Solids, formula or goat's milk? Advice please.

[Ruby2]

My son is 24 weeks and I haven't been able to pump enough while I'm working to keep up with his demand at daycare for a few months. We cosleep and I was relatively successful for a while at remembering to only nurse him on one side after about 2 am so that I could pump on the other side in the morning to make up the difference during the day. It's not working any more though, for a variety of reasons. It's turned into a huge stress factor and I need to find another option to save everyone's sanity.

I'm looking for advice about what to have the sitter offer my son instead of the 4th bottle that he's been getting while I'm at work. I am away from him for 7 hours 4 times a week and he consistently takes about 12 ounces while I consistently pump only 8 or 9. He also is probably lactose intolerant (I'm now dairy free), so dairy-based formula is not an option. Is goat's milk something that I should try, or is he too young? Is soy formula a better alternative, even though I hate the idea of giving him anything processed? He's too little to start solids for anything but fun, right? I don't think baby's bodies are really ready to get any nutrition from solids at this age and don't want to give him purees or cereal if his body isn't ready. 

We did BLW very successfully with our daughter, but she was a serious nursing fanatic and wan't really interested in food until she was about 8 months. She nursed until she was 2 when I got pregnant again. DS is not very interested in nursing. He has to be in a dark room with white noise, preferably half asleep, to nurse with any concentration.

He's in the 90th percentile for growth and extremely interested in food and water. For the past month or so we haven't been able to have him at the table with us at mealtime because it was like torturing him to not let him try our food. He grabs water glasses out of our hands and gulps water without choking. He learned to sit up by himself over the past few weeks and has much better control over his hands, so we started baby led weaning this week and have been giving him large bits of fruits and vegetable to suck on. Last night he sat in his chair for 45 minutes (no exaggeration!) happily gnawing on a roasted parsnip and a steamed pepper! Long story short, the boy is obviously ready for food. But it seems too early.

Help please! I need advice. I am totally stressed and want to make the right decision. Thanks in advance.

[pek64]

If he's dairy sensitive, he may also react to goat's milk. I'd err on the side of caution on that. As for solids, some children may start early, and some late. If he's ready, I'd follow his lead.

[Peony]

At this point, and even for the rest of the first year at least, solids aren't meant to replace any form of milk. Solids do not offer enough calories, fat. He still needs that 4th bottle of something.

[Ruby2]

Thanks to you both for your replies. The other point that I guess I forgot to make is that I really think 8 or 9 ounces in 7 hours is probably plenty of BM. He doesn't nurse 4 times in that many hours when I'm with him. I suspect that it has more to do with comfort sucking in his end and a tendency to offer a bottle whenever he gets fussy on the sitter's end (which I fully support, except when my freezer supply is gone). I hesitate to introduce formula if I don't have to, but have no problem with it if it's the best thing for him...I just don't know if it's the best thing.

If she has to offer him something in a bottle, what should it be? If he doesn't really "need" the calories and he's just had a 3 ounce bottle, but still wants to suck a while longer to fall asleep, is there another option? He won't take a pacifier. 

[JudiAU]

Your child is too young for cow or goat milk. Introducing whole animal proteins at this age is setting him up for serious allergies and digestive issues.  I would suggest either a gentle version of a cow's milk formula or a soy formula. Breastmilk or formula should be the primary food for the first year. Solids don't offer the same bang for the buck. Honestly, having worked full time with two infants that amount of bm is on the lower side of what infants are typically offered. My kids always took between 12 - 15 oz daily until about 11 m when they both dropped a bottle. That is pretty standard. And after a lot of work, they both took pacifiers.

But at 6m you could also try some solids as play food. That might bridge the gap if the real issue is oral stimulation rather than hunger.

[phathui5]

What hours is he at daycare? When does he get bottles?

Can you get there a couple minutes earlier in the morning so you're nursing him before you leave (maybe putting off him needing the first bottle until later)?

[flyrabbitfly]

I'd say for a 6 mo old child in the 90th percentile who is showing lots of interest in food, let him have some! Sounds like the sanity saver you are looking for. He may or may not eat much of it at this age, but maybe just the oral work will help him wait for the real deal.

While all the pps are right: there isn't as much bang for the buck in solids compared to breastmilk or formula, on the other hand this isn't a kid who needs more bang. Just buck.

Good luck!

[avismama24]

Originally Posted by phathui5 

What hours is he at daycare? When does he get bottles?

Can you get there a couple minutes earlier in the morning so you're nursing him before you leave (maybe putting off him needing the first bottle until later)?

EXCELLENT suggestion!

[avismama24]

I would weigh in to trust your mama insticnt, about what your son needs to eat and how. Just an fyi typically a 6 month old babe needs atleast 21 ounces of milk in a 24 hour period. We were giving my son 24 ounces bc he is a peanut, not even on the charts for height and weight, but growing just fine. My son is just about a year old and eats about a cup of solids a day, fruits, veggies, tofu, and oils such as coconut/flax, etc. Even with this extra intake of food he has not changed his interest in milk, he still wants all 24 ounces, and we give it to him, trying to follow his lead.

As far as a suggestion to supplement that 4th bottle if that is the route you go, goat milk may cause an allergic reaction and your LO is still pretty tiny, which may set him up for allergies later on. If you trust your doctor I would discuss it with him/her. Also google "homeade goat formula" We have used this with our son and I felt a lot better about using this than store bought formula. Hope that helps.

[foofsmom]

Some babies who are lactose intolerant do well on goats milk and some do not. Straight goats milk is not a good idea because it has too high of a fat content and not enough carbs. However, you can very easily make nutrious and balanced goat milk formula from home. If you are interested, I can give you the recipe I use. My daughter loves it! She is 9 months old and only in the last month have I needed to give it to her, and she gets one bottle of it per day.

[Ruby2]

Originally Posted by phathui5 

What hours is he at daycare? When does he get bottles?

Can you get there a couple minutes earlier in the morning so you're nursing him before you leave (maybe putting off him needing the first bottle until later)?

He's there from about 8:30am to 3:30pm. Once in a while I succeed at nursing him after we get there, but only if he's very tired. He is VERY easily distracted and will seldom nurse anywhere other than in my dark bedroom with loud white noise! So different from dd who would nurse anywhere, any time, and preferable ALL the time! :) When I am able to nurse him before I leave, it does solve the problem though.  

Originally Posted by foofsmom 

Some babies who are lactose intolerant do well on goats milk and some do not. Straight goats milk is not a good idea because it has too high of a fat content and not enough carbs. However, you can very easily make nutrious and balanced goat milk formula from home. If you are interested, I can give you the recipe I use. My daughter loves it! She is 9 months old and only in the last month have I needed to give it to her, and she gets one bottle of it per day.

Yes, I would love the recipe, thanks. Do you use the Dr. Sears one? I'm going to talk to ds's doctor about it next week and thought maybe I could try something over Thanksgiving when we'll be home for a few days in a row just in case he has a reaction. After reading a lot about formula, it looks like I should try cow's milk based formula first though, then the "hypoallergenic" cow's milk kind, then soy, then goat's milk as a last resort...

Thanks for the advice everyone!

[foofsmom]

It isn't the doctor Sears recipe. I did ALOT of research before giving my daughter goat's milk formula and I found this recipe to be the most helpful. The man who created it has an MS in nutrition, gives it to his own daughter and has made it to reflect the (almost) exact carb/fat/protein make up of breastmilk. He is also the president of a goat milk company, so his recipes call for powdered goat milk, although he does suggest that raw goats milk from a reputable source might be better. We use powdered goats milk. I followed his recipe exactly minus the multi-vitamin (she gets so much breastmilk I didn't think it was necessary) and I added nordic naturals baby DHA to it. His recipe is much higher in fatty acids and vitamins than the doctor Sears recipe. I literally looked at 50 recipes online and even watched youtube videos about it! 

http://www.mtcapra.com/discover-how-this-homemade-goat-milk-infant-formula-changed-my-daughters-life/

you an skip his rather belabored introduction if you desire by just scrolling down until you see the chart he made showing the make-up of the goats milk formula vs. the make up of breastmilk. 

Personally, I would avoid soy formula at all costs. It is very unhealthy for babies and many doctors want it removed from the market. Additionally, I would highly suggest avoiding any and all store bought formula. Even the organic stuff has an incredibly long and somewhat perplexing list of ingredients, and to tell you the truth the ingredient aren't nearly as high quality as they would be if you made your own. There are plenty of homemade formula recipes out there, and a lot of time and research has been done in their comprising. There are coconut based ones (far better than soy for your little one!), cows milk based ones and even chicken broth based formulas! You can actually buy canned goatsmilk formula from New Zealand or France. I am a big proponent of goats milk. Think about it in a traditonal sense: what were babies given 100 years ago when nursing wasn't an option? Often it was goats milk with molasses added for trace minerals (just like a lot of the recipes you see online).

[stacyann21]

6 months is not old enough for goat or cow milk. If you can't pump another bottle or sneak in an extra feeding somewhere, then send a bottle of formula and/or start him on solids. He will still need to make up for the feeding if he's only given solids. Especially at first since they tend to spit most of it out hehe.