Sippy Cup and Nutrition- Goats Milk?

[@llli*lizfairchild]

Hi All,

My daughter really loves her sippy cup but I don't want her to drink too much water or take any juice. I've recently been thinking about giving her goats milk to insure that she is still getting some fats and nutrients when using the sippy cup. This is NOT intended to replace a feeding or be a supplement and I would only give it to her between feedings but I suppose I worry it would decrease the breastmilk she takes/not be the right thing to give her. I've been reading a lot about women who have made their own formula with goats milk and while I (luckily!) have never had to give her any formula, I am interested in it as a form of nutrition. I am thinking I would just put 4 oz of the mixed, powdered goat's milk (it has added vitamin D and folic acid) and see what she does with it (she still doesn't have complete accuracy with the sippy cup). She is 8 months old, she eats A LOT (self feeds) and is really interested in nursing, sippy cups and eating. Thanks!

[@llli*mommal]

At 8 months, she doesn't need anything other than breastmilk. Even the solids are supposed to be a complement to the breastmilk in baby's diet, not a replacement.

Is the a reason why you're concerned about your baby's nutrition? In general, it's healthier to offer water than any other drink. I'd make a personal exception for the baby who was close to falling off the bottom end of the growth chart, though.

[@llli*auderey]

[@llli*lizfairchild]

She isn't falling off the growth chart, but she has steadily been loosing her hold on it. She weighs about 16 pounds or so which puts her (i think) in the 40%, that said she was in the 50% at her 6 month check up and the 75% at her 4 month. I know it is normal for breast fed babies to not gain as fast but she just seems so much smaller than her baby buddies. That said, She is really tall and her head circumference is off the charts so..... But really I feel like if I am going to give her a sippy cup there should be calories in it, and I don't want to waste breast milk as she is not that accurate with it anyway.

[@llli*mommal]

It's textbook normal for a breastfed baby to decline on the charts as they move into the second half of their first year and start putting more of their calories into motion than fat. My kids both went from the 99-100th percentile for weight at around 3-4 months to the 75-80th at their 6 month checkups. The chart that gets used makes a big difference: plot a breastfed baby on the WHO charts for breastfed babies and she'll probably look very average. Use the old but still widely used CDC charts (based on data from formula-fed babies) instead, and that baby will look like she is gaining weight "too fast" during the newborn period and early infancy and "too slow" as she gets into the second half of her first year.

There's nothing wrong with being in the 40th percentile for weight, especially if the baby is continuing to climb the height and head circumference charts. A baby who isn't getting enough calories is likely to slack off in all dimensions, not just weight. Project yourself a few years into the future, when your pediatrician is congratulating you on having a child who is tall and slender despite the epidemic of childhood obesity!

[@llli*lizfairchild]

Well.... it turns out she has actually lost weight. I weighed her today (right after a feeding) and she had gone from 15 pounds 13 ounces at her 6 month check up to 15 pounds 10 ounces at 8 months. I know there are scale variations but even taking those few ounces into consideration, she hasn't gained ANY weight. I think she has gotten taller but home measurements are pretty iffy. I was pretty upset when I found this out, but she did just start crawling so I am sure that accounts for some of it. I am going to start bfing every two hours again, only feed her solids at night (she loves eating too much and was taking in less breastmilk when I let her eat however much she wanted). I don't think I will make goat's milk a habit unless it turns out I can't make enough milk for all those feedings. If I give her a sippy cup though, I am definitely going to make sure there is fat in there!

[@llli*mommal]

On a bathroom scale? Those can be off more than a few oz- I'm 5 lbs lighter on my home scale than I am at my ob/gyn office, 10 lbs lighter than at my GP's office.

[@llli*auderey]

agree with mommal - me too - and also, my DS didn't gain ANY weight between 6 and 9 months. totally healthy, doc didn't bat an eye - because he also started crawling, pulling up, etc.

this sounds like a good plan:

I am going to start bfing every two hours again, only feed her solids at night (she loves eating too much and was taking in less breastmilk when I let her eat however much she wanted). I don't think I will make goat's milk a habit unless it turns out I can't make enough milk for all those feedings. If I give her a sippy cup though, I am definitely going to make sure there is fat in there!

[@llli*lizfairchild]

@ mommal, no it wasn't a bathroom scale. It was a medical grade baby scale at a midwife's office (I went for baby group). However, it wasn't the same scale I last weighed her on so I figure there will still be some variation. @ auderey, that is encouraging! I have an appointment with our pedi on the 5th and I hope she'll be of the same opinion. I know she has gotten taller in the last two months so that is also reassuring.

[@llli*mommal]

Okay, that's better than a bathroom scale! But still, different scales can provide really different numbers, even when they're professional machines.

Another thing to consider is that if baby had a height growth spurt at the same time she got more mobile, it's very natural for her weight gain to slow or stop. Calories don't get allocated equally: some months they all go into fat (or height or motion), and some months they are equally apportioned between those three parameters.