Bottle feeding after trush

[tania77]

Hi All, My son is a 4 month preemie. He had very bad trush which lasted for over 3 weeks. Meanwhile he went off the bottle and he wouldn't feed through the bottle since he was in a lot of pain. He ended up with the nasogastric tube. Now trush has healed, but he is refusing to have the bottle and I'm really worried since I don't want him to end up drinking through to the tube, until he can start solids. Any suggestions would be appreciated.  Thanks

[creations]

Hello and welcome to BW forums

The only things I can think of (other than asking your medical professional for advice) are:
- to start out with a syringe to put small amounts of milk in his mouth so he gets a taste for it and then to ensure the bottle teat has milk on it so he can taste it before he begins to suck.  You must direct small amounts of fluid to the side of the mouth (aiming at the cheek) and not towards the back of the mouth/throat.
- to stimulate his sucking reflex by gently touching the roof of his mouth with a clean finger before introducing the bottle teat.

I hope you get some more ideas from others who are more experienced in this area.