Is there anyone here who's baby used to refuse the bottle but now drinks fine?
My daughter has refused to eat since 9 weeks old and I have been feeding her only when she is sleeping for the last 3 months. It really is taking a toll on me. She cries a lot, probably because she is hungry but will not suck on the bottle while awake.
What worked for you? I have tried almost everything. She is currently taking Domperidone, and Prevacid (as of yesterday), and we have tried Zantac and Prilosec with no success. She is on concentrated Nutramigen formula with rice cereal added. Any tips or success stories would be appreciated!

Thanks,

Connor has gone through spells where he didn't want his bottle but he has never refused it all together. I know that there are other's on here who have had the same problem and hopefully they will chime in! I bet that once the Prevacid kicks in she will begin to eat again!!!

Evan was a huge bottle refuser for the longest time. He wouldn't sleep feed either, so we litterally had to force him to drink an ounce or two a lot of the time. When he was finally diagnosed at 19 months and medicated, it still took a long time for us to see an improvement. Sometime after his second birthday he finally did start to drink 8 ounces at a time, and now he can outrace his brother with the speed of it. Hopefully the additional med. will make a difference for you guys. For us, it was the combo. of reflux and DGE meds. that helped.

Sarah was a sleep feeder for a long time. She would take 1 oz then refuse anything else and sometimes she would even refuse to take the one ounce awake. So I would rock her to sleep then feed her the rest. It was horrible and I hated it. The house had to be completely silent or she would wake up then the feed was over. The only thing that worked for us was distraction. I started with toys and Christmas balls that I would hold above her bottle while she ate. Also books worked well. I would prop her in her boppy pillow so that she was sitting alittle upright and hold the book and toys infront of her. Then she became more mobile so she wouldn't stay in the boppy pillow- that is when I discovered Baby einstein. SHe loved it. So I would hold her infront of the TV while she watched the video and feed her. SHe still would only take a small amount then I would still end up sleep feeding her. It wasn't until she was 9 months that I stopped all sleep feeds. I just stopped cold turkey. She ate horribly at first but slowly improved. Now she does all awake feeds- except one at night for extra calories. She still needs to watch the video to eat but at least she is eating awake. She needs to be pretty close to the TV for it to capture her interest. Also making sure she was on good doses of her meds helped as well.
Hope that helped

Joshua would refuse to eat from time to time, but mostly during a reflux flare up. Once he got on Prevacid, and then later had it increased, this really didn't happen anymore.

Give that Prevacid some time to kick in and I've got a feeling things will get better! :)

It takes time.
Even after the meds start working and they feel better, they still have the bad association with food/bottle/boob.

Time really is the only thing that helped (along with being able to poop!). Eric never really like his bottle (after he felt better it was more like, he put up with it) and was very glad to see it go, even after he started eating and feeling better.

It's like they need to learn that eating doesn't feel bad anymore, and that takes even more time to learn than when eating felt bad to them.

My advise:
Be patient, don't force the issue. Try your hardest not to make feedings a battleground or negative experience. I know this is easier said than done, because we are Mom's and we HAVE to make sure they eat, but if I could turn back time...

I didn't follow this advise, and I think that made Eric confused as to his hunger, his limit, basically all the cues that babies show us as far as feeding goes. This made it hard for me to read him when he was finally eating, and it was hard on him too. We just now (well actually more around 14months) got to the point where we communicate better and more "normally" when it comes to eating, and he started eating when he was 6 months old!

Not only that, but all the "tricks" and force feeding can cover up problems that could help the doctors diagnose better and treat your baby's reflux better.

This is how I feel now, but I can't say that I wouldn't do all the sleep feedings, force feedings, tricks, etc again if I was put back in those shoes. It's so hard when your baby doesn't eat.

Take things day by day, feeding by feeding


(((BIG HUG)))

Thanks to those that have replied. I know that I have been trying to force bottles on her at times and I find it more frustrating, not only from a nutritional standpoint, but also because her doctor said that she needed to be a certain weight to have her surgery. She has now reached that goal and is still slowly gaining. I just now have started to try to feed her again while awake and she plays with the bottle in her mouth but will not suck. I then wait until she is tired and feed her at that time. I figure that I won't stress out about it anymore, I can't force her to eat and she is gaining weight with the little that she eats everyday.

Hi Sarah, and welcome to IRD! Yes, my Noah refused bottles from about 6 weeks until 9 months. Around 9 months, he finally started doing better with the bottle. At 13 months, he still has his moments, but for the most part, he drinks when he's hungry.

Here are some things you can try if you haven't already.

1. Instead of holding her, prop her on a pillow on your bed and feed her that way. Its amazing what a change in scenery will do sometimes!

2. Wait until the very last second to give her the bottle so that she is starving. I know this sounds wierd, but I would play with Noah, watch Baby Einsteins, and do just about anything to make sure that he *really* wanted that bottle.

3. Take advantage of sleep feeds. Build them into your schedule if you haven't already. Its inconvenient, but its a good way to get calories in without worsening the aversion. If she doesn't know she's eating, she won't make that association!

4. Change the consistency or flow of the formula. Noah used to respond to just a minor adjustment in the bottle. Flavoring is also a possibility but I think she's a bit young for that.

Is she three months now?

I have many other tips and tricks that I could share, so if you've already gone through these, let me know and I'll throw a few more out there.

{{{HUGS}}} I know this is very frustrating! I hope that she begins to enjoy her bottles soon!