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Forum -> Parenting our children -> Infants
Baby doesn't want to eat - what do I do?



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LO




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Mar 05 2018, 6:45 am
Hi all! I have a 6 month old baby who recently stopped eating well....Sad It used to be an effort to stretch him for 3-4 hours, but now you give him a bottle and he just doesnt want it. He can be cranky but when you give the bottle, he eats VERY slowly (1.5 hrs or so), and even then will only finish 3 oz or so. He is not crying while eating, just spits the nipple out, or just sucks the bottle as a pacifier. At the same time, if you give him solids, he will eat those.

So, is this a rejection of the bottle because he likes solids more? If so, what do I do? I want him to continue to have breast milk for as long as possible.... Did it happen to you? How did you handle it?

Right now, I try to get him to eat as much as possible from the bottle, and then mix that milk into baby cereal and feed it to him that way...

Thanks so much for your advice and experience!
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pesek zman




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Mar 05 2018, 6:53 am
What size nipple is he using? If slow flow then definitely time to move up a size

Otherwise, is he teething?
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Mommyg8




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Mar 05 2018, 7:09 am
Check the hole in the bottle. Sometimes the hole can get closed up, and the mother doesn't realize it. Also, an older baby should have a larger hole anyway, either enlarge the hole or buy a nipple that's marketed for an older baby. BTDT.
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LO




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Mar 05 2018, 7:17 am
He is already using medium...He may be teething, but doesn't seem too uncomfortable in general...
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Mommyg8




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Mar 05 2018, 7:41 am
Then maybe he's ready for more solids. It sounds like that's what he's basically saying...
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LO




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Mar 05 2018, 7:54 am
I guess, I am just not ready to give up on the breast milk yet, it's so much healthier for him...Has anyone tried giving a sippy cup to a baby this age? (6 months). Or can someone recommend a fast flow bottle? Most of the ones I saw were slow or medium..
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amother
Cerise


 

Post Mon, Mar 05 2018, 8:03 am
Listen to your baby!

Its healthiest for him to have a mommy who responds to his needs and food preferences, not your need to breastfeed! Sorry this sounds harsh. I really do understand the reluctance, its so delicious and cuddly to nurse your sweet baby and there are mixed feelings about them growing up SO FAST! But still, you have to do whats best for the child and sometimes that means letting go sooner than you wished. He needs to learn that he can trust you to provide what he needs and that u listen to him.
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LO




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Mar 05 2018, 8:13 am
I appreciate the advice, but I am not trying to force him, just trying to encourage a healthy habit if I can. For me, it would actually be a relief if I would stop because I am not nursing, I am exclusively pumping for various reasons, and it's a royal pain in the neck to pump so often!
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Mommyg8




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Mar 05 2018, 8:22 am
LO wrote:
I guess, I am just not ready to give up on the breast milk yet, it's so much healthier for him...Has anyone tried giving a sippy cup to a baby this age? (6 months). Or can someone recommend a fast flow bottle? Most of the ones I saw were slow or medium..


You can make the hole bigger. I've done that. A sippy cup might be too hard for him, unless it's non-suction, but you might try a cup. I've never done that, but I've heard other people have. But I would make the hole bigger, first.
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LO




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Mar 05 2018, 8:23 am
Will try today and see what happens. Thanks, everyone!
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Stars




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Mar 05 2018, 9:52 am
My baby quit bottles at 7 months. His teachers would mix the breastmilk with cereal and feed it to him from a plate. He continued breastfeeding regularly till about 20 months.
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amother
Seashell


 

Post Mon, Mar 05 2018, 2:11 pm
We had a bottle refuser, and I went back to work when she was 6 months.

Use a straw cup - the sucking motion is more similar to a bottle or breast (sippy cup is not). It's also healthier for the teeth and and strengthgens the jaw msucles (sippy cup does not). Get a straw cup with a soft, silicone straw, rather than a hard plastic one. It takes some time to get the hang of the straw cup, so just keep giving it until he gets it. There was one company that made one that was squeezable for straw training, to teach the baby what comes out of there (maybe playtex?). Once dd got that, we switched to a straw cup with a weight at the bottom of the straw, so dd could drink from any angle (often helpful for kids used to holding up a bottle) - we liked the zoli bot straw cup and the b.box straw cup, because they work completely upside down (not all the cups with a weight at the bottom do).

Also, try giving the milk cold - for some reason, at this age and onwards, dd would only drink cold expressed milk, never warm.

Also, mix as much into food as possible - obvious ones like baby oatmeal, but also some into other food (we mixed it into literally everything for dd).
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Miri1




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Mar 05 2018, 6:27 pm
One of my babies refused to nurse - not crying, no kvetching, just turned away every time.
It turned out he had a double ear infection!
Check out his ears, even if he's not crying, the sucking may be causing discomfort.
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Miri1




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Mar 05 2018, 6:30 pm
If his ears are fine, you may just want to start him on a sippy cup, perhaps he'll be more interested - some babies start as early as 6mths.
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