My son is 8 months old and for about a month now he really isn't into drinking his
formula as much as he used to. He was eating five 7oz bottles a day... for months,
now he eats about 4-5 5oz bottles a day. He loves his baby food, stage 2...
I think he may be ready for stage 3 soon. Could this be a sign that he's ready to
move on from the formula? Or should I consider less bottles a day and more food?
I agree - you need to stick with the formula. Perhaps the amount will drop a bit, but he needs it until he's 12 months. You might consider taking advantage of a reduced interest in the bottle and offer him milk in a sippy cup at meals which may help him to get a bit more even if he drops a bottle feed. It will help him learn to use the sippy and may help when it's time to wean from the bottle - he'll already be used to a cup.
This is something that I would call your pediatrician about. I don't think you're really supposed to wean them off of formula/breast milk until they're a year old and even then they need to have whole milk for brain development. If he's doing well with the baby food you can start introducing things like cheerios and the gerber puff cereal, mashed potatoes, peas, things that aren't hard for him to chew and get him used to big boy food. I would definitely ask your ped about switching him off of formula, but my guess is they'll say wait until he's a year old.
T.,
My son went through this at about the same age. I started mixing up a premeasured pitcher of formula each morning. Around the same time my son decided he was not going to drink from a bottle any more. We started filling a sippy cup in the morning and just letting it sit around the house. As he emptied it, we filled it back up. I only worried if he didn't drink the whole 24 oz in 1 day. We did this at the suggestion of our pediatrician. He did really well with it until about 10 mo, when we switched him to whole milk (he boycotted formula altogether at this point).
He should still be on formula till he is 12 months then you can switch him to the next step formula which is an easier transishion to whole milk then just giveing them whole milk after a few months of being on the next step stuff start mixing in the whole milk with the next step it will be a smoother transition the haveing them start spitting up half of the whole milk like my son did when we made the switch which the next step formula is designed for toddlers ages 12 months to 24 months as for not wanting to drink its just he's eattig more which is takeing the place of alot of those bottles he was drinking as long as you still can get him to drink liquids I wouldnt worry to much try giveing him juice and water as well as formula perhaps he may even start drinking from a cup as well good luck
Don't worry - it's normal for the formula amount to drop off when the solid food starts to take over. It's great that he's taking to it so well! As long as he's growing, active and healthy, he's doing exactly what he needs to be doing. I believe the standard is to keep up the formula for the first 12 months - this ensures the right amount of iron, vitamins, etc as they adjust to eating a wider variety of solid food. At 12 months you can wean onto whole milk.
Congratulations on his progress :) sometimes it's hard to get them to eat solids, but you sound like it's going very well!!
I agree with the lady below. Formula is very important until 12 months, Its ok that the amoun is goin down. That might even make the trasition to milk later on easier. Sounds like you both are right on track!!! He'll let you know which he wants now that he has developed a taste for both. You'll know when he wants formula and you'll know when he wants food. Take care
my duaghter did the same thing around 8 months. Now that he is eating more food it is natural for them to cut back on the formula. My daughter also wanted the food rather than the bottle. she started to only take 2 8oz bottles a day for me for about 2 weeks. i knew that was not enough liquid for her so i kept trying to add another bottle in before nap and she finally took to it. my ped said they should have around 24 oz of formula a day at that age. so as long as he is getting enough liquids and still wants to eat i would keep feeding him.
I would watch the stage 3 baby foods. my ped considers them a chocking hazard. at 9 months intro the stage 2 meats. it sounds like he might really like those.
As i mentioned my daughter liked to eat the baby food more too but now she is giving me a hard time with the baby food and table food. so enjoy his healthy eating habits while you can!
