One of three scenarios occurs when I feed Noah a bottle.

1) Noah violently does whatever is possible to fight me off, and if he does manage to start sucking, he beats on himself the entire time and his entire body is completely tense.

2) He passes out and sleepy feeds like a little angel. Halleluja!!!!!!

3) He cannot focus on the bottle. Its in his mouth, but its like he doens't even know it. He glances back and forth trying to find anything else to look at, but won't hardly suck. He tries to play with my shirt or put his fingers in my mouth, all while holding the bottle in his mouth. He sometimes just bites down on the nipple and proceeds to try and do something else OTHER THAN EAT. I think he's trying to trick me. I think he's sick of fighting it and thinks that if he just lets me put the nipple in his mouth, it'll be okay. So, this is happening all the time, now. And its really freakin' annoying. I get so excited because his arms aren't flailing, but instead, its almost like he zones out and just pretends he doesn't know what to do with it.

Any one dealing with this? Reflux has taught Noah some of the dandiest behaviors. This one especially...:rolleyes:

I totally know what you mean. my DH started that at a very early age. Do you know how much he actually drinks in a day? The only thing I can do is tell you different things to try. some might work once or twice and some wont work at all and some if you go back to it they will work later and....... you know how the roller coaster goes.

The one thing that comes to mind is try him in a different position to eat. I found if we used an airless bottle I could put DD in her swing and move my arm back and forth with the swing while holding the bottle. Can he hold the bottle himself yet? My GERDling wouldn't and she didn't until she was over a year.

the other thing that might comes to mind that we had some success with is singing the ACB's. Some times we would even do a cheer while she was eating. I knwo that it is so frustrated but with averted children you have to fake it and make feeding time as positive as it can get. I'll go back in my diary and see if there isn't anything else that sticks out as a good idea.

Sue

I agree with what Sue said. Emma fought bottles BIG TIME until I decided one day to put her in the Boppy, (either on the floor or on our bed). She would lay in the Boppy and I would hold the bottle with one hand, and hold up a small board book with my other hand. I felt like my arms were going to fall off by the time she was done drinking, but it worked. I would read the book to her and hold the bottle for her and she'd drink away. I think she felt less constrained that way, for some reason.

Now, Emma lays in the Boppy and I still lie next to her...with my head on a pillow and read her a story. She holds the bottle herself, though...which is nice for my other arm! She takes anywhere from 4-5 oz., (sometimes once in a blue moon she takes 6). I feed her every three hours like this....except lately she's wanted me to hold her for the bedtime bottle. And, I hold her for the dream feed as well.

She rolls over when she's done...or puts the nipple up to one of the "people" or "animals" in the book and makes smacking noises with her lips...like she's feeding them....LOL. She's a hoot.

Have they done a swallow study on Noah, yet? Just curious.

Due to my issues with teeth!!! make sure you get those teeth wipes and clean your babies teeth after the dream feeds!!!! Believe me you will regret it if you don't
Sue

Catherine will only drink flat on her black, holding the bottle by herself. Even if she's starving, she won't drink if I'm holding her. Bedtime either. She fights violently to get out of my arms and then if I immediately put her down on her back, she'll suck a bottle right down. She's been this way for probably 4-5 months, ever since she could hold her on bottle.

Alexys is the same way as Catherine, she MUST be in control of the feed at all times or it just doesnt work. I stopped holding her bottle for her around 7 mos I think. She is also the same with solids...refuses anything of a spoon unless she can feed it to herself.

Thanks for all the suggestions! Noah cannot hold his bottle, and I do not see it in the near future. He would never feed himself if I let him be in control. Most bottles, I have to tuck one of his arms behind my back and hang on to the other or else he will swing at the bottle violently until I move it, or he will continuously push it out during the feed and try to fling it out of my reach. I hate this concept, and I have been trying to leave his arms free for the past month or so to let him try to be calm, but most bottles, I am forced to restrain his arms again or we just would not get the ounces in (all 8-18 per day...whoop-de-doo...).

Noah went through a phase where I propped him on the pillow on the bed, and he drank better that way. Now, I have to hold him. I've tried the boppy, floor, bed, carseat, and now that he is mobile, he just rolls out of the bottles reach and tries to get away.

Right now, I dim the lights, turn off any noise makers, and put the poor dog and cat in the other room, because ANYTHING keeps him from sucking. This becomes such a problem, because we are so confined to the house. Seriously. I can't go anywhere that requires a feeding, now.

Noah has only had an upper GI and small bowel. We had a scope scheduled, but the GI and I agreed to cancell when Noah started eating well, again. Of course, within days after the day of the scope appointment, Noah had stopped eating. On Monday, we are going to talk about testing, but I just really wish I could fix this another way.

Hi
Sarah is just like Noah. She hates her bottle. She does the same feeding behavior. I end up doing sleep feeds. I know this is bad but she won't eat otherwise. I don't really have any advice because I haven't found anything that works just the sleep feeds. If you find something that works please let me know. I just don't know what to do anymore.
Karie

Karie

Hang on to those sleep feeds! I can get one or two in per day, but Noah doesn't drink as well during them anymore. When he was younger, he'd suck down 6 ounces in his sleep, but now, I only get 3-4. Part of our problem now is that he ONLY falls asleep during bottles...then I put him down for a nap or for the night. THE CATCH--I have to get him to take a bottle to get him to sleep!!! Many times, I am so desperate, that I just give him pedialyte or water until he's asleep, then I switch the bottles. But, by that time, he will only take an ounce or two. So frustrated with reflux.:mad:

Can anyone tell me what is a boppy? Being English I have not heard of this? Maya is awful as well with the bottle and will scream and reflux at the sight of a bottle. She is now having a max of 10 oz a day and no solids which is worrying to say the least. I have not been lucky with sleep feeding, but I may try again based on Noah's good experience.

It is good to get experience on the food/bottle aversion. As far as I can see this is the major issue for many of our little gerdlings.

Sarah

A boppy is a firm pillow that fits around your waist. Alot of people use it to breast feed. They put it around there waist and the baby rests on the pillow while they are breast feeding. Sarah would never feed herself- she hates the site of the bottle and pushes it away. I am like Maggie- have tried carseat, pillows, lying her on the floor- nothing works for Sarah. I also feel very limited. We can't go out because I need to be home to try and feed her and get her in sleepy state. The max she takes is 4 oz. at a time. Maggie- please let me know if you find something that works.
from a fellow mom who's baby hates the bottle

Karie

How old is Sarah? Have you tried offering diluted juice, water, or Pedialyte? Does she take them over the bottle? That's 1/2 of our bottle. The kid will drink ANYTHING if its not formula. We switch the formula to throw him off, it works for a few days, and then he goes back to hating it. I just called my GI. I'll post when he calls back and maybe we can get some good advice.

Sarah is 6 months old today. I am worried about using pedialyte because Sarah is so tiny and needs extra calories and it seems like the max she can take is 5 oz. ( she weighs 12 pounds 4 oz at 6 months). I trird giving her pedialyte a couple of times when she absolutely refused everything and she didn't want to drink that either. She seems to have a real adversion to nipples- she won't even suck on a pacifier.
karie

Noah sucked on a pacifier until right around FOUR MONTHS when his aversion kicked in. It made me so mad. Now, the only way to satisfy him is to hold him, which I don't mind doing, but the pacifier was nice for nighttime.

I agree that you need to get calories in Sarah. We are fortunate to maintain a good weight. I don't have calorie boosting advice, but the other ladies will. Good luck!

Hi Maggie

I have been on the message boards a lot today (taking breaks while printing out X-mas cards) and I noticed all your posts about Noah and his bottle refusal. I had a thought....

I see that Noah has done better with the Playtex nurser. How large was the hole in nipple of the other formula bottles? His behavior like the stiffing and slapping and biting the nipple may indicate that the flow is comming out too fast from the nipple. After frequent washings sometimes the hole stretches especially if the hole has been enlarged for thickened feeding. That may have been the reason which is why he is doing better with the Playtex bottle. Hopefully he will continue to drink better for you from it.

Take care

Can anyone tell me what is a boppy? Being English I have not heard of this?

A Boppy is a special curved pillow that can be used for nursing, lounging, exercising...lots of things! Didn't work for me with nursing at all but Joshua likes to lay in his.

Check out www.boppy.com

I have heard of people going to sippies as early as 5 month with kiddos on the verg of aversion. You might try something different if they are fighting that much.

but I am seeing a pattern here with GERDlings and not wanting to be held. Part of me thinks that it is a sensory overload thing. With aversions a lot of times comes sensory sensitivities. Listening to all of you say the exact same things I was saying 4.5 years ago???? I'll bet if a researcher were to get ahold of these post they would find a lot of similarities and some very individual ones. That's the bummer about reflux, one thing doesn't fight every child GRRR

Sue

Karie. my DD was the same way. We at one point had to start feeding her with an eye dropper because she was so averted to a bottle. Word of causion though. Don't use the same color eye dropper as the one you use for meds (roll of eyes). Sarah is itty bitty like my DD was. At three months she was the size of a new born. I don't remember how little she was at 6 months but we kept her in a car seat built for 5-20lb and she was in it for well over a year.

Are you tiny too? One of the things that made it look worse for us is not only was she not eating and growing I am tiny so genetically so is she. couple the two and you got a itty bitty baby.

Sue

My Noah has really similar eating habits. If he is awake, its next to impossible for me to get him to eat. He beats on the bottle, flails his arms turns his head and usually cries. If I manage to get the bottle in his mouth, he just sits there, or else bites on the nipple. I end up sticking the bottle in the side of his mouth in between him cheek and gums. The milk just drips out and he usually will swallow it. I can get an ounce or two in this way. I also cant find a nipple that has the right flow, so I spend lots of time during surgery on rubber nipples to get them to flow just right. Noah doesnt suck very strong so it takes forever to get a bottle into him. I get as much liquid into him with as few sucks as possible. If all else fails, I use a syringe to squirt it in. Sometimes he spits it back out or lets it roll out of his mouth. But what he does mangage to swallow is better than nothing. I also do a lot of singing, walking, tv watching etc to distract him. The OT suggested a sippy cup, but for us it hasnt worked. Sometimes I give him his milk in a plastic cup without a lid. Its something new and he will get a little (oz) in him that way.
It is so frustrating and worrisome having a little one who doesnt enjoy eating. I too cant leave the house at times because of his feeding issues. I feel like I'm trapped here.

Thanks for all the responses, ladies. We have tried the sippy starting at 4 months, but it flows WAY too fast. I own every sippy brand out there, and Noah is very smart and knows just what to do with it, but he quickly begins to cough and gag and gives me that "did you just try to murder me, mom?" look. Its pathetic. He has to have a SLLOOOWWW controlled flow, which a sippy will not provide. BTW, he cannot work the "spill-proof" ones, just the cheapos.

We started Savannah on them (the silicone top ones) by just putting one sip in it until she got the hang of it. My DD was like that too at first.

Sue

sue- when did you start trying the sippy cup? the morning feed is especially bad for Sarah- she will take maybe 50mls then stop. Since she has only been up for alittle while I can't do a sleep feed so I end up syringe feeding her. maybe I should try the sippy cup.
karie

According to my GI (who could very possibly be a quack), you can't start the sippy too soon. If she is willing to try it, go ahead. Its been no help here, but I still offer it every day to get him comfortable with it when he stops choking on fast flows. If that day ever comes...

We started it pretty early (4 or 5 months) for water only, (we were tolk that water would up the appitite) but I will look back into my diary to see if I wrote it down. But choking was the biggest problem for us and only putting one sip in at a time (and I mean little sip) seem to get her use to it. It also taught her that milk comes out of the contraption. But we would sit there (her in her high chair) and I would make a big deal about adding the milk and it became a game. I would sing a song and give it to her and she would let the small mouth full fall into her mouth and I would open my eyes really big with a big smile and sing a yumm yumm song. We made up words to the tune of Barney's Clean up, Clean up song. After a while I put the stopper in and put a sip in. and she sucked it out to my surprise. After that we just filled the cup. She would choke with every sippy but that was just her. it didn't matter if it was a bottle or a sippy.

Oh, my GI aggrees with Maggies - He didn't want us to even give her a bottle after she was off the breast. mistakenly I did and now she is almost 5 and is still drinking from a bottle atleast twice a day.

Sue