Baby not taking milk at nursery

[ChorserSaucer]

My almost 10month old ff baby started nursery last week. She is there 8:30 to 4pm and only takes 1 or 2 oz a day. The nursery have said she eats her lunch and snacks but I know that’s not much as she hardly wolfs down food at home. She’s also not napping for as long as she needs so gets home over tired and incredibly hungry for milk. (We started off with her being tube fed when she was born as she wouldn’t feed so do have some fear around whether she’s getting enough milk since then)

Has anyone else gone through this? How long did it last for? Any reassurance or tips would be useful.

It's very early days and she will just be getting used to a new environment.
My DS didn't do anything at nursery that he did at home at first!
Try not to worry. It is a big transition. She will feel more settled soon and relax I think. Ask them to keep persevering with milk and note down exactly what solids she eats. They could try a sippy cup?
It is a worry but it will get better xxx

I'm an ex nursery manager and it is very very common xx

Thanks both. Appreciate the reassurance. Hopefully she’ll settle in soon & eat more solids whilst dropping feeds anyway. We’ve had to go back to night feeds this week because she’s been so hungry though. We can roughly see what she eats as we pack her lunch and snacks; anything she doesn’t eat comes back but this obviously doesn’t account for the food dropped on the floor etc. We saw her nursery teacher yesterday and she was happy with how she’s settled in. Just needed some reassurance. Thanks again

Hi, mine is the same age and same is happening. I think it's because there still getting used to been in a new place etc

Agree with pp it's very early days and a big change for her. And that sometimes they just behave differently in a nursery environment. Mine both took a while to settle into napping at nursery and being overtired does impact other things like feeding. Give it time and keep talking to nursery. One of mine had feeding difficulties at birth (not tube fed though) and I know that the worry about whether they are getting enough stays with you!

I can totally understand the worry you have over food. At 10 months she only needs 13.5 floz a day.

Can you give her a bottle in the morning, a cup of milk with her tea and a bottle before bed?

My DD was exactly the same. She started nursery at 10months in May and the first month i'd say, her milk and naps were all over the place. Like your DC, my DD was tube fed, then syringe fed and then on a feeding plan (combi feeding) until we weaned as she was on the 0.4th centile and a really poor feeder. So i was really stressed about it.

Over those first few weeks, her naps sorted themselves out - one of the early days, she only had 10mins sleep all day 😱😱😱 but she now has 1 long midday nap at nursery and has 2 naps a day on her non nursery days. She is by far the youngest in the baby room and i think she just fell in line with all the others that had already dropped to one nap.

For food, she just doesn't have milk at nursery. She was taking 1 or 2 oz and that was it. But i notice that nursery give her a lot more food during the day and i give her a snack when she gets in at 5.30pm before milk at 7pm (and she has milk with me before nursery at 7.30am) so i think she genuinely does just eat more at nursery - i'm thinking it's a bit of peer pressure with everyone else eating!

In any case, i asked the HV for a weight check after 6 weeks or so and she is going beautifully along her new curve now so that definitely put my mind at ease.

My youngest is just 10 months and has been at nursery for 3 weeks. She is breastfed, but has had a bottle a day forever, in preparation for nursery. (I also spent 5 days in hospital when she was younger, so was very happy taking a bottle in my absence!)
First week, she would drink 1oz if harassed and under duress and then she just stopped. Won't take it at all, but she eats 3 meals a day, plus snacks and seconds. She's drinking plenty of water, has wet and dirty nappies, so I'm fairly happy. She has boob on wakeup and at bedtime. On the days she's at home, she's dropped her day milk quite massively. Now she'll have 2-3oz, but if I forget to offer it, she's not fussed at all.
I think it's just all a part of the weaning process :-)

We had a breakthrough this week! She’s had two 4oz bottles - I think settling in and the heatwave have pushed her to take milk. She hasn’t cried on pick up since drinking her milk. We send her in with 3 bottles but I’ll accept 2! And she IS eating better now. Very relieved.

Ahh thats great. So pleased xx