GOING CRAAAAZZZZZYYYY MY 6.5MONTH OLD DOESNT DRINK MILK

[ekhalife]

i have a 6.5 month old on 4 hour easy. she refuses to drink milk!

7am bottle
8am breakfast
9.20am sleep
11am bottle
12pm lunch
1.20pm sleep
3pm bottle
5pm dinner
6.45pm bottle
7pm bed

heres the problem. she almost has no bottles, or only 20ml from each feed. its driving me nuts. she refuses to have anything from her 6.45pm bottle. then she will wake hourly snack feeding.... but too tired to eat.
i have tried cutting down on the solids thinking maybe she is full... but she seems to hate the milk... cant work it out. she sleeps through the night, however from 7pm bedtime till around 11pm... its hell. i know she is going to bed not satisfied, because i have been lucky a few times when she has drunk the milk and she stayed asleep. she doesnt even give me an opportunity to give the dream feed cause she is up screaming every hour/
By the way.... feeding her solid food takes an hour too. she just hate eating and has been this way for ages.

any advise guys?

[scucci1979]

Hi there
Just want to send you a hug.  I understand how frusterated you must be.
My Dd is 7.5 months and it takes her 40minutes to finish an 8oz bottle. As for solids I have to sing to her to eat. It drives me crazy. The only thing I can think of is, have you tried a faster teat. It sounds like something is going on with your lo.  Tommy pain, reflux?  I am sure someone will respond soon.  In the meantime, have you tried to sneak some milk in her food.  I know it is not much, but it does help.  When my lo refuses to eat, I give her some toast dipped in milk. 

Hang in there

[ekhalife]

thanks so much. she is on the fastest teat. i put her on it at 5 months as i realised she wanted a fast one. she did have reflux the first few months and was on losec.she started solids at 3 months. do you think she still has it? she just doesnt seem like she is in pain? then again you never know. yes i know how hard it is when you have to sing to them to eat! i have a sore throat today and i sounded so silly singing twinkle twinkle with the croaky voice and all.
i mix milk in her food so that helps too. i havent tried the toast though.

[mum101]

A few questions... How much does she have in her 3 solids meals?  Too much will definitely affect her appetite, up until 1 year food is a small component of their food intake. Is there a medical reason or recommendation for starting solids at 3 months? 

Is she on any medication for reflux?  How is her growth on the charts?

feeding her solid food takes an hour too. she just hate eating and has been this way for ages.

any advise guys?

I would say yes there is some kind of pain with either the solids or formula. I would seek medical help, thinking there is possibly something going on with digestion. 

When DS was sick with giardia (which we didn't know and which made him feel pain related to eating) he wouldn't eat much in the day and was impossible to feed, and then attempt to catch up at night as he was hungry.

[ekhalife]

hi. she started solids at 3 months because thats what her peadi told us to do. when she started solids, the reflux went. she was on losec till 4 months. in regards to the amount of solids, could it be that i am giving her too much? although i have tried to reduce the solid amount however she still doesnt want milk. i try to give it to her from a sippy cup sometimes too. Lately... she has a new thing... she will drink milk then throw it right back up then and there. her growth is in the 97th perecentile which is extremely high. thats the thing... people keep telling me not to owrry cause her weight is fine... but i still think milk is very important

[mum101]

I agree with you, milk is important, contains everything they need. Glad to hear her weight is great, I would keep touching base with the doctors, maybe reflux medication might be needed again?

[*Liz*]

It sounds to me as though she still suffers from reflux - but now she is on all solids it has become like heartburn rather than vomiting. So she is in pain so eats very slowly. The milk makes her feel sick and want to vomit so she has learnt with time to avoid it - and that is why she throws up after the milk.

Yes - her weight is fine - but she is spending all day slowly eating. Its a very vicious circle really - they don't want to eat due to the pain - but then it eases the discomfort so they keep on 'pecking'.

I would return to the paedi really and see whether they would be prepared to let you retry to medication. I mean - she is throwing milk now isn't she? Unfortunately doctors do seem to just let it lie until the weigh loss starts which is a real shame, as by then they can have significant food association problems.