Bad week

Help!
My DD is flat out refusing to take her bottles this week. Her bottom teeth are finally coming in and at the same time. She will take her morning bottle but refuses the other 3! (she eats every 4 hours) I’ve tried everything from oragel or frozen towel before she eats to feeding her through a straw (which seems to help a little) to holding a cup of formula to her mouth and letting her get in some gulps that way. Luckily she does eat her solids but no matter what it’s a long tearful feeding and it’s hard to do when my other DD is crawling around and wants attention! It’s caused so much drama and tension that my first mother’s day was just awful. Can someone tell me this will only last a short time?

 

I am sorry she is having this trouble.

One thing that came to mind...is try feeding her from a straw....you know put the milk in a cup or bottle and use the straw and your thumb to get it to her mouth. ( I am sorry if I didn't explain that well) that way she wont have to suck on the straw (if she is at that stage yet) one of my guys wasn't.

Good luck you both!

I promise it will get better...and tomorrow is a new day!

 

Oh the poor thing! One thing my Dr. explained to me about teething is that it increases the drool and instead of coming out, it can make the babies feel full or have an upset tummy. If the straw thing the Missy explained doesn't work, try getting her to drink from a cup with the lid off. Some may spill but maybe she'll drink it better. Since she takes the first bottle, I'm thinking her tummy hurts and that's why she doesn't want more. Also, we used to alternate Tylenol and Motrin. Tylenol can be given every 4 hour and Motrin every 6, so I would give the Motrin about 1.5 hrs after the Tylenol. The combo seemed to help more than alone.

 

:hug: I am so sorry it has been such a long week. I would definitely try the Motrin.

Also the straw cups are a huge hit here. We use these by Munchkin.

 

We went through the same thing. The good news is (for us) that it was very short lived, maybe 3 days with no formula and another week or so with just general super-cranktitude. Can you try a sippy cup? She's at the age when you can introduce them, but get the take and toss ones, no real suction required for those.

Another thing that we used was frozen peaches, real peaches and bananas, in the mesh baggies. Those seemed to work very well. And the juice from canned fruited works well in settling upset tummies from teething (plus it tastes good to them and will add calories), I was giving them a few spoonfulls every couple of hours.

 

Oh man, I feel for you because I had the exact same Mother's Day. Nate has been fussy at the bottle for 2 weeks now, and this weekend he refused to drink or nurse almost at all. It came to a head Sunday morning when DH had the temerity to suggest that I was feeding him wrong. Wrong?! What, am I sticking it in the wrong end?! So I gave Nate to him and he couldn't get the little stinker to eat either. We tried 3 kinds of nipples, 2 kinds of bottles, sippy cup, regular cup, and boob. Nothing works.

He has a tooth coming out, so I think it might be teething pain (though he's not cranky and is sleeping through the night). He's also spitting out his solid foods, so I'm at my wit's end.

I have a ped appointment today at 3:30. He'll either tell me not to worry or start him tube-feeding. :angry:

I really hope your girl starts eating soon, and in the meantime, try to keep your spirits up. We'll see what my ped says about it......

 

QUOTE(Nate and Jack @ May 11 2009, 08:43 AM) [snapback]1308661[/snapback]
Oh man, I feel for you because I had the exact same Mother's Day. Nate has been fussy at the bottle for 2 weeks now, and this weekend he refused to drink or nurse almost at all. It came to a head Sunday morning when DH had the temerity to suggest that I was feeding him wrong. Wrong?! What, am I sticking it in the wrong end?! So I gave Nate to him and he couldn't get the little stinker to eat either. We tried 3 kinds of nipples, 2 kinds of bottles, sippy cup, regular cup, and boob. Nothing works.

He has a tooth coming out, so I think it might be teething pain (though he's not cranky and is sleeping through the night). He's also spitting out his solid foods, so I'm at my wit's end.

I have a ped appointment today at 3:30. He'll either tell me not to worry or start him tube-feeding. :angry:

I really hope your girl starts eating soon, and in the meantime, try to keep your spirits up. We'll see what my ped says about it......


Thanks everyone for your help. I just gave her a bit of Motrin so we'll see if she takes her 11:00 bottle. I would be very interested to hear what the Pedi suggests. But you're right, most of the time they just say not to worry! ah!

 

QUOTE(TaurusTwins @ May 11 2009, 12:40 PM) [snapback]1308771[/snapback]
Thanks everyone for your help. I just gave her a bit of Motrin so we'll see if she takes her 11:00 bottle. I would be very interested to hear what the Pedi suggests. But you're right, most of the time they just say not to worry! ah!


I really hope the Motrin works for you; good luck and report back on if it helped! I'll let you know what my ped says.

 

:hug: :hug:

Hope it gets better for you both!!

 

I hope the Motrin works a little better for her! It did with my kids. I would also try a regular or straw sippy.

 

The Motrin worked! I gave her half of the recommended dose every 6 hours and it was enough; she drank all of her bottles today!

Thanks for the help!

 

:clapping: I am so glad it worked for you! Teething is tough, hang in there!

 

My ped looked Nate over and said he's absolutely fine. He's gained over a pound in the last month (even though he's been eating more solids and less milk than recommended) and he's perfectly healthy. The doc said that teething is an issue (he's got 2 coming in), and sometimes 9 month old babies go through a "spoon strike" where they only want to feed themselves. He said it's very important that he not get a bottle aversion, so back off when Nate is swatting at the bottle and work with him on a sippy cup and try finger foods.

Some other things:

- If a child is thirsty he will drink. Just keep offering him liquids; even if he won't take formula/breastmilk, he might drink water or juice
- Babies need calcium, and yogurt counts
- Give him some Tylenol if he seems fussy
- All you can do is offer high quality foods; you can't make him eat
- Make sure the food you are offering is high quality if it's going to replace the formula/breastmilk

So in a nutshell, it's a phase and he'll get over it.

It was extremely reassuring, and DH and I are so relieved it feels like a weight has been taken off of my chest.

I'm so glad the Motrin worked for the PP too! I will definitely try that or Tylenol one day and see if that makes a difference.

I love my ped; I should have gone to see him a week ago!