won’t drink… please help

[Anonymous]

thanks..

1.)his nipple is actually fast! its a stage 4 avent.. so i thought maybe on the alimentum , because it is thinner he will need a stage 3 ( when we were on alimentum before it was thickened), but that didnt make a difference either.

2.) yes, he seems pain free.. so i am not sure.. i guess i will end up having to take him to get checked.. my question is.. doesnt babies who dont drink because they are in pain show symptoms like arching and crying at the bottle and also wont eat food?

so tonight he wouldnt take his bottle either.. it had been 4 hours since he last ate so, i knew he was hungry.. i gave his bottle before dinner this time and he opened his mouth for it, and drank for a couple seconds and than pushed it away. it tried the stage three, than i tried to add some plain rice milk (only an ounce) i thought maybe its the taste! it didnt help, i than added another ounce of vanilla rice milk, and he drank 3 ounces!! not sure if there is a quincidance but is that o.k??? i mean if thats how i can get him to drink it, is the VANILLA rice milk o.k to add to it??! i am hoping its just a taste issue.

[Anonymous]

Maybe just add some pure vanilla essence to see if it is a flavouring issue?

[Anonymous]

like vanilla syrup? but dont they have the alcohol in them?

[hellbennt]

vanilla extract does have alcohol in it- I found this

from here: http://www.vanilla.com/html/facts-extracts.html

Natural Vanilla Flavor

People who prefer not to use an alcohol-based extract can substitute natural vanilla flavor found in natural and specialty food stores and some supermarkets. It usually is made with a glycerin or a propylene glycol base. Although the flavor comes from vanilla beans, it doesn’t fit the FDA profile for extracts, so it must legally be called natural vanilla flavor.

Note: The texture of natural vanilla – especially in a glycerin base – is viscous and a little darker than vanilla extract. It also smells somewhat different. In uncooked foods and beverages it tastes fairly similar but with a slight aftertaste; in cooked or baked foods, it’s more similar to extract.

Vanilla – Vanillin Flavoring

Vanilla flavor is a mixture of pure vanilla extract and synthetic substances, most commonly, synthetic vanillin. (Note: this product cannot legally have “natural” on the label.) There are a couple of common brands that contain a blend of natural and synthetic vanillas. If you grew up with a natural/synthetic blend, this may taste more familiar to you than a pure extract.

[hellbennt]

ps: vanilla rice milk is very sweet, no? maybe it was the sweetness?

[Anonymous]

Hi there-My 4 month old daughter does that “take a sip, jerk away” too!

Now consistently, but it was good to hear that others share in this dilemma.

The only thing that I do that seems to help is to: switch her feeding

position, or try and distract her by singing silly songs. I notice that if she’s

trying to watch our TV she sometimes forgets to pull away long enough to

get more into her. Oh, also, check the temp. of the formula….sometimes

when it’s gotten too cold she rejects it that way too. Best of luck, and know

that we understand!

[Anonymous]

thanks about the vanilla and thanks kelly too.

i am really upset right now. i just woke him up (it’s almost 12:00) i wanted to feed him his bottle because he refused to take it before he went to sleep. soo, when i woke him up he seemed eager to drink, he opened his mouth and drank for about 20 seconds and than pushed it away!! , i am so confused. and than went and added the vanilla rice milk to it again and he wouldnt even open his mouth!

i just dont know what to do.

[Anonymous]

Lauren, it is just so hard when we are worried there is something wrong but not so sure what it is.

My only advice (which sometimes I can’t even take myself) is to call today a day and try again tommorrow. If he is still refusing then, maybe just have him checked out at the Dr to reassure yourself there is nothing wrong (which I do all the time- they see me coming and duck for cover).

The only other thought I have- maybe the beginnings of or a mild stomach bug? the one time that Alana refused more than the odd feed was when she had a mild case of gastro- only one day of a little diarhea but a bit of a stomach upset (she would drink gastrolyte and water but not milk). Do you think he would drink something other than milk?

Thinking of you

[Anonymous]

Is he eating spoon feedings or refusing those too?

It could be his ears, or like Therese said, the beginnings of a stomach bug. I’d probably take him in for a check up to be on the safe side.

It could be his reflux flaring up too. He just got back on Prevacid, right?

[Anonymous]

Just wanted to let you know that my Nicholas (6 months old) does the same exact thing with his bottle. I, like you, thought that it was his teeth. I wish I had a clue. He will usually drink the first 4 oz fine and then he’s pushing it away. I struggle with the ounces after that, usually dumping the remains in his cereal. He will eat anything off the spoon. I’m not sure what’s going on, he used to love the bottle. I just had him to the doctor and his ears are fine, so we know it’s not that. Sounds like others are going through the same thing. I also thought it may just be from pure distraction, if he sees his dad or the tv catches his eye, he then has no use for the bottle, even though I know he’s hungry. Hope this helps , at least you know you’re not alone.

[Anonymous]

I would take him in just to make sure that he is OK (no ear problems or anything), but other than that, if he will take solids OK and doesn’t seem in pain, I wouldn’t be too worried about it…maybe it is just a faze? Now if he starts to sleep worse, or wakes up seeming in pain, then maybe I would try to take a look at his reflux meds. Maybe it is just the taste…you have switched him back to the old formula right? Also, I don’t see why vanilla rice milk would be a problem? maybe someone else here can tell you different, but I know I have given it to Brianna before, because i was off dairy and that was all we had in the house. Keep us updated!

[Anonymous]

I think the Vanilla rice milk would be a problem if that’s all he drank because it doesn’t contain enough nutrients and fats (like formula and breast milk). It would probably be fine as part of his diet. Rice milk can be constipating, too.

[Anonymous]

Maybe try distraction? Like feeding him in front of baby einstein or something like that.

I agree with the others and would take him to the doc to make sure it’s not ears or something like that.

Otherwise, I would try to give him a dose of motrin about an hour before a bottle. If it helps, then maybe he’s teething (since we can’t always see the teeth).

If it doesn’t help, then for another bottle, I’d try a dose of mylanta supreme. If this helps, then maybe it’s more reflux related.

If you can’t get things to improve and don’t know what the cause is, in light of the symptoms of bad breath and sleep issues, I’d try to get him back on his old dose of medicine and see if that helped to resolve the issue. Since it can’t hurt, it might be worth a try.

Good luck. Hope it passes soon.

[Anonymous]

we went to the ped’s today and EAR INFECTION! both ears are red!! BUT something tells me its the taste too! because he sucks on his binky just fine.. that doesnt make sense!

well thanks everyone! and i will keep you updated.. and with the vanilla rice milk… i wasnt sure if the vanilla flavoring in it was o.k for babies.. for those of you that use rice milk on your 1 year olds.. do you use plain or vanilla? if he doesnt start drinking after his ear infection clears up i would only add like 1 or 2 ounces of it to 6 ounces of alimentum.. i wouldnt do a whole diet of it. also to find out if its reflux related i add mylanta to the bottle?? how does this help him drink it? i am not sure how this works…. would it be better to give it before the bottle or no? and the doctor looked at his throat and said its not red.. so she said its not because of the reflux hurting his throat.. is that true?? she said the only way it could be reflux related is that he has formed a bottle eversion because of past pain.

[Anonymous]

Poor little mite. Did they give him something?

I think the suck on a dummy is probably different to the bottle? Alana will still suck her dummy when her gums are sore but be indifferent to the bottle.

Lauren- when I contacted the company about Pepti-Junior and the taste they suggested a little golden syrup- gradually phasing it out of course (might help if you are worried about volume- ie adding the rice milk and then not getting all his allimentum- does that make sense???)

Yeh, the mylanta before the bottle- to coat the throat- well you know what i mean- the eosaphagus (but I can’t spell it and it doesn’t rhyme)

[Author]

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