Baby refusing both breast milk and formula

M

matthewsmomma

New member
My son is 19 weeks old and he is refusing to eat breast milk and formula. He never nursed, but for the first 12 weeks I fed him exclusively expressed milk. My milk supply got really low, so I started introducting him formula. We tried different brand, and we finally decided to stay with Similac Advance. All the was until he was 15 weeks, but drank the formula from the bottle. All of a sudden, he started refusing the formula. We fed him with a spoon, but he would spill most of the formula. Our doctor then recommended to thicken the formula with rice cereal. It worked until 3 days ago. Now, even if it's thick, when my son tastes the milk, he starts crying and pushes it out of his mouth. He does the same thing with the little expressed breastmilk that I still have. If we put the plain breast milk or formula in a bottle, he pushes out right away. If we put water, or tea, in the bottle, he drinks about 1 ounce, when pushes it out. Two weeks ago we started my son on solids. Until now, we gave him sweet potatoes, squash, carrots, peas and carrots. He likes them all, except the sweet potatoes and the peas. He eats about 2 1/2 of jars of vegetable per day, and not even 4 ounces of formula mixed with rice cereal or oatmeal.
We don't know what to do. I'm affraid he wll get dehidrated. Today we gave him a jar of baby yogurt, and he eat it all.
He is very active and happy, except when we try to feed him (every 5 hours).
 
Last edited:
don't worry, relax!

a baby will NEVER let themselves starve if there is food on offer...

do you make your own solid food for the baby?
if you do, maybe mix in a little extra water...
try the formul on its own again.

i only mixed in cereal a couple of times when i was first introducing solids.
my son is now 16 months old and still LOVES his formula. he drinks probably 4-5 8oz bottles every day...plus all of his regular food...
 
baby refusing both breast milk and formula

I feed my son organic baby food in a jar, that I buy from the store. I tried to make it at home, but it wasn't convenient. I usually mix carrots, squash and peas, and it's more convenient to mix the three jars together, then cook 3 different foods.
This morning he ate a little bit of my milk with oatmeal, and some baby yogurt.
Isn't it to early to give him so much yogurt?
 
Had the same experience

Hi Mattew's Mom,

My son is now 3 years old but when he was a baby he started to refuse breastmilk when he was 4 months old. I also expressed fulltime (he refused the breast with 3 months but still wanted the milk when it was expressed) and the only way i could feed him was when he was asleep. Then he would drink very well.
I waited to give him solids until he was 6 months old so for two months I was struggling to have him drink. When he finally could have some solids he also refused the solids! I was so frustrated. He did not gain well but was otherwise very active and happy. When he was 8 months old I gradually introduced formula and then he did not respond well. It turned out he had a mild cow milk allergy and one of the symptoms is food- en drink refusal!
He was never in pain but never gained well, never a good appetite. When I had a special formula he was slowly getting better also gaining more weight. Now he is a very active happy child!

My other son is now 18 months old and I remember that he too had these episodes of milk refusal. But with him it turned out to be teething.
Could your son be teething?

Well the good news is: this too will pass!

Good luck!

Sonja (moving in 2 months to HK!!)
 
hi matthewmomma,

I know its tough for you but i do think you should check with your paeds about this situation. I don't think products from cow's milk are recommended b4 the first brithday so all that yogurt may not be the best idea. But you know best - surf the internet too, you may get more advice. good luck!
 
Today he refused the baby yogurt also. My doctor said it's fine to give him the yogurt, but he doesn't reccomend the plain cow's milk. He don't eat any formula now, and he only vegetable he eats is squash. I will take him in to see the doctor today.
According to the doctor, my son started teething when he was 3 months old. For the past week he hasn't been drulling as much.
My son is a big baby, he was born over 4.5 kg, and now he is a bit over 8. This is way I worry so much he is not getting enough to eat and drink.
 
We took the baby to the doctor, and he told us that there is nothing wrong with him, because the baby continues to gain weight. But he still is refusing the milk. Today he vomited twice. All together, he ate 3 ounces of food (a little bit of squash and some yougurt). That is 24 hours. No matter what the doctor says, this is not right. He also cried a lot today. He would wake up from his naps crying, and he would cry for at least 15 minutes straight. I'll make an appointment to see a gostro-enterologist tomorrow. I hope there's nothing wrong.
 
teething at 3 mths old?

"my son started teething when he was 3 months old..."

My baby girl is 3.5 months old and breastfeeded exclusively. Recently she started losing interest in bf during daytime. She would look hungry and cry for food, but after a few minutes of sucking (sometimes even less than 1 minutes), she lost interest and started to face other direction. If I forced her to drink more, she would cooperate and repeated for 1 or 2 more times and cry if continued. I have to struggle everytime I nurse her during daytime, and without success. She refused bottle with water, formula or expressed breast milk one month earlier, I didn't try to give her bottle anymore.

I brought her once to see doctor but she was healthy. I once taught about teething but wasn't she too early for that? She also get fussier lately and harder to put her to sleep.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top