DS suddenly refusing his bottles, help!!

Hi everyone,

Please help!!!!! My 6 month old suddenly decided he doesn't want the bottle. It started yesterday, maybe I am over reacting......, but today is the same story. Can't see any bumps in the mouth or oral thrush, he has been coughing a bit lately but no temp. and nose is not blocked. I have had him on rice cereal for about 4 weeks now and just started on a few mashed/pureed veggies lately, some baby yoghurt, apples/pears in jars (I plan to cook my own though). So my question is, do I offer him other foods while he is refusing the bottle or do I wait until he wants a bottle because I know the milk is what he should be on mainly for all his nutritional needs??? Today after refusing his last bottle at 2 pm (so far I have offered the bottle 3 times today, he only took less than a third of each bottle, hardly any on his last one), I gave him some yoghurt and he took that OK. Usually he takes 3 to 4 bottles a day (approx. 150-160 ml) rice cereal in the morning, a yoghurt at lunch time and some veggies for dinner.

TIA

Beata.

Have you tried moving up to the next nipple size? as they get bigger they need a bigger size nipple to get the drink from.

Could he also be teething?

Sue xxxx

Kazbah, thanks hun, I didn't think of that! Last night he took a full bottle at bed time with no problems but he was very sleepy.. He also took a full bottle at 1.30 am (I knew he'd wake up for one as he didn't have that much milk yesterday) but again, he was half asleep. This morning he took one look at the bottle and pushed it away. He is not usually overly excited about the first bottle of the morning, so I'll try again in half an hour. If he doesn't want it, I'll give him the rice cereal. Maybe the flow is the problem....?

Sue, I thought that too at one stage. He doesn't have any bumps though, maybe his gums are annoying him a bit???? Dunno, he does this sometimes but it stresses me because I know he should be on 'x' amount of milk per 24 hours. Sometimes he takes half of that. Thanks hun.

Hi ladies,

A quick update.......

DS is still pretty fussy with his bottles. For the past 3 days he's been taking a few sips and pushes the bottle away. The only bottle I have no problem in giving him is the bed time bottle when he is quite drowsy. The rest of the bottles are a real battle!!!! Could it be that he is tired of milk????? He seems to be more accepting of a bottle when he is sleepy. When he is totally awake, he fights it. What other foods should I be giving him during the day? He has rice cereal in the morning, a yoghurt at lunch time and veggies for dinner. I have not introduced meats yet...can he have cheese now too? Help!!

Anyone with my problem out there?????????????????????

Beata

My DS is 9 months and bf but we are having some major breast refusal issues. He has two bottom teeth coming through so I think that's the reason here. I think the key is just to keep offering him bottles and if he doesn't take it try not to seem phased and just offer it again later.

It's hard I know, I've been really worried too but I'm sure it will pass. Perhaps cut back his solid intake tomorrow and see if that helps his milk intake.

Best of luck hun.

I remember DD2 going through the exact same thing, she was lucky to get 200ml of milk into her some days. It was just a phase though, and most likely related to teething cos she cut her two bottom teeth not long after it. So even if you can't see any bumps, it still hurts when the teeth are moving around in the gum :)

Try not to stress too much! :D

Thanks Spring Angel :) I'm not sure that he is teething as there are no bumps in his gums.....maybe like Mel said, they are moving around and it's hurting his mouth??? I have cut back his solids a bit today but he only took a total of 3 bottles today. Better than yesterday.

Mel, thanks hun :) Maybe it is his sore gums..he used to get oral thrush pretty often when he was younger but I've checked his mouth and it looks OK. I've changed the teat to a fast flowing one & he seems to be OK on it. So that leaves the sore gums or me filling him up with too much solid food. His dad is not a big eater.....hope this gets better soon!

I went through the same thing with DD. I just cut out one of the bottles and she went back to normal. Even though i cut one out she was having more than before because she wasnt cracking it at the bottle and getting only 20mls. IYKWIM. Maybe now that hes on solids, he just might simply not be as hungry.

Maybe try it from a sippy cup. DS goes through phases where he will only drink from the bottle at bedtime. He will still drink the milk, but prefers the cup instead.

MummaMia, thanks hun! The thing is the stupid MCHC nurse told me off a couple of weeks ago because I dropped the morning bottle (so going from 4 per day to 3 ), as now I've been giving him 90 ml of formula with the rice porridge in the morning. She reckons he should still be on at least 4 bottles per day on top of the solids!! I actually thought that maybe he doesn't want as much milk now cos of the solids I've been giving him.

Doing my best, I've introduced the sippy cup only last week with water and he seems to be liking it. If he countinues to fight the bottles, I'll offer the milk in the sippy cup. Thanks for the suggestion hun!

Today has been a slightly better day. He took half a bottle at 7.30 am (full bottle for us is 210 ml) , a bowl of porridge at 11 am (he had a big sleep this morning from 9.30 till 11 am, very unusual), had two thirds of a bottle at 2.30 pm, a youghurt at 4 pm, tiny bit of dinner at 5.30 and a full bottle at 7 pm. So all up 3 and a quater of his daily bottles today. See what he does tomorrow :doh:

Beata - I give DS bottles between feeds. Usually a couple if hours after a meal. He has one early in the morning, one for morning tea, one for afternoon tea, then one at bed time. Maybe try that and see how u go. I give DS water from a sippy cup with his meals. HTH xx

Glad to hear that he sounds as if he is getting back to his normal feeding routine.