[realitycheck]

I am a mother of a 7 month old baby girl and we are struggling to get her to eat more than 8 to 16 ounces a day, when we know that she should be taking an upwards of 30 ounces a day, plus baby food.

We have made several steps in order to try to introduce a larger calorie count to her diet. But thus far we seem to be failing. Her Pediatrician has concentrated her formula, adding 6 scoops of Enfamil Gentlease Lipil per 8 ounces instead of 4 scoops of Enfamil Gentlease Lipil per 8 ounces, and rice powder for her I-GERD. We have also attempted to introduced vitamin D whole milk once a day, Pediasure, and step 1 and 2 Gerber baby foods, to help her put some weight on, but she is not really interested. We have also attempted to introduce PolyVisol, but it caused immense constipation and stomach pain, which made her refuse to eat all together.

As much as I try to introduce the bottle, she just pushes it away. She does not cry in hunger, and if I did not attempt to give her a bottle every 30 minutes or so, she wouldn't care to take the bottle at all. We have also tried to get her to take the formula in multiple ways, via a "grown up" glass, and a sippy cup. But she is still largely uninterested.

Otherwise, she is a happy, playful and active baby. She rarely fusses about anything.

The one thing she seems to love to take is ice water from her father's glass, but we try not to encourage that, as we are very concerned about water toxicity.

She is still not gaining the weight she should, weighing around 14 pounds at 7 months old, and looking very emaciated. I am at a loss and I am really concerned and I don't really know what my next step should be.

Some people have said that I should add Carnation Instant Breakfast to her concentrated formula, but I don't know what to do. The doctors seem to be completely nonchalant about this entire situation... I am worried and I am scared that my baby isn't getting enough nutrition...

I used the "Infant's Growth Calculator that was provided by link in a child forum in this parent forum.

Data:
Gender: Female
Age: 7 months
Body Weight: 14lbs
Body Length: 28 inches
Head Circumference: 18 inches

Results:
Length for age is in the percentile: 90th-95th
Weight for age percentiles: 5th - 10th
Weight for length percentile: < 3rd
Head circumference for age percentile: >97th

I am pretty sure this is a case of FTT, but I am wondering what I can do to increase her want to eat, and increase her caloric intake so that she will gain the needed weight to be healthy infant.
Any advice??

[i3ai3ydanny]

The only way to make an infant drink more calories that won't drink is to concentrate the formula more. Danny was on Neocate JR but she would take Neocate infant. It tastes bad in the unflavored but the tropical tastes much better. You can try and get a presciption from your Dr for it or try some second hand shops as often people will drop in the formula after they have graduated from it. It is a hypoallergenic, high calorie formula. It has one scoop per ounce mixed for 30 cal per ounce. I would try a high calorie formula because if she is not wanting to eat and is only 7 months old there is no way to force her to eat.