9 Mo Baby doesn't want milk

[LoveSeel]

I have 9 month old twins. Lately they have both been taking less and less milk during the day. Yesterday I decided to track it, so I pulled out their baby scale and weighed them before and after each breastfeeding. My daughter took 9 ounces of milk in 24 hours. My son took about 14 ounces in 24 hours.

I am back to weighing them again today to see if it is a trend. So far it looks like it is.

They started solids several months ago. I always offer the breast before solids.

-For breakfast they have cereal mixed w/ breastmilk and a jar of baby food (fruits or veggies).

-For lunch they snack on a small amount of finger foods and sometimes share a yogurt

-For dinner they have cereal mixed w/ breastmilk again and a jar of baby food (meat mixture this time)

They eat their solids just fine. Am I over doing the solids? It doesn't seem like a lot.

I sometimes offer a sippy cup with breastmilk during a solids feeding, though they usually each drink an ounce or less.

I did not offer any sippys yesterday.

I did offer bottles after every breastfeeding and had no success.

Everything I have read states they are still supposed to be drinking 26+ ounces a day while eating solids!

They seem happy. I change their diapers 5-8 times a day. Sometimes they are heavy. Sometimes not. They are teething, but it doesn't seem to affect their mood.

My son weighs just under 19 pounds and my daughter is just under 17 pounds. At our 9 month appointment 3 weeks ago he was 18 lbs 1 oz and she was 16 lbs 4 oz.

Note: They are treated for acid refux and we 6 weeks premature. They are not indicating their meds need to be adjusted. They are not spitting up and do not act as though they are in pain.

Hope someone has some good insights for me!

When I mentioned to my doctor they were taking less milk she didn't seem alarmed, but the literature she gave me says 6-8 ounces of milk before each solids feeding.

 

[MindUtopia]

So are you BF and also bottle feeding? If so, how are you measuring the amount of breast milk (from the breast)? And are you also including the breast milk they take in as part of their meals?

My daughter has never been a big eater (as far as milk goes). She's a bit older and maybe a bit bigger but she has about 10-14 oz a day. If they aren't obviously hungry for milk and aren't dropping in weight centiles or obviously dehydrated, then I wouldn't worry. Their milk intake will start to drop off around 9 ish months especially if you are doing purees as that tends to fill them up more. If they're otherwise fine, I'd just keep doing what you're doing. There is a recommendation to give milk first before solids, but that's usually for younger babies (4-7 months) before they're really taking much in the way of solids so that they fill up on milk first. By the 9-10 month mark, they'll naturally decrease the amount of milk, so I wouldn't let it bother you too much unless your doctor is specifically concerned about weight. I couldn't even tell you the last time my daughter had 8 oz in one go, let alone before a meal!

 

[Noo]

The milk mixed into their foods also counts. I would be giving either cereal OR a jar of food though. There is no need for both - I'd see that as 2 meals unless portions are tiny. How much milk are you mixing in cereals?

 

[countrygirl3]

In my opinion I think your twins are doing great. My son turned 9 months a few days ago, he's 21 pounds and does about the same for eating schedule as you wrote your twins do. I just ran out of frozen breastmilk for him (I froze 333 bags) and now he is on formula so I too am monitoring his intake more carefully. From everything I've read online 16-24 oz of milk a day is normal at this age so if you count the breastmilk in the cereal you might have that much? I do baby cereal and puree fruit at most meals as my doctor said the iron in cereal is important so they should have that regularly unless they are getting it from meat (or other sources). Also if your doctor isn't concerned and your children seem happy then you're doing a great job. (My son had about 18 oz of formula today).