3 1/2 month Refusing bottle completely....HELP

[luath]

My Dd has been diff to feed with bottle since 8 weeks old. She has been bottle fed since 2 weeks. Gradually getting more and more diff to feed. 2 weeks ago she refused bottle so much she went 12 hours without feeding. DD was admitted to hospital.....Doctors completely mystified as can't find anything wrong with DD dispite changing milk to NOECATE hypoallergenic milk in case she has a cows milk intollerance. She is totally welll and happy and thriving so long as she has something in her tummy but will scream if the bottle comes anywhere near her. Tried everyting....all types of teats and bottles and every feeding position...car seats bouncy chair and distraction and changing temperature of milk and nothing is helping. She does not have reflux as they did tests at hospital and ruled it out also we've also tried gaviscon ranitidine and omeprazole and nothing has made any difference! We are now back home with an NG feeding tube inplace so if she takes no feed all day we can top her up over night! This is my worst nightmare and I don't know where to go from here. We did try a feeding cup but again she became hysterical with that after the first attempt! We are now resorting to using a syringe...which has been partially successful as she does take some into her mouth and swallow it but its messy and even then she'll only take in max 60 ml!! Anyone had any similar problems who can offer any advice??...I'm totally at my wits end!!

[twickersmum]

just a thought that maybe it is as simple as something like teething - her gums might be really tender/sore and she can't bear the bottle anywhere near her.
if you think it could be that, then pop a bit of bonjela on her gums first, wait 15mins and have a go? If she won't let you, then put some bonjela on a teething ring and see if she will bite on it?

[luath]

thanks twickersmum....we have atually also tried that as well with no success!! Thanks anyway for replying....at least hearing from you I know I'm not alone on line tonight!

[drummumadrumming]

Hi luath, just wondered what her sucking reflex is like? does she sucks on a dummy or her fingers or anything? also does she mind having a full tummy at night.. it isn't uncomfortable for her?

[mears]

would this be any use

I know it is primarily for breastfed babies being cupfed, but might it work where there is bottle rejection?

[luath]

Her suck is a bit strange as she sticks her tongue out rather than resting it downwards and then bites on the teat. She won't take a dummy for the same reason she won't take a teat because she just pushes it out of her mouth with her tongue and starts screaming. Cup feeding may have to be our next thing although I'm finding my options are becoming very limited now!

[fizzbuzz]

Ds was like this...complete nightmare. In the end I had to wean him early and give him lots of yoghurt and milk based meals.

I know current guidlines are to wean at 6 months, but when ds was small it was 3 months, and he hasn't suffered any ill effects from it. Surely it would be easier and less stressful foe everyone than having a feeding tube.

Alos dd started to behave in a similar manner, and after much trial and error, realised it was because she was tired (she was a bad daytime napper). Hope this helps in some way.

[luath]

thanks so much fizzbuzz....I've been thinking that early weaaning was probably our only option now as well. I've also bought a new type of teat called a haberman teat on line tonight to give bottle feeding one last chance. But my plan is now to try feeding by mouth during the day using either new bottle or feeding cups and start weaning during the day until she is getting enough during the day and to top her up at night with the feeding tube if she takes very little at all during the day. ! What do you think.....? I hope this sounds like a sensible course of action!

[fizzbuzz]

I think that would be fine. Ds is now 12, very tall and thin with an adult size 11 shoe, so he must have thrived on early weaning . Costs me a *fortune in shoes though.

Speak to medical staff and HV(not that they are much use), and ask thier opinion. Now I remember the advice when ds was a baby was to wean at 4 months. However,he was such a pain I weaned him at 12 weeks exactly.

I think it's pretty bad that docs can't offer more advice than to use a feeding tube. How old is dd? It sounds like she has built up bad associations with teats. Weanong might just break that. When I was weaning dd he still continued to be difficult with his bottles. Just gave up in the end, and pushed as much yoghurt etc as possible into him.

Eventually he learnt to drink from a traing cup, at about 5 1/2 months and we never looked back

Hope this helps

[luath]

still on Ng tube! DD is 15 weeks and 16 weeks on saturday. Saw a lady today who specialises in feeding problems! She suggeted trying het on a cup with a lid.....and although it was very messy and lots was spilled DD seemed to like drinking form the cup. I'mfeeling slightly more encouraged by this move and will continue to offer the cup at every feed. Obviously she won't get enough milk this way until she masters it properly but then in the meanime I can use the tube to top her up at night. I'm going to start weaning her on monday though....afeter I've given her a few days to get used to the feeding cup so I don't introduce too much change all at once.

[luath]

krimbokrackerskayzed thanks for your coments....I certainly do wonder if this has been the problem all the way along but treatment given was too late and damage and bad associations aalready created! the hopsital did pH study for 24 hours and it didn't show any abnormal acid levels....they didn't do any other tests just left it at that! We're still giving her the omeprazole now so hopefully that may also help but I'm also hoping early weaning and just the fact she is getting bigger now will mean she will start to have less pain if indeed this is silent reflux.