doesn't want his bottle????

[crazycanuck]

Hi There,

This post sounds very similar to the rest here......my DS almost 6 months has recently become extremely difficult to feed.....he turns his head away from the bottle and  one I can get it in he often drinks but sometimes bats it right out or spits it right out turning his head away....I feel like I am struggling with him and holding him in order to take it which I am not enjoying at all!!!!  I don't want to force feed him but he has to eat.....what the heck is going on?? As soon as I take it away he's fine..........no teeth yet either so I don't think it's teething........normally he would take the bottle and all in one go without burping cause he would get so fussy and take in so much air crying when we take it away, we decided this was defeating the purpose of burping....anyhow it's been about two weeks he's doing this....it's really becoming very frustrating........I just tried to feed him and he wouldn't so I got frustrated and put him down in his crib and he fell asleep.........it's been 4 hours since he ate.....he's just laying in there sucking his thumb?!

Someone go through the same or have some ideas???

[Mariek]

Hi

A couple of suggestions for you:

- What flow teat/nipple are you using? I could be time to move up to the next level flow if you've not already, they can get fussy if the milk isn't coming fast enough.

- It could be that he's just getting distracted by all the good things there are too look at (much more interesting things going on than a dumb old bottle! ). If you think this might be the case then try feeding him somewhere with minimum distrations (quiet room, low lights, low noise).

- It could be that he doesn't want to feel restrained when he's eating - do you have a bouncy chair or car seat you could put him in to feed? Just pop him in there and then hold the bottle for him. Worth a try to see if it helps.

HTH

love

[jessica5]

If your son is almost six months old, he could be refusing the bottle because of teething. You've probably already heard this, but the sucking required to drink a bottle supposedly hurts swollen gums during teething.   My four month old is drooling and not eating well.  Her pediatrician said that teething can go on for months before a tooth shows up.

You may have tried this already, too, but my daughter takes her formula mixed with rice cereal pretty well.  She seems to sometimes prefer the spoon.  I've also heard of people spoon-feeding their babies formula (I've never tried this).  

I have been struggling to get my daughter to eat almost since birth (she's a snacker) and was reading about feeding problems in one of Tracy's books and she mentioned that baby's will not let themselves starve..... I try to reassure myself with that knowledge on the days my daughter only drinks 13 ounces in a 24 hour period.

Good luck!  And if you find anything that works, let me know so I can try it with my daughter

[Kimberly®]

not much I can do to help My LO is doing the same, I too think its from teething.
I've had to resort to feeding her either flat on her back, or in a bouncy chair. Sometimes it takes me 10-15 minutes to convince her to drink. It takes some effort, but she does eventually eat..

[corrina01]

I am going through this too.  I know it is due to teething as she is showing the signs of it.  I feed my DD laying down, or propped up on a cushion as she refuses to be held.  If she takes about 3oz and refuse the rest of it, I play with her, change her nappy enough to distract her from eating, then 10mins later, I offer some more formula, most of the time she will take another 2-3oz, but if not, I resort back to playing with again, then try in another 10mins and so on.  If she hasn't taken anything more within 45mins, then I assume she is not hungry enough.  She is getting 3 good solids meals a day, so she isn't starving.

[kezzi78]

You could try a sippy cup now your LO is 6 months old. I also have found that my daughter will eat lying down on her back under her play mat.

[crazycanuck]

hey everyone

just wanted to leave a thank you to everyone who posted something........I have done and tried all that has been mentioned and came to the conclusion that it is definately his teeth........he is already on a fast flow nipple so it wasn't the bottles.....i tried feeding him in different positions and no go.....so at this point he is getting better but still gets really fussy for some of his bottles.......I wasn't feeding allot of solids so I knew it wasnt that as well.........what has been happening is if he is refusing and turning away adimantly i give him some tylenol for pain and try to put some orajel in his gums......i hate trying to put the darn stuff on!! I wait about 15 mins and then usually he takes it.........and he is happy otherwise....but as soon as the bottle comes out and get near his mouth he freaks!! 
He is drinking more so I am not worried any longer
Thanks again

Logan's Mom