8 month old not taking full bottles

[twogirlsmommy]

So for as long as I can remember right now dd2 has been on 3 meals and 4 eight ounce bottles.  All of a sudden she is not finishing anyone of the bottles and only drinking 4 ounces and then completely refusing the rest or if I wait 20 minutes she "may" drink the rest. I have not upped her food intake at all in fact b/c we have started some finger foods I have dropped it a wee bit to complinsate.  I just noticed last night she had her first tooth break thru so is it possible that its b/c she is teething?  Do I just make 4 ounce bottles instead of the 8 so I don't waste the formula?  She is not waking at night hungry just from pain ie we had a n/w last night but with a diaper change and motrin she slept from 3:30-7:30.

[twogirlsmommy]

anyone?

[lilisuze]

Yes, teething can definitely cause a significant drop in milk intake. Hopefully it should go back up again once the tooths pops through. Have you tried teething gel before the feed in case the suction on the bottle is hurting?

[Lolly]

I wouldn't drop the bottle size - if she decides she wants the whole lot it won't be there for her! If it's only been going on for a few days it could well be teething and she should increase her intake again.

Babies normally drop to 3 bottles around 9/10 months so a bit early but it could be that this is what you need to do to protect her milk intake.

I would keep offering bottles as normal, try the teething gel as PP suggested, for a few days and see what happens. If she is still refusing it may be worth trying 3 bottles to see if that increases her intake again.

Laura

[twogirlsmommy]

Thank you ladies.  It turns out not only did she get her first one but it looks like her second is following close behind poor thing.  I am put us back on our normal schedule which was 4 bottles and 3 meals and it seems to be working for now

[Lolly]

Teeth generally come in pairs - just to add to the pain

I'm glad things are back on track now though!

Laura

[tfuentes00]

So we are dealing with this issue also. How has things came along is she back to normal?  Avery has only been taking about 4 oz for 2 feeds then her 300 she will only take maybe 2 oz I was thinking she was trying to move to 3 feeds instead of 4 but it doesn't explain why she is only taking half at the other feeds. She has her two bottom teeth but I wondered if she was getting top two.

[twogirlsmommy]

We are still hit or miss on the bottles.  The bottom 2 teeth have come in and I don't think the top are moving yet although due to the bottle issue are nights are crap b/c she's hungry or might not be hungry so basically I am wasting ALOT of formula.  I've been trying to give her a 15 minute break if she stops and doesn't want and she may or may not take the rest of the bottle but to be honest I'm tired of fighting and being sleep deprived lol

[tfuentes00]

Ugh not good to look forward to. So far it hadn't affected her nights or naps. She's been chewing a lot on her fingers so I'm hoping it's teeth. We went through a feeding issue at 6 mths and now again. Hopefully yours soon will get back in track. Keep me posted on how things go. What's your current schedule like feeding wise?

[twogirlsmommy]

Currently we are like this:

Up anywhere between6 and 7:30

8 ounces on wake up

Breakfast about an hr later

11/11:30  another 8 ounce bottle

Lunch about an hr later

 8 ounce Bottle around 3:30

Dinner about 5

Bedtime bottle around 6:30/7

If she wakes at night and I can't resettle I will offer a bottle but she has only been taking 4-6 ounce per bottle.

[tfuentes00]

That's what our schedule is for the most part. How much has she been taking now for each feed?

[twogirlsmommy]

Anywhere between 4 ounces and the full 8 ounces. Last night it took a dose of Tylenol and a full 8 ounces for her to go back to sleep ( thank you 2 hr nw)

[tfuentes00]

Do you think they're ready for only 3 feeds?  Today Avery only took 6 oz total and then about 2-3 oz at dinner and about 5-6 oz at bed.

[twogirlsmommy]

I have no idea if she is ready for 3 feeds.  I'm going with no b.c she still has not taken a full feed and now we are turning down food too.  If this child doesn't eat and sleep soon I may end up in a mental institution.

[tfuentes00]

We'll very was turning down food too. She is just now starting to pick up a little but she's hit some big milestones. She's learned to get into the sitting position, she's starting to move around by dragging herself and has learned to wave bye bye. So maybe that was her issue.  Do you think yours is trying to learn something new?  She's still not 100% but it's better then it was.