Baby refuses bottles and food please help 😩

[babyrefusesfood]

I’m in desperate need of help.

My ten month old son is still exclusively breastfed. He’s enormous, on the 99th percentile. He refuses all bottles (formula, expressed milk, lots of different types of teats/bottles).

Very stressful as it is so time consuming and exhausting feeding such a demanding baby every 2 hours or so, round the clock, with no help because he won’t accept a bottle so no one can support the feeds.

I thought it would get easier when he weaned but we’ve run into even more problems. He gags on, then vomits up, everything - and I mean everything - that is not milk directly from my boob. Baby led weaning, purées, calpol, the lot.

No hcp is concerned because he’s so big so is ‘clearly getting what he needs from you, just keep it up, all babies are different and eat solids at different times, you’re doing a great job’.

I go back to work in eight
Weeks. In tears as I write this. What the actual hell do i do?

Even=EBM

I think he needs to see a doctor not a HCP.
Explain that in 8 weeks you physically will not be able to be his food source and other options are needed now.
There may be a reason for the gaggling. A doctor would know more than a HV.

I don't understand why the Dr is not concerned, just because your son is big does not mean there isn't an issue there. I was fobbed of by Dr after Dr with ds1, he had constant diarrhoea and eczema but they said as long as he's feeding and a good size there was no need to worry. I eventually begged a Dr to refer me to allergy clinic which confirmed his cows milk allergy along with an allergy to everything under the sun. Obviously slightly different to your son but you shouldn't have to go back and forth when what you are describing is not normal. Good luck, persevere!xx

I would check with gp and ask for a referral regarding the gagging as could be a sign of acid reflux. I had a reflux baby and they can sometimes feed a lot to try and ease the reflux pain but have very sensitive gag reflex. I struggled to get mine on solids but she eventually started taking the kiddylicious wafers. Still has a sensitive gag reflex now at almost 4 but is a good eater now.

Might be worth looking at a Doidy cup too? It’s messy as hell because they sip from it, but my bottle refuser could drink from one!

My baby had gaviscon from 2 months, you used to be able to buy powders over the chemist counter, might be worth just trying anyway as it won't hurt.

Don't go the BLW route if the problem is sensitive gag reflex. DD is also 10 months and still can't eat a puff or rusk without throwing up. She never took a dummy because that made her gag and as a smaller baby she'd vomit any liquid that wasn't breast milk. I found very runny purees with neutral or sweet textures easier for her to keep down. You can also try porridge made with expressed breast milk so the taste is familiar and he gets used to eating from a spoon (BM contains enzymes that break down cereals so any porridge ends up very runny).

She also refused all bottles and formula until 8 months and it took a lot of coaxing to get her to take a tiny bit. It's soul destroying at times, but if you keep offering easy to digest foods then there should be tiny improvements. Hipp Organic was recommended by MN users as being the closest in taste to BM and that also worked best for me.

A final tip from our pediatrician was to try dropping BM feeds during the day. Around 8 months I was stuck in rut of her only eating a tiny amount of solids for lunch (5-10 spoons) and then I'd breastfeed her just to make sure she's getting enough calories. Our doctor said that gets babies into the habit of knowing they will get BM after a meal so they get lazy and you end up having to nurse them 7 times a day. It was really hard at first but I noticed a significant improvement after deciding I won't BF during daytime meals. She realised if she didn't eat then she'd go hungry so she quickly started accepting more solids. If she did get cranky afterwards, I'd only offer formula in a bottle and she adapted to that as well.

Using these tiny steps she's now able to eat a variety of foods (smooth texture only) and still BF mornings, afternoons and before bed. It's definitely slower progress compared to most babies of the same age but I'm not worrying about it as she's come so far compared to a month ago. As many users have said, 2 months is huge amount of time!

How would he keep gaviscon down?

I’ll order a doidy cup now! I’ll try anything

Yes I'd be inclined to see the doctor. Gagging on solids is one thing, but vomiting up even liquid would worry me. That doesn't seem normal and seems more than just a slightly trigger happy gag reflex.

OP I know there are lots of people sharing their experiences, but this sounds quite extreme and I would think you need to access a sensible GP who will refer you.

It might be no use OP, but my daughter would never take a bottle but she'd drink from a nuby cup with the rubber straw built in from quite an early age, so might be good if your DS will drink from that as emergency back up, they're only like £7 so if it's not good not too much wasted.
Also, have you only ever tried giving him expressed milk from a bottle? I only tried that until Dd was maybe 9 months and she'd refuse point blank, so much wasted expressed milk, but at like 9.5 months i tried giving her formula from a bottle and she'd take it. I'm sure you've maybe tried that, but on the off chance you haven't, might be worth it. Hope something changes soon so you don't have such a stressful time of it

NO not nuby, Tum Tum

Get a referral to a feeding clinic. I'm not from or in UK but where I am there would be a multidisciplinary one attached to every children's hospital. You want one with a Speech& Language Therapist, ideally Occupational Therapy and Paediatrician aswell.
That gagging isn't normal. They can help.

And maybe try a straw? Breastfed babies usually take to them easy enough and it may be less triggering for his gag reflex as can just sit in his lips.