Do u always listen to doctor orders?

[ray7694]

I have a new doctor for my dd and while I like him I am not always on the same page as him. My dd has been on hypoallergenic formula since birth. I tried many times to switch her without luck. She is now one and the doctor first wanted to try whole milk for a week. We are at the end of the week and she is fussy just like previous attempts but I also took away the bottle. She also isn't drinking what he wants. So I call and he wants me to cut back on solids until she drinks the milk 16 ounces and give it another week.

I am STRESSED about what to do. I don't want to reintroduce the bottle but I don't know if she is fussy because the bottle or milk.

Should I go back to the formula to see if she is better?

Also the doctor states that after another week if the whole milk still isn't working to call and we will try soymilk. I tried soy formula and it was a disaster.
If soymilk doesn't work he wants to send to specialist.
WWYD?
Thanks for listening and for any advice!

[elektra]

When you say that "she also isn't drinking what he wants" do you mean the amount? And that's why he wants you to cut back on solids? In an effort to get her to drink the 16 ounces?
To answer your main question, I do usually listen to dr's orders/recommendations when it comes to prescription dosage. However, yesterday my doctor told me to keep my feet up all day which while I tried when I could, it just wasn't possible.
I also try to voice my concerns at the time they give me the advice to prevent me from having to not follow their orders. Ex. my neurologist wanted to increase my medication dosage earlier in my pregnancy than I wanted to. So I told her why I didn't want to increase until later in the pregnancy and she agreed to wait as long as I called her right away if I was having any problems. I would rather have her know exactly what I was doing in regards to medication, KWIM?
But for exact ounce intake of milk for a baby? I think you have some leeway there, and I would probably not follow the doctors orders to a t in this case.
Make sure the dr. knows that the soy formula was a disaster for you and why.
I also ditched bottles at one year, introduced cow's milk and weaned DD from breastfeeding completely, all within a few weeks. It was probably alot of change for the little gal to deal with. But I do not regret giving up the bottle.
There supposedly isn't a need to continue with formula beyond a year, but maybe you could try doing the formula in a cup if you are worried about a milk allergy.
When you say "fussy" is your DD showing signs of a milk allergy?

My own DD would not take formula from a cup, BTW. And I never put cow's milk in a bottle.

[zoestargrove]

I think if it's stressing you and dd out to get it done under his timeline - unless there is a medical condition I didn't read, it's probably harmless to ease up, go with your instincts and make progress more gradually.

The only thing I can think of is you want to make sure she is getting plenty of fluids, but if she stays on formula for another month or two while you make a more gradual transition. I don't see the harm. Both my sons didn't take to cow's milk right away. My nephew hated the taste of milk, but loved yogurt smoothies. (I think my sister bought the premade ones from Stonyfield.) We also didn't quit the bottle exactly at one year either. But, they did within a few months afterwards.

[Laurel]

I usually follow medical orders, take prescribed meds, etc.

I don't give a lot of weight to general peds advice on matters of nutrition. They really are not experts in this area. I'd try to see a specialist in this case.

ETA: I have a child who was on hypoallergenic formula until 15 months and still doesn't tolerate cows milk at 18 months. 12 months can be too early for sensitive kids to try dairy/soy, IME.

[ray7694]

I just had to go pick up my dd as she has 104 fever. Took her in and doctor said it is viral. So I can ad that to her list of issues.

[tiapam]

I just had to go pick up my dd as she has 104 fever. Took her in and doctor said it is viral. So I can ad that to her list of issues.

Sorry to hear she is sick. I probably would not try to take away the bottle and the formula at the same time, but I could see where down the road it might be hard to then try to give her the milk in a different container. I do not always take doc's advice. I feel more confident this time and started DS on solids when I felt it was the right time (for DS *and* me) even though I think our ped would have told me to wait longer.

[niccig]

I just had to go pick up my dd as she has 104 fever. Took her in and doctor said it is viral. So I can ad that to her list of issues.

She's sick. So don't make any changes with formula and bottle. Let her get better, before you try to change anything. Then I would do one at a time. If you think she could be allergic, go see an allergist.

DS went to cow's milk at about 12 months, but we did it gradually, so much formula and so much milk, it took about 2 weeks I think. He still had it in a bottle. Then around 18 months we transitioned to a sippy cup, and he went 10 days without drinking a drop of milk, he would take one taste and refuse any more. Everyone said he would start after a few days. We were getting closer to 2 weeks. I called the nurse at the ped's office, and she had me give DS water in a sippy cup as he would drink that, and add in one tablesp. of milk. After a day or two, I added in 2 tablesp. and we worked up to all milk in the sippy cup.

It was a lot of stress, that I now think was unnecessary. WHY do they have to be off the bottle at a certain time? Is a couple more months really going to hurt? A friend refused. She let her DS have a bottle until he was over 2 years old. It was only 2 a day by then, and one day he asked for a sippy, and that was it.

I really think that YOU can decide when to transition certain things. My ped. is pretty good and he said we could do the bottle transition anytime but before 2 would be good. Pacifier was fine until 3 yo after that it might affect teeth. I had one dr. at their office rudely tell me that my sick 2yo didn't need the pacifier anymore. I have never seen her again, and I will wait for another dr. We weaned DS from the pacifier around 2.5 yo, because he became attached to only one pacifier and we got tired of getting up in the middle of the night to find it, as the other 5 in his bed weren't good enough.

My 4 yo still has a sippy of milk in the morning. He drinks juice/water from a cup or from a sigg water bottle. But he gets in our bed in the morning for snuggles and drinks his milk there, so I don't want it spilling in the bed. One sippy cup a day at 4yo and the rest of the time cups/water bottles is not a big deal for me. It'll eventually go, but only when the morning routine changes, probably when he starts school.

[Rainbows&Roses]

No especially not peds about matters such as this. I don't think there are magical ages for kids to transition to things. Do what your instincts tell you to do!

[elektra]

I just had to go pick up my dd as she has 104 fever. Took her in and doctor said it is viral. So I can ad that to her list of issues.

In this case I would just put off the whole transition for a few weeks until she is better.
I did mention that I gave up bottle at 1 year but it wasn't like on her exactly birthday I said, "no bottles!". I think I even waited 4 weeks or something after that, as now that I am thinking back, she was also sick on her first birthday.
And although I wanted to try the transition at 1 year (or 13 months to be exact I guess!) I don't think there is anything wrong with continuing to use a bottle beyond that if that is what's working for you and your DD.
My ped never gave me any advice on this though, only that it was "ok" to start introducing cow's milk at a year.

[egoldber]

I follow my ped's advice about medical issues. Choosing how and when to wean from a bottle is not a medical issue.

Also, most peds get little to zero training in nutrition, so when they give nutrition advice I always, always, always do my own research first and then do what I am comfortable with.

I ignore their advice when it comes to things like sleep, weaning, etc. Not their house or their kid and they are only giving their opinion.

[icunurse]

Yes....and if you don't want to because you don't trust them or because the doc won't give you the answers that you need to understand and feel okay with his/her orders, then you need to find another doc. It sounds like a lot of stuff going on at once with your DD, so I would try to just do one change at a time, even if that means using a bottle for a little longer while trying whole milk.

FWIW, something like 75% of kids with milk protein issues outgrow them by age 1. That number keeps increasing until almost all kids outgrow it by age 5. DD couldn't tolerate soy formula (constant diarrhea) and was on hypoallergenic. We tried whole milk at one year and it wasn't great; she did fine when we did 1/2 formula and 1/2 whole milk, but the GI doc didn't want us doing that, so she's been on soy milk since and has zero problems tolerating it (remarkable considering all the issues that she had with soy early on!). I'm hoping we can try again with whole milk at age 2 (soy milk is kinda pricey). She does fine with all other dairy products, I think milk just pushed her over the edge (she gets loose stools). So, we'll see. A lot can change in a year :)

[Momof3Labs]

FYI, fussiness on whole milk can also be lactose intolerance, which can be resolved by giving lactose-free milk. But it sounds like she was likely fussy and drinking less because she was getting sick.

To answer your question, I usually follow dr's advice on medical issues (except I keep on "forgetting" to get the cough syrup that my ped invariably prescribes every time he gives us antibiotics) but this isn't a medical issue - it's a nutrition issue and a bottle-weaning issue.

And I agree that it's not worth changing anything until she's over this illness.

[alexsmommy]

I follow my ped's advice about medical issues. Choosing how and when to wean from a bottle is not a medical issue.

Also, most peds get little to zero training in nutrition, so when they give nutrition advice I always, always, always do my own research first and then do what I am comfortable with.

I ignore their advice when it comes to things like sleep, weaning, etc. Not their house or their kid and they are only giving their opinion.

This. Exactly.
Thankfully, my ped is AWESOME and a mother and is pretty laid back about the non-medical. She gives her "medical" advice, then the reality she's learned as a mother and then encourages trusting your own gut on issues that are not truly medical in nature.

[jhrabosk]

I follow my ped's advice about medical issues. Choosing how and when to wean from a bottle is not a medical issue.

Also, most peds get little to zero training in nutrition, so when they give nutrition advice I always, always, always do my own research first and then do what I am comfortable with.

I ignore their advice when it comes to things like sleep, weaning, etc. Not their house or their kid and they are only giving their opinion.

:yeahthat:

Couln't say it better myself.

I also want to point out that drinking milk, particularly a prescribed amount, is not a MUST. There are lots of people (including kids) who are perfectly healthy without milk. Some would even argue that they're more healthy, but that's a different discussion.

Good luck with this...trust your gut on what's best for your child.