7 month old suddenly won't drink from a bottle?????

[amiandlils]

My 7 month old dd has recently started refusing to drink any milk from a bottle. She has taken ebm and formula from a bottle since she was about 3 weeks old without any problems.

She started nursery about 4 weeks ago so I now only breastfeed morning and night. For the last month she has happily taken formula from a bottle at nursery and at home during the day until about 4 days ago.

I have tried changing the teats to the fastest flow as this worked with my sister's dd. She is currently on Aptamil first but I am considering changing to a different formula - my sister's HV recommended SMA White for this kind of problem. Haven't yet tried ebm from a bottle to see if this makes a difference.

Any help or advice would be great - am really worried as she's not getting nearly enough milk for her age.

She's weaned onto 2 smallish meals a day by the way.

Could she be feeling poorly? My DD cut back to next to nothing when she had a cold shortly after starting nursery. It went on for a few days, then she ate like a horse.

Or maybe she is just not hungry.

Or, could it be that she thinks she is too old for a bottle? Maybe it would go better if you give her a cup.

I'm not sure why you would change formula for this. My mother's ancient GP used to say "babies eat what they need" and I understand it is not unusual for them to have phases where they eat less. I would just wait and see what happens over the next few days. She is eating when you breastfeed her, so is not starving herself. I think I would keep an eye out for signs of dehydration and try to relax.

Thanks Plibble - actually she's just getting over a cough/cold so is much better than she has been.

I tried giving her milk in a cup today but no luck. Asked HV today who seemed non-phased - said that she might just be ready to give up her daytime milk.

I can sneak milk in to her food and compensate with cheese, yoghurt etc. To be honest I am not so much worried about her milk intake as that she might become dehydrated from lack of fluids. She only sips water really.

What are the signs of dehydration that I should look out for?

Signs of dehydration include less wet nappies, dry mouth, no tears when crying (although mine doesn't cry tears anyway, so this is no help) and depressed fontanelles. If she starts to exhibit those signs, doesn't seem well in herself (e.g. s lethargic) and you can't get any liquids into her over a few hours, I would take her to the GP or A&E.

If she is getting over a cold, do you think she might have a sore throat? That can make babies want to drink less. With my DD, when she cut back (at one point only took 2oz of milk in a day) I tried to stop her from getting dehydrated by giving her pieces of orange to suck on. She wouldn't eat much else, but loved these, so that might help.

I think it would be a bit early for your daughter to want to drop daytime milk altogether - I would keep offering it as if this is just a phase she may start to want it again in a few days.

Hope she's feeling better soon.

Could she be teething?

Teething is a possibility - although I seem to put everything down to teething these days but still no teeth appear...!

We have all had horrible colds/sore throats/coughs recently so that's also a thought - although she breastfeeds quite happily.

I must admit I feel the same as you Plibble that she's too young to give up daytime milk. Not really convinced by HV's advice.

Just to completely throw me the nursery managed to get her to drink 5ozs this afternoon, even though she refused to drink any for them this morning!

Little monkey certainly keeps me guessing. Just when you think you've got it sussed...