Loss of Sucking Reflex? No Liquids by Mouth? NE1?

DK in NJ

my daughter no longer takes any liquids via bottle, syringe, dropper, sippy, etc.  she has decided to no longer sucking (this reflex disappears at 4-6 months and then becomes voluntary) likely due to untreated reflux.  we can only use a spoon to try to get food mixed with formula in her.  very hard.  we take it day by day and are working with a feeding center.

ne1 with similar situation to share?

lemen99

aww I'm sorry That sounds really frustrating for everyone.  Poor girl. 

DS's sucking reflex has weakened (we're told that's why he's been choking) but he still takes a bottle. We just have to thicken his milk.

I hope things get easier for you!

pmkmp

I know your situation all too well.  We have had one hell of a time getting Aubrey to take liquids via bottle or sippy cup starting around her actual age of about, oh... 5 months or so.  She had reflux and was intubated in the NICU for awhile.  We believe those factors lead to an oral aversion of liquids.  (She takes her solids just fine.)  We've realized that the only time we can get her to take a large volume of liquid is when she's sleeping.  We've gotten good at timing her bottle feedings to coincide with a nap.  Now that she's older she doesn't need as many bottle feedings because she gets plenty of fruit, yogurt, jello throughout the day.  All of those count towards her liquid intake for the day.  (A container of yogurt or jello counts as about 3 ozs of liquid.)  We used to stress so much about her liquid intake, but recently learned to let go.  She always has wet diapers and when she gets thirsty enough, she will drink out of her sippy.  We get creative and add extra milk into her foods or give her some by spoon.  We still dream feed her with a bottle about an hour after she goes to bed at night and another early in the morning before she wakes up.  That way we only have to worry about getting her one more bottle during the day, which like I said before, coinsides with her nap.  It's a total pain in the assss, but we've accepted it as a way of life and hopefully one day, she'll grow out of this phase.  Hope I've helped!  You're not alone!

TriciaJoy

We went through it. Robbie was born with a stomach problem and has always had horrible reflux. He's had stomach surgery twice. Eventually he just gave up. It was really disappointing as he'd been a great eater, but as the sucking reflux waned, it got worse and worse. For a while, he'd eat when he was sleepy, but then that stopped, too. Eventually, I'm afraid we had to have  a G-tube because he wasn't growing and just wasn't doing well.

 

jehprb

DS did the same thing between 7-8 months actual - turns out he was just self-weaning from the bottle.  We switched him to open mouthed cups like the Doidy or even just a plain plastic cup - he was totally fine once we figured it out but it was totally stressful in the meantime!