Help! Baby refuses to drink milk

limantari

limantari

Registered User
My baby is now 4.5 months and he started to refuse to drink milk since a month ago unless if he is half sleepy.
This makes us have to go through long feeding time since we have to lullaby him to make him sleepy.

His last meal is usually about 10-11 PM and he just want to take at most 5 OZ at that time since he will be too sleepy by then. He will then sleep through the night and wakes up at about 7-8 AM. We have tried to wake him up at night for feeding but we have no success to feed him since he's to sleep to suck the bottle.

The problem is even though he has no feeding time between 10-11 PM to 7-8 AM, he still refuses to eat and again need to lullaby him to be half sleepy.
We thought that he should be very hungry since he drinks nothing for 9-10 hours, yet he still refuses his milk.
Until a month ago we are still able to feed him up to 32 ounces per day, but now he barely takes 25 ounces.
His weight is now about 16 pounds and based on our knowledge he should take 2 - 2.5 times of his body weight in pounds, which is 32-40 ounces per day.

Before this problem happened, he used to have 5 feeding time with 6-7 ounces per feed. His feeding time was 8 AM, 12 PM, 4 PM, 8 PM, and 12 AM, then he will sleep through the night. Now since he started to be difficult to be fed, his first meal which supposed to be at 8 AM delay until 8.30 - 9.00 AM due to refusal, the second one 12.30-1.00 PM, then the third one in afternoon is the hardest time to feed can be delayed until 7-8 PM (supposed to be 4.30-5 PM). This makes the 4th meal delay until 10-11 PM and just can drink at most 5 OZ. After the 4th meal, he will sleep and refuse to have midnight meal.

This frustrates us a lot and we also worry that he will not grow well since we spend most of his time to feed him, where he supposed to learn and play. He is generally a happy baby and not too demanding. We notice that he is now teething since he has an urged to bite something or suck his finger and play with his tongue. Will this teething problem cause his difficulty to be fed? We doubt that this is the only reason since he has this problem since he was just 3 month + (when is too early to have teething problem)

I will be very grateful to anyone that can help me to share some advice and experience.
 
My 6 month old has been doing the same thing for a month. He barely drinks his bottle. We're lucky to get him to take 100mls. I'm not overly worried at this point because he is a big boy and doesn't seem to be suffering from it. We started solids after a few weeks of him refusing the bottle and he eats well so he's still gaining weight.
The toughest part of it all is that we end up having to get up three times a night to give him 60 mls or so which he drinks then falls asleep without taking any more in.

I'd love to hear of other people's stories if they've gone through this too. He is just not interested in the bottle. Mind you, he was breastfed for 5 months so i don't blame him but still!
 
you're so lucky your child sleeps thru the night. maybe you can try increasing the flow of the milk. then he would not have to suck so hard and easier on the teething pains. i use avent bottles and they have faster flows for older babies. u should check w/ the brand of bottle and nipples that you're using. good luck!
 
Hi, I'm having the same experience with my 3.5 month old.

She refuses the bottle at lot and is very fussy to feed the rest of the time. She was taking much less than her normal intake for around 3 weeks and has only now started taking her bottle again, but only if we give it to her in bed for some reason! She plays as normal and when it's time for bed or a nap, we put her in her crib and feed her there (taking her out after for burping). She will also take it in her pram when we are out (sometimes). She still takes a bit less than she should for her body weight though.

She's very oral also (lots of saliva, putting everything in her mouth etc.) so the reduced appetite may be a prelude to teething - which can happen early - with the symptoms showing up to a month before the teeth actually come through. Ped and Health visitor have said it's all fine - just to keep having her weighed regularly to ensure that she's thriving.

Feeding out of the normal situation seemed to help with us, but after getting quite worried I have relaxed about it all now - she's generally a happy baby so not much can be wrong!
 
Thank you all for the reply.

Miaka, I also use Avent bottle to feed him. He seems to like it a lot. I agree that the hole in avent bottle is bigger than other. I also use pigeon bottle with medium size hole. He has no problem with it altough we find that he likes the avent more.
However, he still refuses to drink. He moved his neck vigorously once the bottle nipple inside his mouth that makes the milk spilling everywhere on his face and neck.

He is generally a happy baby. He plays normally, smiles a lot and sometimes even laughs out loud. He also babbles quite a lot. Other problem is he doesnt want to take a daytime nap at all. He always sleeps less than 12 hours a day. This also makes us worry. He is active, doesnt drink and sleep enough, that's why he looks thinner that other baby.

We called the peadiatric yesterday and he said making him into half sleepy before feeding is not a norwal way of feeding. We will find even more difficulties later when we want to start introducing him solid. He suggested to starve him during the day by skipping 1 meal after the other and see if he's asking for it and wants to drink without fuzziness. I personally feel that is rather cruel to starve him, especially he is already not drinking enough.

Other way of feeding him is turning on the TV. He loves to watch cartoon and he'll drink his milk while staring at the TV. Research said that it's harmful for baby to watch TV since he'll be mentally attached to it and becomes lazy, also the eyes of baby under 2 years are generally still sensitive to TV. That's the reason that we wont let him watch TV, even though our life will be easier with it.

Please share more of your experience. I am a new mom and all my family and friends are overseas.

:thanks
 
Same problem with me - baby is only 3 months old and he's making feeding time v difficult. On good days he'll empty the 5oz soon but more often than not, he'll turn his head to and from both sides and refusing his milk.

he was sleeping through the night for a while but has regressed back into waking at night for a feed, drink a little, go back to sleep and getting up again in the next hour for another go at the bottle. I'm not sure whether he's growing at the right pace....

Any advice on why this is?
 
i BF my baby until about 11 mos. and now that she's on formula she still has her days where she doesn't eat much (solid or milk).

i have heard that teething pains can cause loss of appetite. and i don't think it would hurt to try the doctor's recommendation. maybe the baby just isn't hungry enuf?

in my short experience w/ formula is that my baby can easily be 'overly full'. kinda like after a big meal, you don't feel like eating more. or when you've eaten a lot but not passing as much (mildly constipated maybe?). i'm not sure how to explain this very well. but for my baby we used 'hoi nai cha' to mix w/ formula instead of plain water for about 1-2 days to help cleanse her GI tract. it worked for our baby.

(however, i should mention that my baby has never been consistant w/ her intake of milk. sometimes she finishes, sometime she doesn't. i don't push for her to finish her bottle. i figured she knows when she's full. my point here is that my experience isn't exactly the same as yours, so i don't know how helpful my suggetions will be.)

another suggestion i have is to let your baby bite on a cold teething ring or try teething gel to relieve some of the pain right before offering the bottle.

good luck.
 
Hi limantari

My 4.5 mth old is about the same weight as your baby (over 7kgs) and he looks very chubby. At his 4mth check-up, the nurse said that it is more important for them to play more than eat and put on lots of weight at this age. If your baby seems happy and is not losing weight, maybe you don't need to worry yet. Is your paediatrician concerned about his weight?
 
Miaka, thanks for your advice.
My baby actually drinks pumped breast milk. Since I am working now, I can not afford to nurse him. I just pump the milk daily, put into the bottle and ask my DH to feed him when I'm away.
Since it's not formula, I dont think he feel full with it. He was fine a month ago. Since then he gradually refused to drink. Teething may be the closest possible reason he is now refusing his milk. But another problem is, now he refuses to wake up at night for feeding. He'll sleep for about 8-10 hrs at night and still refuses his morning milk.

eyt, the doctor said his weight is normal for his age now. however he concerns that if he keep on eating below his daily dosage, his weight may drop. So, we must watch his weight.
He is a slim baby with moderate chubby face. He is now 7.2 Kg but he still looks very slim. My mother in law thinks that he is rather tall for his age. That may be the reason he looks slim even though his weight is still within normal range.

Other problem is once he sucks the bottle, we can not make any single noise. If he is spooked just with a little noise, he'll stop drinking. Because of this we have to switch on lullaby music for him during feeding to cover any background noise.
Does anyone know if it is normal?

Thanks all for the supports!
 
Hi limantari....

Have you check with your paeds? This kind of problem happens to a lot of babies. My daughter used to have the same problem (now she is 4). My paed advice was as long she is gaining weight, i shouldn't be worry. "forcing" your baby to take milk might frighten him/her. If he/she is not hungry then well what a waste... put down your milk bottle then try again in few hours. Of couse as a parent, we couldnt just relax. The worry that the baby wont grow/develop properly always bugs our mind. but really... dont worry... your baby WILL start liking milk again soon. Just PLS dont force him/her. dont make feeding time to be a "battle time". Your baby can sense your stress.
 
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Hi,

I think your bb is doing just fine. There is no need to worry. Your bb knows when he is hungry and when he wants to be fed. Babies at abt that age will go through a short period when he/ she doesn't seem to be interested about his/ her feed, (whether bottle or breast!)

The baby is growing and gets more and more curious increasingly abt the sound, the sight and the touch of everything around him. He gets so excited abt the world around him, that feeding is comparatively less important. He wants to explore. Some babies who have slept thru the nite wakes up a few more times... you should be lucky, yours choose to explore at daytime. He was attracted to the TV because of the moving pictures and sound. You could do similar things for him, like a mobile, soft music, reading to him (actually just flipping the pages), etc.... they have similar effects too! As long as your baby is happy and smiling and communicating with you, he is doing perfectly fine. Trust them. You should still remember how he hungers and cried for milk during the first couple of months and nothing could stop him unless he got his bottle/ or bf.

As for teething. Different bb develops at different times. Some as early as 3-4 months, some start only at 10 months. Teething is also another reason why they refuse the bottle. You could ease his discomfort by giving him a chilled teething ring.

BB go thru different stages of their lives experiencing different things. It's part of growing up. Do not panic, but give them the chance to learn and grow! ^_^ I have two bb, the first one is 22 months and the second one is 6 months. They are so different in their feeding patterns. My no. 2 is going thru the stage too. She drinks only 5 times (5 oz or less) a day! However, she is happy, always turning to moving pictures, distracted easily by any sound around her, babbles sweet nothings..... I am happy!

I understand how you feel as I felt the same way when I had my bb here and my family and friends are overseas. However, I am glad I learnt and grew from the experience. Being a mother is a great responsibility and we want the best for our bb.

I hope I have been of some help to you.

Have fun and enjoy motherhood!!
 
Hi again

Yes, I tend to agree with the others that you don't need to worry for your baby at this stage. It's not like he's not drinking at all so you shouldn't force him when he doesn't want to. He sounds like he's a happy baby and doing really well. My baby is fed on breastmilk (I work so have to pump too) and he's cut down on his consumption recently and only drinks between 20-24 oz a day which doesn't sound a lot for his weight (7.1kg) - he's lively and happy during the day so I'm not worried.

Of course, just watch that your baby is not losing weight.
 
Hi arleneli, akiwai, and eyt,

Thank you so much for the sharing, advices, and supports.
Yes, generally my baby is very happy. He has been practicing turning over recently and is able to do so since last week. Now whenever we put him on our bed, he will happily turns over his body repeatedly.

eyt, I supposed your baby born around the same time like mine.
My baby was born in mid July. Niice to know someone that can share the closest experience.

:thanks
 
take him to a doctor asap! if your baby is not drinking for 9 or 10hrs, and then refuses to drink again, then he is in danger of getting dehydrated
 
My son is only 3 month old and we have the same situation since this week. He started eating less (25 - 30 oz) than he used to take as an infant (30+ oz). Recently, he refused to nurse, esp in the morning. Now he takes only 20 - 25 oz daily. We also found out he is more concentrated when he is half asleep. that's why I have to wake him up in the middle of the night for a night feeding because he takes the most at that time. He is active, playful and full of energy. When will this stage over? Will he take more in the future? Thanks for any advice.
 
Actually I am in the same dire straits as jxoxo and limantari. Exactly the same story - won't feed after long hours, but each feeding is a battle. I don't want to make feeding an unpleasant experience for him but he has definitely dropped off the average weight curve. (he's on formular btw)

its clear that he's thinned but the doc says its Ok and to observe for a while, but I am still worried as this has happenhed for quite some time now ( over 1 month).

I have started to give him a bit of rice cereal to test, and at least he is interested and doesn't turn his head.

Any insights as to why this happens , or any experience to share v welcome.
 
I started trying to offer milk only when he cries for it. It seems like he is hungry every 3.75 to 5.5 hours. Sometime, he will drink peacefully up to 6.5 oz. Sometime, he will yell after a few suckles and yell and sucks again. In this situation, he will at most take 3 oz. I am not sure why he has this behavior. But at least ,we can get him to drink while his eyes are open. I found out he can eat more peacefully in a quiet and dim environment. So I always have a "romantic" light setting and absolutely no noise in the room when feeding.

I still want to figure out why he would yell and drink at the same time. any idea? Thanks.
 
My daughter is now 6 months and 1 week old and we started having feeding issue about a week ago. I was sick and my milk supply dropped a lot and she started refusing to nurse in the evening. At the beginning, I thought it's just because of my slow let down and low milk supply. However, even now my supply has been back to normal, she still refuses to drink in the evening and even lunch time. I am very sad and feel rejected. I've heard babies refused to drink from bottles but not from breasts. Don't babies love the comfort from mama's breasts?

I cut down her solid and only feed her a couple spoonfuls of rice cereal in the evening 1 hour before nursing. She still pushes away from my breasts and I can only get her to drink when she is falling asleep in my arms.

any advice?
 
Hi limantari,

My son is now 6.5 months and he has been having the proble as you described for 3 months. I am going to lose my mind if he continues acting like this. I noticed that you haven't posted any new messages for quite sometime. Can I ask how's your son now? Did he finally go back to normal drinking? Or anybody out there can share their experience? I dunno what else to do I feel so much frustrated now. 3 months is torturing enough.
 
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