will eat solids about twice a day. I am breastfeeding her so I don't know how many ounces she drinks, but it seems that we are substituting a full nursing session for the solid food and a little short drink after. As long as your daughter is eating well and acting healthy, don't worry about counting the ounces so much. she should have a 6 month check up soon anyway and then the doc will let you know if her weight is where it is supposed to be. A healthy baby won't starve herself, so just relax and let her have as much formula as she wants.

Hi M.
I totally understand your question and concerns. I have 3 children (4, 2 & 8 mths) and they all seemed to do the same thing. I started the cereal at different time with each but my latest started at about 5 months (the others were earlier) and she was doing fine for a while but as in your situation she cut down on her formula drinking. I breastfeed for the first six months with her (although she has a few formula bottles here and there) and I found then I wasn't worried about the number of ozs she got but when she went on the bottles I panicked when she didn't finish the bottles (as I did with my other two kids).
I have now had to relax and let her drink as much as she wants. When she had her 6 month check I discussed it with her doc and the doc said as long as she is getting 20-24 ozs it is ok (sometimes we can only get her to have 16 ozs). However she is growing ok and is 50 % on the growth chart (she was under the 5th % when she was very young).
I guess every child is different but my 3 have all had the same thing with the drinking - the more food you increase the less they drink. However I have been told that up to around 6 months the milk is the primary source of food but after that they need solid food and the balance changes as the solids increase (plus they get lots of fluids from the foods especially the fruits).
Don't worry about it - especially if your little one is still getting 26 ozs or more. But just to ease your mind chat about it to the doc at the 6 month check up.
I hope this helps.

I was told by my Ped that the son would decrease formula as solids were added. She also told me that he should not exceed 32 oz per day of formula when I added stage one foods which has held correct so far.

Definitely check with your pediatrician. I think your child will be fine. If she is eating more solids, it should be normal for her to cut back a little on the formula. In fact, the more solids an infant eats, the less formula they are usually going to want. I wouldn't worry too much, as long as your pediatrician isn't worried.

I have a 5 month old and have no idea how much she consumes per day because she is breastfed. I think that unless she is losing weight or unusually fussy I wouldn't be concerned at all.

She's probably starting to really teeth.....totally normal to eat less when they're suffering through that. Maybe try giving her a dose of tylenol to see if it helps ease the pain during the day and bring back her appetite.

-S (Mom of 2-and-a-half-year-old boy & 3-month-old girl)