Won't take a bottle

[flowergirl]

I'm back at work now

That means Kathryn is at nursery 3 days per week. The problem is that for some reason my little 6 month old is developing her independence a little early on in life and is refusing to take a bottle after only 1oz-3oz. This hasn't been a massive problem as she's usually managed at least 3oz during the time I'm at work but has also had some other food to keep her going. However yesterday she almost totally refused to drink from her bottle so went from 6:45am to 5pm having no more than 2oz in that entire time. She had 3 nappy changes but they were almost dry and her urine was super concentrated because she was dehydrated. She got a bad nappy rash because of it also- something that she never normally gets.

Has anyone else had a similar problem and managed to resolve it? She isn't a fan of water I have tried that a few times. Should I persevere? Would EBM from a cup work? She's also very resistant to being fed (part of the reason why I'm following BLW) so replacing milk via her food isn't a total solution .

An unrelated point (sort of)I can't get her to take anything from a spoon, nor can OH but our mums can!!! What's that all about? At times I think it would be nice to get up only once or twice at night, particularly now that I'm back at work, so I've tried giving her some porridge to fill her up a bit in the hope that she might sleep better but she screams as if I'm trying to murder her and turns her head away from the spoon. Anyone else's baby start out like this? How are they eating now? All of the other babies we know took to eating within a few days so I have no similar babies (or mums) to take advice from.

 

[mum's the word]

How long have you been back at work? My son took a good few weeks to acceot a bottle, so did my friend's LO, but eventually something clicked and she takes a bottle happily. I found the gross cheapo bottles from the corner shop best-the ones with the thick rubber teat!

 

[flowergirl]

been back at work a week...early days I guess!

 

[Squiglet]

I went back to work when lil miss was 5 months old... she was fully bf'd until then and was non too pleased with the fake boob...so we changed to a cup...even then she didn't take much milk, but when I came home she would have a massive feed from me (a whole hour of feeding) and promptly fall asleep.

Try not to worry too much...milk is important but they will cluster feed instead, getting their full milk quotent during the time you are at home and at night which is probably why she is waking at night.

Feeding her porridge at night won't really help...its getting them into a routine that does it, which is a lot of hard work and you have to be hard hearted and well my hearts a puddle of moosh so we've never done so well at it... . Lil miss still hasn't a routine that doesn't involve comfort boob along the way...

 

[loz]

Emms is similar, she will usually drink about 3 oz 3x a day with the childminder when I am at work, sometimes less. When she gets home she BF lots and during the night as well. I would persevere with the water in a beaker. The HV said it can take up to a month for babies to get used to water. I'm sure bab will get used to her new routine after a while and start drinking more milk.

 

[flowergirl]

Thanks for the replies. It's frustrating because up to about 2 months ago she would happily take up to 7oz from a bottle. I thought going back to work would be an easy transition for both of us On the plus side she is very happy at nursery- I walked in at 4pm last week to hear her laughing her little socks off- that made my day. I would hate to think that she was unhappy, but thankfully she is very sociable and enjoys lots of new faces.

 

[trixipaws]

millie wouldnt take a bottle until she was 6 months old! idk y! lol.

and at first i found weaning a NITEMARE lol she was fussy with spoons, savoury foods, lumps etc- i was a bit behind at first i thought with it but i persevered and soon caught up. she is a fab little eater now- she even loves veggies!