Hi,
My 6 months old baby girl is strictly resistant to formula milk since I started on it.
It takes 2 hrs to feed her 3oz of milk (90 ml) forcedly.
I started on baby cereal now, but milk should be the main feed for babies of this age.
She lost 200gms of weight since last month.
Following is her feeding schedule (its too poor feeding) :-
8am - 10 am : 3oz of formula milk (90ml)
1pm - 2pm : 3 scoops of baby cereal
5pm - 6pm : 3oz of formula milk (90 ml)
7pm : just introduced a fruit (small piece)
9:30pm - 10:30pm : 4oz of formula milk

Anyone would say that its too less of feeding to a 6 month old, especially the milk. Doctor too could not suggest anything but to try different flavours of formula milk.
Please suggest & help me how could I bring up my kid' s appetite and make her drink the milk.
Till now I have tried 2 products of formula milk.. but I think she does dislike the milk itself.
Am too worried.. pls suggest


- Sneha Sneha replied. Hello Mel,
Now my 7 months old baby has gained weight & weighs as an average indian baby does.

This is what I started doing now..
As she just hates bottle feed though I tried several flavours, I started feeding her solids for twice a day..
Now her feeding schedule is as below:-
Morning 8-9 am : Formula milk (5 oz)
12 - 1 pm : rice + dal + veggie
5pm : cerelac
7 pm: Breast milk/ biscuit
9-10 pm: Formula milk (5 oz)
breastmilk at midnight

This schedule is far than earlier... and now i feel somewhat relaxed..
Thanks for all your suggestions !!

Actually I wanted to feed her some breakfast like idli in the morning.. but after having milk & bath.. she feels sleepy again & goes to bed for 1 hour.. so I cud not work out on her breakfast yet. I tried feeding her cooked apple, chikoo for 3-4 times.
for first 1-2 times she had little.. then onwards she vomitted whenever she had. she is not even liking banana..
what else fruit can i try her? I just wanted to introduce 1 fruit to her diet everyday.

And one more thing is formula milk is still a forced feed (though less forced than earlier..)

Sneha replied. Hello Mel,
Now my 7 months old baby has gained weight & weighs as an average indian baby does.

This is what I started doing now..
As she just hates bottle feed though I tried several flavours, I started feeding her solids for twice a day..
Now her feeding schedule is as below:-
Morning 8-9 am : Formula milk (5 oz)
12 - 1 pm : rice + dal + veggie
5pm : cerelac
7 pm: Breast milk/ biscuit
9-10 pm: Formula milk (5 oz)
breastmilk at midnight

This schedule is far than earlier... and now i feel somewhat relaxed..
Thanks for all your suggestions !!

Actually I wanted to feed her some breakfast like idli in the morning.. but after having milk & bath.. she feels sleepy again & goes to bed for 1 hour.. so I cud not work out on her breakfast yet. I tried feeding her cooked apple, chikoo for 3-4 times.
for first 1-2 times she had little.. then onwards she vomitted whenever she had. she is not even liking banana..
what else fruit can i try her? I just wanted to introduce 1 fruit to her diet everyday.

And one more thing is formula milk is still a forced feed (though less forced than earlier..)

samita replied. if ur baby is resistant to formula milk then try sonething salty ur baby can have khichadi with saly and haldi try this this will help u .then go for suji ie upma only with saly idli etc . samita replied. if ur baby is resistant to formula milk then try sonething salty ur baby can have khichadi with saly and haldi try this this will help u .then go for suji ie upma only with saly idli etc . Mel replied. Yes, a 6 month old baby can digest 3 meals a day as the quantity will be very little - e.g. dal chaval + veggie around half a katori for a meal. Eventually, she should work up to 1 full small bowl (little bigger than a katori). They can digest it. Baby' s have voracious appetites. It' s only when they cross 1 year old when they start having tiny amounts of food, since their growth and development slows down considerably.

Here' s how you check. From age 6 - 9 months, her weight should increase by 15 gms per day. You don' t have to weigh her daily, but she should increase approx 450 - 500 gms per month. Mel replied. Why does she wake up and then go back to bed ? Maybe she used to sleep at this time earlier, but if you have to rock her to sleep and she doesn' t sleep soundly, then maybe it' s time to ditch the morning nap. My doc told me that the day time is the best time for infants to eat, as their bodies metabolise larger quantities of food eaten. So, it' s ok if she naps less, or has only one nap in the evening.

10 am is too late, but it' s ok. As soon as she wakes up, don' t bathe her. Instead offer her a bottle of watery formula. Or better still, express some milk in the evening (1 or 2 oz will do), keep it in the fridge. In the morning, prepare just 1 oz of formula with warm water, add the breastmilk and add 1 oz of boiled water. Offer her this as soon as she wakes. Let her have as much as she wants. Don' t force. Keep this up for a week, then slowly eliminate the breastmilk and offer her 2 oz formula mixed with 1 oz of water. Later, make it 3 oz formula and 1 oz water and so on.

After she has her milk, burp her and let her play for a while. Then bathe after an hour or so. After that, offer her breakfast - Cereal (whichever one she likes, and as much as she likes). If she eats it all, then slowly and gradually increase the quantity of morning cereal. Let her play or sleep after that. Rock her for 10 mins, if she sleeps, good, if she doesn' t, let her play.

Then at around 12:30 offer her lunch mashed dal chaval with some simple veggie (like potato). (If you haven' t already introduced this, first introduce only boiled mashed potato and watch her for 3-4 days. If there is no allergy (rash, loose motions, etc), then add the second item (rice), again offer only potato and rice for 3-4 days, observe and then proceed with dal. After a week, add one more veggie and skip the potato for 3-4 days. Then another veggie and so on. After completion of 8 months, you can introduce boiled egg white, chicken and bits of chapati soaked in milk or ghee.

After lunch, leave a gap of half an hour and offer her the same composition of milk (as mentioned earlier).

Then in the afternoon fruit. Introduce bananas, boiled apples, boiled pears, water melon, skinned and pureed grapes, etc. Followed by milk.

Dinner same as lunch.

Milk before sleeping.

Yoghurt may help with her stool. As long as there is no discomfort while passing motion, it' s ok if she passes motion once in three days also. Just watch out for blood, mucous or a difference in colour (green or black).

Don' t worry too much. She will be fine. She will eventually drink formula milk... just keep it a bit watered down, but not too watery. And yoghurt can be given to her as it is, or mixed with her lunch (whichever way she likes). And remember one thing.... as sensible grown up adults, each one of us likes some food, and dislikes some food. So, babies are the same. If she repeatedly rejects any particular food item (egg, potato, grapes, etc) then respect her choice and offer her other fruits and veggies to compensate for those vitamins and minerals.

All the best. Mel replied. Yes, it' s too less and too far apart. Why such long breaks between meals ? 10 am and then 1 pm ? Did you breastfeed her until now ? Do you have some breastmilk ? Even a little ? Does she eat cereal properly or is very fussy ? What fruit did you introduce ?

If you do have some breastmilk, then express whatever milk you can, add to a small quantity of formula and offer her. Let her have as much as she wants, and offer her more frequently (every 2 hours). Don' t force. Let her have as much as she wants. Add formula to cereals, sooji, nachni, oats, etc. Give her cheese and dahi. Most fussy babies love cheese and dahi. My son hated formula milk, but loved to eat cheese and dahi, so it can compensate for her calcium requirements. Answer the questions above, and we' ll work out a nice schedule for her accordingly.