Bottle Strike?

alfriedeck · October 2014

Lo last week decided that she would rather eat solids rather than take the bottle. She normally will eat around 35-40oz a day from the bottle and 2-3 cereal/fruit meals (2-3 TBSP each). She is teething on the top so not sure if this could be the cause. I have tried orajel and Tylenol before feedings to see if that would make her more comfortable. She is not grumpy like she is overly hungry. Has anyone gone through this? I am hoping once her teeth come in she will get back to eating the bottle. I have upped how much cereal/fruit/veggies she gets once a day to try to compensate. that and when trying to feed her she is more interested in rolling over and trying to crawl... Squirrel!!!!

theluckiest9 · October 2014

Emma's been doing this a couple feedings a day. She ended up eating about 13-15oz less yesterday than she normally does, which led to 2 night wakings rather than one. I think today we're going to try just giving the bottle with no food in her line of sight. If she sees it she fixates. Then if she eats a decent amt we'll give her some food too. We've been feeding her in the rock n play bc she's so distractable and squirmy and that's helped a little.

SurpriseAt39 · October 2014

You could try a sippy cup, or open cup.
My dad refused to give DD a bottle after she could sit, so she always had a cup with him.

Good luck!

laurenann89 · October 2014

I've been having this problem also. I asked his pedi about it, and she said he needs to get at least 28 oz of formula a day at 6 months of age, and this will reduce as he gets older. For now I've been feeding him less solid foods, only 1 meal a day if necessary, to get him to eat at least 28 oz. I also offer him a bottle more often. I've found he'll get the 28 oz he needs sometimes in smaller meals rather than the 6-8 oz per bottle he used to do. LO cut two teeth a few weeks ago and his appetite has not improved, except for occasional days he'll eat a bit more, but I have managed to get him to eat at least 28 oz a day. Hope this helps! Let me know how it goes.

SurpriseAt39 · October 2014

FarmBoysWife said:
They drop formula and such as they eat more solids naturally.

They don't suddenly drop ALL bottles (liquids) at once at 6-8 months of age.

Generally they slowly drink less as they get closer to a year.

@alfriedeck‌
DS1 never took a bottle, but he started drinking from a sippy around 7 months when he started eating more.
Some days he would BF lots, other days not so much.

If the refusal continues I'd try a cup.

SurpriseAt39 · October 2014

FarmBoysWife said:

No shit, but the way I read OP is not that her lo isn't taking the bottle but prefers puréed food to the bottle.. Which is normal and happens at different times for different babies. I'm at the front of the pack (Ethan will be 8 months in like 10 days) and he hasn't done this yet, but James was just about done with bottles by 9 months.

And I obviously read her AND your post to read :cold turkey:
Perhaps she meant LO is drinking less than normal, but seeing "I am hoping once her teeth come in she will get back to eating the bottle" suggested to me that it was complete refusal.

@alfriedeck‌
I apologize if I misunderstood what you were saying.
I also apologize for the argument here that came as a result of a misunderstanding.

Kbhunter · October 2014

Wow. Good timing. This exact thing is happening to us today. She has refused the bottle all day. Literally I got her to drink 3 oz at 730 this morning. She ate two meals of solids though. Really strange, she gets pissed when I try to give a bottle.
I will have to check her gums again today, nothing yesterday. She has not cut a tooth yet.
It's frustrating since I know she needs the formula, fruits and a little oatmeal aren't quite going to cut it.
Guess we will see what tomorrow brings.

alfriedeck · October 2014

She will drink from the bottle in the morning, about 6oz, but will only drink about 2 oz from each bottle offered for the rest of the day, then have an evening bottle (about 5-6 oz). She is down to about 20 oz a day now. I don't know if she is just getting distracted while eating or pain, but the lack of intake is concerning me. I am going to weigh her and I guess if she is not loosing then it is OK till she starts eating again.

Sorry for not clarifying, She has not gone on a complete strike, just a partial

Kbhunter · October 2014

I'm on an almost complete strike today. No bottle before bed now. Just dinner solids. (Btw she's 6 months)
No teeth that I see either.
I hope she wakes tonight and sucks down a big bottle, that will me ME feel so much better !!!

Babysaunders · October 2014

My son sometimes only takes 4 oz at daycare... Yes 4! The most has been 14 and that was only once! He is ebf at home though so I'm not sure his intake. He has not lost weight and is developing normally. Baby will tell you when they're hungry!

angelsnight · October 2014

My LO is doing this too. The only time I can get much in her is her midnight bottle since she dream feeds. It's like ever since she started holding her own bottle more, she won't drink the last 2-3 oz. I'm guessing it has to do with teething soon (she isn't cutting any as far as I can see), maybe ready to transition to a sippy cup soon, or wanting more solids, or a combo of all three.

She also gets distracted easily, I can forget about trying to feed her when the cats are in the room.

Turtle15SW · October 2014

I just posted in the poop feed, which was related to these same issues. She was refusing bottles and being pretty stubborn about eating when she did a few weeks ago. She's 5th percentile for weight, 75th length, so pretty concerned she wasn't gaining but also her stools were getting hard. So, once we started introducing prune/apple juice and probiotics it seemed to help her digestive system and then bam, she wanted her bottles again. She's loved solids since we introduced them. But, this wasn't her getting what she needed from solids, rather digestion issues getting in the way of consuming what she should.

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