We are at a super fun chapter in E's little life....formula refusal.
Over the past few weeks Emily has been eating less and less formula (down from 26oz a day to maybe 20 on a good day) and getting her to take a bottle was taking some serious distracting. But yesterday and today we have moved on to full out refusal to take her bottle.
I've tried putting it in a sippy cup, a regular cup, a different bottle, different nipple flow- no go.
I've tried adding juice to the bottle, feeding her in every imaginable position and every room in our house- no go.
I've tried letting her feed herself- nope, she throws the bottle across the room.
We even tried giving her some formula with a syringe this morning and she just spits it out.
A couple of people suggested getting her ears checked and that some babies don't want a bottle when teething because it hurts to suck. This makes sense because she is starting to cut her top front teeth, but she is still taking her pacifier and sucking away.
When I called her pediatrician's office yesterday, they told me she should be getting 26-32 oz a day. I told them I could only get her to drink 15. They said to wait a couple of days and call back.
Yesterday she went 15.5 hours without a bottle and today it's been almost 7 hours since she had a bottle. She is still eating her oatmeal, fruits and veggies at breakfast, lunch and dinner. I even tried cutting back on her food yesterday to see if she would get hungry for a bottle, that didn't work either.
Has anyone else had this issue? Does anyone have any other ideas? Do I need to worry about her getting dehydrated or is she getting enough fluid at breakfast, lunch and dinner with her baby food?
This little love sure likes to keep you on your toes! I know at this age the formula is still very important but atleast she is still eating her big girl food. I would think that since she is eating food then her belly would be feeling OK. I am sorry that I don't have any advice for you. Hopefully she will end her formula strike very soon.
ReplyDeleteMy son is 8 months old & is pretty much the same way, he doesn't refuse the bottle but he is not very consistent with it either. Some days I'm lucky if he drinks 12oz of formula but we never have any problems with him eating his food. I have always been told that they should get 24oz a day, 32 seems like a lot! I talked to his pediatrician about it and she said that some babies just like solids more than liquids, as long as they are growing properly it should be fine.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry. It's so hard to know what they want or what is wrong throughout the course of a good day, so I'm sure this feels like torture. Just try to remember that this will pass soon and you're doing everything you can. :(
ReplyDeleteAiden did this too when his top tooth was coming in and it was a couple weeks of this before he finally took his bottle again. We ended up just giving him his bottles cold or room temp because I think the warm bottle hurt his gums. Maybe Emily's ready to drop one of her formula feeding during the day? Keep loading her up on solids and trying with the bottle. Maybe a sippy cup with water will help to keep her hydrated? I've read online about babies who wean themselves early, but I would do whatever your Dr. recommends. You are doing great by trying to keep introducing it.
ReplyDeleteOh E...
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking this is just a phase and she will get back on track soon...surely!
We just got back from B's 9 month check up and he said 24-30 oz. Is she having lots of wet diapers?
Such a tough spot to be in. We are here with ya momma. Just keep on trekking forward and hopefully she will cooperate with some of the things we talked about.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry I don't have any advice - but hope that it all gets worked out soon!
ReplyDeleteOh man. Hopefully it's just a phase. My ped just said 18 - 30 oz so at least 15oz isn't THAT far off the low end.
ReplyDeleteHang in there. She's just giving you a run for your money. (or trying to save you money - formula is expensive, yo!)
Avery had this for about a week. It was awful. I felt so bad for her. I just stuffed her as much as I could with solids.
ReplyDeleteShe would drink out of a sippy cup that did not require her to suck on it. Basically, we just kind of poured it into her mouth. Nt ideal, but it helped.
I hope she gets out of this soon.
Oh my god, there's no way Mira is getting enough milk either if that's what they're supposed to drink! Ye gads! We're looking at maybe 20 ounces tops. Try yogurt? My MIL just crammed 5 ounces of yogurt into Mira today. Mira used to go through phases where she refused the bottle for days and then took it again. Now she's doing that with foods. Maybe Emily will just accept formula again in a few days.
ReplyDeleteMan, I hope everything is just fine! We are a few months behind this stage and I'm not looking forward to it!
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