6 MONTH OLD WON'T TAKE BOTTLES, ANY HELP OR ADVICE!

Corkie2011

Hi everyone,

As anyone advice, my son as stopped taking his bottles this week. Before he would only leave 1oz behind, now if he takes an oz we're lucky.
His schedule each day is: 8am 5oz of milk + breakfast cereal, 12noon 5oz of milk + dinner, 4pm 6oz of milk, 8pm 6oz of milk + rusk or liga (milk also used to mix ) He has always being a hungry baby and has being on hungry baby milk since early on.
I'm putting it down to teething, but am worried. He's constipated also, so I'm giving him prune juice via a sringe to help with that. He also has stopped taking any juices. Any advice would be great. Thanks in advance.

January

Possibly teething... is he still eating normally?

looksee

You might see if he will drink from a sippy cup. He's a bit young, but my little fella weaned himself off bottles at about 8/9 months by chucking the bottle across the room. He was quite happy to drink from the cup.

Corkie2011

Hi January, he is still taking his solids but you have to entertain him while your feeding him. Once you do he'll take it, slower take usual. Looksee thanks for the advice about the cup, will give it another while and see if its just the teeth before I'll try the cup, he still is'nt feeding himself with the bottle yet, tries but ends up messing with it instead.

carfiosaoorl

Do you offer the bottle before the solids? If not thats what I would do. If he is still hungry after the bottle then offer solids. Milk should be the main source of nutrition until 1 yr:)

upinthesky

i think 7oz of milk a day is right for this age try getting it into him with cereal and adding it to mash up his dinner should be plenty

they don't need bottles a zippy cup is fine id love if my kids didn't want there bottles at this age because i think after a year they get very attached to things and bottles of juice is one of them

i wouldn't be worried as long as he is eating his dinner and other foods and getting at least the 7oz in that

edellc

Corkie2011 wrote: »

Hi everyone,

As anyone advice, my son as stopped taking his bottles this week. Before he would only leave 1oz behind, now if he takes an oz we're lucky.
His schedule each day is: 8am 5oz of milk + breakfast cereal, 12noon 5oz of milk + dinner, 4pm 6oz of milk, 8pm 6oz of milk + rusk or liga (milk also used to mix ) He has always being a hungry baby and has being on hungry baby milk since early on.
I'm putting it down to teething, but am worried. He's constipated also, so I'm giving him prune juice via a sringe to help with that. He also has stopped taking any juices. Any advice would be great. Thanks in advance.

Hi Corkie

Just a suggestion but have you changed the teeth of the bottle to the faster flow my fella stopped taking bottle too and it was down to the teeth as it was still on number 1 it was too much hard work for him when I changed he was back loving his bottles

Regarding the constipation again my fella had that too, have you tried cooled boiled water as sometimes they arent hungry but just thirsty and the water helps get the bowls moving too

pwurple

Agree on teat size suggestion. Go up to a faster teat. They get frustrated on the slower ones as they get older and give up. If you cant find a faster teat (sometimes not in stock, took me a while to find them) you can try what they did in the old days. Sterilise a needle and poke another hole at the tip.

January

lisar816 wrote: »

i think 7oz of milk a day is right for this age try getting it into him with cereal and adding it to mash up his dinner should be plenty

they don't need bottles a zippy cup is fine id love if my kids didn't want there bottles at this age because i think after a year they get very attached to things and bottles of juice is one of them

i wouldn't be worried as long as he is eating his dinner and other foods and getting at least the 7oz in that

Unfortunately, you're wrong in that, milk (whether breast or formula) should be the main source of nutrients for a child under 1 years old, so if he's not getting enough milk (and it goes by weight) then I'd be cutting back on the solids until he's taking enough milk. Offering the bottle before the solids is a great idea.

upinthesky

oh right its just the box of cow and gate milk i have says 7oz a day and when my lad had his 7 months check up the health nurse said that was fine but that's formula i know its different with breast milk

binxeo

My 9mth went through this around that age too. I started her on solids at 4mths and she took to it like a duck to water. She has a great appetite and will eat all round her. At around 6mths she went off her bottles completely. She just stopped wanting them and would out and out refuse them if I put it anywhere near her mouth. I still used the formula in her solid when mixing them and gave her cooled boiled water from a sippy cup with her meals. She was perfectly healthy still sleeping through the night and had no major changes in her nappies. This continued till she was 8mths and she started to refuse her food and began drinking her bottles again. Now we are back to bottle and solids during the day. She still refuses formula but is happily drinking cows milk. I make all her food from fresh here at home and freeze it, so I know she is getting what she need on the nutrition side of things.

I wouldn't panic, myself and my partner have 5 children between us and each and everyone of them were very different. They all had there own little things and this going off her bottles was one of them for our DD. I always think a baby's body knows what it needs and the baby will tell you accordingly. If your son isn't sick, or off form, he is just getting every thing his body needs from his solids. Try giving him some cooled boiled water just to keep him hydrated but it is probably just a phase and will pass.

Best of luck:)

binxeo

January wrote: »

Unfortunately, you're wrong in that, milk (whether breast or formula) should be the main source of nutrients for a child under 1 years old, so if he's not getting enough milk (and it goes by weight) then I'd be cutting back on the solids until he's taking enough milk. Offering the bottle before the solids is a great idea.

I'm sorry but I am going to have to completely disagree with you on that. From six months onwards a child should be predominantly on solids and the milk intake should begin reduced. Aside from the nutritional value of solids it is massively important for a child's speech development that they are moved onto solids at 6mths, with the texture and constancy of the food getting less soupy and more lumpy which encourages the child to chew and use facial muscles which will be an essential part of developing their speech in the months to follow. If your child is predominantly on liquids ie milk till they are 1+ you are at risk of impeding your child speech development.

LegacyUser

binxeo wrote: »

I'm sorry but I am going to have to completely disagree with you on that. From six months onwards a child should be predominantly on solids and the milk intake should begin reduced. Aside from the nutritional value of solids it is massively important for a child's speech development that they are moved onto solids at 6mths, with the texture and constancy of the food getting less soupy and more lumpy which encourages the child to chew and use facial muscles which will be an essential part of developing their speech in the months to follow. If your child is predominantly on liquids ie milk till they are 1+ you are at risk of impeding your child speech development.

Outrageous rubbish.

A child's main nutrition comes from milk up to a year old. There's a reason their poo is green after eating broccoli, it's because their digestion is very rudimentary at this age and very little nutrition comes from "solid" food.

January

ITC wrote: »

Outrageous rubbish.

A child's main nutrition comes from milk up to a year old. There's a reason their poo is green after eating broccoli, it's because their digestion is very rudimentary at this age and very little nutrition comes from "solid" food.

ITC, I've approved your post because most of it is informative, but I've edited out the last part.

Please read the forum charter and be civil to other posters before you post again.

upinthesky

well my lad is a year and i couldn't imagine giving him more milk then food in saying that if i was to giv ehim bottles they would fill him

op i think you should give the health nurse a ring there great with that kind of stuff and will give you tips

January

lisar816 wrote: »

well my lad is a year and i couldn't imagine giving him more milk then food in saying that if i was to giv ehim bottles they would fill him

op i think you should give the health nurse a ring there great with that kind of stuff and will give you tips

Exactly, if you were to give him bottles they would fill him, like they're supposed to and they have all the nutrients a baby needs until they're a year old. So, if the bottles are filling him, he has all his nutrients. Food is just a secondary thing before the age of one, there's a saying "Food is fun before one"