Bottle refusenik not drinking anything at nursery - will it sort itself out?

[beancounting]

My nearly 12 mo DD has just started at nursery but so far has basically refused to eat or drink anything she was offered there. She's never taken a bottle and although at home she'll have a little water from a sippy/doidy cup she's always been very suspicious of any other liquid!

Unfortunately she's also not great at eating yet, she's BLW and it's been a slow process and although she's fairly enthusiastic she only actually swallows tiny amounts of food, and so far nothing at all at nursery.

She has a BF directly before and after nursery (so about 8.5 hours apart) plus another before bed and I'm still feeding her a couple of times a night which I'm happy to do in the short term. I had tried to encourage her to drop daytime feeds before I went back to work but no luck.

I'm worried she'll become dehydrated during the day at this rate, especially as it's getting warmer - is she likely to get the hang of it, or do I need to do something, and if so, what can I do?

Also, on the days when I'm not at work (have gone back part-time), should I try to be consistent and refuse BFs during the hours she'd normally be at nursery, or is it ok to continue to feed on demand when I'm around?

Thanks!

[Yesmynameis]

Just a thought, but will she drink any EBM from her sippy cup? What about ff or even cows milk as she is nearly 12mo? Perhaps if you could practice that, and find something she will drink at least you would know she is drinking some fluids during the day. I would be worried about her not drinking all day too.

With the food, does she only eat at home. Is it that she is reluctant to eat in any other setting? Perhaps this is something you could practice e.g. eating in other locations and getting other family members or friends to sit with her so she doesn't associate eating with you being there? Is she eating a good breakfast and dinner either side of nursery?

Perhaps it's just a case of her settling in, how long has she been attending the nursery? What do the nursery say, are they concerned? Maybe it's worth a chat with HV or someone who knows about infant nutrition

[stirlingstar]

I would guess that it will sort itself out (based on my experience below) - but how long has it been going on for with her at nursary and not eating/drinking?

The circumstances are a bit different (age & session length) - but both of mine started nursery at 6 months, both initially on half-day sessions, and both initially refused to drink at nursery. DS1 had always refused a bottle and refused formula. He didn't like water. So (at HV suggestion) he had a beaker of cows milk each afternoon - with rationale that this was fine as he was getting breast milk either side of this which made up the majority of his intake. He got the hand of things within a few weeks, but was very happy at nursery right from start.

DS2 refused everything at nursery for the first 2/3 weeks - I used to pick him up early with a massive breastfeed as soon as I arrived. He was also less happy at nursery initially - needed many more visits and first 2/3 weeks not great at all. But then he suddenly decided all was fine, he'd drink water, and Cheerios were his favourite foodstuff (on offer as snack at nursery and not at home!).

[stirlingstar]

apols for typos

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

Haven't read all the thread but DS was just like this. I only work 2 days a week though so was happy to just feed on the other days.

Just make sure the Nursery offer plenty of water so she doesn't get dehydrated. Once she has settled more it should sort itself out.

[beancounting]

Thanks for your replies. It's reassuring Jilted and Stirling to hear your experiences.

She only started last week so it's early days yet, I was just wondering whether I needed to come up with a back up plan (eg to go to the nursery to BF in my lunch break, send in food she'd normally have at home, etc) but I guess I'll just see how next week goes.

Yesmynameis she's usually not fazed by eating in different settings and is happy in restaurants, other people's houses etc, and also without me (although she's only ever eaten without me in our house, so I can see that the combination might be offputting). She's supposed to be eating all 3 meals at nursery on the days she's there but she never eats much even at home so I wasn't expecting her to eat a huge amount there just yet, it's more the not drinking that I'm worried about. I've tried cows milk over the last couple of days, which she seems to prefer to formula in that she will take a small sip, and have also started trying juice to see if that helps. I haven't tried EBM for ages as it was always rejected and I got fed up of chucking it away, but that might be worth a shot again.

I haven't had great experiences of the HVs so far but there is a good BF support group locally so I will try that next week if there isn't any improvement.

Thanks for all your suggestions!

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

As she only started last week, it is still very early days bean. Hope this week is better for both of you.