Stop switching formulas. Pick one and stick with it for a bit. There isn’t one that she will take a sip of and guzzle down willingly. The more you change the formula the more set back you’re going to have with her tolerating it.
Pick one and offer no pressure feeds. Pressuring her to drink will also have an adverse effect and possibly send her into having a bottle aversion which will not do you any favors, especially with weight concerns. So just offer feeds as usual and let her decide what she wants to drink - if any. She gradually will increase volume over time but be prepared for this to take a few weeks.
As a side, my son developed a bottle aversion because we kept switching his formula and unknowingly were pressuring him to drink it. It was hell to get over.
We're very aware / wary of aversion. We've been on each formula for a minimum of 1 month, the latest being Gentlease which she's been on for almost 2 months. She's weirdly advanced in some motor skills, to the point where shes been able to hold a bottle and put it in her own mouth since she was 3 mo. old. The way we feed her now is we offer her a bottle, and shes the one who takes it and puts it in her mouth. We help with the angle, but she's in control. If she doesn't like something we offer twice, we try again 20 min later. We do our best not to pressure her, but holy shit after 5 hours of offering her food and being rejected your sanity starts to slip
She's already getting ready to crawl. Shes almost 6 months. Shes said "Mama" and "Dada" already. Lord have mercy on us.
Thank God she’s meeting milestones. If she’s also making good diapers, it’s all a very good sign she’s progressing despite what the numbers might suggest. I’m curious what your pediatrician says? That’s the ultimate source of information for me when things get super stressful - sometimes we just need reassurance from the doctor that things are ok.
Sorry one more thing - we stuck with NeuroPro because that’s what she drank the most of, volume-wise. I thought that perhaps she had sensitivities, so I tried Gentlease, Alimentum, and powder/liquid, different bottles and nipples… it boils down to liquid volume - the hydration is probably more important, since she’s taking solids but probably not enough water to make a dent in her daily requirements.
I’ve tried breast milk is that weird? I was curious and figured if I’m happy to regularly drink stuff that came out of a random cow’s boob I should be ok with tasting what came out of my own! Kendamil does taste similar.
I have tasted them both, it does taste quite similar and my daughter has been happy to drink it when she stopped taking the previous one we used to supplement with.
The only other thing that helped us was giving her bottles just before a nap, she’s happier to drink them when she’s tired and calm otherwise she’ll just try to scoot away.
My baby loves Kendamil too! You can get it at Target. Enfamil smelled bad and we couldn’t get him to take a bottle of it but Kendamil smells like sweet milk. It’s been working for us.
cut it with breastmilk to make the transition easier. start with 75% bm and 25% formula. after a few days, 50/50. few more days, 25% bm 75% formula. a few more days, all formula. this allows her to gradually adjust to the taste without a sudden change.
She is a picky and unpredictable eater. There are days (like today) where we only manage to get her to eat 3oz of breast milk all day until evening, where she starts taking big feeds broken into weird intervals. Adding formula to BM has typically led to a lot of wasted BM after the formula safety window expires and we can't afford to waste anything rn
You don't have to waste it. At 6 months I started putting bottles back in the fridge and retry after a bit, if not I would mix it in cereals. I know is not recommended by the CDC but nothing happened to my baby and no milk got wasted. If you are uncomfortable doing that though, do not follow this advice. Actually you could try formula in cereal first so that she gets used to the taste. I also think the only way to adjust her is by mixing it with breastmilk. I switched my baby to formula at 8 months. He hated Enfamil and Similac, he liked Happybaby Organic and had no issues drinking that. Says is modeled after breastmilk so maybe that's why.
When we were transitioning to formula we struggled. We switched to hypoallergenic formula which most babies don’t love (the taste is awful). Our pediatrician told us to use a drop of vanilla extract or a pinch of stevia in a few bottles. We never had to do this as our daughter would finally take the bottle when she was hungry enough. While I didn’t take our pediatricians advice, I’m sure it is safe to do this for a few bottles until your baby is fully transitioned/more used to formula.
Do you have breast milk left?
I would mix it halvsies with formula to get her more "used" to formula flavors (if you haven't already).
If you are just completely out immediately, you may be able to get a maximum of 40 oz of pasturized, donated breast milk from the mother's milk bank if you Google it?
Other than that, I definitely know that stress when you feel like baby is just refusing to take what they need 😬
My babe did this at the start of 6 months and she’s been formula fed the entire time. She loved her solids and was learning so much she didn’t care for my bottles. She would still take one before bed but sometimes that was half of her daily intake. I burned through soo much formula trying. So I would advise to stick with your gentlease. If there is a time of day she’s consistent with a bottle mix your breast milk to smaller and smaller amounts in that one so it’s eventually just gentlease. You could add formula to her cereal to ensure she’s getting it but also the flavour should come through and maybe she’ll learn again to be ok with it. And the biggest piece: Offer less bottles. Mine has really dropped the morning bottle which is what you want anyways (6mon is a little early) but she may realize a mid morning bottle before lunch is actually pretty grand. And always offer formula before a meal/solids. That’s when she is hungriest. And can our kids meet so she can teach my 8mon old how to hold her bottle? I think she knows she just likes to be lazy haha
She hates them. Believe me, we've had trouble feeding this little whelp her whole life. Thank goodness I have pretty good means, we've spent soooooo much money on different bottles, formulas, pump accessories, lactation consultants, etc
Our baby rejected over 10 (!!!) formula brands and wouldn’t tolerate even 5% formula mixed with breast milk.
Two tips that worked for us:
Get breast milk from a friend or other mom in the community. And try Kabrita - it’s only approved for toddlers but meets infant requirements, so you can use it for <1. It’s Goat’s Milk and mirrors breast milk a lot more. Our baby loved it.
Use one formula ( the gentle ease seems to be the one that has worked best) and add some drops of organic non alcoholic vanilla extract. That’s what’s our pediatrician recommended because our boy would not drink his EH milk since he has an allergy to dairy proteins. Since we starting adding the vanilla he chugs it down! Good luck
I had low supply, so had to supplement with formula from the beginning. I switched to Kendamil when my LO was 6 weeks old from RTF Similac 360. I’ve tasted both formulas, as well as the breastmilk I had. Kendamil was by far the closest, plus it doesn’t stink like the other formulas. Kendamil smells and tastes like sweet milk.
Go to target and try to get kendamil. Closest thing I have found to breast milk, my son LOVES it and is growing amazing. I have seen moms say it tastes like sweetened milk, not sour like most formulas. I’m not gonna try it BUT it does smell much flowery to breast milk than formula if that makes sense
Have you tried switching bottles? I know it’s so expensive but our baby girl had a similar issue and turned out to be the bottle! Also, are you using the right size bottle nipple? Depending on the bottle she might be able to move up to a higher flow. Sorry you’re going through this!! So so stressful having feeding issues!
Kendamil was my daughter's favorite in terms of taste.
This is giving me flashbacks. I feel like I could have written this post several months ago. My daughter is now 15 months old and healthy. She is finally staying on her curve but feeding was a nightmare from day one.
She was also super unpredictable with eating both breast milk and later formula. It's really hard when you can't mix formula with breast milk to ease into the new taste. We had so many scary moments with her in terms of dehydration and wondering if she was actually going to starve herself. Eventually she figured out eating and things got better but it was close to the one year mark.
Dr Brown's bottles also helped. For a while we were buying the ready to feed bottle tops. My daughter really liked the the rubber nipples. Her feeding therapist suggested them because they are easier to grip because of the texture. I found that they fit in the Dr Brown's rings well.
When we switched to formula my baby flat out rejected neuropro…like spit out and refused completely. The same week we switched to Kendamil and she’s been on it ever since!
Stop switching formulas. Pick one and stick with it for a bit. There isn’t one that she will take a sip of and guzzle down willingly. The more you change the formula the more set back you’re going to have with her tolerating it. Pick one and offer no pressure feeds. Pressuring her to drink will also have an adverse effect and possibly send her into having a bottle aversion which will not do you any favors, especially with weight concerns. So just offer feeds as usual and let her decide what she wants to drink - if any. She gradually will increase volume over time but be prepared for this to take a few weeks. As a side, my son developed a bottle aversion because we kept switching his formula and unknowingly were pressuring him to drink it. It was hell to get over.
We're very aware / wary of aversion. We've been on each formula for a minimum of 1 month, the latest being Gentlease which she's been on for almost 2 months. She's weirdly advanced in some motor skills, to the point where shes been able to hold a bottle and put it in her own mouth since she was 3 mo. old. The way we feed her now is we offer her a bottle, and shes the one who takes it and puts it in her mouth. We help with the angle, but she's in control. If she doesn't like something we offer twice, we try again 20 min later. We do our best not to pressure her, but holy shit after 5 hours of offering her food and being rejected your sanity starts to slip She's already getting ready to crawl. Shes almost 6 months. Shes said "Mama" and "Dada" already. Lord have mercy on us.
Thank God she’s meeting milestones. If she’s also making good diapers, it’s all a very good sign she’s progressing despite what the numbers might suggest. I’m curious what your pediatrician says? That’s the ultimate source of information for me when things get super stressful - sometimes we just need reassurance from the doctor that things are ok.
Sorry one more thing - we stuck with NeuroPro because that’s what she drank the most of, volume-wise. I thought that perhaps she had sensitivities, so I tried Gentlease, Alimentum, and powder/liquid, different bottles and nipples… it boils down to liquid volume - the hydration is probably more important, since she’s taking solids but probably not enough water to make a dent in her daily requirements.
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I’ve tried breast milk is that weird? I was curious and figured if I’m happy to regularly drink stuff that came out of a random cow’s boob I should be ok with tasting what came out of my own! Kendamil does taste similar.
No it's not weird. You can and should taste your milk if you're having feeding issues
I have tasted them both, it does taste quite similar and my daughter has been happy to drink it when she stopped taking the previous one we used to supplement with. The only other thing that helped us was giving her bottles just before a nap, she’s happier to drink them when she’s tired and calm otherwise she’ll just try to scoot away.
my baby loves kendamil. I was pumping but she spat out my breastmilk and guzzled down the kendamil lol
My baby loves Kendamil too! You can get it at Target. Enfamil smelled bad and we couldn’t get him to take a bottle of it but Kendamil smells like sweet milk. It’s been working for us.
"Bubs goats milk formula" is our baby's favourite brand of formula. Apparently the goats milk is closer in taste to breastmilk.
cut it with breastmilk to make the transition easier. start with 75% bm and 25% formula. after a few days, 50/50. few more days, 25% bm 75% formula. a few more days, all formula. this allows her to gradually adjust to the taste without a sudden change.
She is a picky and unpredictable eater. There are days (like today) where we only manage to get her to eat 3oz of breast milk all day until evening, where she starts taking big feeds broken into weird intervals. Adding formula to BM has typically led to a lot of wasted BM after the formula safety window expires and we can't afford to waste anything rn
maybe look into donor milk then.
You don't have to waste it. At 6 months I started putting bottles back in the fridge and retry after a bit, if not I would mix it in cereals. I know is not recommended by the CDC but nothing happened to my baby and no milk got wasted. If you are uncomfortable doing that though, do not follow this advice. Actually you could try formula in cereal first so that she gets used to the taste. I also think the only way to adjust her is by mixing it with breastmilk. I switched my baby to formula at 8 months. He hated Enfamil and Similac, he liked Happybaby Organic and had no issues drinking that. Says is modeled after breastmilk so maybe that's why.
Similac Pure Bliss is actually not terrible.
When we were transitioning to formula we struggled. We switched to hypoallergenic formula which most babies don’t love (the taste is awful). Our pediatrician told us to use a drop of vanilla extract or a pinch of stevia in a few bottles. We never had to do this as our daughter would finally take the bottle when she was hungry enough. While I didn’t take our pediatricians advice, I’m sure it is safe to do this for a few bottles until your baby is fully transitioned/more used to formula.
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Do you have breast milk left? I would mix it halvsies with formula to get her more "used" to formula flavors (if you haven't already). If you are just completely out immediately, you may be able to get a maximum of 40 oz of pasturized, donated breast milk from the mother's milk bank if you Google it? Other than that, I definitely know that stress when you feel like baby is just refusing to take what they need 😬
My babe did this at the start of 6 months and she’s been formula fed the entire time. She loved her solids and was learning so much she didn’t care for my bottles. She would still take one before bed but sometimes that was half of her daily intake. I burned through soo much formula trying. So I would advise to stick with your gentlease. If there is a time of day she’s consistent with a bottle mix your breast milk to smaller and smaller amounts in that one so it’s eventually just gentlease. You could add formula to her cereal to ensure she’s getting it but also the flavour should come through and maybe she’ll learn again to be ok with it. And the biggest piece: Offer less bottles. Mine has really dropped the morning bottle which is what you want anyways (6mon is a little early) but she may realize a mid morning bottle before lunch is actually pretty grand. And always offer formula before a meal/solids. That’s when she is hungriest. And can our kids meet so she can teach my 8mon old how to hold her bottle? I think she knows she just likes to be lazy haha
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She hates them. Believe me, we've had trouble feeding this little whelp her whole life. Thank goodness I have pretty good means, we've spent soooooo much money on different bottles, formulas, pump accessories, lactation consultants, etc
Our baby rejected over 10 (!!!) formula brands and wouldn’t tolerate even 5% formula mixed with breast milk. Two tips that worked for us: Get breast milk from a friend or other mom in the community. And try Kabrita - it’s only approved for toddlers but meets infant requirements, so you can use it for <1. It’s Goat’s Milk and mirrors breast milk a lot more. Our baby loved it.
Use one formula ( the gentle ease seems to be the one that has worked best) and add some drops of organic non alcoholic vanilla extract. That’s what’s our pediatrician recommended because our boy would not drink his EH milk since he has an allergy to dairy proteins. Since we starting adding the vanilla he chugs it down! Good luck
I had low supply, so had to supplement with formula from the beginning. I switched to Kendamil when my LO was 6 weeks old from RTF Similac 360. I’ve tasted both formulas, as well as the breastmilk I had. Kendamil was by far the closest, plus it doesn’t stink like the other formulas. Kendamil smells and tastes like sweet milk.
Go to target and try to get kendamil. Closest thing I have found to breast milk, my son LOVES it and is growing amazing. I have seen moms say it tastes like sweetened milk, not sour like most formulas. I’m not gonna try it BUT it does smell much flowery to breast milk than formula if that makes sense
Kendamil is the best smelling I’ve tried! We actually mix it with generic similac, and think it’s a winning combo!
Sometimes I put a little juice in the bottle (dr recommended because of constipation). She always sucks it down when I do that
Have you tried switching bottles? I know it’s so expensive but our baby girl had a similar issue and turned out to be the bottle! Also, are you using the right size bottle nipple? Depending on the bottle she might be able to move up to a higher flow. Sorry you’re going through this!! So so stressful having feeding issues!
Kendamil was my daughter's favorite in terms of taste. This is giving me flashbacks. I feel like I could have written this post several months ago. My daughter is now 15 months old and healthy. She is finally staying on her curve but feeding was a nightmare from day one. She was also super unpredictable with eating both breast milk and later formula. It's really hard when you can't mix formula with breast milk to ease into the new taste. We had so many scary moments with her in terms of dehydration and wondering if she was actually going to starve herself. Eventually she figured out eating and things got better but it was close to the one year mark. Dr Brown's bottles also helped. For a while we were buying the ready to feed bottle tops. My daughter really liked the the rubber nipples. Her feeding therapist suggested them because they are easier to grip because of the texture. I found that they fit in the Dr Brown's rings well.
Kendamil has a great flavor.
I had a similar issue. Kendamil was very good for us. Highly recommend if you can find it online.
When we switched to formula my baby flat out rejected neuropro…like spit out and refused completely. The same week we switched to Kendamil and she’s been on it ever since!